Celebrating Bloomsday - 2024
PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT Volume Two. Number Twenty-Nine. June 20, 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.
WHY WE LOVE IRISH WRITERS
We gather this evening at Kells Restaurant on the first day of Summer to continue our Bloomsday tradition of appreciating/honoring/listening to the words of Irish men and women who write well. Come to Kells and join David O’Longaigh, Gemma Whelan, Dick Feeney, Katie Hennessy, Colleen Schultz, Tim Birr and myself with a variety of readings. Special musical guest Mike Phillips will perform After The Ball live. Bloomsday comes but once a year so don’t miss this. There will be a no-host, first-come-first -served dinner in Kells Restaurant starting at Six P.M. The performances should begin about Seven P.M.
ICYMI - 90 YEARS AGO – ULYSSES WAS FINALLY FOR SALE IN AMERICA
From the PDX Hibernian Independent - Ulysses was published in Europe in 1922 but not in America until 1934. Hundreds of copies were smuggled in before that. (Ernest Hemingway was one of the “bookleggers”.) One federal judge decided it wasn’t obscene and shouldn’t be banned. The rest is history.
BRINGING SOME IRISH TO LO
Irish Network Portland is staging its popular Family Sports Day in Lake Oswego this Sunday, June 23. Foothills Park, along the banks of the Willamette River, is the site of this year’s event.
While you’re in the neighborhood, check out The Dullahan, the number one Irish pub in LO.
AER LINGUS PILOT STRIKE LATEST
Aer Lingus isn’t the national airline of Ireland*, but it sure seems like it is. With its 40,000 passengers on 220 flights each day, Aer Lingus spreads Ireland vibes around the world. Some bad vibes could be coming. "Pilots at Aer Lingus have served notice to the airline that they intend to go on an “indefinite” work to rule starting next week,” reports Independent.ie. That’s not a strike exactly, but if the “industrial action” by the pilot’s union begins on June 26, “Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night,” as Margo Channing says in All About Eve. A bit of advice: "Clare Dunne, CEO of the Irish Travel Agents Association, said holidaymakers should continue to “sit tight” until they learn how their flights may be affected.” *Aer Lingus IS the flag carrier of Ireland and WAS founded by the Irish Government but privatized beginning in 2006 and is now owned by IAG (International Aircraft Group) which also owns British Airlines. Pilots voted 99% in favor of a strike. They want a 24% raise, Aer Lingus is offering abut 12%.
BUSINESS BETWEEN OREGON AND IRELAND SLOWED LAST YEAR
Without getting into the weeds, as they say, here’s the major takeaway from new numbers showing a slowdown in the value of Oregon-made products sold to Ireland – in other words, exports from here to there. SEE ATTACHMENT. It’s not consumer goods that drive the relationship, it’s computers and electronics and heavy machinery. “There have been significant declines in the value of Irish imports driven entirely by a decline in Computers and Electronics, presumably driven by Intel,” said Martin Buckley of Irish Network Portland. Oregon is the number four exporting state to Ireland but has topped that metric in recent years. Here’s the report from Bret Marchant of Greater Portland Inc.
BUSINESS FLASHBACK – KATHLEEN'S OF DUBLIN LIVES
PDX HI came across this item in a back issue of the Oregonian published in 2015 based on a Downtown Portland Guide Book from 2004: Kathleen’s of Dublin The shop specialized in Irish-made clothing and jewelry. At the time of the 2004 visitor’s map, it was located in the Southwest Broadway space that now is home to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, though it briefly moved a block west to Southwest Park in 2007 before closing in 2011.
PDX HI is happy to report that Kathleen’s lives on line. The Celtic Jewelry Studio. A local Irish treasure.
OH RORY!
Rory McIlroy wasted no time getting out of town after blowing a two-stroke lead in the last five holes at the U.S. Open. One day later he had this to say. “As I said at the start of the tournament, I feel closer to winning my next major championship than I ever have. The one word that I would describe my career as is resilient. I’ve shown my resilience over and over again in the last 17 years and I will again.”
SHE’S NOT JUST IRISH. SHE’S A DERRY GIRL.
Susan Davis and Francis Gwynn left their jobs in the garment industry in Ulster in 1836 and sailed to America from Derry. They married in Philadelphia and had a daughter they named Mary. Mary Gwynn is Taylor Swift’s great-great-grandmother. Seems that makes Ms. Swift pretty, pretty Irish. Here we thought she may have been related to Jonathan Swift. (See quote below.) It’s surely a coincidence that the story of her heritage comes just in time for her concerts in Ireland. Taylor Swift brings her Eras Tour to Dublin's Aviva Stadium from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 June.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED? IRISH ELECTION RESULTS
Consider this month's balloting across Ireland the preliminaries to a general election for all the marbles that has to be held before March of next year. The results are in from local and European Parliamentary elections held in Ireland in June. Since I’m still trying to figure out Portland’s new election scheme, I can hardly be expected to grasp the fine points of electoral politics in Ireland. Beware of conventional wisdom. The two political warhorses that have been pulling politics in Ireland since Independence – Fine Gael and Fianna Fail – finished one-two but lost seats since 2019. Sinn Fein took it on the chin. Pundits speculate that younger, anti-immigration Sinn Feiners may have defected to parties preaching that message. About half of those registered to vote cast ballots.
IRISH RIDICULE ENGLAND TEAM COLOR SCHEME
The newspaper reports and social media reaction to the new team photo of England’s men’s national soccer club didn’t have to explain why black and tan is a touchy color combination. Thanks Brendan Birr.
A POTATO SHORTAGE IN IRELAND. REALLY.
For the 600 commercial potato farmers in Ireland, last year’s growing season was “the worst in living memory.” Floods followed by frost in October meant many popular late varieties...were lost across the country while prolonged wet weather this spring has caused widespread delays in getting potatoes in the ground,” reports the Irish Times. So far, the shortage is hitting Ireland’s most popular spud – Kerr's Pink – the hardest. Similar conditions existed in the Pacific Northwest this Spring, leading to later plantings.
THE FONZ – BIG FAN OF DUBLIN FIRE BRIGADE
It happened one night a week ago in an Irish hotel that began operation in 1824 and played a role in the 1916 Rising – an electrical fire. Among the guests who fled onto the street across from St. Stephens Green was Henry Winkler. He spoke to RTE.
THE SOCIALS
You won’t find the Portland Hibernian Society on Tik Tok, Instagram, Messenger or Twitter er X. But we can be found on Linked In and Facebook.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
The best doctors in the world are Doctor Diet, Doctor Quiet, and Doctor Merryman.
Jonathan Swift, (born Nov. 30, 1667, Dublin—died Oct. 19, 1745, Dublin), Irish author, the foremost prose satirist in English. Apparently no relation to Taylor.
You are encouraged to share this newsletter with at least one other person curious about Ireland and its local extended family.