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PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT Volume Two - Number Fifty – 1 May 2025
More than an email. Less than a newspaper. Delivered early on the first and third Thursday morning of every month. Published by The Portland Hibernian Society.
Éirinn go Brách. The Portland Hibernian Society wants you!
The Celtic Irish were a social people, even though they often lived far apart. Men thrived on the brotherhood of field work; women on the sisterhood of raising the family. It was essential to the ancient Irish character that there be at least occasional communion with family, friends and neighbors. Going way, way back, our ancestors would have made sure to gather around the four Gaelic seasonal festivals: Samhain (1 November), Imbolc (1 February), Lugnasadh (1 August) and especially Beltane on 1 May. It's a "springtime festival of optimism." Thus, it is on this first day of May that we optimistically launch our annual Membership Month. Why wouldn’t you want to join and support the work of the Greater Portland Hibernian Society? It’s only $35 a year to join ($50 for the whole family). The benefits of membership are many. Hibernians Mike Phillips and Tim Hennessy have made it possible to easily support our cause by CLICKING HERE.
May Day has always been a big deal for the Celtic Irish.
When the Society of Sisters Saved Catholic Schools In Oregon
It’s been almost exactly one century since the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously agreed with a spunky bunch of nuns from Oregon who helped save private schools when voters in ths state tried to shut them down. On June 1, 1925, the highest court in the land ruled in Pierce vs. Society of Sisters that the majority of Oregon voters didn’t have a right to be wrong. The Sisters, who started and ran several Catholic schools in the West, had been denied DUE PROCESS, ruled the nine associate justices. WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE? At our May 15 meeting. Sarah Cantor from the Society of Sisters, Katie Hennessy and yours truly will tell the tales of how this happened a hundred years ago here in Oregon. You canalso learn more in a Special Edition of the PDX HI you'll receive on May 13.
With few exceptions, Oregon children could only attend public schools under this 1922 ballot measure passed by voters.
Man of the Hour in Canada Is A County Mayo Man
Canada’s new Prime Minister is very Irish-aware. Mayo News reported in March that Carney's grandfather, Robert, and grandmother, Norah Moran, were from Aille, near Aghagower and just outside of Westport in Co Mayo. Carney holds Irish and British citizenship but not for long. On March 1, Carney told reporters he believes that, as Prime Minister, he should hold only one citizenship. "I have already initiated the process to renounce my citizenships in both the United Kingdom and Ireland," he said. Nevertheless, “That Irish heritage is a big part of who I am,” Carney told The Irish Times.
Irishwoman Who Struggled In Santa Cruz Captured In ICE Crackdown
It’s All Hands On Deck this week at the Irish Consulate in San Francisco. “Our consular officials and consulate general in San Francisco and elsewhere will be supporting and facilitating Cliona and the family to get this issue resolved,” said Taoiseach Micheal Martin. Cliona Ward, born in Dublin in 1971, emigrated to Sacrmento in the Eighties as a teenager and earned a Green Card. She was detained at SFO on Easter Monday. Cliona, 54, a resident of Santa Cruz for 30 years, had been visiting her dad in Dublin. He’s got dementia. She’s now in an ICE detention center in Tacoma. Her criminal record had been expunged by California and had never been an issue in her travels to and from Ireland. That is, until she became a deportation statistic on April 21. Her case will be heard on May 7. In the meantime, her sister is raising the funds to hire a good immigration lawyer.
Cliona Ward thought she had taken care of her past.
Gerry Adams Takes the Stand....As Plaintiff
Gerry Adams is suing the BBC for reporting that he personally ordered the killing of a top IRA man who was actually a British spy. The case is now underway in the legendary Four Courts Building in the heart of Dublin. You read that correctly. In Dublin, which is where Adams filed this suit. “The channel (BBC – NI) is available to some viewers in the Republic. The online article was available to view in that jurisdiction.” UPDATE – Adams tells his story of transformation on the stand. Brought to you by the BBC. And the RTE.
