Pre-Bloomsday Special Edition
PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT
Volume Two. Number Twenty-Eight. June 6, 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.
NEXT MEETING - Thursday, June 20, Six p.m. Kells Restaurant on SW Second. No host dinner followed by BLOOMSDAY at Seven p.m.
BELATED BLOOMSDAY
The Portland Hibernian Society honors the splendid Irish tradition of Bloomsday (June 16) a few days late this year. Join us at Kells Restaurant on SW Second on Thursday June, 20 at Seven P.M. No host dinner at Six P.M.
David O’Longaigh has been putting together our Bloomsdays since last century. HE’D LOVE TO HAVE YOU PARTICIPATE.
"Read a vignette of your favorite piece that displays the Father's role in Ulysses or other Irish literature, or read something that reminds you of your Father and share why."
“This year will be about sharing readings of Irish literature of course, but more importantly what they mean to you and why: all in the name of the father, the Irish father.
“This year the Bloomsday Irish father, next year the Bloomsday Irish mother.”
THURSDAY JUNE 20 – KELLS RESTAURANT ON SW 2ND – SEVEN P.M. (DINNER AT SIX)
Tom O'Leary, proprietor of TC O'Leary's, which hosts a weekly reading of Ulysses for anyone interested, tells the PDX HI, " We plan to do a little get together at 5pm on Bloomsday. Will probably go on for an hour or so with some readings and songs. May even have a Gorgonzola sandwich available. Cheers, Tom."
90 YEARS AGO – ULYSSES WAS FINALLY FOR SALE IN AMERICA
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.
Bloomsday and the Ulysses Obscenity Trial — Portland Hibernian Society
Ninety years ago this month, American readers were getting their first look at a modern masterpiece written by the Irish author James Joyce; only made possible due to a fascinating court battle.
www.portlandhiberniansociety.org
120 YEARS AGO - THE TRADITION OF HIBERNIANISM IN GREATER PORTLAND
Hibernian Brian Kelly recently forwarded a fascinating historical find. It’s a letter from Charles Duggan, the President of the Portland AOH Division, written 120 years ago this week. ““The Irish people don’t seem to pull together in this city. There are a few good members who are trying to keep the Order together, while a great many more don’t take any interest in the Order,” he wrote in 1904. Read his letter here The PHS appreciates the support of a few good members and encourages you, if you haven’t already, to send a check for $35 (Individual) or $50 (Family) made out to PHS to Tim Hennessy 11616 SE John Thomas Ct. Happy Valley OR 97086. Better yet, bring a check to our Bloomsday meeting on June 20.
40 YEARS AGO - WHEN PRESIDENT REAGAN VISITED BALLYPOREEN, CO TIPPERARY
It was during the Presidential election year of 1984 – forty years ago this week – that President Ronald Reagan visited his ancestral home in Ireland. His great grandfather Michael Reagan was born and baptized in Ballyporeen but was an orphan by the age of six and eventually emigrated to England and then America. RTE covered the relatively low-key reception for Ronald and Nancy Reagan. During his speech, Reagan name-checked Commandant Sean Treacy of the IRA. “One of your townsmen sang me a bit of a tune about Sean Treacy, and a few lines stuck in my mind. They went like this -- not that I'll sing -- ``And I'll never more roam, from my own native home, in Tipperary so far away.' (If there was a Mount Rushmore for heroes of the War of Independence Sean might well be on it.) Irish protestors greeted the President from a distance. It wasn’t covered as heavily as the Ballyporeen visit, but Reagan also addressed the Dail (Irish Parliament). He went from Ireland to France for the 40th anniversary of D Day.
“THE IRA WAS NEVER THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND...”
“...and Hamas is not the people of Palestine.” The new Taoiseach Simon Harris responded to Israel’s swift criticism of Ireland’s decision to extend diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine. “Ireland, Spain and Norway have all decided to recognise the state of Palestine, prompting the Israeli foreign ministry to reprimand their ambassadors during a meeting where the diplomats were also shown video footage of female Israeli soldiers being taken hostage by Hamas.” Irish Times.
