Stories and Sport in Ireland: May 16 @ Kells
After a short membership appeal, read about a legendary Irish heavyweight champ, have the GAA explained and learn of the new fastest woman in Ireland.
PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT
Volume Two. Number Twenty Six. May 2, 2024
More than an email. Less than a newspaper. In your email box the first and third Thursday morning of every month. Published by The Portland Hibernian Society.
NEXT MEETING - Thursday May 16, Six p.m.. Kells Restaurant on SW Second. No host dinner followed by meeting at 6:45 p.m.
PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT FIRST ANIVERSARY ISSUE SALUTES SPORT IN IRELAND....Eire's original heavyweight champ...Only in Ireland around the world – The GAA...Will she be Ireland's fastest woman ever?... Rory and Shane rip it up in NOLA...
But first.
CAN YOU SPARE JUST UNDER THREE DOLLARS A MONTH? Elevator Pitch: Will you support the Portland Hibernian Society and the work it does by investing $35 dollars? Our membership is more representative of the local Irish Diaspora than it's been in our 26 years. We’ve got a Steering Committee. There’s a newsletter - The PDX Hibernian Independent - and a website. And don’t forget the chance to gather with other local Irishmen and Irishwomen at our monthly meetings and special events. If you’ve already sent in your $35 or $50, Thank You/Go raibh maith agat . (See who has below.)
To make it as easy as possible to support the PHS, you can mail a check for $35 or $50 to; Treasurer Tim Hennessy at 11616 SE John Thomas Ct. Happy Valley OR 97086. Make the check payable to PHS.
HE’S GOT AN IRISH STORY TO TELL. DO YOU?
Hibernian Dan Holden will inaugurate the PHS Seanchai Series on Thursday, May 16 at Kells Restaurant. (Seanchai: A traditional Gaelic storyteller or historian, a bearer of "old lore". Pronounced sean-a-thee.) Dan will tell the fascinating story of Dan Donnelly, the first Irish Heavyweight Boxing Champion who fought bare fisted back in the early 1800s. There were few rules and no regulations for boxing in those days. According to (urban) legend, Dan's arms were so long he could touch his knees without bending down. Try it. True Story: Dan Donnelly’s arm is on display at Croke Park in Dublin. Here’s how it got there.
“A WORD ABOUT IRISH ATHLETICS”
That was the headline on an article by Michael Cusack that ran in Irish newspapers in October 1884. His appeal to the Irish to develop their indigenous games and govern their playing led to the creation of the Gaelic Athletic Association. Here we are in 2024 with 400 GAA clubs around the world. Including Greater Portland. Tony Valley from Columbia Red Branch will give us a GAA show-and-tell about the unique Irish sports of hurling, Gaelic football and camogie. 60 Minutes aired a report showing how hurling combines the skills of lacrosse, baseball and hockey. ICYMI –Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan compares hurling to thirty chimps with sticks trying to play golf with one ball. (Rated R.)
TO GO WHERE NO IRISH WOMAN HAS GONE BEFORE
April was an incredible month for the fastest woman in Ireland as she prepares for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris (26 July - 11 August). Keep an eye on Rhasidat Adekele, born in Dublin 21 years ago, as she does things on the track no Irish woman has done before. She's the first Irish woman to go under fifty seconds in the 400 meter race (49.20) and the first Irish sprinter to win an NCAA outdoor title. Last Saturday she shattered the Irish record for 100 meters. She ran for the University of Texas, where she'll graduate with a degree in Corporate Communications next month. She trained with the Tallacht Athletic Club as a teen and acknowledged the debt she owes to the cub's founder, who passed away last month at 83.
TELL ME THIS HEADLINE WASN'T WRITTEN BY AI
"Irish eyes smile upon Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry in Zurich Classic of New Orleans triumph." That's how the PGA propaganda publication put it after Ireland's two best golfers put a spell on the competition. It all started with a really drunken lunch.
SOME NON SPORTS NEWS FROM IRELAND
TIMELY. BLESSING OF THE PLANES AT DUB WILL CONTINUE
It looked a little touch-and-go until the other day for Ireland's tradition of blessing the fleet of planes at Dublin Airport by a Catholic priest. The tradition began in 1947 with the blessing of an Aer Lingus aircraft, and since 1967 has taken place on Christmas Day when the airport is closed. The threat to the 77-year tradition came from New aviation security protocols regarding airside access, To tell the truth, I never knew Ireland closed its busiest airport every Christmas Day. (The annual Blessing of the Planes at DUB began long before Boeing's recent issues. Aer Lingus runs an all-Airbus fleet of aircraft.)
IRELAND'S TOP ACTRESS IS OUR NEIGHBOR
Can you name Ireland's most successful actress based on how much her movies have made at the box office? Only three Irish men have chalked up more than her. She's Kerry Condon. Best known for playing the sister to quirky Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin, for which she received an Oscar nomination. Turns out she doesn't live far from Greater Portland these days. "Condon has.. her farm near Seattle, in Washington state, where she keeps nine rescue horses, including one she adopted after filming the HBO series Luck with Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. A far-flung horse farm is on brand for Condon, as her father bred horses when she was growing up, in Co Tipperary, and her cousin Richard is a jockey." For the record Liam Neeson is Number One 11.35 billion euros, Michel Gmbon (Deceased) 8.37 billion, Domhnall Gleeson 8.19 billion and Kerry Condon with 8.09 billion euros.
MATT DAMON LOVES DALKEY AND VICE VERSA
The actor who made his name going full Boston Irish in Good Will Hunting spent more time in Ireland during Covid than he had planned. In Dalkey nort of Dublin as a matter of fact. "“It’s incredible there, it’s just beautiful, I had no idea. We got so lucky, and we really fell in love with it in Dalkey, What a part of the world that is, and the community just kind of absorbed us, it was really a bit like a fairytale," said Damon. Old news? Not since it was announced that his image adorns bags from a Dalkey institution: Super Valu.
CORRIB THEATRE’S CORRIDOR TO CELTIC MAGIC
Corrib Theatre’s latest production, From A Hole In The Ground, is directed by Holly Griffith, a friend of the Portland Hibernian Society and a member of the board of AICS. "Actor/playwright/poet/sorcerer Ken Yoshikawa summons monsters and malevolent forces straight from Irish mythology for his original thriller." It runs at the Alberta Public House until May 19. The Oregonian says it’s a “must see.”
ROLL OF HONOR
Those who have staked small fortunes on the future performance of the Portland Hibernian Society are: Ralph Bliquez, Pete Craven and Family, Daniel Curran, Ed Curtin, Dorothy Foley, Jaye Fraser, Bill Gallagher, Joan Gallagher, Jim Galluzzo, Mike and Gayle Heffernan, Tim. and Katie Hennessy and Family, Frank Holt, John and Patty Joyce, Jim Keegan, Brian Kelly and Diane Ruminski, Jack and Martha Lynch, Colleen Schultz, Erin Walsh, Mike Walsh and Family.
If you'd like to join these fine folks on the PHS Roll of Honor, you can mail a check for $35 (Individual) or $50 (Family) to our Treasurer Tim Hennessy at 11616 SE John Thomas Ct. Happy Valley OR 97086.
Or, you can bring a check or cash to our meeting on May16 at Kells Restaurant.
FROM ISSUE NUMBER ONE OF THE PDX HIBERIAN INDEPENDENT - May 2, 2023.
Go raibh maith agat as é seo a léamh. Thig leat a roinnt. (Thanks for reading. Feel free to share.)
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