SAINT BRIGID HAS HER DAYS
THE HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT
Volume One. Number Nineteen. January 18, 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.
BRIGID OF KILDARE - IRELAND’S MATRON SAINT - CELEBRATED IN PORTLAND STARTING JAN. 27
Thanks to an unprecedented collaborative effort, there will be a series of sessions to celebrate a remarkable Irish woman.
You can find the information about the line-up of events organized by MOD-CCE, Irish Network Portland, Corrib Theater and the All Ireland Cultural Society at the PHS Facebook page.
The Feast of Saint Brigid is supposed to herald the beginning of the end of the cold, dark days with freezing rain and snow we’ve been exposed to this winter.
"This will be the first Irish public holiday named after a woman,” then-Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, said last year. “It marks the half-way point between the winter solstice and the equinox, the beginning of spring and the Celtic New Year.” Irish Times
“Held midway between the Winter and Spring Equinox, St Brigid's Day has been celebrated by the Irish for centuries-- before Ireland was a Christian country, it is believed to have celebrated the pagan goddess Brigid, and was also known as Imbolc, one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals, the other three being Bealtaine, Lughnasadh and Samhain.”
IMBOLC MOOD MUSIC
You can relisten to Kevin Grgurich's St. Brigid’s Day special episode of Folk Espresso. Kevin’s with the local trad Irish music ensemble Biddy On The Bench. You can listen to the playlist he’s chosen to honor Saint Brigid right now from KBOO’s mobile app or website: https://kboo.fm/media/119705-folk-espresso-maidin-mhalth-st-brigids-day-special
SAVE THE DATE - ST. PATRICK’S DAY BANQUET
At the top of our social calendar for 2024 is the TWENTY SIXTH ANNUAL Saint Patrick’s Day Banquet. We hope it will top your calendar too. Here’s the date: MARCH 9 - SIX P.M. - upstairs at KELLS .
$74 MIL HIBERNIANISM HEADQUARTERS
Those of you with a connection of any kind to Irish San Francisco may already know this, but the size of the investment in a new Irish Cultural Center will amaze some: $74 million. It will be built on the site of the original United Irish Cultural Center across Sloat Boulevard from the San Francisco Zoo. That building was constructed with volunteer Irish American labor and hosted a few Gallagher/Scully family reunions.
CILLIAN MURPHY, CONAN O’BRIEN AND JENNY THE DONKEY - IRISH SHOW BIZ
Next Tuesday, January 23, the Oscar nominations will be announced. Cork-born Cillian Murphy is expected to be nominated as Best Actor for his portrayal of Robert Oppenheimer. He’s already won the Golden Globe for that performance. Two Irish-born actors were nominated for the top honor last year - Colin Farrell and Paul Mescal. The award went to Brendan Fraser for The Whale.
Irish Oscar Trivia - Only one actor born in Ireland has won an acting Oscar. Barry Fitzgerald (b. 1888 - Dublin) won Best Supporting Actor for Going My Way. Daniel Day-Lewis, who’s an Irish citizen and is said to live somewhere in Ireland, has won 3 Best Actor Oscars.
Is there a more Irish Irish-American entertainer than talk show and podcast host, Simpsons writer and stand-up comic Conan O’Brien? We think not. He’s up to his old tricks in Ireland, according to the Irish Independent, “The 60-year-old Massachusetts-born star made pitstops in Dublin, Galway and Limerick while filming for his new travel show Conan O’Brien Must Go, as he maps out his Irish family heritage.”
And because you may have a little extra time today for browsing the internet, here’s this last item. Golden Globe winner Ayo Edibini (The Bear) has adopted Ireland as her home nation. And Ireland has adopted her. It all started with Edibini (who grew up in Boston) claiming she played Jenny the Donkey in The Banshees of Inisherin. Really.
As the great Red Auerbach warned Bill Russell when Bill reached his 80th birthday, "Don't fall!"
