A Scottish Saint Patrick’s Day (sort of)
PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT 15 January 2026
More than an email. Less than a newspaper. Delivered every Thursday. Available at Portland Hibernian Society.
BREAKING – Killarney native Jessie Buckley was just announced as a nominee for the Best Actress Academy Award. She won the Golden Globe for her performance as Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet. "We were telling the story of probably the most famous Brit that ever lived and we have a Chinese director, a lot of Irish, a mostly Polish crew beside our British family," said Buckley in her acceptance speech. Paul Mescal, who played Shakespeare, was not nominated for an Oscar, which was a bit of a surprise (some will call it a snub). But the film Hamnet was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director among other Oscars. No woman born in Ireland has ever won Best Actress. We'll find out if Jessie Buckley wins the Oscar on March 15. An Irish American of note, Conan O’Brien, will host the broadcast again this year.
A chara.
The next meeting of the Portland Hibernian Society will be February 19, Six P.M. at Kells Restaurant in Downtown Portland.
Meanwhile, on Sunday (Jan. 25) our friends who trace their heritage to Scotland are celebrating the birthday of The Greatest Scot of All Time.
Robert Burns Birthday
If you feel like getting out and celebrating the birthday of Scottish national hero/poet/icon Robert Burns this Sunday in Greater Portland, you’ve got some good options. It’s no Saint Parick’s Day, but celebrating the day of "Rabbie" Burns's birth in 1759 is a thing. I found myself in Vancouver BC one year on the 25th of January and it felt like New Year’s Eve before Covid. Here’s an excellent guide to what’s going on with our friends in the Scottish diaspora. Every one of us has at some point sung his immortal work, Auld Lang Syne. But if you haven’t read his Address To A Haggis, you might want to.
Another Celtic High Cross for Greater Portland
The Hibernian High Cross at the Oregon Potato Famine Memorialinspired the President of George Fox University in Newberg to commission a second High Cross sandstone replica by the late artist Brendan McGloin. The Cross is expected in late 2026 or early 2027. Read all about it.
Ireland West-Knock Airport is turning 40. A modern miracle.
They said it couldn’t - or wouldn't - be done: Building an international airport in County Mayo. Monsignor James Horan didn’t listen to them. The rest is a history being celebrated this year in the West of Ireland. Ireland West-Knock has been celebrated in folk songs from Christy Moore. How Monsignor Horan made this miracle happen.
Tickets will be scarce for Boys in Green in Prague. No worries.
First - to get you up to date: Ireland’s Men’s Soccer squad can still make it into this summer’s World Cup. All the team has to do is get by the team from the Czech Republic and then the squad from Denmark or Macedonia. That’s a lot. The first game will be against the Czech Republic (Czechia) on March 26 in the ancient city of Prague. IRELAND HAS BEEN ALLOTED JUST 1,024 TICKETS FOR SUPPORTERS OF THE BOYS IN GREEN. Fortuna Stadium, where the game will be played, holds 19,370. Not to worry. Here in Greater Portland at 9 A.M. Saturday, March 26 we’ll be hosting a watch party. Details tp cme.
Irish Left says no shamrock for Trump this year
2024 Oval Office - Taoiseach Michael Martin
Saint Patrick’s Day may be 55 days away, but there are already calls from politicians on the Left in Ireland to boycott the annual mid-March visit to the Oval Office by the Taoiseach. "So please, tell me Taoiseach, are you going to stand up to the bully? You're not seriously going to the White House with shamrock this year to celebrate our national day with him?” said TD Richard Boyd Barrett of the People Before Profits Party. Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said, "...the Taoiseach must be prepared not to go to Washington if Trump does not back down (on seizing Greenland)... because we have to use every lever at our disposal." Michaeal Martin has insisted the trip will go ahead as usual. it’ll be a chance for a face-to-face discussion for dialogue, which is always important at any time, particularly in times of pressure,” he said through a Minister. UPDATE - Trump seems to have backed down on seizing Greenland as of this morning 22 Jan. 2026.
Ireland’s billionaires are a motley crew
Two of them are tech bros from Limerick, a few of them are members of the wealthiest family in India, one of them owns the Celtic Football Club and one is a power player in British politics who lives in an $18 million apartment in New York City. What the 11 Irish billionaires have in common (besides a ton of money) is an Irish citizenship. Some are native Irish, most were born or live elsewhere. Ireland’s population is 5.44 million. For what it’s worth, Poland also has 11 billionaires, but with a population of 38 million. America has 935 billionaires.
Who is he calling a Big Idiot?
The Irish airline Ryanair is the Southwest Airlines of Europe. No frills. Low fares. Sense of humor. For example: Elon Musk went after Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary on X because he balked at the cost of providing Starlink WiFi on his flights. (Musk owns Starlink.) O’Leary responded by declaring a Big Idiot Seat Sale. But the big idiot isn’t Musk, it’s O’Leary himself. From the Independent. “I don’t take any insult at all,” Mr O’Leary said, after Mr Musk referred to him as an “idiot”.“He would have to join the back of a very long queue of people who already think I’m an idiot, including my teenage children.” Ryanair says bookings are up 2 to 3%. He sent a couple of free tickets to Musk in Texas.
Address To A Haggis (final verse)
You powers, who make mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill of fare,
Old Scotland wants no watery stuff
That slops in bowls;
But if you wish her grateful prayer,
Give her a haggis!
By Robert Burns
