issue 28 volume 6 proudly serving celts in north america...

Proudly Serving Celts in North America Since 1991ISSUE 28 VOLUME 6 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

Publ

icat

ion

Mai

l A

gree

men

t:40

0093

98

Inside This Issue

Twilight Steals the Autumn LightInward into the Season of Samhain

AUTUMN EQUINOX BLESSINGS

EAVES toughened through the summerseason double their grip upon stems.Numinous light at twilight and cooler tem-peratures signal the growing season has

By CYNTHIA WALLENTINE

Lreached its endgame.To those attending to the natural world,the autumnal equinox arrives on Mon-day, September 23, 2019 at 12:50 AMPDT and the Samhain moon is not sofar away.Anyone who routinely peruses thisspace will recognize these words ofautumn. As age and history are laiddown, the restlessness of the seasoncarries on, as steadfast as anything canbe on this warming planet.The autumnal equinox is a point ofbalance between the fall season thatbegan at Lughnasadh on August 1 andthe winter season, and new Celtic year,which begins on November 1.For the Celts, Samhain, which beginsat dusk on October 31, marks the endof the year. It is the Celtic “New Year’sEve.” Both Lughnasadh and Samhain

are lunar fire festivals, while the equi-nox pays respect to our daytime star.While we may look at these Celtic datesas slightly out of kilter, they accom-pany us naturally through our physi-cal and psychic lives.November, as the Celtic year turns, isa time of deep repose, of thought, ofplans gone to ground, and a broodingsky that covers the wintered landscapeof mind and soil.The new Celtic year is ushered in bySamhain, or what we call “Halloween.”For the young or the fearful of anyage, Samhain rightly brings a shiver inthe shadows. But those with a gener-ous heart need not fear the tide thatrises on that night.

The deeper home of Samhain is theFéile na Marbh, the feast that is setout for relatives and ancestors passed.It is not a grisly tradition; it is gentleand full of respect for they who are nolonger with us. For families and indi-viduals who forego the civilities, well,there are plenty of bogies in the shad-ows of the soul that will take their duein good measure.With age and time, everything on thisgood earth passes. In the bright lightof the Samhain bonfire – or a dustycandle – eternity flickers for those whodraw near, whether or not they holdhuman form.Not a one of us knows how far intoour journey we are, we only have thismoment, and the plans, and familiarfaces that keep the abstraction of deathat bay.In the Samhain season, form ideas, nur-ture your own story and those of theheroes you admire, and seek to allowinto life the gift that only you can of-fer. It is never too late.Bright blessings of the Samhain sea-son to you and yours.

COVER artwork byValériane Leblond[Read more about

the artist on page 3]

TURMOIL IN THE U.K. as Brexit continues to divide and confuseas British PM Boris Johnson vows to leave the European Union onOctober 31 deal-or-no deal. Read more pages 6, 8, 18]

WIN FREE TICKETSWin two preferred seating tickets to your choice of one show in The ACT ArtCentre’s “Enjoy the Celtic Spirit” (see page 3 for details). Mark your entry “TheAct.” Enter by September 17.You could win a pair (2) of tickets to see Skerryvore from Scotland at Centen-nial Theatre, North Vancouver on Saturday, October 5, or McPherson Play-house, Victoria on Sunday, October 6 (see page 3 for details). Mark your entry“Skerryvore” and specify which show you wish to attend – Vancouver orVictoria. Enter by September 20.You could win a pair (2) tickets to Delta Police Pipe Band Celtic Gala on Friday,October 18 at South Delta Baptist Church, Tsawwassen (see page 7 fordetails). Mark your entry “Delta Police Pipe Band.” Enter by September 27.All entries must include name and daytime phone number and be sent by e-mailonly to: [email protected] (only one entry per person).

CONTROVERSY follows after U.S. Vice President Mike Pencevisits Ireland. He is pictured above meeting with Taoiseach LeoVaradkar at Farmleigh House in Dublin. Also pictured on eitherside are Karen Pence and Dr. Matthew Barrett. [See page 16]

ONE OF MY FONDEST WISHES WAS REALIZED THIS SUMMERWHEN I WAS ABLE TO VISIT GROSSE-ÎLE AND

THE IRISH MEMORIAL IN QUEBEC.By Catholine Butler

READ ABOUT THE JOURNEY ON PAGE 10

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019PAGE 2 www.celtic-connection.com

Féile Bríde: Coming to Vancouveron St. Brigid’s Day 2020

VANCOUVER – So manyIrish women have a connectionto St. Brigid who is known inIreland as ‘Mary of the Gael’.She is also considered to beIreland’s other patron saint.Not only does Brigid the saint havea long history, but according to thesurviving mythology, the goddessBrigid was also a powerful deity andthe patroness of healing arts, fer-tility, poetry and music, prophecyand agriculture.Over the centuries, the stories of twowomen named Brigid (or Brigit orBride or Brighid) have become inter-twined in an intricate Celtic knot ofmyth and miracle as both a Celtic god-dess and a Christian saint of that namehave personified essential spiritual val-ues of their eras.Now, the first annual “Féile Bríde: Cel-ebrating the Women of Ireland” is com-ing to Canada’s west coast on Satur-day, February 1, 2020.Organizers are very excited to presentthis on Saturday, February 1 at theSimon Fraser University Harbour Cen-tre campus in downtown Vancouver.The initiative is part of the Irish Gov-ernment’s effort to develop Ireland’sreputation on the world stage throughculture, under the Global Ireland 2025programme announced in 2018.It has become a celebration of Irishwomen around the world – from Lon-don to Warsaw to Washington – andcelebrates the talent and creativity ofIrish women with art exhibitions, mu-sic, poetry, dance.In Vancouver the festival is a jointeffort between the Irish BenevolentSociety of B.C., the Irish Women’sNetwork of BC and Simon Fraser Uni-versity.A highlight of Féile Bríde will be theevening address by keynote speakerAilbhe Smyth – a leading Irish activistand former head of Women’s Studiesat University College Dublin.Ailbhe was one of Time Magazine’s‘Most Influential People’ of 2019 forher work as Co-Director of TogetherFor Yes and Convenor of Coalition toRepeal the 8th Amendment in Ireland.She was in Vancouver earlier this yearwhen she attended the UN WomenDeliver conference and her return willbe eagerly anticipated by all who heardher speak during her visit at a recep-tion organized by the Irish Women’sNetwork and the Irish Consulate.In addition, the festival will feature aseries of smaller sessions throughoutthe day from 12 noon to 4 PM whichwill include a wonderful Brigid cross-making workshop presented by tal-ented Irish artist Deirdre Keohane.Dara Culhane, Professor with the De-partment of Sociology and Anthropol-ogy at Simon Fraser University, willpresent another session entitled“Yours Always: Irish Women Writingthe Diaspora.” [See sidebar for moredetails.]An exhibit of inspiring women of Ire-land will be presented with ‘Blazing ATrail: Lives and Legacies of IrishDiaspora Women’. Currently on dis-play at the EPIC museum in Dublin,the Vancouver exhibit will also focuson some extraordinary Canadianwomen of the Irish diaspora.Additional workshop sessions are yet

to be confirmed, so be sure to checkback for more details in the next issueof The Celtic Connection or watch theIrish Benevolent Society of B.C.Facebook page for updates.‘Féile Bríde: Celebrating the Womenof Ireland’ is supported by a grant pro-vided through the Irish Emigrant Sup-port Programme with the Departmentof Foreign Affairs, along with assist-ance from the Consulate General ofIreland, Vancouver.

•Organizers are seeking local sponsor-ship to help support bridge funding forthis event. If you or your organizationcan assist with sponsorship, pleasee-mail: [email protected], or call (778)238-1522.[Féile Bríde is also seeking volunteerswho can assist with advance promo-tion and co-ordination. If you wish toparticipate, please e-mail:[email protected] or [email protected].]

AILBHE SMYTH a leading Irishactivist and one of Time’s ‘MostInfluential People’ of 2019 willbe the keynote speaker at thefestival.

Yours Always: Irish WomenWriting the Diaspora

By DARA CULHANEVANCOUVER – For many centuries now, Irish people in themillions have emigrated and travelled, settling in cities and townsaround the world, all the while staying in touch with family andfriends in Ireland.Across the Irish diaspora, women write and read “letters home” celebratingbirths and grieving deaths, suffering war and dreaming of peace, exchang-ing news and spreading gossip, laughing and crying, staying in touch,generation after generation.

This workshop invites eight women to co-create a 90 minute “ReadersTheatre” performance – tentatively titled “Yours Always” – where we willinvite people gathered to celebrate St. Brigid’s Day in Vancouver to join usas we read aloud from our “letters home.”

Letters may be from long ago; or, they may be from yesterday; or, they maybe postcards, birthday cards, wedding announcements, newspaper clip-pings; or, they may be photos with notes written on the back; or, they maybe emails or texts; or…

The theme of the workshop and performance will be sharing how Irishwomen as writers and readers of letters home forge and maintain enduringconnections over time: creating the ties that bind, bridging the lines thatdivide, lives lived at home and in the diaspora.

Application to participate in this workshop will be open from October 1 toOctober 31 and selection will be made on the basis of seeking samples ofletters home that together offer illustrations of correspondence over time,from long ago to now. No performance experience is required.

In your application please indicate the dates of the letters you would want towork with, whether they are from and/or to Ireland, what form they take(letters, postcards, emails, etc.), and a brief summary of their content.

Anticipating that each participant will read for about 10 minutes, you willwant to have approximately 4-5 pages of text to read from.

We will meet for three hours in December 2019, share our “letters home”and our ideas for presenting a 90-minute Readers Theatre performance.

All ideas are welcome. Each participant will leave this meeting with a re-hearsal plan to work with between December and February.

•For more information, or to register, e-mail Dara Culhane at:[email protected].

Féile Bríde: Celebrating the Women of Ireland

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 3www.celtic-connection.com

By BARRA Ó SCANNLÁINVANCOUVER – You might remem-ber reading a headline like this backin the December/January issue.We’ve finally come circle and arenow gearing up for the first eventof its kind to be held in WesternCanada.

Beginning Friday, October 4, and fin-ishing up on Sunday October 6, withthe support of the Consulate Generalof Ireland, a weekend of Irish classes,workshops, and social events, designedto give you an immersive experiencewill take place in the heart of down-town Vancouver.

An immersive Irish language weekendset for Vancouver this October

This kind of weekend has been held allover the U.S., and the eastern prov-inces of Canada, and they attract learn-ers from near and far.Anyone who grew up in Ireland read-ing this might find it hard to believe,but learners in North America are will-ing to travel to have contact with theIrish language, as they can often belearning alone for months before theyhave a chance to practise their cuidGaeilge.This weekend will offer three levels oflanguage classes. Usually this meansthat Leibhéal one caters to those withno Irish; Leibhéal two for those whoare at the “speech barrier” phase (i.e.they know they have words but strug-gle to get them out!); and Leibhéal threewill be for those who have a certainlevel of fluency and want to practisetheir speech and maybe work throughsome tricky grammar points.On that note, we will be focusing onthe focal labhartha (the spoken word),but as anyone who’s learned a languagewill know, you can only avoid gram-mar for so long.As grammar points come up, and wherethe teachers deem it relevant, they willbe dealt with so subtly that you willleave the class not even realising youjust learned what a “verbal noun” is!We are lucky to have Síne Nic an Aillí

ABOUT OUR COVER ARTISTCOVER artist Valériane Leblond is a French andQuebecer artist who has lived in Wales since 2007.She was raised in Angers, France, and went to live in this beautiful countryafter graduating in literature in Nantes. She lives in an old farmhouse nearAberystwyth with her three sons, several cats and too many chickens.

Valériane has a little studio at home where she paints while listening toFrench radio and sipping posh tea. In winter the wood-burner is lit and shehas a cat or two purring by her side. In summer she struggles to stayindoors and paint more during the evening.

Her artworks often deals with the idea of belonging, how people inhabit theland, what makes the place they call home. Most of her works have detailsand sub-stories that you may notice if you look longer.

She also illustrates picture books, which is a great way of combining hertwo passions, books and painting.

To learn more about Valériane and her beautiful artwork, visit her website:www.valeriane-leblond.eu.

of Conradh na Gaeilge travelling fromDublin for the weekend.Síne will give a workshop on CultúrClub, Conradh na Gaeilge’s collectionof initiatives aimed at helping Irishpeople abroad to celebrate their senseof Irish identity, through language, cul-ture, etc.This will be most useful for those basedin Vancouver but anyone travelling willalso benefit from the workshop.You can expect plenty of social activi-ties over the weekend too, so even ifyou aren’t taking part in the classesand want to get part of the immersiveexperience, stay tuned to hear about

the nightly activities (think ceol aguscraic).The cost is $160 per person and in-cludes classes, teaching materials, Sat-urday night dinner, and Friday nightreception.

•For more information, and updates onthe weekend October 4-6, check outbit. ly/ir ishvancouver, or [email protected]án go fóill!

READ MORE history of theIrish language in Canada onpages 14 & 15 this issue.


BySTEVEEDGE

ROGUE FOLK CLUB

After a great summer filled with music festivalsit’s onward now into the Fall 2019 lineup

E JUST spent a week or so in Haarlem,Netherlands, after taking in the 45th an-nual Tønder Festival in Denmark. Whata great weekend that was!W

We were guests of Folk Spot Den-mark, a showcase of Danish Trad withfour bands on each of two nights. Wehad the rest of the weekend to enjoythe other festival acts, including Imar,Dervish, Hudson Taylor, IrishMythen, John Smith, Julie Fowlis,Kate Rusby, and Breabach.We arrived at the southern town ofTønder on Thursday evening August22, having been driven down fromCopenhagen – about four hours – andhaving checked into our B&B.We were just in time to hear PEI’s TheEast Pointers rocking the open airstage in fine warm evening weather,(In fact it was pretty hot all weekend.Very unusual for Tønder apparently).We then headed over the hill to thetiny Pumphouse venue to hear TheUnwanted. This Irish trio featuresCathy Jordan (Dervish) on vocals,guitars and bodhran, and her formerbandmate Shamie O’Dowd on fiddleand guitar and vocals, plus RickEpping, an American exiled in Irelandfor many years now, on harmonica,concertina and vocals.They released a superb CD called PayDay that week. (Dervish released TheGreat Irish Songbook a few monthsago, drawing scant praise from the likesof Roots magazine – which sadlyfolded this summer after 40 years –for the predictable choice of material.Going through the motions was the gistof what was said. I think that’s a bitharsh, although it’s definitely not myfavourite Dervish album).Hearing this “Unwanted” trio explainsa lot; Cathy must be rightly proud ofthe little combo, and the new CD –their second, over a decade since thedebut recording – is superb. A reallycompelling exploration of the commonroots of Irish and American folk song.Next we caught a set by Danish bandFolkeklubben on that big open airstage. They seem to be a sort of Dan-ish Blue Rodeo; very catchy songs andwell-loved by locals.We rounded off the evening with a rous-ing set by Imar in the big tent 1 (whichholds around 2,000. It was packed andthe band was received rapturously!).Just couldn’t stay awake long enoughto hear Cajun music from Joel Savoy,Jesse Lege & Kelli Jones in theSpiegeltent.For us, Friday kicked off at noon witha superb set by Kate Rusby and herfine band in Tent 1, although we didcatch a couple of songs by Dublin’swonderful folk / pop combo HudsonTaylor on the open air stage.The festival had invited 5,000 Danishschool kids for free that day! The hugearena space was packed. What a greatidea!We met up with our friends Barry andBrigitte from Aalborg for lunch andexplored the site with its six stages andcopious amounts of restaurants andbars – all of them erected for the festi-val, which swells the town’s popula-tion from around 3,000 to over 13,000throughout the event.

