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Gael Scoil 2009

 

Irish baking got a rise out of the students.

Irish baking got a rise out of the students.

By Tom Slattery

Building on the success of its initial entry into the realm of education, that of Irish cultural education for youth from 7 to 17, AOH Division 10 of Trenton, New Jersey, just completed its second Annual Gael Scoil.

Gael Scoil is Gaelic for Irish School. Held over the weekend of February 28 and March 1, the second class built on the success of of the 2008 venture and set a standard for future years. Last year Division President John Walsh stated that the Gael Scoil would be the Division’s signature event, and this year’s success was testament to the seriousness of that statement and Division 10’s commitment to make it happen..

The original committee returned intact but with one important addition, Gerry O’Rahilly. Gerry brought with him not only an intimate knowledge of computers which he translated into a clarification of the school’s logo, professional stationery, brochures and posters, but also that key commodity that escapes so many cultural organizations, youth and its enthusiasm. You better believe us older cats took advantage of this and worked even harder, and sometimes even smarter.

We learned a lot last year and so incorporated some new classes while rearranging some others. We also learned that the end of June was not the best time as we were up against vacations and other sports camps, so we took advantage of a rare open weekend in the Notre Dame High School schedule and switched the class to the start of the St. Patrick season. With the luck of the Irish we finished up about 12 hours ahead of the season’s worst snowfall.

Knowing that T-shirts, great for summer, would not work in winter, we voted on giving the kids “hoodies,” which looked like a budget-breaker until Joe Bradley and Mick McCabe combined to “make it happen.” We realized that the economy might prevent some from being able to attend and so we set up a sponsor program, which several organizations supported. Through this we grew attendance from 17 to 26, a 50 percent increase.

Two sessions we added were Irish Baking and Irish Movies. Baking was a wild success because of the four “bakers” from the Ladies Division 10. This was a true hands-on class that the kids loved. Their efforts were baked and then wrapped during the next few classes so that they all had their own loaf of soda bread to take home, along with the recipe. Since one of my grandsons attended, I can vouch for his “cake” which we had for dinner. In the Movies session we had to cut the time short, but the limited viewing of “Into the West” drew so many questions, we know it is a “keeper” session.

Aware that February 28 was not the best of times to learn Gaelic football outdoors, we came up with an alternative, which turned out even better. Pat Trainor, the local GAA Development Officer, started the Scoil off with a professional PowerPoint presentation with added film clips of Gaelic Football, and followed with a Q&A session which drew great participation. He also left a GAA football to be raffled among the students. Both Daltai and the Carrolls, Mark and Tim, built on their 2008 success in Language and Musical Instruments respectively, while filling longer time slots. The musical instruments covered were the harp, fiddle, bodhran, Irish pipes and dulcimer.

Jim McFarland gave a PowerPoint presentation in geography, which included a hand-out of all his pictures in a folder. Other topics which were all well received included history (Tom Slattery), dance (Joanne Connell Knox of DeNogla), songs (Tom Glover), highland bagpipes (Marty and Ian Ferrick), and storytelling (Tom Slattery).

There are so many that helped make this event a success. First, there is the staff of Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville, N.J., who allow us the use of one of the first-class venues in the area. Once again Mary Yeaple from York helped us with the county flags. This year she only had to lend us four since the Set of 32 which Division 10 had purchased came in, but missing four. John McKenna, a personal trainer at Notre Dame, again provided the expertise in meeting state and local filings and was the required on-site medical person. The committee consisting of Division 10 members Mick McCabe, John Walsh, Jerry McGuire, Gerry O’Rahilly and Don Carroll along with Trenton Division 1 member, Jim McFarland, and myself met pretty much weekly since October. Also, kudos to our bakers Patty Walsh, Maggie Connell, Philomena McCabe and June Balaz. June did double duty as a monitor throughout the two-day program.