WILL THE TRI-COLOR SURVIVE REUNIFICATION?
Amid the talk of the potential eventual reunification of the 26 counties of Ireland with the 6 counties of Northern Ireland, there are some really tough questions. Like, “If Ireland’s 32 counties unite as one nation, what’s to become of the Tri Color flag of the Republic? And what about the Soldier’s Song, the national anthem of the Republic?”
Gerry Addams took those questions on recently. The Irish Post reports on his comments in a recent documentary. His answers may surprise you.
IRISH WOMEN GETTING PREGNANT LATER
The Government of Ireland officially acknowledged that more Irish women are getting pregnant later in life by expanding its free birth control program to cover women 32 - 35. "Ireland’s Free Contraception Scheme was first introduced in September 2022, initially for those aged 17 to 25, and expanded to include 26-30-year-olds in 2023.It was further expanded to include women aged 31 in January 2024." Irish Post.
IRISH OREGON – BANDON
As previously reported in the PDX Hibernian Independent, apparently the only town or city in Oregon that has a sister city (or twinning as they call it in Ireland) relationship is Bandon, on the southern Oregon Coast. Bandon is better known for its world class golf courses than for having a sister in West Cork. And what’s the connection anyhow? Actually, Bandon, Oregon is not only named after Bandon in Ireland, it was nearly destroyed by Irish gorse. The founder of Bandon is Geroge Bennett, an Anglo-Irishman from West Cork who arrived in Oregon in 1873. By 1874 the coastal town where he settled was re-named for his hometown back in Ireland. He imported his favorite Irish plant – gorse – planted it everywhere and when fire swept through Bandon in 1936, it was fueled by acres of what the locals like to call IRISH gorse. This history is resurrected because Bandon is the subject of a recent Oregonian story. The local lighthouse is on the ropes, “A charming little lighthouse that has become an orphan,” said volunteer Rick Morris, pointing to the rusting stair railings, crumbling masonry and other deteriorating, missing or unsafe parts.”
DUBLIN/NEW YORK “PORTAL” IS TOO TEMPTING
What if there was a large public window on the streets of New York and Dublin that would allow passersby in the two cities to see and be seen by each other? “Science fiction loves the idea of a window or portal between two distant places. And now there is a real one connecting Dublin and New York,” reports the Irish Post. What could possibly go wrong? “One Dubliner was caught on camera mooning, that is, baring his behind. He was whisked away by an officer of An Garda Síochána, even though his offence was against people outside the jurisdiction. On the other side, a young woman lifted her top and bra and wriggled vigorously. She says she has since received death threats from people who lack a sense of humour.” Thanks to Hibernian Tim Birr for the tip on this story.
PEAKY BLINDERS WILL BE BACK – WITH A MOVIE
What’s the Irish angle? There are two. (Peaky Blinders ran from 2013 to 2022 but is always available on Netflix.) One. Famous Corkonian film star Cillian Murphy plays WW 1 PTSD sufferer Thomas Shelby, kingpin of a vicious family-based crime gang in Birmingham (England). Two. Members of the Shelby Clan are Travellers from Northern Ireland. Murphy’s turn as Tommy Shelby came before his career exploded like a bomb in a Birmingham pub. "It will be an explosive chapter in the Peaky Blinders story," series creator Steven Knight said, "Full-on Peaky Blinders at war." BBC.
A FEW GOOD QUOTES FROM ULYSSES
“Can’t bring back time. Like holding water in your hands.”
“The movements which work revolutions in the world are born out of the dreams and visions in a peasant's head on the hillside.”
“Think you’re escaping and run into yourself. Longest way around is the shortest way home.”
“I’ve put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that’s the only way of insuring one’s immortality.” James Joyce re: Ulysses