Then it was time for Folk Spot Den-mark part 1, with Phonix (bass clari-net, accordion, drums and vocals) andsix dancers, followed by the lovelyfemale fiddle/viola/cello trio Vesselil,the mellow tones of Rannok (fiddleand piano), and the exceptionally dra-matic Norwegian singer Viik – backedby two drummers, fiddle, acousticbass, cittern and accordion.At times they sound like LoreenaMcKennitt, at others she tears the placeapart with cattle calls. So very dra-matic and exciting!Next up for us was a great set by ChrisSmither in tent 2 and a wonderful setby Hebridean singer Julie Fowlis andband in the Bolero Spiegeltent. Again,too tired to hear more, but who couldfollow such a band? Not many to myears!That night we were treated to new digsat a sanctuary called Refugium. Whata glorious place out in the country witha lovely old huge church and a gardenresplendent with flowers and hordesof butterflies.Saturday began with a huge breakfastand then lunch as soon as we reachedthe site.We only managed the first course, dur-ing which local Springsteen fan JacobDinesen treated us to a couple of hisacoustic songs before we ventured outinto the heat to hear the brilliant Dan-ish-Swedish trio Dreamer’s Circus.The Speigeltent was full, but we foundmakeshift chairs of wood andcoffeebean bags outside and relishedtheir intricate musical stylings.Folk Spot part 2 kicked off with acrazy set of acoustic mayhem by MadsHansen’s Kapel, and a very trad seton fiddle and accordion by Norway’sOdde & Nilssen.Local duo Fromseier Hockings werenext. They are a couple playing guitarand fiddle and in their spare time theyare raising two kids and an apple or-chard!Their first commercially available batchof cider was on the menu at the FolkSpot tent. As delicious as their music,it’s closer to Strongbow than Grow-ers, nicely dry with a crisp finish.The final act was Trio Svin, and thetent was packed with millennials. Odd,I thought. Then they started.Loud, brash, and inventive, they areled by a two metre five fiddler and in-corporate political speeches and othercontemporary sounds into their set.This is very exciting, edgy stuff! Thecrowd loved them!There was more loudness on open airwith Breton trio Plantec’s blend oftrad with techno. Folk music thatmakes your ears bleed!We ventured as far back as we couldgo, and found some unique portablebench seats amongst the bars and foodtrucks and gardens.Adam Holmes and Heidi Talbot (akaArcade) sounded great in thePumphouse but it was really hot andstuffy in there, so, after a visit to the

Gin Bar at the opposite end of the site(recommended to us by Francis Xavier,former A.D. of the Mission Folk Fes-tival) we ventured to the side stage/back stage viewing area to hear a sub-lime set by Patty Griffin and her twobrilliant accompanists.There was just time to hear the lastencore by Scotland’s Breabach beforewe took the shuttle back to Refugium.After Sunday’s breakfast feast we re-turned to the site to hear Scottish bandTide Lines. Hadn’t heard them be-fore.Worthy successors to Big Countryand Runrig, they feature a great singerin Robert Robertson, but I’d preferthem if the guitarist played more warpipes. Really good power trio though.After lunch we heard Hudson Tayloragain. Such a fun band. Two brothersnow joined by their younger sister anda small band – and by John Smith,with whom they’ve written a hit songor two.After dinner – during which we hearda superb solo acoustic set from JacobDinesen – John Prine was supposedto be there but of course he’s not beenwell this summer.Instead of replacing him – as other fes-tivals have done – they staged a trib-ute concert with dozens of artists sing-ing his songs. I thought that was a re-ally classy thing to do, and it was ab-solutely stunning!We were invited to brunch the follow-ing day at the home of Esther and Kai,the parents of Leonard Podolak’s wifeAnna.Leonard is best known as the banjoistwith The Duhks. There we learned ofthe passing of Leonard’s father, MitchPodolak. Sad news, but he had beenill for a long while.Mitch was responsible for the found-ing of the three great western Cana-dian folk festivals: Winnipeg, Vancou-ver, and Edmonton. Maybe not solelyresponsible, but without him theseevents would not have started all thoseyears ago. Maybe they would neverhave started at all. Who knows?Mitch was also the longtime host ofclassic CBC radio shows Simply Folkand Touch The Earth. He also foundedHome Roots, the house concert seriesthat has brought folk music to smallcommunities throughout the west forover a decade now.Mitch was – and remains – a huge fig-ure on the Canadian music landscape.He will be missed – but never forgot-ten!Just two weeks before Tønder’s 45thanniversary we were at the 40th an-nual Edmonton Folk Music Festival– another stellar event.Thursday’s highlight for me was the

closing set by Irish blues / roots singerHozier.Friday evening started with a brilliantconcert set by Co. Clare trio Socks InThe Frying Pan. Andy White, JohnSmith, Kate Rusby and Tim O’Brienshared a memorable workshop, and themain stage concert saw superb sets byJason Isbell, and Brandi Carlile.Saturday was a full day, with anothergreat combination featuring TimO’Brien, The Harpoonist & TheAxe Murderer with DawnPemberton, John Smith, and theamazing Madagascar trio Toko Telo.The main stage matinee featured Der-vish in stellar form, and after that weheard Kate Rusby in concert.Then Canadian First Nations bandsTwin Flames and Digging Rootsjoined Noura Mint Seymali (Mauri-tania) and Dobet Gnahore (Coted’Ivoire) in an unlikely combinationthat saw all the musicians joining infrom the first note to the last. What ashow that was!Bruce Cockburn was the evening con-cert highlight, but it had been cold allday and it was nice to head back to thehotel for the acoustic party hosted bySocks In The Frying Pan.On Sunday after watching Man Uniteddestroy Chelsea, I headed back to thesite to hear a stunning Gospel/Soulsession with The Hamiltones, vet-eran R&B singer Don Bryant, theamazing California Honeydrops, andWar & Treaty.The matinee set saw Dobet Gnahoreand band in superb form, and after thatwe heard great concert sets by TwinFlames (UNESCO Song of The Yearof Indigenous Languages), and Scot-tish trio Talisk – with that madconcertina wizard Mohsen Amiri (alsoof Imar) BBC Musician of the Year.The final concert saw sets by Cali-fornia Honeydrops, Dan Mangan,The Waifs, and War & Treaty. Alas,no John Prine.The festival wrapped up with a rol-licking acoustic party hosted by Der-vish. For once it hardly rained all week-end, but it was a bit on the chilly side.However, this was a 40th birthday totreasure for all concerned.I would like to express sincere grati-tude to Paul Norton and Jim Burnettfor hosting The Saturday Edge On Folkon CiTR fm 101.9 in my absence. I’mback now with heaps of new music

from Tønder and beyond!Speaking of thank yous, Brian Jonesis stepping down as The Rogue’sCrews Controller after over 15 yearsof sterling service.We simply could not have had a con-cert series at St. James without hisdevotion to the tasks and without theremarkable team spirit he has built andmaintained amongst the ever-changingcrews. Over 1,000 shows in that time.Thanks a million, Brian!We have been extremely fortunate overthe years. There have been just fourvolunteer co-ordinators in all that time:Vibe Smith, Art Price, Hunter Taliesin,and Brian Jones – with Brian being byfar the longest-serving.If you or anyone you know is inter-ested in assuming this crucial role,please let us know.We might be able to manage for a whileas the core group of volunteers is ex-tremely dedicated and reliable, but needto find someone to continue to per-form the role in the professional wayto which we have become accustomed– and reliant.So, who’s coming to The Rogue thisfall, you ask? Alasdair Fraser &Natalie Haas (September 20th), TheTannahill Weavers on their 50th an-niversary tour (September 26th), Mar-tin Kerr (27th), Christine Tassanet Les Imposteures at PerformanceWorks (29th), Tom Russell (October4th), young blues singer JontaviousWillis (October 6th), The Small Glo-ries with their great new CD Assinboine& The Red (October 11th), MartinSimpson with his stunning new CDRooted (October 17th), TheSojourners with a new EP (October18th), The Young ‘Uns from NE Eng-land (October 24th) and Scotland’sPaul McKenna Band (October 27th)for starters!Check out www.roguefolk.com fordetails and tickets.Elsewhere, don’t miss Scotland’sSkerryvore at the Centennial Theatreon October 5 – unless you’d prefersome stirring music from Norway’sMari Boine at The Chan Centre thatnight. The Chan is also the place tosee American songwriting divaRosanne Cash (September 28).You can hear music by as many ofthese performers as I can possiblysqueeze in to four hours every Satur-day morning from 8 AM to noon onCiTR fm 101.9 and www.citr.ca.

PHOTO: Steve EdgeALASDAIR FRASER & NATALIE HAAS are booked to perform atThe Rogue in Vancouver on Friday, September 20.


Derry Girls series is teachingNetflix users about Ireland’s love

of the ‘Rock the Boat’ danceThe critically-acclaimed com-edy series Derry Girls hasbeen offering Netflix users aunique glimpse into Irish cultureever since it arrived on thestreaming platform.Set in Derry in the 1990s, the seriesabout a group of schoolgirls living inDerry during The Troubles has be-come nothing short of a global phe-nomenon.The arrival of the show’s second se-ries provided further proof of that,with fans all over the world loggingon to binge-watch the second batch ofepisodes.Not that it’s been entirely plain sail-ing for fans from abroad.For starters there was the issue ofaccents which, as unbelievable as itsounds, forced some to turn the sub-titles on in a bid to keep up on whatwas going on.Thankfully, the majority managed tosee the funny side throughout all ofthis.Since then the show has continued tobaffle and delight Netflix audiences,not least when it came to an unfamil-iar bit of Irish culture practiced atparties and social gatherings for dec-ades.It came during the fourth episode fromthe second season titled “The Curse”which sees the gang causing uproar ata family wedding with comedic re-sults.The episode’s particular highlightcomes when the gang partake in the“Rock the Boat” dance to the dulcettones of the Hues Corporation hit ofthe same name.Much like Whigfield’s “SaturdayNight” or the Los Del Rio hit“Macarena,” the “Rock The Boat”dance has been a staple of many anoccasion in Ireland.It involves a group of partygoers sit-ting on the floor in a row, swingingtheir arms back and forth while clap-ping to the beat.What most probably didn’t realize,however, was that this is a distinctlyIrish practice.Writing on Twitter, one fan asked: “Isthe ‘Rock the Boat’ dance really athing????”Another wrote: “Dear #irish peoplefrom the internet, is the choreographyof “Rock the boat” where people siton the floor from #DerryGirls a realthing? I NEED TO KNOW”“Wait... it isn’t... international...?” anIrish Twitter user replied.The realization soon began to kick in.“I’m feeling incredibly embarrassednow for all of Ireland for some reasonlol. I had no idea we owned this andnow that I think about it, it’s theweirdest tradition,” one Irish socialmedia user reflected.It wasn’t long before others were shar-ing photographic evidence of Ireland’sobsession with the dance – includingone rather bold World Record attempt.An essential part of any great socialgathering, the hope now is that Netflixusers the world over will begin spread-ing the good word of the Hues Corpo-ration.

DERRY GIRLS set in Derry, Northern Ireland in the 1990s waspicked up by the online streaming giant Netflix and released tocritical acclaim in December 2018.

KEADY, Co. Armagh were holders of the new Rock the Boat WorldGuinness World Record on Sunday, June 23, 2013. The dance iswildly popular at weddings and any other social gathering in Ire-land. It involves partygoers sitting on the floor in a row, swingingtheir arms back and forth while clapping to the beat.

SPANISH BANKS in Vancouver was the scene of a great live Irishmusic session on the beach this summer. The music continuesthroughout the year with live Irish sessions featuring the samemusicians every Sunday night from 5:30-7:30 PM at the Wolf &Hound on West Broadway. Be sure to drop by and enjoy sometoe-tapping traditional tunes.

ISSUE 28 VOLUME 6 - Established in 1991#452 - 4111 Hastings Street, Burnaby, B.C. V5C 6T7

Tel: (604) 434-3747 - www.celtic-connection.comMaura De Freitas - Publisher • E-Mail: [email protected]

Catholine Butler - Advertising • E-Mail: [email protected] Carpenter - Copy Editor • Thary Chhom - Ad Production

Distribution: Arlyn Lingat • Allison Moore • Linda Robb • Frank Dudfieldin Surrey • Eifion Williams in Burnaby & Coquitlam • Laurie Lang inCoquitlam • Joanne Long in Mission • Deirdre O’Ruaric in White Rock •Heather Murphy in Seattle • Oliver Grealish in Edmonton.Published 7X per year. Contents copyright 2019 The Celtic Connection. Opinions expressedhere are not necessarily those of the publisher but rather a reflection of voices within thecommunity. All correspondence must include a name, address and telephone number.

Canada Post Canadian Publications Agreement 40009398

THE CELTIC CONNECTION


The Ongoing Brexit Saga:Are there any winners in this scenario?F YOU’VE been watching the shamblesknown as Brexit for the past three years,you’ll know it’s been a bewildering rideand where it stops nobody knows...leastI

of all the British political establishment currently bat-tling it out in Westminster.As an outsider looking in, it wouldappear that the country is swept up insome suicidal folly that looks like lose-lose all around.The head spinning events were precipi-tated by a referendum to determine ifthe British people wanted to leave theEuropean Union.

David CameronConservative Prime Minister DavidCameron put the question to the na-tion on June 23, 2016, confident thatcommon sense would prevail and thecountry would unite and return a novote.He felt compelled to take this step witha pack of Eurosceptics snapping at hisheels and threatening to dilute his par-ty’s hold on power.The general population, having growncomplacent since the deprivations ofthe Second World War responded withapathy.Almost half of the population did notvote for a variety of reasons – eitherineligible or not registered to vote, orsimply could not be bothered.Meanwhile, the leave campaignmounted a hard-nosed, well-oiled cam-paign of fear and misinformation, whilethe remain side so complacent in theirvictory hardly mounted a challenge tocorrect these messages.When the final votes were counted andit became apparent that the leave sidehad won the day, there was widespreadshock.

Theresa MayThe euphoric afterglow was sooneclipsed when David Cameronpromptly announced his resignationand Theresa May, almost giddy withanticipation, skipped into her new po-sition. The golden ring was a poisonpill as the new prime minister wouldsoon learn.Next, after almost two years of nego-tiation, the Withdrawal Agreementfrom the European Union was rejectedin the U.K. – not just once but threetimes – after endorsement by leadersof the 27 remaining EU countries.This comes after Theresa May called amisguided snap election in 2017. Atthis juncture she lost her majority andwas forced to form a coalition withNorthern Ireland’s Democratic Union-ist Party (DUP) – hardline unionistswho appear to be anti-everything (ex-cept Brexit, of course) – in an attemptto prop up her shaky Tory Govern-ment.Then, apparently, without a clear strat-egy, she triggered Article 50 whichstarted a two-year countdown to exitfrom the European Union.It should be noted that the reason theU.K. joined in the first place was thatit had become clear that without mem-bership there was a danger of politicalisolation within Western Europe.The numbers voting to join were higherthan the slim majority that pushed

THE TURMOIL in Britain’s Parliament sparked large demonstra-tions on streets across the U.K. In London a protest on Septem-ber 6 against “Boris Johnson’s coup against the democratic proc-ess” was marred by violence when scores of pro-Brexit counter-protesters attempted to disrupt the rally.

By MAURA DE FREITAS

through the 2016 referendum to leavethe EU with just 51.89 percent in fa-vour.

The BackstopOne major area of contention follow-ing the Brexit referendum rests withthe fact that both Scotland and North-ern Ireland voted to remain.Leading up to the vote to leave thereseems to have been little or no thoughtto freedom of movement on the islandof Ireland by those who championedthe Brexit referendum.Since about 2005, the northern borderhas been perceived as being invisiblewith little or no physical infrastruc-ture, as the security barriers and check-points were removed due to processesput in place by the Good Friday Agree-ment signed in 1998.The ‘backstop’ has been described asan insurance policy or safety net in-tended to ensure no return to a hardborder between Northern Ireland andthe Republic of Ireland, even if no for-mal deal can be reached on trade andsecurity arrangements.This was part of the negotiations ledby now former Prime Minister Maybut has since led to endless bickeringwithin the British House of Commonsand after two failed no-confidencevotes against her, she finally threw inthe towel and resigned on May 24,2019.

Boris JohnsonNow, in hindsight, the aforementioneddrama all seems relatively tame com-pared to the extraordinary machina-tions since Boris Johnson ascended tothe high office he has long coveted.As Prime Minister Johnson vowed toleave the EU – deal or no deal by witch-ing hour, October 31, 2019.To achieve this aim, he decided to sus-pend – or ‘prorogue’ – parliament forup to five weeks starting September12 ahead of a Queen’s Speech on Octo-ber 14.This will be the longest such pause in89 years, and leaves little opportunityfor debate in the House.He is now facing a series of legal chal-lenges over this decision, including oneby John Major – a former prime minis-ter with his own party.Next, Johnson suffered defeat in theHouse of Commons when proposed

legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit wasapproved.The Brexit Bill would require the primeminister to seek a three-month Article50 extension if he has not secured aBrexit deal by October 19. It must nowpass through the House of Lords be-fore seeking royal assent.Prior to the vote, Boris threatenedmembers of his own party with expul-sion if they dared to defy him.This led to a breakaway group of 21rebel conservative MPs – many seniormembers, including two former chan-cellors of the exchequer – voting againstthe PM. Shockingly, they are now ex-cluded from standing as candidates forthe party in the next general election.Next, after just one day earlier declar-ing that he would “under no circum-stances” call a general election, Johnsontabled a motion calling for a general elec-tion on October 15. He vowed to takethe U.K. out of the EU on October 31

as scheduled if he was still prime min-ister at that time.In summary, after just six weeks on thejob as prime minister, Johnson has losthis governing majority, exiled some ofhis party’s most honored members andbeen slapped down by lawmakers threetimes in 24 hours.Adding insult to injury, he has just beenabandoned by his own brother who re-signed as a junior minister. Jo Johnsonsaid he would also step down as a mem-ber of parliament citing a conflict be-tween family loyalty and the nationalinterest.Stranger than fiction, you just couldn’tmake this up.It would all make for great entertain-ment if it wasn’t so bloody awful forso many people whose future dependson some form of sanity emergingthrough this fog, but, as I mentionedearlier, don’t hold your breath.