Financial assistance came from McCabe Concrete Foundation LLC, who sponsored the “hoodies,” CCC Celt, who sponsored five students, Niall Brady whose generous donation helped to cover lunches, morning coffee and donuts, as well as a couple of kids. Sons & Daughters of Erin and AOH 1 Trenton each sponsored a student. George Zienowicz of Na Bodach once again provided us with a great entrance sign.

With three students from Philadelphia and one from Lower Bucks County we now realize that Philly and even Delaware County are not that far away. After all Notre Dame is only two miles south of Exit 7A (Route 206) of I95. Therefore we will try harder to attract more students from these areas next year. Without recruiting additional teachers, I feel we will be able to handle a maximum of 50 students in 2010. This is a very reachable number, so if you are interested either in sponsoring or sending a student next year, please let us know either through www.aohdiv10.org or 609 587-3208. Check the AOH website as well as Irish Philadelphia to see our 2010 Gael Scoil weekend date.

March 10, 2009 by
People

Conshy Grand Marshal Has a Strong Record of Service

Reine "Rae" Marie DiSpaldo.

Reine "Rae" Marie DiSpaldo.

By Pete Hand

Reine “Rae” Marie DiSpaldo has been selected as the Grand Marshal of the Montgomery County St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The parade will be held on March 14, 2009. in Conshohocken and is hosted by the Montgomery County Saint Patrick’s Parade, Inc. This organization is made up of the members of the AOH, LAOH and friends of the Notre Dame Divisions of Montgomery County.

Rae was born February 7, 1948, in Norristown to Howard and Rita Johnson, who are members of the A.O.H. and L.A.O.H. Notre Dame Division. Their Irish ancestry can be traced back to the counties of Mayo, Tyrone, Donegal, and Brandon Bay in Ireland. As a family, the Johnsons have supported and promoted the mission of the Hibernians and have been a consistent presence in the Irish community.

Rae attended St. Patrick’s elementary school and graduated in 1965 from Bishop Kenrick High School in Norristown. Rae is a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. She and her husband John have three children: her oldest son Joseph, his wife Gladys, daughter Leah, her husband Greg and son Gabriel and her youngest, Jake. For the past 21 years, Rae has worked as an administrative assistant at Women’s Health Care Specialists in King of Prussia. Through her involvement with her parish and school community, Rae epitomizes the Christian spirit and demonstrates to her children the importance of service to others. She continues to participate in community services through the Delaware Valley Reading Association by reading to children at affairs sponsored by the Elmwood Park Zoological Society.

Since 1992, Rae has been an active member of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians and has worked hard to enhance the organization and expand its mission beyond Montgomery County. She has held every position on the board, and set a new precedent for both the LAOH and AOH Notre Dame Division when she became the first member to hold an elected position at the state level. But, perhaps most admirable is the work she did as county president. In her term, Rae reorganized the county division, re-energized its members, encouraged and solicited more member involvement and helped to promote the implementation of two new county divisions.

She continues to work hard on behalf of events sponsored by the AOH and LAOH, such as the Irish Festival, Veterans’ Day Ceremony and Home Association gatherings. Whenever called on to be of service, whether it is serving, setting up, lecturing, or promoting, Rae answers the call. She is an original member of the Parade Committee, where she currently serves as secretary. Each year she organizes the Grand Marshal’s Ball and celebrates with those honored with the Marshal title by putting forth the extra effort to make each Marshal feel special.

March 10, 2009 by
Food & Drink, People

Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin

Leah Mulholland, 12,at her first Irish potato rolling.

Leah Mulholland, 12,at her first Irish potato rolling.

Diane Driscoll warned me. “After breathing the cinnamon for a while, you get a little crazy,” she said, leaning across a table that was liberally dusted with the spice.

Donna Donnelly, her hands moving at light speed as she rolled the confectioner sugar and cream cheese concoction that would soon be an Irish potato, took no time to snap back, “It’s not the cinnamon, Diane!”

It might be the cinnamon. This was my second year with the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Div. 87 in Port Richmond, helping make the 2,000 pounds of Irish potatoes they sell as their main fundraiser for the year. And it was as crazy and funny as the first time.

