How 12 “devoted nuns” made history here.
PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT Volume Two. Number Thirty-Four. September 5, 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.
Anyone “taught by nuns” knows that not all Sisters were created equal, at least in the eyes of their students. Some were sent by God to teach us and guide us through childhood and adolescence with a firm but gentle hand. Others we didn’t get along with so well. Here in Greater Portland, there have been a number of historically important Orders. Arriving in Portland in October 1859, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (hereafter referred to as SNJM) weren’t the first Sisters to serve in the Oregon Territory. But they’ve endured the longest and played a significant role in this state’s history. The vital Irish presence in SNJM is a big part of their story.
JOIN US AT KELLS RESTAURANT THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 TO HEAR THAT STORY
The Portland Hibernian society welcomes Sarah Cantor, director of archives and heritage center for the SNJM in Lake Oswego. Twelve of the Sisters travelled to Portland from Quebec, arriving the same year Oregon became a state. “The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, in Oregon since 1859, has had numerous members of Irish descent over the years. What is perhaps more surprising is how many Irish-born women have joined the order, especially when you consider the community is based in French-speaking Quebec. How did this relationship to Ireland come about, and what impact did it have on the Northwest? “From Erin’s Green Isle: Irish Holy Names Sisters” will be presented Thursday, September 19 at Kells Restaurant by Sarah Cantor, director of archives and heritage center for the Sisters of the Holy Names, based in Lake Oswego.”
The twelve Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary who came to Portland from Quebec in 1859 and opened Saint Marys Academy, the first of several schools in the Pacific Northwest, including Marylhurst College in Lake Oswego.
Know anyone who might want to hear Sarah’s presentation? Please invite them to join us.
THURSDAY – 19 SEPTEMBER – KELLS RESTAURANT – 212 SW SECOND AVE – 7 P.M. No host dinner at 6 P.M.
By the way, Saint Mary’s Academy will celebrate its 165th anniversary next month. At the first high school graduation ceremony in 1867, graduate Hattie Gleason gave a presentation: “The Daughters of Erin.” This was the first high school graduation in Oregon - public or private.
WHEN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST “WELCOMED” THE SISTERS OF PROVIDENCE
Just a few years before the SNJM arrived in Portland, the Sisters of Providence arrived across the Columbia in Vancouver. Before those Sisters sailed west in 1856, they wore disguises in New York to avoid the wrath of Know Nothings. The climate wasn’t much more welcoming here in the West, according to the OHS Quarterly. “They were known as the Sisters of Providence and became the founders of an extensive system of hospitals known today as Providence Health & Services. But first, they had to survive in unfamiliar territory among Indigenous people and a population of White settlers that was primarily Protestant."
OVERHEARD AFTER THE AUGUST PHS MEETING. State Rep. Margaret Doherty (Ret.) to Hibernian Guard Ed Curtin, who escorted her to her car. “When we get to a certain age and use the phrase ‘friends with benefits’, we really mean someone who will walk us home or give us a ride.”
ON STAGE IN PORTLAND: “I’M A GARDA. YOU’RE A PEELER. WE’RE A UNIFORM.”
Garda O’Halloran of Garda Siochana and Constable McCabe of the Royal Ulster Constabulary are stationed on either side of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in 1994 on the threshold of a cease fire. GREEN AND BLUE is a play that reveals what’s inside the uniforms: two men doing their jobs and hoping to stay alive. This is how a two-state solution looks. O’Halloran is convivial. McCabe is “pleasant but formal.” The theater at the Alberta Public House was packed two nights in August for GREEN AND BLUE, hosted by Corrib Theater. Reunification? A 32-county Ireland someday? It’s hard not to agree with Garda O’Halloran when he admits, “When you look at Irish history, the pessimists have the stronger case.”
WHICH CEASE FIRE?
GREEN AND BLUE played in Portland on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the first cease fire, which eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement. It wasn’t the last cease fire. The road to the Good Friday Agreement was a rocky one and the issues raised in GREEN AND BLUE show why. (O’Halloran - “The Christian Brothers drummed our history into us.” McCabe - “At school we never learned about a border or how it came about. We thought Northen Ireland always existed.”) Ciarán Quinn, the Sinn Féin Representative to North America, just sent out this Letter from Ireland explaining the peace process, “The IRA campaign had lasted 25 years. The longest period of continuous conflict in the history of Ireland. My generation had been born into a society at war.”