Leo VaradakarThe final word must go to An TaoiseachLeo Varadakar.

The Irish leader made a joint statementwith Boris Johnson following a privatemeeting in Dublin on September 9.During the press conference, Varadkarused a classical reference about his Brit-ish counterpart that gained attention.He said, “Negotiating FTAs [free tradeagreements] with the EU and U.S. andsecuring their ratification in less thanthree years is going to be a Herculeantask for you,” he said.“We want to be your friend and ally,your Athena, in doing so.”In Greek mythology, the goddessAthena did assist Hercules as an ally –but it was by knocking him out andstopping him from killing any morepeople, including his own family, whenhe went mad.

Pelosi: ‘No chance of U.S.-U.K. trade dealif Brexit threatens Good Friday Agreement’

WASHINGTON – There is “nochance” of a U.S.-U.K. trade deal suc-ceeding if Brexit jeopardises the GoodFriday Agreement, the speaker of theU.S. House of Representatives haswarned.Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, has said thatthe party will block the deal in Con-gress if the U.K.’s departure from theEuropean Union “undermines” thepeace accord in Northern Ireland.Pelosi, whose party controls the house,was reaffirming her commitment afterDonald Trump’s national security ad-viser said during a visit to London thatthe U.K. would be “first in line” for adeal.Border controls may be imposed on theisland of Ireland in the event of a no-deal, which is seen as a threat to theBelfast Agreement that ended decadesof bloodshed.And the chances of the U.K.’s depar-ture without a deal have been seen asincreasingly likely after Boris Johnsonmade his “do or die” pledge to leave bythe October 31 deadline.Pelosi said, “Whatever form it takes,

Brexit cannot be allowed to imperil theGood Friday Agreement, including theseamless border between the Irish Re-public and Northern Ireland, especiallynow, as the first generation born intothe hope of Good Friday 21 years agocomes into adulthood. We cannot goback.“If Brexit undermines the Good Fri-day accord, there will be no chance of aU.S.-U.K. trade agreement passing theCongress.“The peace of the Good Friday Agree-ment is treasured by the American peo-ple and will be fiercely defended on abicameral and bipartisan basis in theUnited States Congress.”

If a deal is to be approved in the U.S. itmust pass both chambers of the Con-gress: the House of Representativesand the Senate.The Senate is controlled by Republi-cans supportive of the U.S. president,but Pelosi’s party has a firm grip onthe House.Civic and business groups acrossNorthern Ireland have called on Pelosito only back a U.K. trade deal thatprotects the Good Friday Agreement.The letter is signed by more than 20civil liberty groups, community organi-zations, trade unionists and representa-tives of businesses across Northern Ire-land.

A delegation from the consortium willtravel to Washington later this monthto outline their concerns to speakerPelosi and other senior U.S. politiciansfrom the main parties in Congress.In the letter, the groups asked speakerPelosi to ensure the U.S. Congress scru-tinized any future trade deal with theU.K. “very carefully to ensure full com-pliance with the 1998 Agreement.”“We urge Congress to satisfy itself thatthe truly transformational foundationsfor peace and prosperity here, whichwere laid with the indispensable aid ofthe United States, are not underminedin any manner by decisions to be takenin Congress,” the letter said.The groups that have signed the letterinclude the Committee on the Admin-istration of Justice, the Freight Trans-port Association (Northern Ireland),the Human Rights Consortium, Lon-donderry Chamber of Commerce,Manufacturing NI, Disability ActionNorthern Ireland, Irish Congress ofTrade Unions, NICVA, Northern Ire-land Retail Consortium, Retail NI andUnion Northern Ireland.

NANCY PELOSI, (R) theU.S. Speaker of the Houseof Representatives, andCongressman RichardNeal, met with the TánaisteSimon Coveney at the IrishDepartment of Foreign Af-fairs in Dublin in April 2019.


Delta Police Pipe Band2019 Celtic Gala: Features

two solid hours of entertainment

THE O’BRIEN SCHOOL of Irish Dance will be among the line-up of Celtic entertainment on October18 at the South Delta Baptist Church in Tsawwassen.

By DON MACPHERSONDELTA – The Delta Police Pipe Bandis holding a Celtic Gala fundraiser Oc-tober 18 at the South Delta BaptistChurch located at 1988 - 56th StreetTsawwassen B.C. starting at 7:30 PM.The tickets are only $30 with children12 and under admitted free.The evening will include two hours ofsolid Celtic entertainment from thePipes and Drums of the world-re-nowned Delta Police Pipe Band, theO’Brien School of Irish Dance, TurasHarp Celtic Group and the Delta Cho-ral Society Choir.The Delta Police Pipe Band is cur-rently under the direction of retiredStaff Sergeant Delta Police, Pipe Ma-jor Steve Ramsden, and retired StaffSergeant Vancouver Police, DrumMajor Moe Coll.It is a non-competitive band that ismade up of first responders, profes-sionals and students from all walks oflife.The band has travelled extensivelythroughout Europe and around NorthAmerica. Along its journey it hasplayed at various tattoos including theEdinburgh Tattoo in Scotland, The In-ternational Tattoo in Halifax and theInternational Military Tattoo in Vir-ginia.The band has also played alongside

musicians such as The Chieftains, IrishTenor Anthony Kearns, as well astwice with Sir Paul McCartney atRogers Arena in Vancouver.The skirl of the pipes will caress yourears and stir up your inner Scot withmany of the tunes you know and love.The O’Brien Irish School of IrishDance – with locations in Victoria,Duncan and Ladner – holds classes forchildren and adults alike who want tokick their heels up and enjoy classicIrish dancing.Two senior dance members from theLadner School will be performing inmemory of their late father who was amember of the Delta Police and a drum-

mer with the Delta Police Pipe Band.The troupe is under the direction ofCarolyn Robinson. They will surelyentertain the crowd with their jigs andreels as they prepare to compete thefollowing day at a highly competitivefeis.The Delta Choral Society is a localchoir group with some 90 membersstrong who, under the direction ofDanielle Hamilton and accompanistPaul Kemp has performed throughoutNorth America and the Lower Main-land putting on entertaining concerts.This group loves to inspire their audi-ences to sing along with them withwell-known familiar tunes.The Turas Harp (an Irish term mean-ing “trip”) is a newly formed Celticgroup that will take you on an Irishmusical trip with a combination of fid-dle, guitar, uilleann pipes, melodic vo-cals and of course the harp.Each musician is professionally trainedand comes from a background playingwith symphony orchestras.The group includes a professionalSuona player who has entertained andperformed at previous gala events andis a current member of the pipe band.As an added bonus, there will be a drawduring the intermission, for two tick-ets to the pipe band’s 2020 Burns Din-ner which attracts over 800 peopleover two nights, acknowledged as oneof the biggest annual Burns Dinnerthroughout the North America Scot-tish community. This is an evening yousurely don’t want to miss.Bring the family and enjoy an eveningof Celtic Music. You can place an or-der for tickets by calling the DeltaPolice Pipe Band phone number at(604) 940-5040.

THE DELTA POLICE Pipe Band in Holland while on tour in Europe.


EBy

HARRYMcGRATH

To what extent are Naysayershindering Scotland’s Progress?

DINBURGH –Some years ago Ispent a happy houror three in a popular

Edinburgh howff with the poetAlasdair Reid.Reid has just returned from the StAnzaPoetry Festival in St. Andrews wherehe read his poem “Scotland” beforesetting fire to the paper it was printedon. He told me that he did that be-cause the poem was no longer relevant.“Scotland” tells of a beautiful Scottishday: “A day peculiar to this piece ofthe planet / when larks rose on longthin strings of singing / and the airshifted with the shimmer of actual an-gels...”Eventually the narrator meets “thewoman from the fish-shop” and spoketo her “like a sunstruck madman.”However her response was not whathe had anticipated: “Her brow grewbleak / her ancestors raged in theirgraves / as she spoke with their an-cient misery: / We’ll pay for it, we’llpay for it, we’ll pay for it’.”Reid was born in Whithorn in Gallo-way and was a son of the manse. Hespent most of his life outside of Scot-land which may explain why he is arelatively neglected figure in his home-land.As well as being a poet, he wrote forThe New Yorker and translated Borges,Neruda, Gabriel Marques and others.He died on September 21, 2014 at theage of 88 and, in the words of anobituarist, “just three days after thenaysayers for an independent Scot-land won the day and the sunstruckmadmen of Reid’s poem ... crawledhome in defeat.”The degree to which naysayers areholding Scotland back is, of course,open to debate. However, on a recenttrip to Canada I found myself won-dering why so many of the issues thatScotland is still debating have long beensettled in Canada.

For instance, earlier this year the Scot-tish Government introduced a DepositReturn Scheme for drink containers.It was greeted with howls of protestfrom businesses objecting to the factthat no similar scheme has been intro-duced in England. By way of contrast,British Columbia first introduced de-posit-return legislation in 1970!And so it goes. From drug legalisation,safe injection and harm reduction togender identity, Scotland is arguing andciting apocalyptic outcomes whileCanada has already acted on the sameissues and the world is still turning.Even the recently announced citizens’assembly on Scotland’s constitutionalfuture is now threatened with boycottsamid accusations that it is a front forthe independence movement.Contrast that with the relativelysmooth passage of British Columbia’sown citizens’ assembly back in 2004.Needless to say, I am not the first tonotice Reid’s naysayers at work.I recently re-read a book on what Scot-land can learn from the Nordics. In it aScots-Norwegian is quoted as saying“things considered impossible in Scot-land were actually and easily happen-ing here.”Was Reid a bit premature when he puta match to his poem and declared itirrelevant?Well, perhaps not. One thing Scotlandhas going for it is a government that isprepared to press ahead even when thenaysayers appear.

It recently released its programme forgovernment which includes a varietyof methods to tackle climate change,poverty and drug deaths. It also con-firmed its intention to hold a secondindependence referendum within thelifetime of the parliament.And this, perhaps, is where the “we’llpay for it” crew will struggle.The scare tactics that were used be-fore the first referendum – an independ-ent Scotland will be out of Europe, itscurrency will collapse and so on – areno longer available to it as these thingsare happening anyway.The naysayers will need to refocus onthe positives of remaining part of Brit-ain. And with a Brexit disaster to ex-plain away, it’s not obvious what thesewill be.Perhaps Reid was right to believe thatthe “we’ll pay for it” attitude in Scot-land is no longer empowered. The Scot-tish Government narrative aroundmulticulturalism, diversity and immi-gration is consistently positive andvery close to Canada’s own story.In the 20 years of devolution therehave been numerous initiatives in Scot-land that, consciously or uncon-sciously, have followed a Canadianmodel.These include smoking bans, gay mar-riage, national literature in school cur-ricula and minimum alcohol pricing.The main problem now is that Scot-land can’t build Canadian stylemulticulturalism without its own im-migration policy to adapt to that end,as Canada did under Trudeau Senior.Nor can it rid its territory of nuclearweapons without any power over for-eign affairs, as Canada did when thesquadron at Comox on Vancouver Is-land flew the last nuclear weapons backto the United States in 1984.It helped, of course, that Canada fi-nally acquired “full legislative inde-pendence” in 1982, 105 years afterconfederation. I am not sure Scotlandcan wait that long.

Creating DotScot web domainfor Scottish-Canadians

By JANIS CLEUGHA former Port Coquitlam residentwas back in Canada this summerto plug a web domain extensionhe hopes will be close to thehearts of Scottish-Canadians.Harry McGrath, a native of Scotlandand former teacher who once workedwith SFU’s Centre for Scottish Stud-ies, is now the head of engagement andglobal outreach for dotScot — or .scot— a registry that gives people of Scot-tish heritage a chance to express theirroots online.According to the 2016 census, aboutfive million Canadians identify as hav-ing Scottish ancestry, including some24,000 residents in the Tri-Cities.Since the non-profit group launchedfive years ago, dotScot has caught onwith the Scottish Government(gov.scot), the country’s film indus-try (screen.scot) and 18,000 busi-nesses, cultural organizations and in-dividuals who are using the countrycode for e-mails, websites and other

online communication to highlight theiridentity. Scottish actor Sean Conneryis also on board and promoting thecountry code.McGrath told The Tri-City News hewas “spreading the word” aboutdotScot while in Canada and spoke

with members of ScotCanBC, the Scot-tish Canadian Business Association ofBC, to drum up support.The domain extension is unique to Scot-land and similar to .ca for Canada and.au for Australia.“It’s intended for Scots wherever theylive, which is what makes it uniqueand different from a country code,” hesaid, adding, “Brexit has helped usbecause people want to be proud oftheir Scottish and European back-grounds.”“DotScot unifies Scots and Scotsdiaspora worldwide by linking our her-itage and culture with technology,” saidVictoria resident Theresa Mackay, aCanadian dotScot ambassador, in anews release. “It is about declaringpride in who we are.”

•For more information about .scot,please visit www.dot.scot.[This article was first published in theTri-City News in Port Coquitlam, B.C.and is reprinted here with kind per-mission of the editor. www.tricitynews.com.]

DotScot unifies Scotsand Scots diaspora

worldwide by linkingheritage and culture

with technology

Resignation of RuthDavidson bodes ill

for the ConservativeParty in Scotland

EDINBURGH – The leader of theConservative Party in Scotland has quither post one day after Prime MinisterBoris Johnson moved to suspend Par-liament ahead of Brexit.Ruth Davidson cited family reasons inher decision to leave the job, but herdistaste for Johnson was no secret.Her departure could throw the unityof the U.K. into doubt. In her role, shewas the most influential voice for Scot-land remaining a part of the U.K. at atime when support for Scottish inde-pendence has risen amid widespreadopposition to Brexit.Davidson campaigned successfully tokeep Scotland inside the United King-dom during the Scottish independencereferendum in 2014.And in 2017, she successfully broughtthe Conservatives back from the po-litical wilderness in Scotland – win-ning 13 parliamentary seats, up fromjust one in the previous election.The total was enough to keep formerPrime Minister Theresa May inpower, amid a disastrous showing else-where in the U.K.But her position was made more diffi-cult when Johnson became prime min-ister in July.Johnson is widely seen as toxic in Scot-land: earlier in August, a poll showedsupport for Scottish independencesurpassing 50 percent for the first timesince 2017.Davidson – along with a majority ofScots – voted to remain in the EU inthe 2016 Brexit referendum.

But Johnson campaigned to leave, andhas increasingly advocated Britainleaving the EU without a deal – whichDavidson has said would be damagingto Scotland.Davidson’s resignation will not changethe parliamentary arithmetic aroundBrexit – she is a member of the Scot-tish Parliament in Edinburgh, not theBritish Parliament in Westminster –but it is a blow for the moderate wingof the U.K.’s ruling ConservativeParty, where she was seen as a keyfigure and rising star.Her name had even been raised amongConservatives as a potential futureparty leader.But Davidson said she had no plans totry for the role – last year, she becamethe first U.K. party leader to give birthto a child in the job. She was also theU.K.’s first openly gay leader of amajor political party.Even before May resigned, Davidsonand her allies reportedly mounted asecretive attempt to prevent Johnsonfrom winning the ensuing Conserva-tive leadership election. Its codename,“Operation Arse,” made clear her feel-ings toward Johnson.In the aftermath of the Brexit referen-dum, support for the Scottish NationalParty, which is currently in power inScotland and advocate for Scottish in-dependence, rose.But Davidson campaigned firmly toresist calls for a second independencereferendum. With her gone, the callsfor Scotland to secede from the U.K.may increase.

Leaked U.K. memoswarn of food, drug

shortages in Brexit chaosLONDON – Secret British Govern-ment documents have warned of seri-ous disruptions across the country inthe event that the U.K. leaves the Eu-ropean Union without a trade deal onOctober 31, according to a report.The Sunday Times newspaper pub-lished what it said was what the Brit-ish Government expects in the case ofa sudden, “no-deal” Brexit.Among the most serious: “significant”disruptions to the supply of drugs andmedicine, a decrease in the availabilityof fresh food and even potential freshwater shortages due to possible inter-ruptions of imported water treatmentchemicals.Although the grim scenarios report-edly outlined in the government docu-ments have long been floated by aca-demics and economists, they’ve beenrepeatedly dismissed asscaremongering by Brexit proponents.British Prime Minister Boris Johnsonhas said he is ready to leave the EUregardless of whether he is able to re-negotiate the Brexit deal struck withBrussels by his predecessor, TheresaMay.