Guess Where Pope Francis Learned the English Language
The next time you receive the PDX HI (May 15) there will be a new Pope. Right now, “Those who know aren’t talking and those who are talking don’t know” when it comes to the next priest to wear the white robes. No one in Dublin thought a 43-year-old Jesuit from Buenos Aires attending classes and learning English at the Jesuit Center at Milltown College in 1980 would someday be Pope Francis. His life in Ireland, where his biggest expenditure was 14 punts for English language tapes, foreshadowed his humility as Pope. “... the fact that he learned the language in the city of Joyce, Wilde and Beckett gives reason for hope,” wrote the Irish Independent in 1980. For a better sense of Pope Francis check out this transcript of some pretty tough questions he took on the airplane returning from Ireland in 2018.
Speaking of Samuel Beckett.....
Godot is a Woman and she’ll be here soon! Corrib Theater is announcing its lineup of scripts for women and nonbinary actors, inspired by Samuel Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot.’ This festival of staged readings features writers from Ireland, the UK, and Portland! Running May 8 to 11.
Why They're Called "The Fighting Irish"
Irishwomen and Irishmen with an affinity for Notre Dame University take note. Hibernian Jim Keegan brings to our attention a virtual gold mine of historic material in the ND Archives, where his brother-in-law Charles Lambe was the senior archivist. “He recently retired but has co-authored two excellent books "Notre Dame at 175 Years" and "The History of Notre Dame Football," writes Jim. Last October we spoke of Portland’s strong connection to Notre Dame football with the Doherty Brothers – Kevin and Brian – having played in South Bend in the 1970s. There are a lot more “sports stories that aren’t just about sports” at the archives. “The success of the Notre Dame football team became a defiant symbol for many recent immigrants who faced frequent discrimination, spawning a network of what are now called subway alumni across the nation,” proclaims the exhibit.
Sounds of Scotland Since 1968 - Tannahill Weavers In Town
Back in the Eighties, you knew a Celtic band was quality if its music was included on one of the many CD collections of Irish and Scottish music for sale at Music Millenium. This was well before streaming. That’s how I discovered the Tannahill Weavers from Scotland (Glasgow mostly). One of the band’s tunes made it onto a CD called The Celts Rise Again. (Excellent CD by the way.) The Tannahill Weavers are coming to Greater Portland. The group has made an international name for its special brand of Scottish music. Saturday, May 10, 2025, Doors 6:45, show 7:30pm SCOTLAND’S TANNAHILL WEAVERS AT THE WINONA GRANGE 8340 SW Seneca St, Tualatin, 97062
Tucker Carlson, Conor McGregor and the Freemasons of Ireland
It was never the editorial intention of the PDX HI to make a bi-monthly habit of covering the out-of-the-cage antics of Dublin pugilist Conor McGregor. Leaving him to the tabloid set seemed prudent. But avoiding this story is not possible. In a nutshell, Tucker Carlson went to Dublin to interview McGregor after he stole the Irish show at the White House on Saint Patrick’s Day. The interview was staged in the Freemasons Hall in Dublin. Once the Masons learned the true intent of those who rented the Masonic Hall, they loudly denounced McGregor and Carlson and gave the money paid to rent the hall to charity. “The Freemasons of Ireland categorically denies any association with the interviewer or interviewee and regrets that such an interview took place on our premises," an email to Freemasons stated. But wait, there’s more. The same hall was used for filming a salacious rap video. The rapper performs on a label owned by you guessed it.
"The Tans Took Anyone Named James"
Sarah Coyle was born three months to the day after the Easter Rising. July 24 1916. She doesn't remember much of that years events. But she does recall Black and Tans during the War of Independence five years later in County Wicklow. “When she was very young, the Black and Tans came around and brought her grandfather James out. They were going to shoot him at the gable end [of the house] – for no reason, they were just going around doing purges.” The Tans were rounding up every Irishman named James in her village that day. Good read.
COMING SOON - Special Edition of the PDX HIbenian Independent to accompany our meeting on May 15 to commemorate the centennial of the Supreme Court decision that saved Catholic schools in Oregon. Included will be answers to such questions as: What did Oregon voters have against Catholics and Catholic schools? Who initiated the so-called Compulsory Education Act? Why was the Society of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary the face of the court battle? Could it happen here again? Check your email boxes first thing Tuesday morning May 13.
Irish Wisdom (?)
Not sure who said this or what it means.
"Old age isn’t happiness and death isn’t a wedding." (Ní sonas seanaois ní bainis bás.)
Another Pitch
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