BLUE - The 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland. GRAY - The 6 counties of Northern Ireland.
WHO IS MARTY WALSH?
Marty Walsh is, according to the Irish Times, The Irish Speaking Son of Connemara Immigrants. Marty Walsh is the former Mayor of Boston and Secretary of Labor who was one of the three most-trusted advisers Vice President Kamala Harris turned to before choosing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. Marty Walsh is the union leader, former coach and reformed alcoholic who will most likely take on a major role in her administration should Vice President Kamala Harris be elected President in November. (FDR fostered a Celtic presence in the White House, and so did JFK. Joe Biden, of course, proclaimed his Irishness loudly and proudly). Did we mention Walsh has Irish citizenship? If Harris/Walz loses, Walsh is likely to remain in place as the Executive Director of the NHL Players Association. But if Trump wins, don’t be shocked if this son of Connemara runs for President in 2028.
Former Boston Mayor and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh.
WHERE WAS MARTY WALSH?
Even though he’s a certified power player, trusted by candidates Harris and Walz, he was nowhere to be seen in Chicago last month at the DNC. The PDX HI was on the scene in Chicago during the DNC. However, without credentials we couldn’t get within shouting distance (literally) of the actual convention proceedings. So tight was security around the United Center that cops outnumbered the curious a hundred to one, at least. Organizers estimated this June that 100,000 protestors would come to Chicago. By the time the delegates convened, the estimate was down to 20,000. Ultimately, 2,000 people at most marched in protest. There were 73 arrests. There would be no replay of the 1968 DNC. It is widely believed that the mayhem then cost the Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey the election. The final verdict on the 2024 DNC rhymes with the name of Chicago's favorite son: No drama.
STRONG IRISH IDENTITY FOR OASIS IS NOT JUST A MIRAGE.
The news that the brothers Gallagher would be burying the hatchet and performing together next summer rocked Ireland last week. You’d have thought John and George had been reanimated for a reunion tour. Oasis will perform a couple of concerts in Dublin. "We are Irish, me and Liam, pretty much. There is no English blood in us," proclaimed Noel G.in his autobiography. Noel and Liam’s mother Peggy was from Charlestown in County Mayo, their now-estranged da hails from County Meath. They emigrated to Manchester in the 1960s to find work. Their boys were born in the 1980s. As for the split between the brothers that’s now apparently healed, well, they’re not the first Irish siblings to have a 15-year row. The cost of attending next summer's concerts at Croke Park is beyond the means of the multitudes and Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald isn’t happy. "Oasis fans ‘who got them where they are’ are being ‘thrown under the bus’ over the pricing system," she said.
MEET THE NEW BOSS – FROM ICELAND TO IRELAND
For the latest man in charge of the Republics national men’s soccer squad, Heimir Hallgrimsson, Saturday’s match against the men of England could not be bigger. He took over the Irish team in July. Before that he helmed the men’s national team of Jamaica and was co-manager of the Iceland team that BEAT ENGLAND AT EURO 2016. Ireland failed to qualify for Euro 2024. Was he hired because he once defeated England? Probably. For the non-soccer fan, this UEFA Nations League tournament is a prelude to qualifying next year for the 2026 World Cup here in America. Beating England Saturday would be an immense boost for Hallgrimsson and Ireland’s under-performing Boys in Green. “I think the first impression of the players is that they are really good team players, really good characters, maybe a little bit too nice.Sometimes you need a bastard in your team. I am looking for him. Maybe we can develop him,” said the native of Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland.
QUOTE OF THE DAY...IN IRISH
Is fearr an tsláinte ná na táinte. (Pronouncer: Iss fahr an tlawn-teh naw na tawn-teh.)
Health is better than wealth.
SUPPORT - If you'd like to become a member of the Portland Hibernian Society and keep receiving the PDX Hibernian Independent twice a month simply send an email to Portlandhiberniansociety@gmail.com.
SHARE - Know someone who shares your interest in the affairs of Ireland and Irish America? Forward this copy of PDX HI to them and send us their email address.
Go raibh maith agat.