His own officials, however, havewarned that with a no-deal Brexit, thesharing of law enforcement data andthe health of Britain’s crucial financialservices industry could be in jeopardyafter October 31.The documents published by the Timesalso quote officials as warning that upto 85 percent of all trucks wouldn’t beready for French customs at the criti-cal English Channel crossing that day,causing lines that could stretch out fordays. Some 75 percent of all drugs com-ing into Britain arrive via that cross-ing, the memos warned, “making themparticularly vulnerable to severe de-lays.”The officials foresee “critical ele-ments” of the food supply chain beingaffected that would “reduce availabil-ity and choice and increase the price,which will affect vulnerable groups.”In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkelsaid the country is ready for Brexit,even without a deal to smooth the tran-sition but she would “try everythingin my power to find solutions” andthat “I believe that it would be betterto leave with an agreement than with-out one.”


By CATHRINE-CONINGSVANCOUVER – Have you evercraved an activity that accom-plished many goals at once? Aperfect solution is Scottish Coun-try Dancing.It offers exercise at a rapid pace – agood cardio and pulmonary workout,lower body and leg stretches, foot andankle flexing – a chance to exercise yourmemory, and on top of it all, a verysocial and welcoming environment inwhich to learn.I got hooked many years ago and knewI wanted to be in this for the long haul.This activity includes dancers in theirnineties, along with almost every otherdecade of life.As one progresses from the beginnerstages, the dances get more complex,more interesting, and one gets a biggerhigh from successfully dancing a diffi-cult one!And there is so much variety, so manynew dances being devised all the time,that the repertoire is constantly grow-ing.It resembles square dancing to somedegree – dancers and their partnersform sets of two, three, four or fivecouples, and interact with the othercouples in their long or square set. Thebiggest difference is no one calls outthe moves.This is where your memory isstretched and pulled and squeezed andstrengthened!You must remember what to do next inthe midst of very fast music – whetherto stand still or dance forward, whetherto give right hand or left hand or anyhand, and which couple you are as thedance progresses, and what your movesare now that you are in a differentplace – as pairs progress from firstposition to all the other positions inthe set.There are basic formations and figures,and dances are usually a rearrangementof these, but new ones do keep crop-ping up, for example the snake forma-tion, danced to some very Harry Pot-ter-like music!This is a superb hobby for anyone whowants to keep active, both mentallyand physically, and the social benefitsare indisputable.I’m at the stage where I’m able to giveback after years of enjoyment, by be-ing on a committee which organizesdance parties.My latest job is publicity for our an-nual Heather Ball, but I play piano ina fiddle orchestra and in a small band,and it’s such fun to also be able to pro-duce the lively Scottish reels, jigs andstrathspeys for other dancers.When another pianist is available, weeach play half the evening and dancethe other half! And I danced for manyyears on a performance team that is inmuch demand around Robbie BurnsDay.As a 20-something I never dreamed Iwould be dancing my whole life, but Iam addicted to this cleanest andhealthiest of drugs, as are many oth-ers!You’re welcome to come and try it outat any club during their first meetingsin September. You will be welcomed,encouraged and supported, and it’sgreat exercise.There are groups in many parts of Brit-ish Columbia. For more informationand links, visit: rscdsvancouver.org.

Scottish Country Dance:A great exercise for mind and body

DANCERS of all ages enjoy Scottish Country Dancing at the Scot-tish Cultural Centre in Vancouver. Classes are available acrossthe Lower Mainland and throughout British Columbia. Check outthe RSCDS website for more information: www.rscdsvancouver.org.

By JANET MASONRSCDS Vancouver

VANCOUVER – Scottish country dancing is the social dancing of Scotlandnot to be confused with Scottish Highland dancing which is solo and com-petitive. It is one of the predecessors of square dancing and the toe-tappingmusic just invites you to dance!Research has shown that dancing is one of the very best activities for mindand body and Scottish country dancing provides exercise to wonderful mu-sic. It’s social, it’s lots of fun, and it’s a great place to make new friends.Under the umbrella of the Vancouver Branch of the Royal Scottish CountryDance Society, many clubs around the Lower Mainland offer classes taughtby qualified teachers.From September to April, classes run at the Scottish Cultural Centre inVancouver, in Coquitlam and Burnaby and at many other locations.Beginners are welcome, you don’t need a partner, and you don’t even needto be Scottish to “dance Scottish.” The group is looking forward to welcom-ing you!

Lively Roots of Square DancingFound in Scottish Country Dancing

Could Nessie justbe a large eel?

LOCH NESS, Scotland – For years,the mystery of the Loch Ness mon-ster has stumped scientists andbrought waves of monster sleuths tonorthern Scotland.But is the supposedly shy creaturewith a snake-like head and a long, greenbody just, in the end, an eel?Scientists in Scotland using a new wa-ter sampling technique to studybiodiversity in the Loch Ness, a mas-sive 23-mile lake with seven millioncubic meters of water, have been hop-ing they might also find evidence ofthe elusive creature.But after a year of study, the team saidthey have found over 3,000 species inthe lake – most so small you wouldn’tknow they were there – but no traceof a monster.“It’s deep dark and mysterious and it’spossibly the best setting in the worldfor a monster mystery,” said Profes-sor Neil Gemmell of the UniversityOtago in New Zealand, as he began thepress conference in Loch Ness Centre& Exhibition to announce the results.

Gemmell said his team had analyzedthe water samples for environmentalDNA that creatures shed as they movethrough an environment.“We can collect that DNA and obtain avery accurate indication of what thespecies was that shed that material,and over time you can collect quite alarge body of information from liter-ally a litre of water,” he said.But they found no evidence of aplesiosaur – a prehistoric marine rep-tile that some had theorized might bethe monster. “There is probably not agiant scaly reptile swimming aroundLoch Ness,” said Gemmell.So what might the monster be? One“plausible” idea based on anecdotalevidence, according to Gemmell, is thatthe monster could be a large eel.But that theory, too, raises questions.Eels usually only grow to four to sixfeet, and they migrate to reproduce.And though the survey was compre-hensive Gemmell made the point thata lack of evidence does not mean themystery has been solved.


My visit to Grosse-Île and the Irish Memorial:One of my fondest wishes realized

NE OF MY fondest wishes was real-ized this past summer when I was fi-nally able to visit Grosse-Île, Quebec.Located in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence,

Grosse-Île was a quarantine station hastily set-upfor the thousands of Irish people fleeing the Faminein Ireland between 1845 and 1849.Over 5,000 are buried on thatisland while countless otherswere buried at sea on the har-rowing journey.The first “Famine Ship” arrived onMay 17, 1847, the ice still an inch thickon the river, and there were 241 pas-sengers, 84 were stricken with fever,while nine had died on board.With the hospital only equipped for150 fever cases, the situation quicklyspun out of control.More and more ships arrived at Grosse-Île each day, sometimes lining up formiles down the St. Lawrence Riverthroughout the summer.The ships that carried these starvingand fevered, cholera and typhus-rid-den Irish were known as Famine Cof-fin Ships – so named for their crowdedand deplorable conditions.Men, women and children were allcrowded into very small confines. Asa result, germs and fever spread rap-idly in such conditions.I was accompanied on my trip this Julyby my sister Myrna Daly and her son(my nephew) Wayne Daly. We drovefrom Ottawa to Quebec City, which isa five hour journey.Quebec City is really beautifully situ-ated along the St. Lawrence River.There are little outdoor cafes withplenty of flowers everywhere and eve-ryone is very friendly and helpful.We remarked on the many tourists intown enjoying the charm and flavourof Quebec City. It has a very Euro-pean atmosphere with so many his-torical buildings to explore, it wouldbe easy to forget that you’re still inCanada.

By CATHOLINE BUTLER

We stayed close to the Plains ofAbraham in Old Quebec. The streetsare very narrow but still accommodatecars and the large sightseeing touristbuses.The following morning, we drove toBerthier-Sur-Mer to take the boat toGrosse-Île.The crossing takes about 35 minutes.I was so excited to finally be on theboat and see the large Celtic Crossthat’s visible as you approach the is-land.This cross was erected in 1909 andwas a joint collaboration by the An-cient Order of Hibernians in QuebecCity and the New York Ancient Orderof Hibernians. It’s such a fitting trib-ute as it stands guard over the thou-sands of Irish interred on Grosse-Île.I experienced two very deep contrast-ing feelings upon arrival: While I washappy to finally be on Grosse-Île, Ifelt profound sadness to know that thedreams and hopes for a better life in anew country ended so tragically for somany thousands of Irish on this is-land.To compound the sorrow, many wouldhave been heartbroken having wit-nessed loved ones who died on thesefloating coffin ships put overboard intoa watery grave. Husbands lost theirwives, wives their husbands, and fami-lies lost their children.The Irish language would have beenthe first spoken language of these mi-grants. Not only were they fevered andstarving but landing in a new countrywith a language spoken they did notunderstand.

But they would have understood thatthere were people here waiting andanxious to help them.Many doctors and nurses who volun-teered to go to Grosse-Île and tend tothese sick and dying Irish also con-tracted typhus and cholera themselves.There is a cemetery on the island justfor all the medical personnel who suc-cumbed to these diseases.All of the 5,000 Irish who died wereplaced in individual coffins and buriedin a special cemetery. There were somany coffins that they were stackedon top of one another.There wasn’t enough soil on the is-land to cover the graves, so barges ofsoil were transported from QuebecCity to fully cover the coffins.With lice on both the dying and theliving, and to stop the spread of dis-ease, men, women and children wereall required to take disinfecting show-ers.A guide showed us the room with theindividual showers.Each shower had its own door and eve-ryone was required to disrobe andleave all their clothes. These werepicked up and taken to be washed andthen put in huge kettles at a very highheat to kill the lice.When they entered the disinfectingshower long metal bars encircled theperson, preventing any movementwhile the shower was taking place.While I realize the disinfecting had tobe done, I just felt a cold chill when Ithought most of these people wouldnever have had a shower before in theirlives. This must have been just terri-fying for them.Parks Canada has done a commend-able job in preserving all the buildingson the island including the fever sheds.Bilingual tours are conducted onGrosse-Île during the summer monthsby the employees of Parks Canada.Some of the guides are dressed in his-torical costume and all are so wellversed and helpful. They are availableto answer all the questions visitorshave about what took place on the is-land.The Quebec Government has to becommended for their role in providingmoney and resources to help the Irishwhen they arrived on Grosse-Île dur-ing those terrible years.Also, to the people of Quebec whoadopted the orphaned Irish childrenand raised them with their own fam-ily, allowed the children to keep theirIrish names.Grosse-Île is a National Historic Sitethat serves as an Irish Famine memo-rial. It was dedicated in 1996 after afour-year-long campaign to protect themass grave sites.At the end of the day we were a moresomber reflective group boarding theboat to take us back to Berthier-Sur-Mer. We were all very quiet absorbingwhat we had seen and heard on Grosse-Île.One really poignant touch by ParksCanada, as the boat was just about todepart Grosse-Île, all the guides whohad been so helpful to us that daystood on the pier waving goodbye tous. It was quite emotional.

PHOTO: Wayne DalyTHE ICONIC CELTIC CROSS visible on the approach to GrosseÎle was erected by the Ancient Order of Hibernians in 1909 andmeasures 14.18 metres (approximately 46.5 feet) high. An inscrip-tion at the base is in Irish, English and French. On the side facingthe mass graves and the Gulf of the Saint Lawrence beyond, theinscription in Irish reads: “Children of the Gael died in their thou-sands on this island, having fled from the laws of the foreign ty-rants and an artificial famine in the years 1847-1848. God’s loyalblessing upon them. Let this monument be a token to their nameand honour from the Gaels of America. God save Ireland. Equallymoving are the French and English inscriptions, although they donot assign blame.

AN ILLUSTRATION of the shower system from the Parks Canadainterpretive poster and an actual photograph of a shower stall.

PHOTO: Wayne DalyTHE GROSSE ÎLE and Irish Memorial is a National Historical Siteof Canada located near Quebec City.

O

PHOTO: Wayne DalyTHE LOCATION on Grosse Île where over 5,000 Irish immigrantswere buried during the summer of 1847. The raised platform to theleft recognizes the Quebecois doctors/nurses/staff who lost theirlives helping the sick Irish immigrants.

AN ARTIST’Sdepiction of thescene onboard acoffin ship. Onedoctor said hehad never seenpatients in suchterrible conditionwhen he saw theFamine Irish ar-rive on GrosseÎle.


Discovering the Irish communityin Prince George, B.C.

PRINCE GEORGE evening reception – (L-R) Shirley Bond MLA, Consul General Frank Flood, TerryFedorkiw, Todd Doherty MP and Eilis Courtney, president of the Irish Women’s Network BC.

By EILIS COURTNEYPresident, Irish Women’s

Network of BCVANCOUVER – As the first-year anniversary approachesfor the arrival of the Irish Con-sul General in British Columbia,it was time to explore the north-ern part of the province and thistiming worked well for theCommunity Mapping Project.Thanks to a contact provided by amember of the Okanagan Irish So-ciety, we were connected with TerryFedorkiw (Rossiter) who hails fromWexford and who is one of the keymembers of the Prince George CelticClub.Terry knows all the Irish in the com-munity (not to mention everyoneelse in the town!) and very quicklyhad our trip organized.Consul General Frank Flood and Iarrived on Tuesday, August 27 fora three day visit and we hit theground running.Frank immediately went to the Uni-versity of Northern B.C. (UNBC) formeetings with senior academics and Iprepared for the focus group meetingand community reception that evening.These two events are just one of thecomponents of the Community Map-ping Project, undertaken by the IWNon behalf of the Consulate General ofIreland.Frank and I were delighted to connectwith a focus group of 15 Irish-borncommunity members and listen to thehistory of the Irish in the communityas well as their ideas and suggestionsfor future connections with the Con-sulate General.Following the focus group, we hostedover 50 members of the Irish commu-nity, friends of the PG Celtic Club andlocal politicians at a lively reception.During this reception, we were wel-comed by local MLA Shirley Bond,and MP Todd Doherty.I shared information on the Commu-nity Mapping Project and Frank spokeabout the recent establishment of theConsulate General of Ireland in Van-couver, and of the growing number of

Irish consulates being established incountries around the world.He stressed the importance of theseconsulates in being present to offer as-sistance and support to those whohave left Ireland to go elsewhere forwork, study, or immigration as well asdevelop and expand trade partnerships.As well as meeting Prince George Irishcommunity members, Frank met withMayor Lyn Hall and was interviewedby CBC for the local radio.We both had a tour of the College ofNew Caledonia, met with the Thurs-day morning business group, and en-joyed some of the local dining estab-lishments (which are to be highly rec-ommended).One of the highlights was a visit toThe Exploration Place, which is a won-derful museum and science centre.We learned about the local first nation,the Lleidli T’ennet, as well as some ofthe interesting history of the city.

GARTH FRIZELL, Councillor, City of Prince George, with FrankFlood and Lyn Hall, Mayor of Prince George.

More importantly, we connected withone of their curators who is interestedin doing research on the Irish in thearea, including the story of the Fron-tier Apostles, so we are excited aboutthe potential of this project.The Prince George Irish community ispart of the Celtic Club, joining thosewho have roots in other Celtic nations– Wales, Scotland, and Isle of Mann.The club has been in existence for over40 years, and runs monthly clubnights, at which there is a sharing ofmusic, dance, spoken word, and thecraic, usually focused on one of theCeltic groups.I think it is fair to say that the wel-come Frank and I received from theIrish community was true Irish hospi-tality and in turn, the community wasenergized by the first ever visit of asenior Irish diplomat to their hometown.Personally, I can’t wait to see whatinitiatives emerge as result of this visit.Thank you to Terry and all who werepart of making us feel so welcome.

•For more information on the Commu-nity Mapping Project, watch for thelaunch of the new ‘Irish in BC’ websitein mid-October online at: https://www.irishwomenbc.net/cmp2.html.


WHITE ROCK – The IrishClub of White Rock held theirannual summer barbeque inRedwood Park on July 28. Itwas a fantastic day with the larg-est numbers attending to date.Club president Sharon Woods said,“On behalf of the club, I would liketo thank everyone for supportingour event and a special thanks toour executive and club memberswho came on board to help out onthe day.“James and Steve did a great job onthe barbeque. Your help is very muchappreciated.”A warm welcome is extended to all thenew club members who signed up onthe day. Sharon said it was fantastic tosee so many new families come onboard.