Many of the volunteers had been rolling potatoes all week, dropping into bed at night, their backs, necks, arms, and hands aching, with visions of tiny little balls plopped in a sea of cinnamon the last thing they saw when they closed their eyes. The goal was to make 2,000 pounds of the candies. That’s a ton. A person could be forgiven a little nuttiness.

Donna Donnelly, whom the rest of the women refer to as “the ball Nazi,” hustled, cajoled, bullied, threatened, and, occasionally even encouraged her workers to “just keep rolling.” At one point, she went from table to table with soft pretzels and let people take bites, exhorting them, “Don’t stop rolling! The only reason to stop is death. Yours.”

But it’s all for a good cause. In fact, it’s for lots of good causes, from the Columban priests and nuns to Providence House, a local organization that shelters abused women and children.

Check out our photos and video. Once you see how much fun it is, you’ll want to roll with the ladies (and a few gents!) next year. I know I do.

March 5, 2009 by
People

Meet the 2009 St. Patrick’s Day Parade Grand Marshal

Never make the mistake of calling Philadelphia’s Irish Memorial at Penn’s Landing the “famine memorial” in front of Jim Coyne. To Coyne, those dark years in Irish history when millions died and a millions emigrated to America, had nothing to do with famine. It was “starvation,” he says. What the Irish call “an gorta mor,” the great hunger. His great grandfather was one of those immigrants, a farmer who left his home in Connemara, County Galway “because the choices were clearcut—either you left or you starved to death.”

The truth, as Coyne points out, is that “only one crop failed”—the potato, on which the Irish were entirely dependent for food. “There were other crops that were exported to other countries while the Irish starved,” he says. “When you call it a famine, it’s as if you were blaming God for it. It wasn’t God. It was the English.”

When Jim Coyne looks at the sculpture by artist Glenna Goodacre, he sees in the 35 bronze figures—men, women, and children—ordinary people forced by prejudice and politics to become adventurers, people who climbed onto what were known as “coffin ships” to leave horror behind and sailed, some bravely, most terrified, into the unknown. Like his great-grandfather, who wound up in the coal mines of Pittston, PA, where Coyne grew up.

When others look at the memorial, they see Jim Coyne, president emeritus of the Irish Memorial Inc., who spent 13 years of his life working to see it built. “He’s an unsung hero,” says Michael Bradley, former president of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Parade Observance Committee, which chose Coyne as Grand Marshall of the 2009 parade. “Not only did he come up with the vision, he put together the team to raise the money—more than $3 million. I know how hard it is for me to raise the money for the parade, which is a fraction of that. I admire that he never gave up. Whenever I hear his name, I think ‘Gentleman Jim.’ He’s the perfect gentleman, and he’s a great human being.”

Coyne was at the meeting of the board of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in the late 1980s when historian Dennis Clark, PhD, author of “The Irish In Philadelphia,” proposed that a memorial be built in the city. “At the time, the only memorial to the starvation was in Quebec,” says Coyne. If anyone had had any doubts that one was needed, Coyne erased them when he asked the men in the room what they knew about the events that led to the Irish diaspora. “Only one person had a grasp of what happened. The rest said, ‘There was a famine and the Irish starved.’ So we knew there was room for education.”

Coyne, who heads his own company (Coyne First Aid, which teaches basic life support to diverse groups across the country), suddenly had a new job that would take more than a decade to complete. Originally, the Friendly Sons and the Memorial group that grew out of it wanted the memorial in place for the Sesquicentennial of the An gorta mort, 1995-2000, but the amount of money that needed to be raised pushed the unveiling to 2003.

He remains in awe of many of the organizations that supported the memorial from the beginning—so in awe, that he joined them. For example, he’s a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians Sean McBride Division 2 in Glenside although he and his family (with wife, Ginny, he has 5 children, 18 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren) have lived in Hilltown, Bucks County, for 30 years. “They passed out pamphlets during the St.. Patrick’s Day parade, collected money, held fund-raisers—I thought, I’d like to be involved with an outfit like that.”

