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Coordinator: Shirley Starke Route 2, Box 230 Valley City, ND 58072 701 - 845 - 2382 |
Newsletter of the Irish Special Interest Group of American Mensa Uimhir 83: Men Fomhair/Deireadh Fomhair 1997 Opinions expressed are those of individual authors. Mensa as a whole has no opinions. |
A chairde,
My word processor was at the repair shop from October until two days ago, when I finally took it to a different repair shop and they fixed it the next day! So, at long last, I can put out another issue of our newsletter. These technological marvels are wonderful, but it is almost scary how dependent on them we become.Since December 1995 (when the books were even), the Irish SIG has taken in $439.50 and spent $397.39. This issue, obviously, will use up much of our surplus. We will have to make some changes to remain solvent.
One thing I will do, reluctantly, is to change the subscription from 6 issues/$5 to 5 issues (1 year)/$5. It might seem odd that it costs at least a dollar to print and send a 4-page newsletter, but there are other expenses besides the printing and postage: make-ready copies, postage to the printer, extra copies to be used as samples, 3 or 4 exchange subscriptions, and grace issues for expiring members.
I am having fewer extras made; I can have more made of an issue if we run low. I am eliminating all but one of the exchange subscriptions. The grace issues (which mean that some people get 8 or 9 issues for $5, which is below cost) I am going to keep, because quite a few people renew after getting their second or third notice. Hopefully, these measures will enable us to keep going without raising the price further.
Donations to tide us over for the next few issues, which will appear close together without much time between for new subscribers to come in, will be very much appreciated. So will suggestions for keeping the SIG solvent and yet affordable to all.
We received a letter from the Tipperary Clans Office (45 Main Street, Tipperary Town, Ireland), which was one of the first groups in Ireland to organize clans and run their gatherings. They are organizing a gathering of descendants of the Young Irelanders for late July, 1998. This will commemorate events that took place 150 years ago, and the group is actively seeking descendants of these patriots, most of whom were exiled to America.
Tipperary Clans provided this historical sketch of the Young Irelanders:
The Young Irelanders were a group of well educated men, both Catholic and Protestant, who were united with a fierce desire to change conditions for the Catholic poor, prior to and during the famine. After a revolt in 1848, seven were captured, tried, and transported to Van Diemen's Land, which is now known as Tasmania, a State of Australia. They were William Smith O'Brien, Thomas Francis Meagher, Terence Bellew MacManus, John Martin, John Mitchel, Kevin Izod O'Doherty and Patrick O'Donohue. Other notables of this movement were Charles Gavan Duffy, John Blake Dillon and Thomas Osborne Davis, who were the founders of The Nation, the tabloid of the young Irelanders. There were others, many of whom were exiled to America. Some also escaped from Van Diemen's Land, joined their compatriots in America, and established themselves in their professions, rising to high office. Such names as General Thomas Francis Meagher (NY and Montana), John Mitchel (NY and Tennessee), and Richard O'Gorman (NY) are well etched into American history. The name of Thomas D'Arcy McGee would be better known in Canada.
If you are interested in attending the gathering, write to the above address or to Clann na h˜ireann, 9 Emmett Street, Tipperary Town, Ireland, phone (0)62-33188.
Comhalta„ Nua
Kevin Slattery (17 Hite Court West, Schenectady, NY 12303) writes, "I am trying to find out the Gaelic translation (or similar phrase) for 'Go with love' or 'Love, Dad.' I want to have a Celtic cross necklace engraved for my son, who is going out on his own."Thanks for any help you might give."
The Gaelic for 'Go with love' would be 'Tir le gr,' and for 'From Dad, with love,' 'ÌO Dhaid, le gr.' I sent these translations to you after I received your letter in September, and you wrote back to let me know they were what you wanted. I'm glad to have been of help!
Judson M. Horning, 4701 Kessler Boulevard East Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46220-5346 Bill Luther, 22-16 27th St., Astoria, NY 11105 Thomas Mitchell, 209 South Vine Street, Port Angeles, WA 98362 Robert E. Bell, 104 24th Ave. East, #3, Seattle, WA 98112
Litreacha
Lisa Shea (80 Lincoln Road, Sutton, MA 01590) writes, "Enclosed is my lengthy trip log -grin-. I don't expect you to run all of it, but if any paragraphs strike you as interesting, you're more than welcome to run those. I think in general we hung out with locals and avoided tourist traps. We played darts in Knocknagree, went to a wedding out in Clare, and drove around the coast. I suppose many people aren't lucky enough to have 'built in relatives' over there, but still, don't stay on a tour bus the entire time! I felt sorry for the 'sheep people' being herded from spot to spot, never getting to just roam around or talk to people. We hiked, climbed, roamed, and hunted. It was great fun."On the other hand, there were many tourists we encountered that we were just as happy to leave in Killarney or other tourist traps. They made fun of Irish dwellings and looked down on them. They asked snidely (as if it were a silly custom) about Aran sweaters, or crosses, or anything else 'primitive looking' they came across. They weren't impressed by the friendly people or the gorgeous scenery, but instead hung out at 'medieval feasts' and took pictures of 'authentic thatched cottages' which were obviously built to hold the gift shops inside. I imagine if I lived in Ireland I would get frustrated by people who came to visit my beautiful land, and then spent all their time degrading it.
