Get out the fleece. PHS Fall Season is coming
With our first meeting of the rest of 2026 at Kells Restaurant just a month away, here’s the plan:
Sept. 17 Meeting –Steve Law, local author of Peddlers of Hate – How the Ku Klux Klan Seized Power in 1920s Oregon, will be the featured guest. More info below. Robert Griffin, the attorney behind the Bandon IRE and Bandon ORE Sister City scheme will attend and speak briefly about his initiative. You know the routine at Kells Restaurant – No host dinner at six p.m. Free dessert. Presentations at seven p.m. Failte. All are welcome. (Zeus’s Law.)
Oct. 15 - Oh Canada. We hear a lot about what it's like to be descendants of Irishmen and Irishwomen who came to America. But not so much about those who ended up in Canada. So, Hibernian Dan Holden will entertain and inform us with the story of his Canadian roots. Discussion: Can America and Canada ever be friends again?
Nov. 19 - Ed Curtin's Irish Writers Night. Is there a particular bit of fine writing with any connection at all to Irish Literature that you’d like to share with us? Let Ed know at the September meeting when he’ll be recruiting readers.
Dec. 12 - Christmas Luncheon + Cross Dedication Anniversary.
Author Steve Law will speak at the Sept. 17 PHS meeting. His book is available now from OSU Press, your local independent bookstore and online.
Peddlers of Hate reveals how the Klan had its way with Oregon politics
Longtime Portland reporter Jim Redden, in this review of Steve Law’s book, writes, “Law documents how a racist organization best known for terrorizing Blacks and their white allies in the South after the Civil War emerged and grew in a state now known for its progressive politics.” As anyone who reads the PDX HI or has attended certain PHS meeting knows, this is a story that more Oregonians need to know. Especially Catholics. Redden asked Steve Law, “What is the worst thing the Klan did in Oregon?” Law wrote, “Passing a ballot initiative that stripped parents of their rights to send children to private schools... Masons and their Klan allies were most interested in banning Catholic schools. It amounted to religious discrimination, a dagger to Catholics’ efforts to grow their congregations.”
Rosie O’Donnell and her daughter Clay. Rosie walked her to and from school each day until crossing guard Angela told her to let Clay walk to school with her friends.
Rosie O’Donnell goes on and on about Ireland
Anyone tuning in to watch Rosie O’Donnell guest host for Jimmy Kimmel this week may have been surprised that she spent more time talking about where she lives than why she moved there. Here’s the whole story, including her monologue in which she included a bit about asking her pharmacist out on a date and what the pharmacist’s husband had to say about that.
2026 Rose of Tralee Caoilfhinn Ní Choiligh of County Westmeath didn’t let her alopecia deter her from entering the contest and taking off her wig on nationwide television.
The new Rose of Tralee wears a wig, proudly
When it comes to beauty pageants, the Rose of Tralee feels different. Every year in County Kerry 32 women from Ireland and beyond compete for the title. The pageant has a history. It was the idea of a newspaperman to promote tourism. That was in 1959. Meet the newest Rose of Tralee: Westmeath Rose Caoilfhinn Ní Choiligh.The 25-year-old who is studying to become a wig maker... opened up about living with alopecia. She said she did not want her identity as a Rose to be overshadowed by her hair loss...”If someone complimented my hair, I told them it was a wig, often to their surprise, because I wanted to show people that wigs are so much better than what they think and what they used to be, and how it's okay to talk about it the way people talk about extensions, or they go to get their hair done. I don't take my wig off day to day in front of people, so to do it on national television was definitely surreal." RTE.
Tommy Tiernan Tour details
If you want to see Tommy Tiernan this Fall, you’ll have to fly to Ireland. The country’s top comic talent appeared in Portland in Oct. 2023 and Nov. 2024. His shows at the Aladdin were sold out. Starting in October this year he’ll be touring in the West of Ireland – Athlone to Athenry. (His show at Matt Molloy’s in Westport on Nov. 26 is already Sold Out.) Not familiar with Tommy Tiernan? He’s an actor (Derry Girls), a stand-up comedian, and a television host. Tim Hennessy passed along some links of his show, on which Tiernan doesn’t know who his guest will be until the curtains part. Click here to watch a great actor - Stephen Rea - who’s not acting as he speaks for the first time publicly about his marriage to Dolours Price, a leading character in the book and series Say Nothing.
Katie Taylor brought a Gold Medal home to Ireland from the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Katie Taylor’s final fight set for historic Croke Park in September
The last boxer to headline a fight at Dublin’s historic Croke Park was Muhammad Ali. Now it’s Katie Taylor’s turn. From the Irish Mirror: On September 5 The trailblazing London 2012 Olympic gold medallist and legendary, multi-weight world champion will bid to sign off her remarkable career in style when she faces Flora Pili for all the major titles in the super-lightweight division. Not into women’s boxing? Look at this as a landmark moment for Irish women. Here’s a backgrounder on Kate’s career and life in Ireland and Massachusetts.
Irish ad re: English soccer fans is “racist”
Did you hear about the way Japan’s supporters at the World Cup behaved so admirably? It’s an issue in Ireland. Paddy Power – a multi billion Euro gambling operation – is in hot water with those who regulate outdoor advertising. One person complained about a billboard the firm ran during the World Cup which read: ‘LET’S GO JAPAN. Polite. Organised. Clean up after themselves. The exact opposite of England.’ ‘Racist and derogatory towards English people’ one complainant complained. You can read here what came of that complaint.
When Dublin dreamt of its own Premier League team
Here’s a fun read. What if there was a Premier League team in the capitol of Ireland? Mid-August means thousands of pilgrims from Ireland making their way across the Irish Sea to see the English teams they support. Despite the troubled relationship between the two countries, Premier League football is massive in Ireland. There was a time not too long ago when a band of Irish businessmen, which included U2’s manager, made a bid on the English team from Wimbledon. Obviously, nothing came of it, but why the idea was opposed by the sporting powers that be in Ireland makes for a good story from the BBC.