What just happened in Ireland and New York City
PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT 6 November 2025
More than an email. Less than a newspaper. Now delivered every Thursday. Published by The Portland Hibernian Society
NEXT MEETING: Thursday 20 November 2025 – Kells Restaurant 112 SW Second Ave
REASON TO ATTEND: First Third Thursday Hibernian Book Night – Details here.
HAPPENING LOCALLY: Corrib Theater, the last standing Irish theater company on the West Coast, opens the 2025-26 season this weekend with Stilt. The play's themes are deeply intertwined with contemporary Irish life, reflecting the tension between the country’s historical and cultural legacies and the modern issues it faces. DISCOUNT FOR PDX HI READERS - Use failte2526 for 20% off any ticket at checkout.
NYC & IRE VOTERS TAKE A LEFT TURN
We're not talking about twelve days that shook the world here. But what happened in Ireland on October 24 and New York City on November 4, 2025 could turn out to be some kind of significant history. Catherine Connolly, 68, an unabashed socialist and pacifist, was elected Ireland's tenth President in a landlside in the nation where American politics was born. In New York City, where politics grew up, voters chose Zohran Mandami, an outspoken socialist and Muslim who's 34, as their 111th Mayor. Historic or, these election resuts are just the anguished cry of some really angry voters. "A left-wing lawyer and political independent, Ms. Connolly, 68, capitalized on the same anti-establishment fervor in the electorate, and enthusiasm among younger voters, that is propelling Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist," the NY Times reported a full week after the results from Ireland were in. The Journal.ie has a solid wrap up of wh at the Presisdent-elect is up to. (Irish language emphasis ahead.) Her inauguration as Uachtarán na hÉireann is set for Nov. 11.
Michael Higgins and Catherine Connolly ninth and tenth Uachtarán na hÉireann.
THE RISE AND FALL OF NEW YORK'S LAST IRISH-BORN MAYOR
The "Famine Irish" brought with them to New York their knowledge of the political systems of their English rulers and combined those with their own sense of community to create big city politics. Several NYC mayors had Irish roots and at least three were born in Ireland. The story of the last "Irish Mayor" is sedom told. Here it is. He didn't go out in a blaze of glory.
BLEEDING GREEN – THE VERY IRISH ROOTS OF THE DODGERS
Sure, it was hard to root for the Dodgers as a lifelong San Francisco Giants fan, but let's face it, there's a lot to like about the 2025 version of da bums. Founded in Brooklyn in 1883 by two sons of Irish immigrants, the Dodgers were fully owned by Walter O'Malley by the time they moved to LA in the 1950s. His great grandfather came to America from Co. Mayo not long after An Gorta Mor. His son Peter told Irish America Magazine he grew up with tales of Co. Mayo heroes, one in particular. "My dad talked a lot about Grace O’Malley, the pirate queen of Ireland four hundred years ago, who was from Mayo. He probably read all the books about her."
NOV. 20 PHS MEETING - WHAT MAKES A BOOK AN IRISH BOOK?
You'll have your chance to tell us about your favorite Irish book and share a bit about why you think so. But what qualifies as an Irish book? Take Maggie O"Farrell and her book Hamnet, which will be released a a movie this month. It's about Shakespesre's son (not very Irish) and O'Farrell, though born in Co. Derry, lives in England. But her experience gowing up qualifies her as an Irish Author and anything she wrtes as an Irish Book. As she told the Irish Times, it wasnt easy being Irish in England in the 1980s. "“We used to get endless Irish jokes, even from teachers. If I had to spell my name at school teachers would say things like, ‘Oh, are your family in the IRA?’ Teachers would say this to a 12-year-old kid in front of the whole class.” PLEASE CONTACT ED CURTIN TO PRESENT. curtine@peak.org
ONLY IN IRELAND. NATIONAL TRIBUTES TO A NUN
Sister Stanislaus Kennedy of County Kerry, known throughout Ireland as Sr Stan, died last week at 86 and it was a major news story. “She’ll be remembered as a pioneering advocate for social justice and as a campaigner for those who are homeless,” reported Radio Kerry. “She was a true Christian who dedicated her life to helping those on the margins,” said Taoiseach Micheal Martin. President Michael Higgins said Sr Stan was, "a fearless advocate for human rights and equality".
RELATED: BELATED HONORS FOR SAVING 6,500 IN WW2
Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, also of County Kerry, was honored in recent days in Ireland with a stamp in his honor. Just a stamp for a man who saved 6,500 refugees fleeing the Nazis in Italy in 1943? There are other honors for Monsignor Hugh, but not as many as you'd expect. His story is amazing. More people should know who he was and what he did.
BEHIND THE SCENES: IRELAND’S TOUR GUIDES
Self-guided tours of Irish museums and tourist attractions may be a bargain, but you’ll be missing the kind of real person insight provided by the best tour guides. Example: Kilmainham Gaol. The guides are knowledgeabe, personable and up front about their sympathies for the Republican cause. Here’s a guide to the guides at the GPO, Trinity Library and Spike Island.
AIRBRUSHED OUT OF HISTORY – REBEL ELIZABETH O’ FARRELL
Yesterday, November 5, was the anniversary of the birth of Elizabeth O’Farrell in Dublin in 1883. She fought in the General Post Office during the Rising of 1916. But she did more than that. “She was a midwife at Holles Street Hospital, and a fierce Republican who stayed in the GPO throughout the rising and cared for the wounded. She delivered the unconditional surrender message from Pádraig Pearse to Brigadier General William Lowe, walking through heavy sniper fire. She then accompanied Pearse for his personal surrender. But Nurse O’Farrell was ‘airbrushed’ out of history when her shoes were all that were left remaining in the photograph of the 1916 surrender, in which she appeared alongside Padraig Pearse.” So reports the Journal.ie. True? See for yourself.
