Pogues. Polls. President Kennedy
THE HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT
Volume One. Number Sixteen. December 7, 2023.
More than an email. Less than a newspaper. In your email box the first and third Thursday of every month. Published by The Portland Hibernian Society.
COME TO THE CROSS AT MOUNT CALVARY ON WED. 12.13, 11 a.m.
Fifteen years ago, the President of Ireland travelled to Portland’s Mount Calvary Cemetery to dedicate the Oregon Potato Famine Memorial and its iconic Celtic Cross. It had been nearly a century since an Irish leader of that stature had come to Oregon.
On Wednesday, December 13, the Portland Hibernian Society will host a ceremony commemorating the fifteenth anniversary of that dedication. All are welcome to join us at 11 a.m. for a procession to the Cross followed by a blessing, piping, song and poetry.
PHS member Daniel J. Curran authored this entry on the history of Mount Calvary Cemetery in the Oregon Encyclopedia.
THERE WILL BE NO THIRD THURSDAY MEETING OF THE PORTLAND HIBERNIAN SOCIETY IN DECEMBER.
WRITERS NIGHT ROCKS KELLS RESTAURANT
It was a full house the night of November 16 at Kells as 50 fans of the Irish experience rendered in prose and poetry gathered in appreciation of four local
writers with four different approaches to the art of writing. Daniel J. Curran shared from his memoir a surprising side of sobriety he encountered in Cahirciveen in County Kerry. Gemma Whelan’s fictional Irish adventurer finds herself feeling abandoned in foggy San Francisco. Frank Holt’s poetry was brash but tender, befitting one raised in Dublin. Dan Holden’s historic writing led him to an Irish invasion of Canada that was kind of comical but ultimately consequential.
Mike Phillips of The Portland Hibernian Society produced the proceedings and even kicked things off by singing Luke Kelly's paean to Dublin, HOT ASPHALT.
NOT A SURPRISE BUT STILL A SHAME
Obituaries and tributes to Shane MacGowan dominated the news recently, especially in Ireland. If you're up for one more memories-of-Shane-MacGowan article, here's a good one from Irish America.
"It is a unique feature of a Shane MacGowan concert that as soon as he walks on stage, the crowd not only shouts its welcome but attempts to guess just how drunk he is."
(Ed. Note) Saw Shane at the Roseland on SW Burnside when he was way past his prime and that sounds about right. There used to be a Pogues cover band here in Portland. Featuring some members of the Decemberists, the band’s name was KMRIA. Stood for Kiss My Royal Irish Arse. Sounds about right. For my money, they did the Pogues better than the real Pogues in later years..
Plans for his funeral procession through Dublin tomorrow (Dec 8) have been announced. Johnny Depp, best man at MacGowan's wedding in 2018, will attend.
GUESS WHAT’S BEEN NAMED #1 TOURIST ATTRACTION?
Not #1 in Ireland. #1 in the world. “The Guinness Storehouse, which welcomed over a million visitors last year, beat a who’s-who of global tourist attractions to its award – including Niagara Falls, the Las Vegas Strip, the Acropolis of Athens, the Grand Canyon, Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal.
The win was announced at a glittering World Travel Awards (WTA) ceremony at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai.” Same outfit named Titanic Belfast #1 in 2016.
UNITED IRELAND POLL: IT'S THE ECONOMY
The possibility that a united Ireland would mean more money in their pockets would make a lot of citizens in the North and South support the idea. On the other hand, if it meant less income, many of those polled would not support reunification. Say what you want about hopes and dreams of a 32-county Ireland, for more than a third of respondents the bottom line is their bottom line. As you'll see from this poll's results, like so many Irish issues, it's complicated.
"YOUNGEST OF NATIONS. OLDEST OF CIVILIZATIONS."
Sixty years ago, JFK spoke to the Irish Parliament, the Oireachtas Éireann, during his visit to Ireland in the summer of 1963. He was at the time the first President of the United States to travel to Ireland. (Since then, every President except Gerald Ford and Donald Trump have made the same pilgrimage while in office. The Irish crowds are always friendly.) JFK gave Irish lawmakers that day a history lesson and spoke of a robust Irish economy that’s not far off from what exists there today. “For the Ireland of 1963, one of the youngest of nations and oldest of civilizations, has discovered that the achievement of nationhood is not an end but a beginning.”
His speech holds up well and is worth viewing. The You Tube version is edited. The JFK Library has the transcript of the entire speech.
“The major forum for your nation’s greater role in world affairs is that of protector of the weak and voice of the small, the United Nations. From Cork to the Congo, from Galway to the Gaza Strip, from this legislative assembly to the United Nations, Ireland is sending its most talented men to do the world’s most important work—the work of peace.”
READ ANY GOOD IRISH BOOKS THIS YEAR?
The next issue of the Hibernian Independent arrives in your email box the morning of December 21. Yes, just in time for Christmas. You last-minute shoppers will find some gift recommendations. Can you recommend any good books written from an Irish perspective? By that I mean books written by anyone whose lived experience leans toward Ireland. Drop us a line with the title and why you liked it and it will be part of the first-ever HI gift list.