Molly Bloom’s June swoon
PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT 4 June 2026
More than an email. Less than a newspaper. Weekly newsletter of the Portland Hibernian Society. Delivered every Thursday.
This is a photo of me as Molly Bloom, beside my copy of "Ulysses." Caraid O'Brien, who each Bloomsday performed Molly Bloom's complete monologue on Radio Bloomsday.
Bloomsday beckons you to Kells on June 18
"…I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another...” from Chapter 18 of Ulysses by James Joyce. Join us on June 18 at Kells Restaurant on SW Second for a Bloomsday Open Mick. Presenters so far: Erin Walsh, Gemma Whelan, Colleen Schultz & Jim Keegan, Daniel Curran, Claudia Dissel, Manus O’Donnell , David O’Longaigh, Mike Phillips and YOU? (Drop us a line to participate.) No host dinner at Six P.M. BLOOMSDAY at Seven. (Yes, we know that Bloomsday falls on June 16. But we meet on June 18 and figured Joyce wouldn’t mind.)
PDX HI EXCLUSIVE. Burnside Bridge build exposed KKK’s corrupt ways
Irish immigrants in Greater Portland a hundred years ago had to deal with a power structure and political system that could be hostile. This forgotten chapter from the history of BurnsideBridge, which just turned 100, exposes what they were up against. Read here how the building of the Burnside Bridge precipitated the collapse of the Ku Klux Klan in Oregon.
You know him from Hibernian meetings. See him on stage.
Mike Phillips – Hibernian Minister of Music and Soundman – will command the main stage at Kells on SW Second Ave. Friday June 5 and Saturday June 6 from 8:30pm-11:30pm each night. Here come two of the greatest words put together in the English language: No Cover. Mike’s likely to play songs of the Waterboys, the Dubliners, Oasis, Ewan MacColl (Dirty Old Town) and even Hank Williams Jr. (“allegedly Scots Irish descent”). Not to mention some of his originals, of course.
D Day movie omits Irishwoman
There’s a story behind the story told in the new movie about D Day called Pressure. Back in December of 2024, Hibernian Ed Curtin published that story about how 21-year-old Kerry native Maureen Flavin may have saved the day on our website in December 2024. Here it is with an update.
Sullivans surpass Gallaghers
It’s unfortunate when you find out your family surname has just lost its place in the Guinness Book of World Records. It’s unforgivable that you ‘re totally unaware that since 2007 clan Gallagher has held the world record for the largest ever recorded gathering of people with the same surname. Not any longer. Clan O’Sullivan/Sullivan now holds the record. Hibernian Rob Sullivan was there! Sorry buddy but the Sullivans now have the record, he texted.Here’s the RTE report on the “competition.”
As goes Ireland, so goes Aer Lingus
The history of Aer Lingus is a mirror image of the history of Ireland since Independence. Its first flight took place 90 years ago this week.Here’s a look back that just ran in the other Independent.From a small national carrier in the 1930s, Aer Lingus has evolved into a member of a large global airline group flying into all corners of the world.
No World Cup for Ireland but plenty of controversy
DEVELOPING. Don’t blame the players or mangers of Ireland’s mens national soccer team for this row. The question is: Should Ireland play Israel in an upcoming tournament? Or should the Irish team boycott the two matches to protest the way Israel is conducting the latest war against Palestine? It wouldn’t be the first time a nation opted out of international competition to make a point. Football Association of Ireland officials say the games will be played. Many others will try to stop them. It’s a sign of the times when a story like this one is covered by the Politics rather than the Sports reporter.
World Cup 2026 gets underway June 11. Neither team from the island of Ireland qualified. Nevertheless, next Thursday's PDX HI will include a handy guide for those of you who like to watch the beautiful game in the company of others....like at a pub, tavern or shebeen.
Slán go fóill.