Over the years, he’s also been president of the Galway Association, a member of the Irish Society, and is director emeritus of the Friendly Sons, which was founded in Philadelphia in 1771 and counted among its early members Commodore John Barry and at least nine other military men who distinguished themselves in the War of Independence.

But it may be the memorial of which he’s most proud. “When I look at it, I feel great personal pride,” he admits. “In the beginning, every time I would walk away from it I felt like I was leaving a child.”

“It’s a lasting contribution to the city of Philadelphia that will be there forever,” says Michael Bradley. “Jim has left his mark and a legacy to Philadelphia that will endure.”

And while his family is proud of Coyne’s work in the Irish community, his selection this year as parade grand marshal has created even more enthusiasm.

Last year, four generations of his family marched in the parade. This year, they may do some riding.

“When John Cardinal O’Connor of New York was grand marshal of the New York parade, he said, ‘My family is more excited and enthused about me being grand marshal of the parade than when I was made a cardinal.’ That’s true for me too,” he laughs.

January 30, 2009 by
News, People

Walking in Friendly and Historical Footsteps

Ed Last, helping with St. Patrick's Day plantings at the Irish Famine Memorial.

Ed Last, helping with St. Patrick's Day plantings at the Irish Famine Memorial.

What does Ed Last have in common with George Washington’s bodyguard, Stephen Moylan? Moylan was the very first president of the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, back in 1771. Ed Last is the latest in this long line of presidents that began with Moylan.

As a member of The Friendly Sons for 45 years, Last is in some very historic company. Founding fathers and signers of the Declaration of Independence John Dickinson and Robert Morris were members of the Friendly Sons; so were General Anthony Wayne (Scots Irish) and Commodore John Barry. (Washington was a member, too, though honorary.) Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan were among modern-day members.

The Friendly Sons—the oldest such organization in the United States—have their roots in the immigrant movement of the late 18th century. In fact, the full proper name of this group is The Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick for the Relief of Emigrants from Ireland.

Leading the Emerald Pipe Band.
“Ireland was in great turmoil during the 1700s,” says Ed Last (also the drum major for the Philadelphia Emerald Society Pipe Band. From Cromwell on (in the mid-1600s), a lot of the Irish lands were forfeited to English noblemen resulting in a lot of Catholic and Protestant immigration to the New World by people displaced from their land. The uprising of the United Irishmen in 1798 caused more to flee to the new world. For all these Irish ex-pats, The Friendly Sons was a welcoming committee at the dock.”

The Friendly Sons later became heavily involved in relief for the suffering victims of the Great Hunger (An Gorta Mor), as depicted in the monument at Front and Chestnut Streets, and have continued their involvement in many charitable causes to this day.

More recently the organization has expanded its efforts to include the promotion of Irish scholarship (including establishment of a scholarship fund at St. Joseph’s University). The Friendly Sons has also become involved in special projects, including the Commodore Barry Statue at Independence Hall and the Fitzsimons statue at the Cathedral. The organization also commissioned a reproduction of the Book of Kells for the library at Gwynedd Mercy College. (The original is in the Long Room at Trinity College in Dublin.) In addition, The Friendly Sons make contributions to many local charities and hospices, and to charitable organizations in Ireland, such as The 174 Trust in Belfast, a non-denominational charity, and Croi in the west of Ireland, a cardiology foundation. They also support Irish teachers visiting the U.S. in the summer).

Last, of Havertown, a retired executive, had worked for Unisys and Amtrak, among others. He started out in the Donegal Society in the late 1950s: “I had uncles and other relatives involved in the Donegal Society.” He joined the society and held various offices including treasurer and secretary in the late ‘50s and ‘60s. His parents are from Counties Tyrone and Donegal. “That’s when I also became interested in the Clan na Gael Pipe Band (which later morphed into the Emerald band). The band played for The Friendly Sons dinner every year, which is how I first became acquainted with it.” (He has attended every Friendly Sons dinner except four years, with the pipe bands or at the dinner.)

