Portland, Oregon’s connection to Ireland and Irish America

The Portland Hibernian Society exists for anyone who wants to get together with like-minded people to learn more about Ireland - its history, its culture, its people, its politics. Check out our newsletter. Hibernian Independent newsletter. Welcome to our website.

From the Hibernian Independent

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The Ambassador and the Pope
The Ambassador and the Pope
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How Oregon almost killed private schools 100 years ago
How Oregon almost killed private schools 100 years ago

It’s Oregon history that’s hard to believe. Voters voted to shut down private schools in Nov. 1922. The Supreme Court saved those schools on June 1, 1925.

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Mayday. Mayday. Become a member.
Mayday. Mayday. Become a member.

Celebrating Beltane on the First Day of May has been a constant in Celtic and Catholic Irish culture.

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Two Irish Catholic Americans Who Tried For The White House
Two Irish Catholic Americans Who Tried For The White House

Senators Gene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy brought their White House campaigns to Oregon 57 years ago; they split the Irish Catholic vote of Oregon Democrats.

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From the Blog

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When Oregon voters tried to put private schools out of business
When Oregon voters tried to put private schools out of business

An epic court battle over who would teach Oregon’s children culminated in a momentous Supreme Court decision 100years ago on June 1, 1925.

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Forgotten Battleground Oregon 1968: Bobby vs Gene
Forgotten Battleground Oregon 1968: Bobby vs Gene

RFK Senior jogs with Freckles along the Oregon Coast near the Peter Iredale shipwreck. He would later strip to his underwear and go for a swim. No photos. May 1968.

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SF Great Famine Memorial by SFGate
SF Great Famine Memorial by SFGate

San Francisco seems to be on track to fund and build the San Francisco Irish Great Famine Memorial Plaza. The location is in the northwest corner of the City and will initially be a plaza overlooking the 17th hole (par 3) of the Lincoln Park Golf Course looking out on the Golden Gate Bridge.

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Portland’s Irish Potato Famine Memorial

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Build the Nation: A Blessing
Build the Nation: A Blessing

by Father Jim Galluzzo. Delivered at the fifteenth anniversary of the dedication of the Oregon Potato Famine Memorial - 13 December 2023 - Mount Calvary Cemetery Portland Oregon.

Oregon Potato Famine Memorial 15th Anniversary
Oregon Potato Famine Memorial 15th Anniversary

In the summer of 2023, the newly appointed Consul General of Ireland on the West Coast, Micheal Smith, came to Portland to visit the Oregon Potato Famine Memorial. Here’s the presentation given to familiarize Smith with its back story and the accomplishment this Memorial represents for local members of the Irish Diaspora.