Ireland. Oregon. Easter Lillies.
PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT 2 April 2026
More than an email. Less than a newspaper. Weekly newsletter of the Portland Hibernian Society. Delivered every Thursday.
SAVE THE DATE - Next Meeting – April 16 – Sunset is not until 7:58 P.M. that evening.
Did businesses in the neighborhood where you grew up used to close their doors?
How did the Easter Lily become a symbol of the IRA?
How the Easter Lily came to be a symbol of Irish Republicanism is a great story. Complicated too. Of course. Believe it or not, the mass appeal of the Easter Lily originated in Oregon. Louis Houghton served in Japan in World War One and brought home a suitcase full of flower bulbs that his family planted in Southern Oregon. That was 1919. In 1925... the Easter Lily was adopted and redesigned as an Easter rising commemorative emblem by members of Cumann ná m’Ban,,,, Ireland’s women freedom fighters in the Easter Rising and War of Independence. They sold them outside churches on Easter Sunday to raise funds for the wives and children of Anti-Treaty prisoners. It is said that the Easter Lily is meant as a Republican alternative to the Loyalist red poppy worn in the Six Counties on Armistice Day. Read here how the Connacht Telegraph reported the Easter Lily story in 1935.
Whatever happened to Rita O'Hare?
If there was a modern day Cumann na mBan, Rita O’Hare would have been a member. Probably an officer. She was the leader of Sinn Fein in the USA when she came to Portland 15 years ago. Oregonian columnist Steve Duin interviewed Rita at the Oregon Potato Famine Memorial about the undone work begun with the 1916 Easter Monday Rising. “On that cemetery ridge, and during Friday night's annual dinner of Portland's Ancient Order of Hibernians, O'Hare argued that her homeland still hungers for unification. 'Thirteen years after the historic Good Friday Agreement, six counties in the north still hold fast to the idea that they are better off tied to Britain than to the rest of Ireland,' she said.” A United Ireland remains an aspiration now as it was a decade and a half ago. “We are now at a point in our history where Irish Unity is within this generation's grasp." Rita O'Hare died in March, 2023 at the age of 80. (Irish Times obit.) She is buried at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin. At her graveside Gerry Adams said that her eleven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren should know that she “fought for them and for their future so that we can all grow old in a free and united Ireland”. The older ones should tell the younger great grandchildren that “their granny was in the IRA, tell them she was a rebel, freedom-fighter”. If you’re interested in where things stand with the effort to Unite Ireland, Sinn Fein USA would like to hear from you.
Inside Outside Mullingar – Opening Tonight in Portland
Corrib Theatre brings John Patrick Shanley’s “Irish” play to Portland for a run that begins tonight, April 2. Click here for tix. Not his most successful work, but one worth watching, it debuted in New York in 2014 and was nominated for a Best Play Tony. Read more on the Bronx-born author and sample some lines from his script. Shanley wrote and directed the movie version of Outside Mullingar, changing the name to Wild Mountain Thyme. The reviews were not kind, especially re: Christopher Walken's attempt at an appropriate County Westmeath accent. Fortunately, the song Wild Mountain Thyme is featured in the Corrib production.
Irish Anguish. World Cup Woes Worsen. Thank God for the Women.
What’s a World Cup without the teams from Ireland? Standard operating procedure the last six times the tournament has been played. There will be no need to search for tickets to World Cup games this summer featuring either of the men’s teams from Ireland. For the Republic’s team, this will be the sixth time since 2002 that they’ve failed to qualify. Is the pint half full or half empty? Read the World Cup Wrap here.Wouldn't it be great to see a "friendly" featuring the Republic of Ireland versus USA, you say. Game On! The women from the Republic of Ireland will play the women of the USA twice in June. On the 26th in Commerce City, Colorado and on the 29th in Cincinatti.
Happy Easter - Cásca faoi mhaise daoibh
"We would encourage everyone, young and old to wear the Lily at Easter as a national emblem that promotes the ideals of those patriots who died in Easter 1916 and since – Ireland united and independent with peace between Orange and Green." An Problacht