"Something the Irish found vastly amusing was many Americans' insistence they were 'Irish' even though it was their great-great-great-grandparents who came from Ireland and they'd never been to the island. At the dart bar one of the guys asked me if I was Irish (my last name is 'Shea' from my ex, who is guilty of that 'I am full blooded Irish even though I'm 25% Italian and 50% English' mentality). I said I was a smidgen Irish, with my great-great-grandmother coming over during the famine. He broke out laughing - he was lucky he knew who his grandmother was! It seems strange to them that, being born in America, a person would claim to be anything else. Being so involved in genealogy I understand how neat it is to trace ethnic lines back over time - maybe that's a luxury that only Americans have. In Ireland, after all, they burned records to prevent being arrested for being 'the wrong religion.'
"If anyone is interested in my genealogical notes from 'over there,' take a look at hhtp://www.geocities.com/~janeshea. I mostly traced Sheas, Maguires, and other related lines, but I came across quite a bit."
Go raibh mle maith agat for your notes and your letter! I will print selections from your notes from time to time: they are very interesting indeed!
Maybe the reason Americans like to trace their ancestry and identify with the ethnic groups of their forebears is that America is a young country, most of whose people have ancestors, not too far back, who came from somewhere else. Most people in Ireland are Irish, after all: no need to trace their ancestry to find that out, and no big deal either. Americans can be almost anything, and we are interested in our origins!
Tom Culhane (954 Stuyvesant Ave., Union, NJ 07083) sent us the text of a letter to Congressmen that he wrote for the Irish American Unity Conference asking for support for New Jersey Congressman Payne's bill, HR 1075, to prohibit the export of plastic bullets to the United Kingdom.
Tom's letter reads in part: "In recent years Amnesty International and the Helsinki Human Rights Commission report that the greatest violator of human rights in Europe has been England victimizing the Irish Republican people. Using plastic bullets to control crowds of people has been banned throughout Europe except in the North of Ireland where tens of thousands have been fired at the Irish. Hundreds of people have been injured, some fatally. America must send a message to the occupying forces in the North of Ireland - 'We do not support in any way English killing amd maiming of unarmed native born Irish people.'
"Plastic bullets are rock hard poly vinyl chloride, measuring 4" long by 1°" in diameter, weighing approximately 4.75 oz. and have been proven to be lethal at fired speeds up to 200 mph."
The address of the Irish American Unity Conference is: National Press Building, 529 14th Street NW, Suite 837, Washington, DC 20045, phone (800)-947-4282, fax (202)-662-8831.
Patrick Swords (425 Newbridge Road, East Meadow, NY 11554) writes, "It always is a happy occasion to renew my Irish SIG membership. As an avid reader of Irish America magazine, faithful viewer of 'Out of Ireland,' and member of the local Irish cultural society, one needs something more special such as your newsletter.
"Jonathan Stevenson's book, We Wrecked the Place, is a good primer for those of us who hardly know the difference between a Unionist and a Loyalist. "I enjoyed reading Angelica's Ashes by Frank McCourt. Recently he was on C-span's Booknotes that I watched in an out of town motel."
Thank you for the kind words, a chara! Patrick enclosed a copy of a review of Before the Dawn: An Autobiography, by Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein, and We Wrecked the Place: Contemplating an End to the Northern Irish Troubles by American journalist Jonathan Stevenson.
The reviewer says, "To have one book that hinges on interviews with 32 of these former terrorists and another that is a memoir by the Irish Republicans' greatest living hero should be to discover a trove of insight."
Here are two of the many sweatshirt and T-shirt designs available from Regent Graphics, P.O. Box 82607, Swissvale, PA 15218. Depending on how long it takes to get this issue printed, you might have time to order some of them for Christmas gifts.
(Hard copy sent by Michael Greaney - Assimilation of Normans, Part I) Not available in on line copy