Then, after a stint in the Navy, Last decided he wanted to join The Friendly Sons. “I guess the friendship and the camaraderie appealed to me and a very good friend invited me to join,” he recalls. ”I liked that it crossed all religious backgrounds. And a lot of people who were very influential in the city, state and federal government were members as were many business leaders. It was a great group who was proud of their Irish heritage and joined to celebrate the feast day of their patron saint (who was not Irish).”

About 12 years ago. Last became a member of the Friendly Sons’ board. He served as secretary for four years, and vice president for two and will serve as president until March 2010.

One of the most appealing aspects for Last is the continuing ecumenical nature of the Friendly Sons, a tradition that has continued even during some religiously tumultuous times in Ireland. Catholics and Protestants take turns in leadership posts. Last is a Catholic. His predecessor Russ Wylie is a Quaker.

“The presidency rotates back and forth between the two groups,” says Last. “The organization tries to keep clear of nationalist things”

The Friendly Sons seeks members from all backgrounds—the only essential requirement being Irish descent and come from all backgrounds.

Contact Ed Last at edwardlast@comcast.net or call 610.853.1155 or the office of the society located in Dublin (PA) on the internet at friendlysons.com for membership information.

The organization will be celebrating their 238th dinner on Saturday evening March 14. This black tie event is being held at the Union League in Philadelphia and all are welcome to attend. Entertainment by the Theresa Flanagan Band, the Emerald Pipe Band and The McDaid Stepdancers, and join in the toasts with The University Glee Club.

Then think spring and the golf outing planned for June 8, 2009, at Sandy Run Country Club.

January 14, 2009 by
People

2008 Wren Party

Patrick Glennan, 8, concentrates intently on his fiddle playing.

Patrick Glennan, 8, concentrates intently on his fiddle playing.

Some of you probably already know how the Irish traditionally celebrated the feast of St. Stephen—December 26. Roving groups of boys would chase and kill a wren, said to be symbolic of the old year, and parade its tiny feathery corpse through the streets on a stick. They’d stop at houses along the way and beg for “a penny to bury the wren.” (A bit of food and drink, too? Sure, they wouldn’t turn that down, either.)

This was thought to be great fun. No one asked the wren.

Well, thankfully, this bloodthirsty little tradition today is observed only symbolically—as with the annual Wren Party sponsored by the local branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, an Irish music and cultural organization, The event was held at the Glenside Knights of Columbus Hall, with much music, dance, food and fellowship.

December 28, 2008 by
People

Marching To a Different Drummer

Kevin Hughes, lower right, with fellow seminarians.

Kevin Hughes, lower right, with fellow seminarians.

There was a time when it seemed like every Irish family sent a boy into the seminary. It was a point of pride within families and within the Irish-American community, which once sent more of its sons into the Catholic priesthood than any other nationality.

That was then. Now, people perhaps are more mystified than proud when a young man they know wants to take that momentous step. Why would anyone commit to such a life?

I’m thinking now of Kevin Hughes, my friend. I first came to know Kevin when he joined the Philadelphia Emerald Society Pipe Band. I was a drummer. Kevin was a student at LaSalle and a piper with lungs of steel and fingers that moved in a blur. No one could keep up with him.

When you belong to a competition pipe band, you get to know people pretty well. Competitions usually are not close, so you have to share long rides out to Long Island, Southern Maryland and the like, and back again. (It’s an even longer ride home if you’ve lost.)

That’s how I got to know Kevin. I can still remember him sacking out in the passenger seat of my car on our way back from a competition venue, maybe the Long Island Scottish Games at Old Westbury Gardens. He snored.

It’s been clear for years that Kevin was bound for the priesthood—the Jesuits in particular, thanks to four years of exposure at St. Joe’s Prep. A lot of us probably have a fixed idea of what a young man with his sights set on the priesthood is supposed to be like. You might picture the holy card poster boy, eyes permanently fixed on the heavens. You might not picture the husky dude with lungs of steel, sitting on the Irish Center bar stool next to you, trading wise cracks after band practice.