After a great summer barbeque,planning now for the Halloween party

IRISH CLUBOF WHITE ROCK

She also extended a warm thank youto the Fraser Valley Gaels who organ-ized GAA football and hurling for thekids on the day. The kids loved it alongwith the games organized by Kellie andChelsea.The executive is now making plans formore upcoming events which includethe annual children’s Halloween party.This will be held on Sunday, October27 for $10 per family and includesHalloween treats and games.There will also be several pop upevents throughout the year.For timely updates, visit the Irish Clubof White Rock Facebook page, or be-come a member and receive all the e-mails on upcoming events.For more information, e-mail:[email protected], orcall Deirdre O’Ruairc (604) 803-0773or Sharon Woods (604) 338-3553.

VOLUNTEERS Deirdre and Rosella welcomed guests to the IrishClub of White Rock summer barbeque.

RELAXING with friends (L-R) Mia, Sharon, Amy and James.

CHILDREN’S GAMES and races at the annual Irish Club of WhiteRock summer barbeque.

KEVIN AND CHELSEA MCDONNELL helped to organize the GAAfootball and hurling for the kids.

MEMBERS of the Irish Club of White Rock enjoying the summerbarbeque – (L/R) Philip, Eileen, Colin, Maria, Katrina, Geraldine,Aidran, Kellie and Ray.

POSSIBLE contenders for the GAA North American Hurling Cham-pionships in the year 2039 preparing for the challenge at the IrishClub of White Rock summer barbeque.

FRIENDS gathered to enjoy alovely summer afternoonbarbeque (L-R) Carrie, Derek,June and Amy.

JUNE AND AMY PARNELL set-ting out the delicious spread atthe summer gathering.

New Irish Museumof Literature Opens

DUBLIN – The Museum of Lit-erature (MoLI) is a new additionto cultural institutions in Dublin.It celebrates Ireland’s world-re-nowned literary culture and herit-age from its earliest storytelling tra-ditions to its influential contem-porary writers.It is located in the UCD NewmanHouse on St. Stephen’s Green inDublin, where a myriad of Irishwriters including James Joyce,Flann O’Brien, Maeve Binchy andMary Lavin used to study.Even the name MoLI pays tributeto Ireland’s most famous writerJames Joyce: It is named for hisbest-known female character MollyBloom from Ulysses.Dynamic, immersive exhibitionswill showcase literary treasuresfrom the National Library collec-tions, including the first copy ofJames Joyce’s Ulysses, as well ashandwritten notebooks for Ulyssesand fascinating letters, for exampleone from Joyce to WB Yeats.MoLI will also host a free-to-ac-cess national children’s programmeas well as a Joycean research li-brary accessible to students, schol-ars and the public alike.MoLI houses its own digital broad-casting studio, recording inter-views, readings, discussions andevents with writers, poets, artists,performers, educators and academ-ics from Ireland and abroad.The in-house Radio MoLI broad-casts 24 hours a day across theworld on radio.moli.ie.


Father Ted star Brendan Gracehas died aged 68

DUBLIN – The Father Ted starBrendan Grace died on July 11 at theage of 68 after a short illness.The veteran Irish actor and comedianwas diagnosed with terminal lung can-cer just 10 days earlier.Grace played Father Fintan Stack inthe popular Channel 4 comedy seriesabout three priests. He also starred inthe 2013 television film BrendanGrace’s Bottler.He had lived in the U.S. for manyyears but returned to his native Dub-lin in early June, where he was firstdiagnosed with pneumonia beforelearning he had terminal cancer.He is survived by his wife, Eileen,and their four children.Tom Kelly, Grace’s manager for 27years, speaking on Virgin Media One’sIreland: AM programme said the en-tertainer’s death was a great loss toIreland.

“Although he was aware of the out-come himself in the last few days whenthe cancer was diagnosed, it’s a greatshock to everybody,” he said.“He was very weak, he didn’t wish tohave chemo or anything like that, andthe inevitable happened. He was oneof the greats in modern entertaining, it’sa huge loss.”The comedian Brendan O’Carroll,writer and star of Mrs Brown’s Boys,led the tributes, saying, “So sad at thepassing of a great comedy legend, hus-band and father, Brendan Grace.“He opened doors for so many of usand leaves a legacy of love and laughterthat will echo through this land and wewill all mourn his passing. Rest peace-fully Bottler, you’ve earned it.”Thousands of messages have beenposted by fans on social media recall-ing fond memories of watching Gracewith their families, calling him a “leg-end of Irish comedy.”

BRENDAN GRACE(1 April 1951 – 11 July 2019)

Thousands attend opposingabortion rallies in Belfast

BELFAST – Thousands of peo-ple from across Ireland attendedopposing abortion rallies in Bel-fast on Saturday afternoon, Sep-tember 7.Pro-choice groups held a ‘Rally forChoice’ at Writer’s Square, while pro-life groups held a ‘March For TheirLives’ event at Custom House Square.It comes after a silent demonstrationby new pro-life group NI Voicelessattracted 20,000 people, according tothe organisers, to Stormont the nightbefore.The opposing groups gathered onSaturday to show their support, orlack of for new abortion legislationset to be introduced in Northern Ire-land.In July, MPs passed the NorthernIreland (Executive Formation) Act,which contained a provision placinga duty on the government to regulateto provide for access to abortion inNorthern Ireland.It comes into effect if the Stormontexecutive is not restored by October21, with regulations required to be inplace by the end of March 2020.Currently terminations are only al-lowed in cases where a woman’s lifeis at risk or if there is a danger ofpermanent and serious damage to hermental or physical health.Among those in attendance at the pro-choice march were veteran campaignerand former MP BernadetteMcAliskey, former MLA EamonnMcCann and campaigner ElaineCrory.Grainne Teggart, of Amnesty Inter-national, said the rights of women canno longer be denied.She added, “Today’s rally comes at acritical time. Following recent lawreform at Westminster we will soonhave decriminalisation of abortion andfree, safe and legal and local services.“For those facing prosecution thiscannot come quickly enough.“After many years of fighting, we arefinally getting the equality we de-

serve. Any return to Stormont beforeOctober 21 must only happen withagreement on abortion reform on ex-actly the same terms as has been se-cured at Westminster.“These rights have been long and hard-fought for, and we will not accept ourrights being sacrificed for political ex-pediency. The north is now – we aredetermined to make this a reality.”Speaking after attending the demonstra-tion, Sinn Fein MLA Caral Ni Chuilinsaid, “Current legislation in the northis failing women and remains incom-patible with the European Conventionon Human Rights.

“The issue of women’s healthcareshould be dealt with through legisla-tive change.“The first step in this process shouldbe the repeal of draconian British leg-islation which criminalizes women.”The pro-life event was led by PreciousLife’s Bernadette Smyth and FatherPaddy McCafferty. Baroness O’Loan,a former police ombudsman, also spokeat the rally, where she laid blame forthe imposition of new abortion legis-lation on Northern Ireland’s “absen-tee” politicians, decrying the lack ofan executive sitting at Stormont to rep-resent the public.

New award honoursIrish revolutionary

Constance MarkieviczDUBLIN – A new award to honourthe memory of ConstanceMarkievicz has been announced tosupport the arts.The new bursary scheme for artists wasannounced to commemorate the 100thanniversary of Markievicz’s appoint-ment, the first female cabinet minister.A founder member of Fianna Éireann,Cumann na mBan and the Irish CitizenArmy, Markievicz took part in theEaster Rising in 1916.She was elected Minister for Labour inthe First Dáil, becoming the first fe-male cabinet minister in Europe.The bursaries are intended to improvethe representation of the roles, experi-ences and ambition of women throughoriginal work in a variety of art forms.The Arts Council oversaw administra-tion of the award scheme and receiveda total of 107 applications earlier thisyear.The bursary scheme both honoursCountess Constance Markievicz – her-self an artist – and provides supportfor artists from all backgrounds andgenres in producing new work that re-

flects on the role of women in the pe-riod covered by the centenary com-memorations.Future awards will be made each yearto up to five artists or writers (eitherindividual artists working alone or incollaboration with others) to a valueof 20,000 euro per individual or group.The scheme will open for submissionsagain early in 2020 with the next roundof bursaries to be awarded in May2020.

CONSTANCE MARKIEVICZ whotook part in the 1916 Easter Ris-ing was a founder member ofFianna Éireann, Cumann namBan and the Irish Citizen Army.


Irish Gaelic language first appearedin Quebec’s Gatineau Valley in the early 1800s

HE 19th Century saw the arrival ofa large number of Irish immigrantsto Canada, particularly in the Ot-tawa and Gatineau valleys, and with

.Considering the heavy Irish set-tlement of the Gatineau Valley [inwestern Quebec], it is not surpris-ing that a Celtic language was oncespoken here.Having arrived as early as the 1540s,Irish Gaelic (an Ghaeilge) has existedin Canada for about 475 years, andspeakers of the Celtic languages in Ire-land and abroad are inheritors of nearly3,000 years of cultural tradition.The majority of the Irish who came toCanada spoke Irish, many knowing noother language. Yet from earliest set-tlement, it was viewed as a secondaryand foreign language, suffering a his-tory of shame, decline and suppres-sion.Irish is one of six Celtic languages andone of three Gaelic languages (Irish,Scottish and Manx Gaelic) that sur-vived into the modern period.Once widespread throughout Europe,the Celtic languages were almost en-tirely extinguished through centuriesof invasions and conquests.The Celts now survive only in a frag-ment of their indigenous lands, withonly a small number of people nativelyspeaking Celtic languages (about 1.5percent of the people in the Republicof Ireland claim to use the languagedaily).In the 2006 Canadian census, about6,000 people listed themselves asGaelic speakers, with around 2,000 ofthose speaking Irish Gaelic (0.005 per-cent of the population).The English colonization of Irelandimposed centuries of harsh repressionon the Irish people. Despite this, atthe start of the 19th Century IrishGaelic remained the only language ofabout half the population of Ireland,with about 70 percent of the popula-tion able to understand it.

A Distinct LanguageThe distinct language and culture ofthe Gaelic speakers in Canada set themapart, as one essayist noted in the late1800s: “... go deimhin is ‘muintir fá-leath’ ad mar tá na Francaighe ...”1

(...indeed they are a ‘distinct people’as are the French...).In some communities, Irish was thedominant or only language spoken.Such was the case in Chelsea [Que-bec], in the Gatineau Valley.Through the early 1800s, Irish fami-lies settled along the Ridge Road (mod-ern Gatineau Park Trail number one)from the counties of Derry, Antrim,Fermanagh, Cavan, Roscommon,

Irish-language poet, was named by SeánÓ Dálaigh, the head of the DublinOssianic Society, as one of the mostimportant scholars of the Irish lan-guage living at the time.O’Boyle would compose several ac-claimed Irish language poems under thepen name Éire go Bráth (Ireland For-ever) before his tragically early deathin South Gloucester (now a suburb ofOttawa) in 1866, at the age of 46.One such poem, Is Truagh Gan Mis’In M’Aladh, alludes to the mythicalexiled swan children of the Irish KingLear:Is trua gan mis’ i m’eala,Do ghluaisfinnse abhaile,Ag snámh seal ar fuathscéith tharluascadh na dtonn;Ba duan mo thriall thar muir,Mar Fionn-ghualainn ní Lír,Laoch ionmhain na hÉireann go rianúmo bhruinn!Dá mbeinn féin faoi gheasa,Ná ‘r bhféir fós a sheasadhIs cónaí s’ ndúchas mo shinsear ‘s moghaol,Ag iomlua gach srutha,‘S ag ionladh mo chrutha,I’ bhfíorthoibreacha suait’ ar feadh tírena nGael!It is a pity I am not a swan,I would travel home,Swimming on phantom wings over therolling waves;Severe would be my journey over thesea,As Fionnuala daughter of Lear,Beloved hero of Ireland that traces mydreams!If I myself was under tabooOn the grass not to standI would live in the district of my an-cestors and relations,Travelling along every stream,And washing my form,In the true sweet springs throughoutthe land of the Gaels!

The Irish FamineFrom 1845 to 1852, the Irish Famine(an Gorta Mór, “the Great Starvation”)decimated the population of Ireland.Forced onto the poorest lands andmostly limited to potato cultivation,mono-lingual Irish speakers were hithardest by the injustices of the Fam-ine.An estimated 1.5 million people died.Another two million fled Ireland, 60percent of whom were monolingualIrish speakers.The emigration of so many Gaelicspeakers from Ireland is recognized asa major factor in the language’s decline.The Irish language and indeed the verypopulation of Ireland never recoveredfrom the effects of the Famine.The arrival of the beleaguered FamineIrish to the Gatineau Valley meant thatby 1851 half the residents ofWakefield, Low and Masham had beenborn in Ireland.3

Reflecting the strong social divideamong those affected by the Famine,only five percent of the newly arrivedIrish were Protestant; the remainderwere Roman Catholic.There is no question that a largenumber of these new arrivals spokethe Irish language in many cases, it waslikely the only language they knew.The large number of arriving FamineIrish meant that Gaelic4 grew into thethird-largest European language group

in the country, being spoken by one in10 Canadians.While the number of Irish speakers inCanada was at its highest in the dec-ades following the Famine, this wasalso the period of its greatest decline.As Irish activist Aralt Mac GiollaChainnigh notes, “Perhaps, as in Ire-land, the Famine had finally succeeded,where overt coercion had failed, to in-still a sense of shame and inadequacyin Irish culture and language.”5

Irish became associated with poverty,backwardness and death. Many survi-vors of the Famine abandoned the lan-guage in its aftermath.Despite a large number of Irish-Cana-dians understanding Irish, proportion-ally only one in five actively used theirlanguage.Remaining speakers of Irish wouldhave felt immense pressure to give uptheir language, especially from thoseIrish who had already done so.Canadian oral histories contain storiesboth of the Irish who used their lan-guage and of the Anglo-Irish who ridi-culed Gaelic speakers as backward.Raising Irish-speaking children, as hadoccurred before the Famine, almostentirely stopped.Along with Ireland, Canada was partof a worldwide British system whereeducation aimed at linguistically andculturally anglicizing the Empire’s mi-norities. Schools used corporal pun-ishment to beat “foreign” languages andcultures out of children.Elders from Prince Edward Island stillremembered in 1987 the forms of pun-

ishment that were used in their dayagainst those found speaking Gaelic.This system found some of its worstextensions in the residential schoolingof Canada’s First Nations, Métis andInuit children.Many factors contributed to the de-cline of the Gaelic languages in Canada.Governmental neglect, institutionalabuse, indifference among speakers,and, above all, shame and the ingrainedbelief that English was a more usefullanguage all contributed to the collapseof the Irish language by the closing ofthe 19th Century.Globally, Irish was and remains a mereshadow of what it had been just a fewdecades prior.An examination of the 1901 census forWakefield and Low captures the finalechoes of the Irish language in theGatineau Valley. This census was thefirst to allow for “Gaelic” or “Irish” tobe written as the first language spokenin the home.Concerning this new language question,professor Jonathan Dembling states:“Even before the census took place,the presence of Gaelic speakers (Scot-tish and Irish) was apparently signifi-cant enough to deserve explicit men-tion in the instructions. And both vari-eties of Gaelic were indeed among themost common responses to the newquestion.”6

In this census, nine residents ofWakefield listed their mother tongueas “Irish.”

Tthem, the Irish Gaelic language of their ances-tors.Many Irish names are still found in this area, but what has be-come of their language? Scholar and Irish speaker Danny Doyle(Dónall Ó Dubhghaill) writes about the story of Irish Gaelic inthe Gatineau Valley, since it first appeared in the early 1800s.

By DANNY DOYLE

Mayo, Galway, Tipperary, Carlow,Wexford and Cork.The first parish priest, Father JohnO’Brady (Seán Ó Brádaigh), was him-self an Irish speaker.He would surely have found use forhis Irish in the canton, since in 1838he described to his Bishop that theCatholic community he found in Chel-sea consisted of 100 families, Irish forthe most part, and those Irish speak-ing only the Irish language.Farther north, by 1842 some 43 per-cent of families in the Wakefield Dis-trict were of Irish ancestry. These in-cluded the Cahil (Ó Cathail), Carrol(Ó Cearbhaill), Casady (Ó Caiside),Conners (Ó Conchobhair), Kelly (ÓCeallaigh), Mahony (ÓMathghamhna), McGarry (MacFhearadhaigh), Morris (Ó Muiris),Mullen (Ó Maoláin), Plunket(Pluinceid), Rice (Ó Maolchraoibhe),Roney (Ó Ruanaidh) and Treacy (ÓTreasaigh) families.2

With the Irish came the highest ofGaelic arts. In Upper Wakefield (mod-ern Farrellton), Father ThomasO’Boyle (Tómás Ua Baíghell) ofMayo arrived as the first parish priestin 1849.O’Boyle, a highly learned scholar and

PHOTO: GVHS Collectionof Don Kealey

IRISH-BORN Bridget (néeMcCarthy) Daly, seated, with heryoungest daughter, MargaretHayes, in an undated photo.Born in 1820, Daly is listed asan Irish speaker on the 1901census, while her daughter’smother tongue is recorded asEnglish.

