Rosie O'Donnell and Ireland

I'm not upset about Rosie O'Donnell moving to Ireland. So many people are trying to get into the U.S.A. that will make just one fewer ungrateful person and more space for someone to succeed. I'm not sure I'd even blame her hatred for Trump. She hasn't had a happy life, always sarcastic and complaining, so maybe a change of scenery will help her.

We've visited Ireland in 2007 and loved it. The Irish have helped populate Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand, they contributed so much to their adopted countries and they did so in part because they were oppressed by England. My Irish beat the crowd and got here just in time to fight in the Revolution. I'm probably 8th generation thanks to my Irish.

A bit off topic, but as I look at this photo taken in Ireland, I remembered the shoes! Marti Alt and I went to a Christian Writers festival at Calvin College in Michigan and why I don't know, but we went shopping and I bought these shoes! They must have been comfortable enough to hike in Ireland's very rough terrain. The white rain jacket was "merch" picked up at a library convention probably in the 90s, and I still have it. I checked my blog and I'd written about the Festival in 2004. Looking through it, I found that in the same paragraph that I wrote about skipping meeting Joyce Carol Oates I included the shoe story. They were Naturalizers.   https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2004/04/308-festival-report-2there-were-some.html?

     

St. Patrick's Day is three days away

March is Irish American Heritage Month. My Irish beat the crowd and came to British America before the revolution, and no one was Catholic. I'm a huge admirer of that great missionary St. Patrick and liked this story.

Why I Hate St. Patrick’s Day by AMANDA TEIXEIRA

Imagine that you grew up uneducated. In your teenage years, you were kidnapped and sold into slavery in a foreign land. Your family was gone. You submitted to your masters and relied on God through this struggle, growing leaps and bounds in your faith. You escaped your slavery in an adventurous series of events. Later, you decided to go back to the land of your slavery to share the Gospel with the pagan land. In faith you began preaching, baptizing, giving your very self in love to the people who once enslaved you. They came to know Jesus Christ through your witness; they convert, their families convert, and eventually their whole country converts! They even decided, upon your death, to preserve that day as holy to celebrate your heroic generosity, bravery, and love.

Fast-forward 1700 years give or take. From heaven you gaze down to earth on your feast day…
And people are using it as an excuse to get drunk and be irresponsible as they stumble around with rainbows, shamrocks, and green beer flying in every direction.
Hello, St. Patrick!

Modern traditions didn’t pop up overnight, but these days most people in Western Civilization are decidedly Irish and Catholic on St. Patrick’s Day. Most saint feast days come and go without societal notice but St. Patty’s day has everyone jumping on the bandwagon. Even Wonka is aware of this.
OK, so I don’t really hate St. Patrick’s Day…I am Irish and Catholic; I can’t truly hate it. However, I can hate that the entire point of having feast days are lost in modern society.

Why do Catholics have saint feast days to begin with? To celebrate the life of someone who gave their life to Jesus Christ and shared him in heroic ways with the world around them. The reason for these days is to remind us of those older brothers and sisters who have gone before us and left behind a powerful witness. We are celebrating the grace of God in their lives as we also celebrate the victory of Jesus Christ over death and sin in our lives. We remember that we are but pilgrims on earth and, God-willing, one day will worship the Lord in heaven alongside the saint we are celebrating.

So, what can we do to reclaim St. Patrick’s Day? Or even take what’s already GOOD about St. Patrick’s Day and reintroduce the point of why it’s good to our culture?

Become a person who truly celebrates the REAL St. Patrick! Practically how can you do this?

1. Tell the real story! This man was sold-out for Jesus Christ and endured crazy hardships many people could relate to! Bring inspiration to those around you.

 
2. Become an evangelist! If Patrick was on earth for his feast day, this is what he would likely do. Remember the old legend about St. Patrick using shamrocks to explain the Trinity? Don’t hesitate to use the shamrock on his feast day to talk about God, who desires to be in communion with all people. Be bold and loving…not weird and creepy.