That’s our Kevin—bright, hugely talented, and, in my estimation, a pretty good match for an order known for intellectual rigor and spiritual integrity.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder, was a knight before he became a priest. Today, I’d like to think he might have been a piper.

We tracked Kevin down by e-mail at the Novitiate of St. Andrew Hall in Syracuse, N.Y. Here’s what he had to say.

Q. How old are you? What was your degree at LaSalle?

A. I am 23 years old and my degree from La Salle University is in biology, Bachelors of Arts. I am the third youngest man in the novitiate.

Q. I want to go back to a question I asked you before: Why? Why the priesthood? Why the Jesuits?

A. Why does anyone fall in love? You just know, it’s like being called to something. That is how I feel, like I am being called by God to something larger than myself. I feel like the Jesuit charism is compatible with my own desires to serve the people of God, specifically to see God in all things and to be a man for others.

Q. I’ll also note that no one asks incredulous-sounding questions when someone says they’re going to med school or law school. I wonder what goes through your head when someone asks that question, as if you’ve just announced that you’re planning to be the first astronaut to walk on the surface of Mercury or you’re hoping to open a chain of cat-waxing facilities.

A. I certainly realize that a lot fewer people, especially young people, are desiring to enter religious life, so I don’t mind at all when people ask me what I am thinking. In fact, I welcome the questions because it gives me a chance to tell people that someone can be happy with a life devoted to the love and service of God and His people.

Another thing I tell people, when they ask about why I have to take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, is that I don’t have to take them, I don’t have to be a member of a religious order, no one is forcing me: I could go to med or grad school, but I am choosing to take these vows and to live a life in a religious order to study for the priesthood.

Q. Tell us a bit about your everyday life. How has the reality of the novitiate compared to your expectations?

A. Well, getting up at 5:30 a.m. has taken some getting used to, as well as going to bed around 9:30 p.m.

My day begins with an hour of private prayer, followed by communal Morning Prayer, and then some classes about church and Jesuit history, then about the Gospel. We have Mass every day and communal dinner and night prayer.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I work at an Apostolate volunteer job from 8:30 to 2:30. I work in Cathedral Emergency Services, a local Syracuse food pantry. IT IS GREAT, I love it. The other novices there are really good guys and they are easy to get along with.

Q. What’s the career path beyond the novitiate? How long before you’re ordained? Tell me again what you hope to do as a Jesuit?

A. The career path beyond the novitiate is still unknown. God willing, after taking vows we are sent to first studies. This can be one of four places: Toronto, St. Louis, Chicago or Manhattan. We really don’t know where we will be sent until right before we go; they like to keep us in suspense.

Again, God willing, I will be ordained after the 11-year program—two years novitiate, three years first studies, three years Regency, three years theology studies.

As a Jesuit I don’t really want to limit myself to any “career” within the Society, but at some point I would certainly like to do some teaching.

Q. Do you think you’ll get the chance to play pipes any time soon? Or is your schedule and your training just that demanding?

A. I do still have a chance to play the pipes, however not nearly as much time as I had before joining. My playing is limited to practicing and occasionally playing the pipes for the guys.

I had the opportunity to go to McQuaid Jesuit High School in Rochester, N.Y., and played my pipes there, while the superior of the Jesuit community did some Irish step dancing. He’s very good, he used to teach Irish Step.

December 16, 2008 by
News, People

Two Philadelphia Emissaries and an Ambassador

As the school year progresses, we frequently hear of children trekking to Washington, our nation’s capital, for all the historic and memorial sites. But those trips seldom, if ever, include a visit to the Irish Embassy. It is probably not well known that the Embassy of Ireland in Washington, D.C., is open to the public Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 to 4 p.m. Calling in advance is highly recommended.

Two Philadelphia natives, Brian Grady and Paddy O’Brien, recently visited Washington to see the Arlington National Cemetery and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., where Brian placed wreaths in Arlington at the grave of his uncle and at the memorial walls for slain Philadelphia Police Officers Daniel Faulkner, Gary Skerski, Daniel Boyle and Chuck Cassidy.

