1960 Election: When JFK was everywhere in Oregon. Samhain:Made in Ireland.
PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT Volume Two. Number Thirty-Six. 3 October 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.
JFK at Marycrest High School n 1960.
Photo courtesy of Oregon Historical Socety and the Oregon Journal.
1960 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN LOOK BACK – JFK IN OREGON
There had never been a presidential campaign in Oregon like the one JFK waged in 1960. Thousands of Oregonians engaged with the candidate, and some are still around to tell you about it. Then-US Senator John Kennedy was all over Oregon (often with his wife Jaqueline) in 1958, 1959 and 1960. Imagine a presidential candidate visiting these Oregon cities: Portland. Salem. Eugene. Medford. Seaside. Klamath Falls. Albany. Ashland. Beaverton. Corvallis. Newport. The Dalles. Hillsboro. Saint Helens. Springfield. Toledo. “I was never really interested in national politics until I saw John Kennedy in Eugene in 1960,” recalled Neil Goldschmidt, an intern in the US Senate on November 22, 1963. So, how did that work out for JFK in Oregon? Hibernian Tom Markgraf will share the story of the Kennedy Campaign in Oregon Thursday, October 17 at Kells Restaurant on SW Second. No-host dinner at Six P.M. Program at Seven P.M.
HALLOWEEN IS IRISH AS HELL
Is there any doubt about the Irish origins of Halloween? Our ancestors invented it and sent it to America on the coffin ships. Only the native Irish would think of celebrating the presence of evil spirits among us. Not even the Catholic Church in the Seventh Century in Ireland could deny the Irish their annual post-harvest revelries called Samhain. (Pronounced sow-in) An impulse in Irish tradition is to fearlessly celebrate in the face of unsettling things not fully understood. One example is the unruly behaviour once permitted at wakes. (RTE) Not to mention Halloween mischief. (By the way, wakes haven’t been nearly as much fun since unruly behaviour was first frowned upon.) There’s a set-in-West Cork series on Netflix called Bodkin that’s got a plot line built around Samhain. One of the first scenes sets the record straight on how to pronounce Samhain. (sow-in). Based on the first two episodes of season one, PDX HI gives Bodkin two harps out of five.
CELERATE SAMHAIN (SOW-IN) THURSDAY OCT. 17 AT KELLS.TREATS FOR ALL!
Mo Scores!
SOCCER'S PENALTY KICK WAS MADE IN IRELAND AS WELL
Make the pk and it's a treat. Miss it and it's a trick. High drama, controversy, suspense and performance are all part of the penalty kick package in soccer. Action comes to a halt as one team’s designated kicker squares up against the other’s goalkeeper to settle an infraction with a shot on goal. Even the most casual fan of the beautiful game can grasp what’s on the line. Some fans love the penalty kick. Others hate it. Either way, IT WAS INVENTED IN IRELAND. And the origin story would make a swell Netflix series. Essentially, the son of a millionaire Protestant linen baron in County Armagh played a lot of soccer. He proposed a rule to punish those who would dare to stop a goal with their hands: A penalty kick. Not necessary, said the lords of the game, our players aren’t cheats. Nevertheless, by 1891 they adopted Rule 13. A penalty kick. Consider how many times all over the world one team's fortunes have ridden on this Irish innovation. Next time you’re in Ireland visit the home of the penalty kick in Milford, County Armagh, not far from the home of Micheal Smith, Ireland’s Consul General on the West Coast. THANKS TO HIBERNIAN TIM BIRR FOR THE TIP OFF ON THIS ONE.
ALL IRELAND - THE BEST OF THE BEST IN 36 COUNTIES
There is no World Series in Ireland. Instead, there’s All Ireland. The best of the best on the island in all sorts of activities is what that means. And that applies to traditional Irish music as well as traditional Irish games. There’s an All Ireland National Champion for the playing of instruments from the flute to the fiddle to the concertina to the button accordion. (Those last two are different instruments.) John Whelan won the All Ireland Button Accordion competition in the Eighties. He’ll be appearing in Tualatin twice in November. Check out the Fall Schedule for S & A here.
IT'S NOT A GOOD SIGN WHEN THEY START CHARGING YOU FOR COFFEE AND TEA AT WORK
The Times of London weighs in with an in-depth look at Intel in Ireland. "The beleaguered US chipmaker has paused investment in its Irish operations, raising concerns about the impact on its workers here and the wider economy." It’s a long read, but worthwhile if you’ve got a quarter hour to spare. Deep in the reporting is this gem from workers in Leixlip, “Since the cuts were announced [I’m] just noticing that everything is being questioned by management,” he said. “From October staff have to pay for tea and coffee — they have always been free and fruit has been too.” There’s a hopeful bottom line. “Intel has confirmed that Ireland “will remain our lead European hub for the foreseeable future”.
THE BOSTONIAN AND CORKONIAN BEHIND IRELAND'S LATEST OSCAR HOPEFUL
While they were making OPPENHEIMER, Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon had a moment. “I had already called Ben (Affleck) and told him what I was witnessing and how incredible it was," said Damon of the Best Actor acting skills of Murphy. "A couple of days later, Cillian told me, ‘I have my next movie I really want to do.’ And I said, ‘We are starting a studio. Can we be a part of it?'” SMALL THINGS LKE THESE is that movie, based on the short but powerful novel by Claire Keegan published in 2021. It will open in the US on November 1. Murphy’s the star. Damon’s one of the producers.
Archbishop Dermott Farrell of Dublin.
"NO DENIAL" DECLARES THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN
From the looks of it, SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE deals in an unflinching manner with Ireland’s clerical abuse crises. “I don’t know if I am qualified to speak for the nation, but I do know that it was a collective trauma, and I think we are still processing that,” said Murphy. “Art can be a really useful balm for that wound.” He’s not the only one in Ireland willing to confront that trauma. The other day, the Archbishop of Dublin strongly condemned denial as a response to the newest government document, The Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders. "Sadly, it is not new to hear that there was widespread abuse of pupils and that shameful acts were perpetrated by religious themselves, as well as by teachers, peers, and others employed in their schools,” said Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell. He was appointed to his post by Pope Francis in December, 2020
The late Maggie Smith with Kathy Bates in The Miracle Club.
MAGGIE SMITH WAS ENGLISH BUT AT TIMES COULD HAVE BEEN IRISH
According to a man who should know, Maggie Smith's Dublin accent was pairfect. "She had an Irish accent in 'The Miracle Club' which was very good, actually," said John Conroy, cinematographer on her last movie. "She cracked it - I thought it was one of the best I'd ever heard". Watching Dame Maggie in The Miracle Club you’d swear she was born and raised in north Dublin. Set in 1967, THE MIRACLE CLUB follows the story of three generations of close friends, Lily (Maggie Smith), Eileen (Kathy Bates), and Dolly (Agnes O'Casey) of Ballygar, a tough neighborhood in Dublin. (The real Ballygar is actually in County Galway.) They have one tantalizing dream: to win a pilgrimage to Lourdes. The PDX HI gives The Miracle Club four harps out of a possible five. DVD ($11.99) and streaming ($3.99) available at Prime Video.
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QUOTE FOR THE DAY - OCTOBER 3, 2024
“This is an extraordinary country, George Bernard Shaw, speaking as an Irishman, summed up an approach to life: Other people, he said, see things and say: ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were, and I say: ‘Why not?’” JFK to the Irish Oireachtas.
Hibernian Mike Holmes surprised attendees at the September PHS meeting with these sharp caps, worn by Treasurer Tim Hennessy, steering committee member David O'Longaigh and Jim Whitty.