Gaels of Greater Portland come together

Ireland’s Consul General to the Western United States Marianne Bolger (center) met some Portland Irish at the Hibernian High Cross at Mount Calvary Cemetery on Tuesday Oct. 20. Left to right: Gerard McAleese, Katie Hennessy, David O’Brien, Rob Sullivan, MaryAnn, Sheila and Bridget Cullen, Marianne Bolger, Tim Hennessy, Eunan McLaughlin, Lucille McAleese, Brian Doherty and Ed Curtin. Photo by Naoise Kenny.

PDX Hibernian Independent - 22 October 2026

More than an email. Less than a newspaper. Weekly newsletter of the Portland Hibernian Society. Delivered every Thursday morning.

Memorial service for Monsignor Tim Murphy Friday 10.23 at University of Portland

Monsignor Tim Murphy, Portland native and President Emeritus of Central Catholic High School, died on October 2. He was 86. The cause of death was complications from dementia, according to the Archdiocese of Portland.‍ ‍A memorial mass will be offered at Chiles Center on the campus of the University of Portland Friday Morning (Oct. 23) at Ten A.M. Burial will take place at Two P.M. at Mount Calvary Cemetery. According to one of the many tributes written over the years to Monsignor Murphy (“Murph” to one and all) , no local Catholic priest touched more lives directly: Monsignor Murphy has, in his nearly fifty years as a cheerful, witty, generous priest, baptized more children, celebrated the marriage of more couples, and celebrated the lives of more Catholics than any other priest in Portland. University of Portland 2013. Besides his years at Central Catholic, Msgr. Murphy served at 17 parishes. (Think of all the parish and school auctions the poor man had to attend over the years! BG)

Live at Kells Saturday 10.24 - Hibernian Minister of Music Mike Phillips

Mike Phillips will perform Sat. night Oct.24 at Kells on SW Second in Portland. Fellow Hibernian Daniel Curran recently spent some time with Mike and sent this dispatch to the PDX Hibernian Independent.

Spirit of Ireland Book Night 19 November - Readers needed

Please plan on joining us at our Nov. 19 (Third Thursday) meeting. Hibernian Ed Curtin is currently recruiting readers. Is there a particular piece of fine writing that summons the Spirit of Ireland for you? It doesn’t have to be strictly Irish. Irish adjacent is more like it. For example. We’ll hear a passage from Lonesome Dove, the masterpiece by Larry McMurtry, who called his first novel Horseman Pass By (see gravestone above). The title of his novel No Country for Old Men comes from the Yeats poem Sailing To Byzantium. I’d say that’s pretty Irish. Thursday, Nov. 19 @ Kells Restaurant. Six P.M. no host dinner. Readings at Seven P.M. Desserts. Door prizes.

Fifty years ago in Monaghan Town, Ireland (15 minutes from the border) Garda Michael Clerkin, 24, was buried following a funeral procession of 11,000 mourners, including hundreds of Gardai. His killing is covered in a new book: Thundering Disgrace by Jamie Mac Giolla Bhain. Read more below.

This moment in Irish history

When Jamie Mac Giolla Bhain (McElwaine) first started looking into the resignation of Ireland’s fifth President, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (Carroll O’Daley), he had no idea he had a family connection to that often overlooked but surprising and significant political development in 1976. Some Irish history from fifty years ago in late October that you may have missed is now captured in Thundering Disgrace: The Assassination of a British Ambassador, the Murder of Garda Michael Clerkin, and a Presidential Resignation, 50 Years on. CLICK HERE FOR AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT JAMIE’S WORK.

Interested in United Ireland discussions?

An Irish Unity People's Assembly takes place online this Sunday, October 25, 2026, at Nine A.M.. Sinn Féin Seanadóir Conor Murphy, member of the Oireachtas (Parliament) Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement will speak. You don’t just sit and watch and listen to such an Assembly. Come prepared to participate. Click here to sign up.

Unionist powerhouse, a convicted pedophile, sits in Maghaberry Prison, Co. Antrim

Jeffrey Donaldson, who as head of the Democratic Unionist Party is the front man of the fight to keep the six counties in the British empire and out of a united Ireland, has been sentenced to fifteen years in prison. He was convicted of multiple sex offenses involving two teen aged girls.The Belfast Telegraph has details of the sex crimes committed by Donaldson, who was awarded a knighthood in the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours list, and, in 2021, became leader of the Democratic Unionist Party. He’s not a knight any longer. Former DUP leader ‘renounces and forfeits’ title awarded for services to politics read the headline in Belfast.

Here comes The Smuggler

TC O’Leary’s proprietor Tom O’Leary transforms his pub into a stage on November 5 for the month-log return engagement of The Smuggler. Irish immigrant Tim Finnegan has aspirations of being a writer but struggles to earn a living and provide for his baby son. Spurred on by family pressure and his own loss of dignity, he discovers the price he’s willing to pay to get ahead. Directed by Gemma Whelan at TC O’Leary’s 2926 NE Alberta Street - Nov 5–29, Thu–Sat @ 1pm and Sun @ 8pm. Click here for background and ticket info.

Columbia Red Branch GAA should be so lucky

Posted at the PHS website – Mark Zuckerberg drops major donations on GAA clubs that play near his castle in County Wicklow.

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