3. Drink some green beer! If you are 21 or older, feel free to have some beer on St. Patty’s dayin moderation. Set an example about how to use alcohol properly – to celebrate and make merry while maintaining sobriety. “Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart, because it is now that God favors your works.” Ecclesiastes 9:7

4. Celebrate with others! Feast days are opportunities to join in communion and camaraderie with others to enjoy their friendship. Go to a local Mass, attend a parade, cook corned beef and cabbage, meet up at a pub…with others!

5. Get into it! Wear the hats, beads, (appropriate) shirts, temporary tattoos, etc. and have fun with the day! These Patty’s Day symbols of the day can increase our silliness and joy as we walk around looking like goofballs with all our buddies. Remember the Party Blog? We certainly can’t show the culture how to truly celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with long faces.

Have fun this March 17th, celebrating the REAL St. Patrick – a father in our faith and a hero for the New Evangelization.

“Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me.” -Saint Patrick

This article was originally published at Focus.

THIS ARTICLE IS MADE AVAILABLE COURTESY OF THE CATHOLIC EXCHANGE

Cecile Richards is joyful over Ireland’s crimes against humanity

Democrats you can salute your queen of ghouls--celebrating the sheer joy of Ireland aborting the innocent and forcing Catholic hospitals, doctors and nurses with a conscience to perform the evil deed. You must be proud. Weep for Ireland.

https://www.lifenews.com/2018/12/19/cecile-richards-celebrates-the-sheer-joy-of-ireland-killing-babies-in-free-abortions/?

Ireland populated Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.  Now she can populate the medical trash.

The whitewashing of Irish slavery

“During the 1650s, over 100,000 Irish children between the ages of 10 and 14 were taken from their parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England. In this decade, 52,000 Irish (mostly women and children) were sold to Barbados and Virginia. Another 30,000 Irish men and women were also transported and sold to the highest bidder. In 1656, [Oliver] Cromwell ordered that 2000 Irish children be taken to Jamaica and sold as slaves to English settlers.” http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/irish-the-forgotten-white-slaves-says-expert-john-martin-188645531-237793261.html

Some was hatred of the Irish who were considered less than human by the British, some was hatred of Catholicism, and some was profit motive. Muslims were not involved in this slave trade as they were in most.

You can find various sites on the Internet (and in libraries where we used to find things) that deny Irish slavery was like African slavery.  Really, as a percentage of the population I think the islands and South America had a higher percentage of Irish than African.  They didn’t fare well, but are the founding families of many light skinned African Americans. Between the slavery of the 16th and 17th century and the famine immigration of the 19th century, Ireland’s population was decimated.

Do narrow minded Americans need to travel more to see how others live?

We have travelled outside the U.S.—Ireland, Russia, Italy, Finland, Estonia, Germany, Austria, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Israel (and briefly Canada, but that was just airports). What we saw there in terms of little population groups disliking each other and ethnic battles that dated back for centuries should make Americans feel proud (until the last 6 years) of the way we’ve patched up centuries of ethnic battles.

I think the Lapps (Sami) in Finland have 11 different languages, wander over 4 countries, have special protections like our American Indians, and are generally not well liked by Finns who are a different ethnicity. And among the Sami the reindeer people don’t like the fish people who don’t like the forest people. The Somalis in Finland have a high crime problem among the youth who need to know both Finnish and Swedish in order to get a job and are experiencing discrimination—but were never slaves and have socialized healthcare and free college.

When we shopped in Estonia, the retail clerks were speaking Russian to each other.  Big problems there between native Estonians, and Russians who have lived there for generations—or since WWII. We were pleasantly surprised in Israel, which is another melting pot with Jews, Muslims, Christians and others like Bahai.

In Italy, which hasn’t really been a nation all that long, the light skinned, fair northerners who believe their culture is the only one that matters, look down on the dark skinned, poverty prone southerners.

