Ireland’s Impressive Olympics
PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT Volume Two. Number Thirty-Three. 15 August 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.
MEETING TONIGHT
For the first time ever, leaders of Portland’s Irish social groups will come together to share their stories on Thursday August 15 at Kells Restaurant. Dinner at Six. (No host) Presentations at Seven. Prizes at Eight. Presented by the Portland Hibernian Society.
Scheduled to present: Sam Keator - the All Ireland Cultural Society. Denise McElwain – Irish Network Portland. Brian O’Hairt - Comhaltas Ceoltiri Eireann/Micheal O’Domnhail Branch. Holly Griffith – Corrib Theater. Bill Gallagher – Portland Hibernian Socety.
Failte. All are welcome.
(There will be Hibernian Guards available after the meeting to escort attendees to their cars.)
IRELAND LOVES ITS OLYMPIANS
The 64 women and 69 men who went to Paris to represent the Republic of Ireland at the Olympics returned to a hero's welcome at the GPO with more than just medals. More medals than Ireland had ever won at the Olympics. They also brought home stories. Gold medal winner Kellie Harrington led the Paris crowd in a sing-along of Grace. Olympic gold medal rowers Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy caught a ride with a stranger from Dublin to Cork. Several Irish athletes won praise for bucking the trend of the clichéd, boring, robotic sports interview, they are not afraid to be themselves in front of the camera and are not dissuaded from being confident about their desire to win medals and be the best in the world. RTE.
SEE YOU IN LOS ANGELES IN FOUR YEARS
Simple Olympic logic: If you want to win more medals, send more athletes. Ireland just had its best Olympics ever. Team Ireland won more medals than ever; four of those medals are made of gold. That’s also a record. One way to look at the results is to note that Ireland won as many gold medals at these Olympics as Kenya and Norway. There were 133 men and women competing for Ireland in Paris. Four years ago, Ireland sent 116 athletes to Tokyo. There could be as many as 150 Irish Olympians in Los Angeles four years from now. Taoiseach Simon Harris has pledged to spend what it takes by promising the government will invest €400 million in sports, indicating a willingness to support the long-term future of Irish sport following the Olympics.
HARRIS AND HARRIS?
If the Democratic Party’s candidate for President wins the election on November 5, the leaders of Ireland and America will share a surname. Taoiseach Simon Harris meet President Kamala Harris. He was born in County Wicklow in 1986. She was born at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland in 1964. Other than having the same surname, there’s nothing to indicate the two Harrises have ever met. The HI will keep an eye on this DEVELOPING STORY.
THE TROUBLES FROM THE INSIDE
If you’ve ever wondered what a man who spent 15 years in the Maze Prison would write about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Lawrence McKeown is your man. His play Green and Blue comes to Portland Wednesday August 28 thanks to Corrib Theater. It’s had a long run in Belfast. The playwright, McKeown, joined the Provisional IRA at 16 and was sentenced to life in the Maze Prison for the attempted murder of an RUC man in 1977. He was released in 1992 after earning multiple degrees from Queens University and surviving 70 days on a hunger strike. Green and Blue is described as, “An Irish play about a developing friendship between a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer from Northern Ireland, and An Garda Síochána officer from the Republic of Ireland, both working on the Irish border at the height of The Troubles.” If any of this sounds interesting, you may want to book your seats sooner rather than later.
KNEECAP KICKS UP A STORM
There’s quite a connection between Green and Blue and the new movie Kneecap. The father of one of the three Irish-language rappers portrayed in the film had to have known Lawrence McKeown because he also served time in the Maze prison during the Troubles for IRA activities. At least that’s what Kneecap would have you believe. Most of the story in the film is true, they say. But what is true and what is made up will keep you guessing. I haven’t seen a film about the north of Ireland with this much kick since In the Name of the Father. Or an Irish film with this much Celtic soul since The Commitments. Kneecap is about the crusade to keep the Irish language alive but it’s not a message movie. Far from it. Sex, drugs, hip hop, humor and profanity can’t dilute the power of the spirit of resistance. It's irreverent. “What do you call an IRA fugitive who teaches yoga?” Liam O’g the rapper asks his father, the fugitive and yoga instructor, “Bobby Sandals.” It's been nominated by Ireland for the Best Foreign Language (Irish) Academy Award.
https://snjmusontario.org/
SAVE THE DATE – 19 SEPTEMBER
The Portland Hibernian society welcomes Sarah Cantor, director of archives and heritage center for the Sisters of the Holy Names in Lake Oswego. Twelve of the Sisters opened what has become Saint Mary’s Academy in downtown Portland on November 6, 1859. “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 PDX Hibernian Independent will have an in-depth look at the vital role the Sisters played in shaping Portland in the September 5 edition. 2025 marks the centennial of the Sisters winning a Supreme Court ruling that saved Catholic schools in Oregon.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“What I hate about our business today is the elitism. So-called stars ride in private jets and have bodyguards and dietitians and beauticians. Tom Cruise is a midget and he has eight bodyguards all 6 feet 10, which makes him even more diminutive. It’s an absolute joke.” Richard Harris. Emmy and Grammy winner. Two time Oscar nominee. No Relation to Kamala or Simon. (When he heard he had been Oscar nominated for This Sporting Life he said, “I've struck a blow for the Irish rebellion!”)
Ricard Harris 1930 - 2002