MAP SOURCE: GVHS Pathfinder Maps and Richard BlanchardTHE IRISH would leave indelible marks on the Gatineau Valleylandscape, including Martindale, possibly named for Martin O’Mally(Ó Maille), Brennan’s Hill (Cnoc Bhréanainn), Farrellton (ÓFearghail), the Hogan (Ó hÓgáin) and Kealey (Ó Cadhla) settle-ments, McKale’s (Mac Céile) Corner, Ryanville (Ó Riain), and theCuddihey (Ó Cuidighthigh) and O’Neill (Ó Néill) stopping places.

[Continued next page...]


Novena to the Blessed Virgin MaryNovena to the Blessed Virgin Mary (never known to fail). O most beautifulflower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of Heaven, Blessed Motherof the Son of God. Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity. Thereare none that can withstand your power. O show me herein you are myMother, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse tothee (three times). Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands (threetimes). Holy Spirit, you who solve all problems, light all roads so that I canattain my goal. You gave me the Divine gift to forgive and forget all evilagainst me. This prayer must be said for three days, even after the re-quest is granted and the favour received, it must be published.

– PJMK, MJK, CC, CB, LMC, ST•

Novena to St. PeregrinO blessed St. Peregrin, who was miraculously cured of an incurable can-cer, I come before you on behalf of all those who suffer with cancer,especially (name person). I ask that you plead for them, asking God tobless their doctors with the wisdom and knowledge needed to bring theircancer into full remission or cure them of it completely. As they are beingtreated, ask the Lord to grant them the grace and strength to bear theirillness with courage, patience and dignity. St. Peregrin, wonder-worker, Iam confident in your help for all those afflicted with cancer, especially(name person). Amen.

Publication of a novena is $25

NOVENAS

[Continued from page 14]

Of those nine, three had been born inQuebec to Irish-speaking families:Bridget Clary (Bríd Ní Chléirigh, b.1843), Ellen Morris (Eibhlín NíMhuiris, b. 1846) and FrancisTenpenny (Prionsias Mac anTiompaigh, b. 1846).In all three cases, the census showsthe active loss of the language, with allof their children being raised in Eng-lish rather than Irish.As in other areas, including Ireland, thechildren would likely have hidden, outof shame, that their parent had spokenGaelic. This part of their heritagewould then be unknown to future Eng-lish speaking generations.While nonagenarian Mona Monette ofBrennan’s Hill does not recollect anyknown speakers, she can understandwhy the language would have been hid-den: “It was poor times, and theywould try to hide that they were poor... they couldn’t write and they wouldbe shy of it.”7

In Wilson’s Corners, now part ofCantley, Catherine Timlin O’BoyleHolmes (Caitríona Nic Thoimlin) listed

herself as an Irish speaker.Holmes had been born in Dumha Liag,County Mayo. Her great-grandsonBryan Daly recalls hearing from hismother that Holmes would speak Irishwith other women in the area, and thather children continued to use certainIrish phrases and words.He was also told that his mother,Agatha, Catherine Holmes’ granddaugh-ter, was teased by her siblings for be-ing left-handed with the phrase the “oleciotach” (ciotóg, a lefthanded, awk-ward person).Bryan Daly’s paternal side originatedin County Offaly and, though hedoubts they actively spoke much Irish,some phrasing and words were pre-served. For example, Daly remembershis father, Frank, correcting his malechildren with the phrase “don’t be sucha damn amadan” (amadán, a malefool).8

In the area of the village of Low, Que-bec, the family of Samuel and AdellStewart is of note.They had arrived in Canada two gen-erations previously, with Samuel’sgrandfather John born in Ireland c.1791.

Canadian CensusTheir surname, Irish ethnicity, andPresbyterian religion on the censusindicates the family was likely fromthe north of Ireland.In 1901 the eldest Stewart son, Robert,was listed as an Irish speaker. The re-maining four children, Sarah, Emmly,Roofes and Effey, are listed under this“Irish” entry as “same as above.”This is the only unambiguously re-corded instance of the language con-tinuing to be passed to a new genera-tion by 1901.All other listed Irish speakers recordedEnglish-speaking children. It is likelythe language did not survive muchlonger.It is possible that 23 other Irish speak-ers are listed in the 1901 census forthe Low area, belonging to the Evans(Ó hEimhin), O’Leary (Ó Laoghaire),Moore (Ó Mórdha) and Needham (ÓNiadh) families.These are indicated as mother tongueIrish by being recorded “same asabove” with ditto marks.It is standard practice in census stud-ies to accept “same as above” or dittomarks as the full intention of the enu-merator and not to assume error. How-ever, this is less reliable than a directstatement of “Irish.”It is possible this was a recording er-ror, but it is just as possible that theIrish-speaking families lived near toeach other, accounting for their group-ing on the census.Of these 23 people, none had been bornin Ireland (14 born in Quebec, nine inOntario) and only four (the O’Learyfamily) were Catholic.Even with “mother tongue Irish” cen-sus results appearing in the GatineauValley, the true number of Irish speak-ers is unknown.Due to cultural pressures, many Irishspeakers would not have freely re-corded themselves as such.Compounding this were the censusenumerators themselves, who acrossthe country erased the existence ofminority languages through “correc-tions,” crossing out disliked responsesand overwriting “English” in theirplace.Until the second half of the 20th Cen-tury, the Official Canadian Census ofQuebec classed all non-francophonesas English speakers, leading to the East-ern Township phrase “les anglais quine parlent pas l’anglais” 9 (the Eng-lish who do not speak English) to de-scribe Gaelic speakers.These effects worked to heavily di-minish the presence of Gaelic speak-ers across Canada. By the 1931 cen-sus, only 834 of Vancouver’s esti-mated 10,000 Gaelic speakers werelisted as such, and only 230 of Toron-to’s estimated 20,000.

Irish-Canadian CultureIn 1957, Canadian folklorist EdithFowke, with the support of theSmithsonian Institution, venturednorth to find any remaining echoes ofthe language and culture.She met with O.J. Abbott, who as aboy had learned over 100 songs fromthe third-generation Irish-Canadians ofthe Ottawa Valley and Northern On-tario lumber camps.The songs followed Irish verse style,and retained the seannós (old-style)singing tradition of flatly speaking thefinal line.One such song, which Abbott hadlearned from Owen McCann of Hull,is An Cruiscín Lán (The Full LittleJug):

Grá mo chroí mo chruiscín,Sláinte gheal mo mhuirnín,Éireann mo mhuirnín lán.Grá mo chroí mo chruiscín,Is sláinte gheal mo mhuirnín,We’ll have another cruiscínlán, lán, lán,And we’ll have another cruiscín lán.10

Love of my heart my little jug,Bright health my little darlingIreland my full darling.Love of my heart my little jug,And bright health my little darlingWe’ll have another jug that’s full, full,fullAnd we’ll have another jug that’s full.The song is a fragment, a reminder of atime when the Irish language had founda home in the Gatineau Valley.The earliest settlers had raised Irish-speaking children, and later the mostdesperate had found refuge from thehorrors of the Famine. They broughttheir language to the valley, and in itthey created poetry and song.These collecting efforts came too late,

PHOTO: GVHS Adrienne HerronECHOES of the Irish language persist in the valley, such as theinscription on the McLaughlin tombstone at the St. Martin Catho-lic Cemetery, which translates to “Peacefully in God’s country.” Acolourful half shamrock on the side of the stone highlights an en-during connection to Irish culture.

Reference Sources1 Ua Néill Ruiseul, Tomás, “Stáid na Gaedhilge agus Teangthadh Eile insna Stáidibh Aontuighte agus i g-Canada,” Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge. 1.4,1883, p. 170.2 Historical records usually contain spelling inaccuracies due to a combina-tion of illiterate informants, enumerator interpretation of accents, and non-standardized English spelling of foreign language surnames.3 Newly arrived families in 1851 include Brian (Ó Briain), Burns (Ó Broin),Cilloin (Ó Cilleáin), Coolen (Mac Giolla Chuille), Daly (Ó Dálaigh), Driscal (ÓhEidersceoil), Eagin (Mac Aodhagáin), Flin (Ó Floinn), Ganion (Mac Fhionnáin),Goggin, Hays (Ó hAodha), Lagen (Ó Lagain), Laundres, McCarty (MacCarthaigh), McLaughing (McLaughlin) (Mac Lochlainn), Mealyer (MacLaochdha), Morrin (Ó Móráin), Mullen (Ó Maoláin), Murphy (Ó Murchadha),Roak (de Róiste), Ronan (Ó Rónáin) and Sweny (Mac Suibhne).4 This means Scottish and Irish Gaelic combined, having similar numbersof speakers, and at the time considered to be dialects of one language.5 Aralt Mac Giolla Chainnigh. The Irish Language in Kingston Ontario,2005.6 Bradford Gaunce, “A Case Study on Irish Language Survival in Gagetown,New Brunswick,” Diss. University of New Brunswick, 2013, p. 25.7 Mona Monette in a personal interview, Nov. 20, 2018.8 Don Kealey and Bryan Daly in a personal interview, Dec. 26, 2018.9 Margaret Bennett, “From the Quebec-Hebrideans to ‘les Écossais-Québécois,’” Transatlantic Scots, Celeste Ray, ed., Tuscaloosa: University ofAlabama Press, 2005, p. 134.10 Edith Fowke, “Mr. Abbott’s Songbag,” Abbott, O. J., performer, Irish andBritish Songs from the Ottawa Valley. Produced by Edith Fowke, FolkwaysRecords, 1961.

Selected Bibliography- Buchanan, J. G., “Gaelic Speech in Canada,” The Globe, April 25, 1935.- Fowke, Edith, “Mr. Abbott’s Songbag,” Abbott, O. J., performer, Irish andBritish Songs from the Ottawa Valley. Produced by Edith Fowke, FolkwaysRecords, 1961.- Koch, John T., Celtic Culture. California: ABC-CLIO, 2006.- MacDougall, Robert, The Emigrant’s Guide to North America. Toronto: Natu-ral Heritage Books, 1998.- McGee, Bill, “The Ridge Road Settlers in Gatineau Park 1834 1907+” Bytownor Bust, 2016. Accessed Feb. 11, 2019. http://www.bytown.net.- McMonagle, Sarah, “Finding the Irish Language in Canada,” New HiberniaReview. 16.1 (Spring 2012).- Shaw, John, and Michael Kennedy, “Gaelic in Prince Edward Island: ACultural Remnant,” Institute of Island Studies. University of Prince EdwardIsland, 2002. Online. Accessed May 10, 2012. http://projects.upei.ca/iis/files/2014/07/GAELIC-IN-PRINCE-EDWARD-ISLAND.pdf.

and the songs and stories of the GaelicIrish were mostly lost.Despite this loss, echoes of its his-tory and a love for Irish culture stillresound along the length of theGatineau Valley.

•Danny Doyle’s recent book, Míle Míle igCéin: The Irish Language in Canada,gives a historical overview of the Irishlanguage in Canada. Published in Ot-tawa by Borealis Press in 2015, it isavailable online through Amazon or thepublisher. Any readers interested insharing their stories or anecdotesabout the Irish language are invited tocontact Danny at [email protected].

NOTE: This article was originally pub-lished by the Gatineau Valley Histori-cal Society (GVHS) in Volume 45 ofUp the Gatineau!, its annual local his-tory journal, and is reprinted here withthe express permission of the Soci-ety. For more details on the GVHS, anot-for-profit organization located inChelsea, Quebec, see www.gvhs.ca.


SEATTLE IRISH NEWS

IRISH SPEAKERS at a Pop-Up Gaeltacht meeting at ShawnO’Donnell’s in Fremont being held at 6 PM every Wednesdayevening.

IRISH NIGHT at the Seattle Mariners – (L-R) Daisy, David andGabby Jacobsen, Mariners’ Catcher Tom Murphy (whose great-grandparents are from Ireland), Tom Keefe, John Keane, MichelleBarker and Jimmy Bystrom.

PHOTO: Rozarii LynchAN IRISH FAMINE EXHIBIT of 1,845 glass potatoes opens atMETHOD Gallery, 106 3rd Avenue S, Seattle, on October 18. Theexhibit is the concept of Seattle glass artist Paula Stokes, a na-tive of Co. Meath. It consists of 1,845 hand-blown glass potatoesassembled in the form of a cairn, suggesting a burial monument tothe more than one million people who died during the 1845-1852Irish Famine.

THE SEATTLE GAELS hurling, camogie and football teams at theNorth American GAA Finals in Leesburg, Virginia on the last week-end of August.

Mike Pence backs Boris Johnsonover Brexit in awkward Dublin visit

DUBLIN – In what has beendescribed as an uncomfortablepress conference, U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence ex-pressed support for U.K.Prime Minister Boris Johnsonin the ongoing Brexit negotia-tions following a meeting withTaoiseach Leo VaradkarSpeaking during his visit to Ireland onTuesday, September 3, Pence said Ire-land and the European Union should“negotiate in good faith with PrimeMinister Johnson and to work to reachan agreement to respect U.K. sover-eignty and minimize disruption to com-merce”.“The United States supports theUnited Kingdom’s decision to leavethe European Union in Brexit,” he said,though he added that the Good FridayAgreement needed to be respected.For his part Varadkar said the impactthat a hard border would have on Ire-

land would be substantial and “deeplydestructive.”Later, ahead of a meeting in the U.S.ambassador’s residence, asked if theGood Friday Agreement needed to bein place in order for the U.S. to sign atrade agreement with Britain, Pencesaid, “Let me leave the details to oth-ers,” adding that the U.S. would con-tinue to affirm the importance of theaccord.The robust support for Britain fromthe vice-president during his visit toIreland had not been expected but IrishGovernment sources stressed theywere “very satisfied” that the privatediscussions between Pence andVaradkar had reinforced the role of theU.S. as a guarantor of the Good Fri-day Agreement.In particular, the Taoiseach pointedout that a majority in Northern Ire-land supported the backstop.Another controversy emerged whenPence stayed at a Trump owned prop-erty in the Co. Clare village ofDoonbeg.

This was despite the fact that his meet-ings were on the other side of the coun-try in Dublin, requiring a two hourcommute to Aras an Uachtarain for hismeet-and-greet with President Higgins.Pence defended his decision to stay inthe Trump hotel following widespreadcriticism in the U.S.He said the choice was “logical” andwas chosen to accommodate the“unique footprint” that comes withthe security detail and other person-nel needed. Pence was travelling witha 300-strong entourage.Earlier, his chief of staff said Trumphad suggested the vice-president stayat the hotel, though he said this wasn’ta “request” or a “command.”Trump has faced accusations of con-flicts of interests over his business af-fairs since becoming U.S. president.His suggestion last month that his re-sort in Miami could be a venue for nextyear’s G7 summit provoked outragefrom his opponents.

Donald Trump calls Irelandpart of U.K. as he boasts

about his British propertiesDUBLIN – Donald Trumpconfused Ireland and the U.K.while answering questionsabout a post-Brexit trade dealand listed Doonbeg among hisproperties in Britain.The gaffe came at a press conferenceat the end of the G7 Summit in Francein August, when he was asked by aBritish reporter about claims he would“do over” the U.K. in a future freetrade deal.The U.S. President insisted hewouldn’t. “I love the U.K.,” he said,pointing out that he owns propertiesthere – and listed Doonbeg in Co.Clare, very much not in the UnitedKingdom, among them.He visited his Irish hotel and golf re-sort in June and held talks withTaoiseach Leo Varadkar at nearbyShannon Airport.His visit was followed by U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence during his tripto Ireland in September.Trump’s blunder came as he rejectedany suggestion he would be unfair tothe U.K. in a future trade deal.“No, no, no. I love the U.K.. I ownproperty in the U.K. I love the U.K. Ihave no idea how my property is do-ing because I don’t care, but I ownTurnberry [in Scotland] and I own inAberdeen, and I own in Ireland as youknow – Doonbeg – great stuff.”U.S. reporters were quick to pick upon the error with NBC News’s WhiteHouse Correspondent tweeting thatTrump listed Doonbeg among the otherhotels and pointing out that it is “lo-cated in the Republic of Ireland andnot in the U.K.”Earlier Trump praised the new BritishPrime Minister Boris Johnson and saidhe believes he will achieve a Brexit dealbefore the deadline of October 31.