In Ireland the hatred for the Brits and what they did to them during the famine is still palpable. There seems to be a monument to every battle back to the Scandinavian invaders , most of which we’ve never heard of. Also in Ireland it was the economic boom years when we were there and almost the entire service trade were foreign—Poles, Czech, and other east Europeans whose economy hadn’t yet recovered from Communism—the nannies were head covered Muslims. The Irish wouldn’t take any of those jobs in the tourist industry—except in the rural areas where they were entertainers and historical site managers. Even the restaurant managers were foreign (serving Irish food for the tourists). These people stayed to themselves, had their own churches, clubs, even trades. Meanwhile the Irish were searching for deeper roots with special schools and summer internships in Gaelic language.

The Volga Germans, invited to Russia because of their superior farming skills during Catherine the Great’s reign, are some of the most discriminated against people in Russia, and now its eastern former provinces. They speak a form of old low German, and aren’t welcome in Germany either after 3 centuries since many speak Russian. They do make it in the U.S., however.

The push for diversity and multiculturalism in the U.S. has done the opposite of what those words would seem to mean. And leading the pack in finding irritants among groups is the Obama administration, with appointments like Holder, cheered on by the likes of Sharpton,  filled with poverty and race pimps who fear a loss of their jobs or non-profits if people really were working together for a greater country and the greater good.

Update: Somalis demonstrate at the welfare office in Sweden. 14% of the population in Sweden are immigrants. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn8sdVIECo0

An Irish wedding with a huge surprise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYKwqj5QViQ#t=295

 

"Those most important words, I do ya, Hallelujah."

Obama again dabbles in someone else’s business—Irish education this time

The best schools in Ireland are historically Catholic, and their Constitution supports "choice" by also funding Protestant schools.  At the rate Irish Catholics are abandoning their roots, I don't think Protestants need to worry if they send their kids to a Catholic school.  Obama needs to stay out of local affairs, whether it is his buddy and the Boston police, or schools in Ireland, or squabbles between a Muslim dictator and Muslim al-qaeda rebels.

If Obama thinks it is divisive for Catholics and Protestants to have separate schools, does he also think private schools like where his daughters and the children of other politicians attend because of their parents' wealth are divisive?

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/kathyschiffer/2013/06/obama-calls-for-end-to-catholic-education-in-northern-ireland/

“If towns remain divided,” said the U.S. President, “if Catholics have their schools and buildings and Protestants have theirs, if we can’t see ourselves in one another and fear or resentment are allowed to harden—that too encourages division and discourages cooperation.”

Obama, who arrived in Northern Ireland this morning to attend the two-day G-8 Summit at the Lough Erne resort in Enneskillen, made the disproved claim on Monday, speaking before an audience which included many Catholics. -

In the Irish constitution, “State aid for schools cannot discriminate between schools of different religious denominations. Every child has the right to attend a denominational school receiving State funding without having to participate in religious instruction in the school.”

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/irish_constitution_1/constitution_fundamental_rights.html

A morning prayer attributed to Saint Patrick

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

Amen.

Christian and Jewish Leaders Respond to Obama's Attack on Israel

Probably a good thing he flew off to Moneygall--things are pretty hot here at home. Pamela Geller summarizes some of the outrage in this piece (although she didn't include me). How many of these concessions have worked in the past? Is his intention to destroy Israel, or maybe, to destroy his chances of a second term--'cause maybe he's just tired?

Christian and Jewish Leaders Respond to Obama's Attack on Israel - Atlas Shrugs

Waterford's Times Square Ball

When we were in Ireland in 2007, we visited the Waterford factory and watched the incredibly skilled glass blowers, visited the museum (of duplicates) and the gift shop.



In January of this year, it declared bankruptcy. This year, the company made a Celtic knot pattern dedicated to the theme “Let There be Courage” for the traditional Times Square Ball. They'll need it.