On the following day, the two set out to visit the various World, Vietnam and Korean War memorials and happened to be riding in a taxi when they passed the Irish Embassy at about 9 a.m. They asked the taxi driver to pull over so they could snap a few photos and found that the embassy was open. After sending the taxi on its way, the two went inside.

After explaining that they had traveled from Philadelphia to pay respects at the various memorials, they inquired if it was possible to take a tour. They were escorted to a waiting area where they were later greeted by Martina Monaghan, the executive officer of the embassy. Ms. Monaghan indicated that the embassy does not typically give tours unless scheduled. While chatting with the very pleasant Longford native, it was mentioned that there may be something scheduled in the afternoon and that if the Philadelphia lads left a contact number that someone would ring if an opportunity became available.

Brian Grady with Ambassador Michael Collins
To their complete surprise, about a half hour later, Ms. Monaghan phoned Brian and asked if they could return around 3 p.m. The Philly guys visited other historic sites, and upon their return in the late afternoon, they were once again overwhelmed by the hospitality and pleasantries of true Irish personalities.

Paddy O’Brien with the ambassador.
As they toured the magnificent building, they passed by an office, and were coaxed to enter and they were introduced to himself, Michael Collins, Irish ambassador to the United States. The introduction would have been enough, but the defining moment was when the ambassador asked them to have a seat. The ambassador inquired what they were doing in Washington and Brian had about a 20-minute chat describing his mission to lay wreaths at the memorials.

The ambassador was extremely cordial and discussed his experiences with the Northern Ireland Peace Accord, the disarmament of weapons, the Good Friday Agreement and other issues such as the undocumented Irish in America, the devolution of policing and justice powers, and the challenges surrounding visas.

The ambassador showed the lads a picture of himself and Dr. Ian Paisley, which the ambassador indicated he was very proud of, of them shaking hands after helping broker the renewed peace in Northern Ireland through diplomatic means. The ambassador also showed them a silhouette of Ireland cut from a single piece of metal that Paddy O’Brien correctly identified as a piece of armor plating from one of the towers dismantled in Northern Ireland. As the ambassador commented that Paddy O’Brien knew his Irish history, he presented the lads with copies of the program from Bertie Ahern’s address to the joint session of Congress.

After Paddy O’Brien commented that he had voted for Bertie Ahern when he lived in Ireland, and that Bertie Ahern was one of only a few foreign heads of state to address both the U.S. Congress and the British Parliament; the ambassador turned once again to his personal desk and said, “I am sorry that I only have one copy of this left, but I would like you to have it.” And the ambassador handed a copy of the program from when Bertie Ahern addressed the British Parliament to Paddy O’Brien. The ambassador then cordially autographed both programs. The lads snapped a few photos, shook the ambassador’s hand and went on their way, not immediately realizing that they had just met for over an hour with one of the most historic and influential peacemakers of the 21st century.

Paddy O’Brien stated later “I learned more in a half hour from the ambassador about the challenges the Irish and Irish Americans are facing today than I have learned in the last 10 years from U.S. media and local Irish groups, I am committed to helping more than ever before.”

Brian Grady said of the ambassador, “He was such a great person to speak with, and he had such a demeanor of comfort, intellect and focus about him, that you would certainly be impressed through your life that you had indeed met a great man.”

In speaking to the Irish Philadelphia staff, Paddy O’Brien said, “in respect of the ambassador’s great efforts on behalf on the Irish people and Irish Americans, I am honored to donate the two autographed programs of Bertie Ahern’s historic speeches to a local heritage historical collection which is yet to be selected. There are several Philadelphia area based historical societies, and we are evaluating and discussing with them the appropriate manner to display and preserve these two pieces of history.”

Brian Grady is a Philadelphia attorney, heavily involved with the law enforcement and Irish communities. Paddy O’Brien is an information technology project manager who is a member of several charitable groups such as the Knights of Columbus, American Legion and various Irish and Celtic Heritage organizations.

– Submitted by Paddy O’Brien

December 6, 2008 by