He said Johnson’s predecessor TheresaMay “wasn’t able to do a deal. I gaveher my ideas as to doing the deal veryearly on and you possibly know whatthey are but I would have done that,”he said. “She chose to do it her wayand that didn’t work out so well.”

Trump said he believes Boris Johnsonwill be a “great prime minister.” Headded, “We like each other. We had agreat two-and-a-half days. I’ve beenwaiting for him to be prime ministerfor about six years. I told him ‘whattook you so long?’”

U.S. PRESIDENT Donald Trump pictured above at the G7 Summitin France confused Ireland and the UK while answering questionsabout a post-Brexit trade deal and listed Doonbeg among his prop-erties in Britain.

THE TRUMP International Golf Links and Hotel Ireland in WestClare has been at the centre of recent controvery following a visitby U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in September.


ByJOHN

KEANE

SEATTLE IRISH NEWSPASSINGS

• Mary Charles (88), a native of Co.Leitrim and longtime Irish communityorganizer, died in Edmonds August 1.

• Fr. Raymond Heffernan (88), a na-tive of Belfast who has served in theSeattle area since 1957, died in SeattleJuly 28.

• Frank Shriane (83), a native of Co.Roscommon and longtime Irish com-munity organizer, died in Mukilteo July10.

• Danny Bray (93), a native of Dublinwho lived in Seattle most of his life,died suddenly in Kentucky June 27.

• Maura Commins (98), a native of Co.Louth who has lived in the Seattle areasince 1968, died in Seattle June 25.

• Dan Nolan (89), a native of Kerrywho has lived in the Seattle area since1948, died in Seattle June 12.

• Roland Hjorth (83), UW Dean Emeri-tus whose late wife was from Co.Wicklow, died in Seattle May 6.

• JoAnne Randall (77), former presi-dent of the Friends of St. Patrick, diedin Bellevue June 20.

• Mike McQuaid (79), father of theformer president of the Friends of St.Patrick, died in Seattle June 9.

• Nicholas Leonard (93), a native ofDublin, died in Edmonds May 23.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílse – May their faithful souls rest at

God’s right hand

SENIORS’ LUNCHEON – The Irish Im-migrant Support Group has scheduledanother Irish seniors’ luncheon at theWilde Rover Irish Restaurant in Kirklandat noon on Saturday, September 28.

All seniors with an Irish connectionare welcome. Over 500 different Irishseniors have attended these lunch-eons over the past ten years, and allhave been wonderful, fun occasions.

The subsidized cost for the buffetlunch is $15 for seniors and $20 fornon-seniors and all are welcome, butadvance reservations are required to(253) 237-2811 [email protected].

BELLINGHAM IRISH FESTIVAL – Co-sponsored by the Celtic Arts Founda-tion, Bellingham’s Irish Festival runsFriday-Sunday, October 4-6, with nu-merous musical performances includ-ing Irish music sessions at Uisce IrishPub and Honey Moon Meadery; work-shops on the fiddle, rhythm guitar,sean-nós: Irish dance, shanty sing-ing, the bodhrán for beginners, begin-ning tin whistle, ceili dance class, be-ginning flute, Irish social dancing andmore!

All venues are within a central sixblock area of downtown Bellinghamand most events and performancesare free! For the full schedule, visitbellinghamirishfestival.com.

IRISH FAMINE EXHIBIT – Congratula-tions to Seattle glass artist PaulaStokes on her spectacular “1845: Me-mento Mori” Irish Famine exhibit.

The exhibit consists of 1,845 hand-blown glass potatoes assembled in theform of a cairn, suggesting a burialmonument to the more than one millionpeople who died during the 1845-1852Irish Famine.

The Exhibit opens at METHOD Galleryin Seattle (106 3rd Ave S) on October18 and runs through November 30.

A native of Co. Meath, Stokes began

her work in Seattle as manager ofglass artist Dale Chihuly’s hot shop andspecial projects. More information atpaulastokes.com.

GAELIC MASS – Seattle’s annualMass of Remembrance in the Irish(Gaelic) language will be Friday, Octo-ber 28, at 7:30 PM, at St. Patrick’sChurch, 2702 Broadway Avenue E(just off I-5 at Roanoke Street).

This Mass commemorates the de-ceased members of Seattle’s IrishCommunity, especially those who havepassed away in the past 12 monthswho will be remembered by name dur-ing the Mass.

To submit names to be remembered orfor more information, call (253) 237-2811 or e-mail [email protected].

USGAA FINALS – The Seattle Gaelscompeted in the North American GAAFinals in Leesburg, Virginia the lastweekend of August.

While the outcome wasn’t quite whatthey wanted, they should still be in-credibly proud of a great weekend withlots of grit, determination, and hearton display from all the players.

The Gaels camogie team won theirquarter-final against Milwaukee, butlost the semi-final to Annie Moore’sfrom New York.

The men’s football team lost their quar-ter-final, but went on to win the ShieldCompetition Final Sunday.

The Gaels hurlers lost their quarter-final match to St. Louis. Congrats to allthe Gaels who traveled and partici-pated.

IRISH THEATRE – Director KellyMcMahon plans to establish an Irish-focused theatre company in Seattle,with the aim of presenting the inaugu-ral production next year.

Previously, Kelly got a Masters degreein drama and theatre studies from NUIG(Galway), and worked with Irish thea-tre artists and companies including AnTaibhdhearc, The Town Hall Theatre,The Lyric in Belfast, including her ownNinth Wave company.

She is exploring the idea of a Seattle-based company that will produce the-atrical works from Ireland, either fromthe classic cannon or the exciting newworks of current writers.

With the support of the Irish HeritageClub, she is forming a committee tosupport the project and develop plansfor a first production, possibly in 2020.

For those interested in becoming in-volved or learning more, contact (253)237-2811.

NEW BOOK – Actress Kate Mulgrew,the former Seattle resident who starsas Red in the Netflix television series,Orange is the New Black (and previ-ously starred in Mrs. Columbo, StarTrek: Voyager, etc.), lived in Seattle’ssister city of Galway while writing herrecently published memoir, How toForget: A Daughter’s Memoir. Shesays, “I found in Ireland an accept-ance of my actions that I never foundhere in the U.S.”

DUBLIN BUSINESS MISSION – In May,the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber ofCommerce and Greater Seattle Part-ners led a delegation of over 40 re-gional business and civic leaders toDublin.

A report on the trip atseattlechamber.com highlights:“Sessions such as a panel with artsleaders, a conversation with LordMayor of Dublin Nial Ring, and multiplediscussions on inclusive growth gavethe delegation insight into how our Irishcounterparts think about how to keeppeople from being left behind.

“...By making culture relevant for all,and making a strong public and philan-thropic case for continued investmentin it, Dublin’s leaders are working tokeep arts and culture a vibrant part ofthe region.”

PASSPORT REMINDER – Most Irishpassport holders can now renew theirIrish passports online atpassportonline.dfa.ie, but it’s sug-gested to allow at least six weeks forthe online renewal.

You can also now arrange to receivea reminder e-mail notification of the dateyour Irish passport expires – scrolldown to register at Passport RenewalReminder.

Be aware that emergency passportsfor U.S. residents can only be issuedin actual emergencies. Please makesure your passport is not close to be-ing expired!

MISCELLANEOUS• Contact Seattle’s Irish Book Club [email protected].

• Independent Galway City CouncilorMike Cubbard has been elected mayorof Seattle’s Sister City of Galway, whileCouncilor Donal Lyons was electedDeputy Mayor.

TOM KEEFE, founding presi-dent of the Seattle Galway As-sociation in 1982, throws theCeremonial First Pitch at IrishNight at the Seattle Mariners.

ST. PATRICK (aka Tom Keefe)was Honorary Steward for the$50,000 Irish Day Stakes atEmerald Downs at Irish Day atthe Races.


THE VIEWFROM IRELAND

ByMAURICEFITZPATRICK

Brexit: Coming Apart at the SeamsFOR a long time the IrishGovernment has held fastto the assumption that‘the backstop’ (a provi-sion that guarantees anopen border no matterwhat the outcome ofBrexit negotiations) issufficient to ensure nohard border in Ireland.The government’s updated contin-gency plan for a no-deal Brexit, theContingency Action Plan, published onJuly 9, makes clear that it has revisedthat view considerably.Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs,Simon Coveney, acknowledged that thegovernment now considers that the riskof a no-deal Brexit is ‘significant’.Disintegration, the chief fallout ofBrexit, heightens considerably in theevent of a no-deal Brexit.On Wednesday, July 3, former North-ern Ireland Secretary of State for North-ern Ireland Peter Hain said, “It is notthe backstop, but a no-deal Brexitwhich will threaten the Union betweenNorthern Ireland and the rest of theU.K. Which is a major reason why NoDeal must be stopped.”A big problem, for those who wish toprotect the integrity of the U.K., isthat new British prime minster, BorisJohnson has promised to bring theU.K. out of the EU without a deal un-less they can renegotiate the currentdeal.Yet the former prime minister, TheresaMay, negotiated and signed up to aWithdrawal Agreement with thebackstop as one of its irreplaceablefeatures.With someone as amateurish and trivialas Johnson at the helm, the chance of ano-deal Brexit runs much higher.At the hustings Johnson primarily ad-dressed the less than one percent ofthe U.K.’s population who comprisethe Conservative Party membershipwho have the power to elect theirleader.They are an older demographic, nation-alistic and even jingoistic, and theycount among them a considerablenumber of deluded people.Johnson’s pronouncements thereforeneed to be understood in terms of hisintended audience.

Even so, the positions he has takenare very dangerous. Brexit is often lik-ened to self-harm, but no-deal is moreakin a full-on suicide attempt.On July 16, Johnson moved closer tothat reality by ruling out the backstopor any rider to it: “no to time limits orunilateral escape hatches or these kindof elaborate devices, glosses,codicils…It has been devised by thiscountry as an instrument of our ownincarceration in the single market andcustoms union. It needs to come out.”Surely he can understand that an or-derly exit from the EU is impossible ifthe U.K. jettisons the backstop?Europe may – yet again – agree to al-low the U.K. more time to exit, but itis unwise to bank on that.Although incoming European Commis-sion president, Ursula von der Leyen,has indicated that a further extensionfor the U.K. may be possible, that de-cision requires the approval of the EU27 leaders.President Macron of France, in par-ticular, has voiced his exasperationwith the U.K. and the damage that itsprotracted ‘exit’ is doing to the fabricof Europe.It is quite conceivable that the Octo-ber 31 deadline for the U.K. to leave (adate insisted on by Macron during thelast round of EU 27 negotiations) maybe immovable.If the U.K. were to exit the biggesttrading bloc in the world without trea-ties in place to enable it to continue totrade with the EU, the U.K. cannotbut severely damage its economy.Typically only a catastrophic eventsuch as a war could prompt a countryto do such a thing. In this case, how-ever, the act would be quite unforced.A no-deal Brexit outcome would raiseprofound questions about the eco-nomic and political make-up of theU.K..

The capitalist system is wholly wed-ded to the objective of economicgrowth, yet in a no-deal Brexit thistenet of the economic system, whichhelps to structuralise the U.K., wouldbe rejected.Ireland’s fate is unavoidably tetheredto U.K.’s fate.Compromisers within Irish politicsand media have begun to argue that,by conceding something to the newlyinstalled British prime minster, Irelandcould retain the initiative in negotia-tions and shorten the odds of no-deal.A corollary of this argument is thatthe U.K. jeopardising its interests isno reason for Ireland to fail to do eve-rything possible to protect its owninterests.By doing nothing to counteract theU.K.’s thanatos [personification ofdeath] instinct, we are party to beingdriven over the precipice. These cir-cumstances are deeply unfair, but poli-tics often is.The injustice of it would principallybe felt in Northern Ireland. In a no-deal scenario, there are several com-peting (and fully legitimate) claims atplay in the North.On the one side, the Northern Irishelectorate voted to remain in the EU in2016 and voted for the Good FridayAgreement in 1998.Northern Ireland’s rights should beprotected, and its voice should beheard. Yet the European customs un-ion depends upon goods entering theEU from a ‘third country’ beingchecked and monitored.If the U.K. abruptly leaves the EU,there is no way to do that without ahardening of the Irish border, which isinimical to the Good Friday Agree-ment.The EU is wholly sympathetic to theIrish wish to retain an open border,but its customs union cannot survivean open border in the event of a no-deal Brexit.Overarching these concerns is the in-sistence on the part of a minority inNorthern Ireland, which has ever di-minishing support, that the U.K. ref-erendum outcome in June 2016 mustbe implemented.In September, after the summer recess,Irish, U.K. and European negotiatorswill have less than eight weeks to for-mulate a solution to this crisis. Theodds are now no better than even thatthey will succeed.

DUBLIN – More Irish pass-ports were issued in the U.K.than in the Republic of Irelandin the first six months of 2019.The Irish passport office has con-firmed that 78,744 passports wereissued to first-time applicants liv-ing in Great Britain and NorthernIreland from January till the end ofJune.During the same period 60,300 Irishpassports were issued to adults mak-ing their first application in the Re-public of Ireland.In order to apply for an Irish passportyou must be an Irish citizen.

Nearly 79,000 Irish passportsissued to U.K. residents in first 6 months of 2019

Irish citizenship can be acquired in aseries of ways, including through placeof birth, Irish descent, marriage, adop-tion or residing in Ireland for a par-ticular length of time.

Irish citizenship is automatic for peo-ple who were born on the island ofIreland before 2005 or those with aparent who is an Irish-born citizen.There has been a marked increase inthe number of people from the UKapplying for an Irish passport aheadof Brexit.In 2015, there were more than 46,000applications from Great Britain. Thismore than doubled in 2018 to over98,500 Irish passport applications.It has been suggested many want toretain the benefits of EU membership,including the freedom of movement,with the U.K. set to leave the Euro-pean Union on October 31.

Thousands of U.K. residentshave rushed to apply for Irishpassports before the Brexit.

DUBLIN – Ministers now be-lieve that a no-deal Brexit willbe significantly worse than theypreviously expected, with pre-dictions of thousands of imme-diate job losses in tourism and“carnage” in the fishing sector,after discussions at Cabinet onTuesday night, September 3.A report published in the Irish Timesindicates Minister for Foreign AffairsSimon Coveney briefed his colleaguesat the meeting, which ran for four-and-a-half hours and included a lengthydiscussion about no-deal planning.Cabinet members were circulated witha document on the likely implicationsof no-deal, which was later collectedfrom them, and which left several Min-isters taken aback by the severity ofthe warnings.They were told that 10,000 jobs in thetourism and hospitality industry werelikely to be lost in the first threemonths after Brexit.The implications for parts of the agri-food industry also shocked some ofthose present while Coveney told themeeting that there would be “carnage”in the fishing industry after a no-deal,according to one person present.

Irish Ministers takenaback by predicted

scale of no-dealBrexit damage

Ministers were also told it was inevi-table there would be some checks ongoods imported across the border butthat those checks would not take placeat the border.When pressed by some Ministers formore details about the nature of thechecks, Coveney declined to elabo-rate – though there was some mentionof mobile checks.It is understood that discussions aretaking place in Government Buildingsabout issuing more detail to the publicin advance of the return of the Dáilfollowing summer break.Coveney and Taoiseach Leo Varadkarstressed the importance of protectingIreland’s place in the EU’s single mar-ket, which would require the checksbe carried out in consultation with theEU.“The checks will come,” one ministersaid. “But telling people where theyare will be awkward.”Another minister said, “We’re goingto have to level with people. It’s goingto be a lot worse than people expect.”The Government says that it is in dis-cussions with the European Commis-sion about protecting the single mar-ket in the event of a no-deal, whilemaintaining an open border betweenNorth and South.

The Great BrexitDebate Continues

Online on Social MediaWhile the debate continues in British political cir-cles, the discussion is no less fierce online with atorrent of opinions both for and against Brexit andviews from every possible angle.We thought this response from Ciaran Irvine who is from Derry in North-ern Ireland was particularly interesting and representative of a largesegment of the population.He was responding to the following question: Is it possible that the seven SinnFein Westminster MPs could be persuaded to topple Johnson’s government?

His reply: Never interrupt your opponent when he is making a mistake.This keeps being raised by people, but engage brain and think this through forone second.How on earth is it in any way in SF’s interest to save the British from their ownlunatic act of national self-harm?Repeated polls have shown a strong likelihood of a majority vote in favour ofa united Ireland in NI in the scenario of a no-deal catastrophic Brexit.The Tories and the DUP are doing more to advance the cause of an independentfree and united Ireland than anything SF have managed themselves in decades.SF can achieve their raison d’être by simply doing nothing at all. And in theaftermath the British and the Unionists cannot bitch and whine about theoutcome and do their usual complaining about the beastly Irish because theydid it to themselves.Well, doubtless they still will bitch and whine, of course, but nobody will takethem seriously.Questions like this you know what they demonstrate? They demonstrate thatfar too many British people still don’t get it.They seem fundamentally incapable of understanding that Ireland is a sover-eign nation, not some sort of subservient possession to be toyed with. And that there is no obligation whatsoever on anyone in Ireland to come alongand clean up your own damn mess. You broke it, you own it. We’re done here.


VANCOUVER IRISH SPORTING AND SOCIAL CLUB

2019 – The Year in Review

By CATHOLINE BUTLERVANCOUVER – The GPO Bar +Kitchen is the newest Irish gatheringspot to open on Granville Street. Irishpeople will immediately recognize thename GPO, which stands for generalpost office.The GPO in Dublin is a landmark build-ing which featured prominently in his-tory and song associated with theEaster Rising or Easter Rebellion of1916 resulting in an independent IrishRepublic.The GPO in Vancouver was formerlyDonnellan’s Chipper & Bar. When theChipper got its liquor license it wasdecided to renovate to a bar and kitchen.Many of the Chipper staff now workat the GPO.Galway-born, Kieran McGrath is theowner/bartender and general managerat the GPO and he recently spoke toThe Celtic Connection about why theGPO is not just another Irish bar.McGrath has extensive hospitalityexperience and before opening up theGPO he worked at Donnellan’s IrishPub on Granville Street.He said, “my greatest achievementthus far with the GPO would have tobe seeing previous customers andfriends come out of their comfort zonewith regard their regular drink choices.“To see staunch Guinness andMagners drinkers dip their toes in thewater with some of our cocktails hasbeen great to see.”The GPO is Irish owned and operatedbut you won’t see leprechauns andshamrocks up on the wall.McGrath said they named it the GPObecause Irish people would know thename and also because the name GPOis trendy.When designing the GPO, the ownerswanted to create a place where peoplecould come to enjoy delicious food anddrinks at a reasonable price in a fun,relaxed and non-pretentious environ-ment.They offer food specials every day andone of the most popular food itemshas been the spicy chicken buttermilk

The GPO Bar + Kitchen promises quality food and beverage in apretentious free environment right in the heart of the Granville En-tertainment District.

GPO Bar + Kitchen: The newestIrish gathering spot in Vancouver

burger. It’s chicken that has been mari-nated for 24 hours in buttermilk be-fore being breaded and deep fried andserved with a choice of salad or fries.There is also a wide selection of craftbeer and an extensive cocktails menu.One of the popular cocktails is the el-derberry collins made with gin, elder-berry liquor, lime juice and sugar syrupand garnished with a lime wedge andan edible flower.And, of course, they have Guinnessand Magners cider.Kieran said, “our goal at the GPO is tocater to the growing Irish communityin Vancouver and offer a comfortable

place for anyone to meet new people.”The GPO is an intimate snug that seats45 patrons with live music every Fri-day and Saturday.It is open for breakfast at 9 AM andfeatures an Irish rasher benedict onIrish soda bread. Lunch is served sevendays a week and features daily spe-cials with brunch served daily until 3PM.Be sure to stop by the new locationand check out the craic at the GPOBar + Kitchen located at 1224Granville Street in Vancouver. Put a‘like’ on their Facebook page for moreupdates.

GPO Bar + Kitchen chef Leonard Doody (left) and owner/bartenderKieran McGrath (right) bring a taste of Ireland to Vancouver.

By NIAMH BARRYVANCOUVER – As the Irish Sport-ing and Social Club (ISSC) celebratesits 45th year in Vancouver, it’s clearto see the club has gone from strength-to-strength since its beginnings in1974.This year saw teams represent theclub, and collect silverware, all overNorth America, from San Diego on thewest coast to Virginia in the east, andas far north as Edmonton.The club hosted an All VancouverGaelic Football League in the spring,participated in the USGAA finals, andwon across the board in the PomerleauVancouver GAA Championship. Allthis alongside a busy year of social,youth and games development activi-ties.The year started early with a hugelysuccessful talent show where perform-ers across many genres battled it outfor the top spot.The early on-field action for the ISSC

involved hosting the St. Patrick’s DayGaelic Games celebration where themen’s football tournament cup wasdedicated to, and presented by, JimSpeiran, the stalwart of VancouverGAA.Hosting duties didn’t stop there as wealso hosted a five-week-long GaelicFootball Spring League with 12 teamsinvolved across men’s and ladies foot-ball.One of the major focuses of the ISSCis around promoting our Gaelic gamesand encouraging participation at everyage and skill level. It was an active yearin this regard with several initiativesacross various fronts.On the youth side, we provided aGaelic games coach to seven differentlocal schools for four weeks, ran youthgames across the season and had aGaelic games youth camp.The youth weren’t the only group tohave an opportunity to learn the skillsof the game, all were welcome at six

weeks of skills development sessionsfor beginners for football and hurling/camogie.This year also saw the launch of theGaelic for Mothers and Others initia-tive and some returning ISSC stars togout for a co-ed ISSC legends game.Other off-field activities for ISSC mem-bers included coaching and refereeingcourses and a six-week yoga for GAAplayers course which was taught byDeirdre Hurley.Emboldened by winning the GaelicFootball Spring League, the ISSCCamogie team travelled to San Diegoin May and took part in both camogieand football 7’s tournaments.In a huge achievement for the team,they won out the football competitionand went to the final of the camogie.This was not the only tournamentclaimed by the camogie team, the Em-erald City cup was also added to thetrophy case after victories in Seattle.

The ISSC ladies footballers dominatedVancouver, Western Canada and NorthAmerica this year.The first championship win of the sea-son was the Western Canadian Cham-pionships hosted by Edmonton WolfTones GAA Club.This was followed by the PomerleauVancouver GAA titles in Senior andJunior levels.To close out the season the team trav-elled to Leesburg, Virginia for theUSGAA finals. In an all-Canadian In-termediate final, Toronto was defeatedon a scoreline of 5.20 to 0:05.The growth of GAA in Vancouver overthe last number of years lead to a highlycompetitive Gaelic Football season.The ISSC men’s football teams alsoachieved clean sweeps in competitiveaction this year.The Western Canada Championshiptrophy was picked up in Edmonton.In the Senior and Junior VancouverChampionships, ISSC came out on topin hotly contested games against theFraser Valley Gaels and the Éire ÓgGAA Club.It would be remiss to reflect on such asuccessful year without taking the timeto acknowledge and thank all of thevolunteer coaches, referees, commit-

tee members and organisers who makethese fantastic events possible.We would also like to extend a hugethank you to all of our sponsors thatsupported us this year, Donnellan’sIrish Pub, Tegan Law, Seva Physi-otherapy and Whistler Water.

Annual General MeetingThe AGM will be held on September26, in the Yaletown Roundhouse at6:45 PM.This is an important event to have asay in who will sit on the ISSC com-mittee for the coming year. All posi-tions will be elected on the night.If you are interested in taking a moreactive role in the ISSC, reach out toany committee member or the ISSCFacebook page for more information.

End of Season Wrap Up PartyAn end of season wrap up party willbe held on September 27 in Donnellan’sIrish Pub.This event is open to all and will seemedal presentations on the night.Attendees are encouraged to arriveearly to ensure speedy entry.

Dinner DanceA dinner dance will be held towardsthe end of the year to present awardsand celebrate the year’s many suc-cesses. Further details will be an-nounced on the ISSC social media chan-nels.

ISSC LADIES FOOTBALL TEAM – Intermediate North AmericanChampions

MEMBERS OF THE ISSC Men’s Football Teams competing inthe Pomerleau Vancouver.

ISSC CAMOGIE TEAM – Winners of San Diego 7’s Football andEmerald City Cup in Seattle.

ISSC TEAMS taking part in the 2019 Spring League.


ByELFANJONES

POSTCARD FROMLONDON

ByEIFIONWILLIAMS

The NationalEisteddfod in NorthWales: The biggest

competition in EuropeREETINGS fromthe U.K. whereaccording toNicola Sturgeon,

Streisand. He mumbled and lookedbewildered. Bless him it was late forhim to have been out.Like punch drunk heavyweight box-ers, some elderly stars need to be ad-vised to call time on their career. I heardPaul McCartney a couple of years agoand was sad to hear him struggle.

•Earlier this month the National Ei-steddfod was held in Llanwrst in NorthWales attracting 150,000 visitors. It isquite remarkable because although en-tirely conducted in Welsh it is the larg-est competitive festival in Europe.Edinburgh is the largest arts festival inthe world, with millions of people at-tending, but it encompasses, the Fes-tival, the Fringe, the Book Festival andthe Military Tattooo and runs for 24days.The Eisteddfod is a week-long seriesof cultural competitions with over sixthousand competitors taking part andthe most prestigious prize is “TheChair” which is awarded for poetry.The first recorded eisteddfod whichmeans “a gathering” was held in 1176at Cardigan Castle. Poets and musi-cians from all over Wales attended, andcompeted for a seat at the nobleman’stable, hence a chair being the covetedprize.In 1819 during an eisteddfod held inCarmarthen South Wales the Gorseddwas introduced: the brain child ofEdward Williams who was betterknown as Iolo Morganwg, a self-styledbard and literary forger and whose goalwas to preserve Welsh cultural tradi-tions.The Gorsedd consists of an assemblyof bards who in the context of an ei-steddfod are known as Druids, and in-clude poets, writers, musicians, artistsor others who have made a contribu-tion to the Welsh nation, the languageand its culture.The Druids add a sense of mysticismto the proceedings but should not tobe confused with the original Druidswho were priests and leaders in theancient Celtic pagan religion. To myknowledge there have been no humansacrifices held in a National Eistedd-fod.ln 1861 the first eisteddfod in itspresent form was held in Aberdare andin 1880 the National Eisteddfod As-sociation was formed and given the taskof staging the annual event with thevenues alternating between North andSouth Wales.Should you wish to attend, then the2020 National Eisteddfod will be heldin Tregaron.

Best wishes, Elfan

Gleader of the Scottish Na-tional Party, democracy isnow dead and we are gov-erned by a tin pot dictatorcalled Boris the Terrible.We are rushing like lemmings to fallover the cliff, because after October31, the day we tumble out of Europe,we are all doomed, food shortages, nomedicine for the sick, a plague of lo-custs shall descend on the land and thedead shall rise from their graves.Farce is a noun meaning a comic dra-matic work using buffoonery andhorseplay including ludicrously im-probable situations, and farces werevery popular theatre in this countryin the 1950s.I remember the excitement of going, asa little boy, from Wales to London tostay with my aunt and uncle. Theytook me to a West End theatre to seeBrian Rix and the silly antics of theactors making total fools of them-selves.I loved it, and was very grateful be-cause my parents told me that goingto the theatre cost of lot of money.Today the farces are free, just tune into “Today in Parliament” for a damngood laugh.

•August in the U.K. has become themonth of music festivals and it seemsthat the rock stars of the Fifties andSixties, Seventies and Eighties are outin droves “packin’ em in” all over thecountry.Apart from the major pop festivals likeGlastonbury, The Isle of Wight andReading, dozens of events now occurwith aging pop stars headlining.I had heard the hit record We are Fam-ily, but Sister Sledge would not havebeen high on my list to queue up for,but I did see them recently.It is a small price to pay for marryinga younger woman, and the venue wasin the grounds of a beautiful hotel inthe New Forest. Happily for me, TheWailers (without Bob Marley whodied in1981) were also on the bill.Tears for Fears playing in HamptonCourt would have impressed HenryVIII, and apparently Kylie Minoguewowed them in Blenheim palace – thestately home built by the Duke ofMarlborough in 1722, and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.Old age does not seem to be a deter-rent because Tom Jones 79 has beenon tour, Rod Stewart at 74 is as goodas ever, and 77-year-old BarbraStreisand singing in Hyde Park Lon-don was wonderful.There is a limit though: I wonderedwhy they had taken 82-year-old KrisKristofferson out of his old people’shome.He was the handsome co-star withBarbra Streisand in the 1976 film AStar is Born, but now he sadly shuf-fled on stage to sing a duet with Barbra

Welsh Society’s Heritage Weekendcelebrates the 90th Anniversary

of the Cambrian HallVANCOUVER – The Van-couver Welsh Society will cel-ebrate the Cambrian Hall’s 90thanniversary with a HeritageWeekend on October 4-6.Highlighting the weekend eventswill be the 90th anniversary con-cert of the Cambrian Hall on Satur-day, October 5 at West Point GreyUnited Church, jointly organizedby the Welsh Society and the Van-couver Orpheus Male Choir.In addition to the choral performanceby the Orpheus Choir, the programwill also feature guest artists mezzo-soprano Nerys Jones, harpist LeannePage and her son Connor, and SamuelWyn-Morris, an up-and-coming youngtenor from Wales.The Vancouver Orpheus MaleChoir is well-known in British Co-lumbia for its eclectic mix of popularballads, sacred songs, Canadiana, rous-ing male voice classics and original ar-rangements of contemporary works.The choir regularly tours B.C. to en-tertain small communities and has alsocompleted several national tours.Much of the Orpheus’s success is dueto its artistic director Liana Savardand the Choir’s accompanist BarryYamanouchi, who will conduct andaccompany the choir at the October 5concert.Samuel Wyn-Morris is a 22-year-oldtenor from Llanelli, Wales. He is oneof the young Welsh stars who are mem-bers of Loud Applause Rising Stars(LARS), an organization based inLlanelli dedicated to supporting youngWelsh artists.Samuel, a graduate of the GuildfordSchool of Acting has already built aformidable reputation as a soloist andperformer in musical theatre.He has also been a popular soloist withsome of Wales’ most famous choirs,including the Pendyrus Male Choir,Llanelli Male Choir, Morriston LadiesChoir and the Morriston OrpheusChoir.Samuel is looking forward to his visitto Vancouver. Welsh Society Presi-dent Lynn Owens-Whalen says, “Heis thrilled to be coming and it is heart-warming to know that we, as a Soci-

ety, are supporting young Welsh art-ists.”Mezzo-soprano Nerys Jones wasborn in Llanfair-Caereinion, Mid-Wales, and studied at the Royal Scot-tish Academy of Music and Art andthe Guildhall School of Music.

Now based in Seattle, she has per-formed with the world’s leading operacompanies and has also hosted her owntelevision show Yng Nghwmni NerysJones on Welsh television station S4C.Nerys has performed with the PugetSound Opera and Seattle opera andthis year received popular acclaim forher roles in Rigoletto and La Traviata.She is popular with Welsh Societymembers following her previous ap-pearances at Society events.Leanne Page is a well-known harpistand classically trained singer based inSurrey, B.C. She is equally sought af-ter for her instrumental flare and theexpressive beauty of her voice.From classical to Celtic, from sacredto popular, from opera arias to movietunes, Leanne demonstrates her knowl-edge and skill in a variety of genres.Frequently accompanied by her tal-ented son Connor on classical guitar,Irish whistle and/or piano, Leanne cre-ates a rich and vibrant musical atmos-phere. The Welsh Society is pleasedto welcome back these two popularartists.The Saturday concert will undoubtedlyprove to be a popular event.Audiences can also enjoy further vo-cal performances by Samuel Wyn-Morris and Nerys Jones at theGymanfa Ganu (hymn-singing festi-val) on Sunday afternoon, October 6,at the Cambrian Hall.The communal singing at the Gymanfawill be conducted by Liana Savard andthe accompanist will again be BarryYamanouchi.The Heritage Weekend will start at theCambrian Hall on Friday evening, Oc-tober 4, with a Noson Lawen, a tradi-tional Welsh evening of entertainmentfeaturing music, comedy and story-telling in a generally convivial atmos-phere.Members of the public are welcome toall the above events.Tickets for the Vancouver celebrationconcert – 90th anniversary of theCambrian Hall are available through theVancouver Welsh Society website:www.welshsociety.com and the Van-couver Orpheus Male Voice Choirwebsite: www.vancouverorpheus.org.

THE VANCOUVER Orpheus Male Choir will headline a concert celebrating the 90th anniversary ofthe Cambrian Hall on Saturday, October 5 at the West Point Grey United Church in Vancouver.

SAMUEL WYN-MORRIS, a 22-year-old tenor from Llanelli,Wales, is an up-and-comingyoung Welsh artist.

MEZZO-SOPRANO NerysJones was born in Llanfair-Caereinion, Mid-Wales and nowlives in Seattle, Washington.

issue 28 volume 6 proudly serving celts in north america...

Documents