From Nick Obourn here’s a little bit more information on the Times Square Ball itself: The 2010 version of the New Year’s Eve ball for Times Square is a twelve foot geodesic sphere, which weighs 11,875 pounds. The ball itself is covered in 2,668 Waterford Crystals and is powered by 32,256 Philips LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). And believe it or not, the ball is capable of creating a palette of “more than 16 million colors” and “billions of patterns,” according to the Times Square Alliance website

Giving out awards

A The New Republic Jonathan Chait notes in "The case against awards" that:

"A recent statistical analysis by Robert T. Hodgson, published in the Journal of Wine Economics (I kid you not), found that a wine that wins one competition is no more likely to win another competition than any other wine. Which is to say, wine awards are handed out completely at random. If you listen to movie buffs, they will tell you that the Academy Awards regularly commit unforgiveable sins of commission or omission. Look closely at any field that gives out awards, and you will probably find that injustice is more the rule than the exception.

I've often suspected as much at art shows when I look at the winners. However, since I think the point of his article was to reference Obama's recent prize when he erroneously says, "the committee frequently chooses recipients in order to encourage or empower them, rather than to reward actual achievement" at least I can't think of any examples, one person comments:

Originally the award was designed to be given to those who had done the most to bring about peace. This means it should go to international mediators and those who make peace with their internal or external enemies. While there might not be good candidates every year, there are many who fit this criterion who haven't received the award. It took the Nobel Committee in Oslo 23 years to award Carter for mediating the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. There are two figures in the Obama administration who deserve it for their work in the Clinton administration: George Mitchell for mediating the Good Friday Agreement in Belfast in 1998; Richard Holbrooke for mediating the Dayton Accords for Bosnia in 1995. Obama should give each of them half of the peace prize.

I think I could go for that--split it with people who deserve it. Although wasn't Clinton given the credit for the Belfast Agreement? He certainly is revered in Ireland.

March will be a 2-fer for me

March is Women's History Month and Irish Heritage Month in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 36.5 million
U.S. residents claimed Irish ancestry in 2007 (the year we visited Ireland). This is more than eight times the population of Ireland itself (more than 4 million). Irish was the nation’s second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German. My ancestors also came from Germany and Switzerland and were Lutherans and Mennonites many of whom became German Baptist Brethren (Church of the Brethren) shortly after arriving. The Scots-Irish I'm assuming were Presbyterian types--but I don't have much evidence.

Although I have no idea why, Irish Americans make more money. The median income for households headed by an Irish-American is $56,966, higher than the $50,740 for all households. In addition, 8 percent of people of Irish ancestry were in poverty, lower than the rate of 13 percent for all Americans. Appalachia is heavily Scots-Irish and they sure aren't rich. 72% of Americans of Irish heritage own their own home, which is also higher than the national average of 67%. After visiting Ireland and learning its history and how brutally they were driven off their land, I can sort of see that one. There are 9 cities in the U.S. named Dublin, one right here in central Ohio where famous people like Jack and Tiger play golf at Muirfield and others and librarians go for millions and millions of shared records (OCLC).

There were 154.7 million females in the United States as of Oct. 1, 2008 and 150.6 million males. By age 85, there are twice as many women as men in that age group, but I don't hear of too many government grants going to address that situation. They all go the other direction--to give women even more advantages and health benefits. $34,278 is the median annual earnings of women 16 or older who worked year-round, full time, in 2007, up from $33,648 in 2006 (after adjusting for inflation). Women earned 77.5 cents for every $1 earned by men. But that's a pretty silly statistic because men and women doing the same job with the same education and the same family situation, make virtually the same salary--women may even edge ahead on this, if you're comparing single people. During the ice storm last week I saw two women and a truck at 6 a.m. cleaning the parking lot and side walks where I get coffee. I'm guessing that if they are private contractors with some hustle in their bustle, they are pulling down just as much money as the guys, and getting home in time to fry up some bacon in the pan.

There were 116,985 women-owned businesses with receipts of $1 million or more and nearly 6.5 million women-owned businesses in 2002. Women owned 28 percent of all nonfarm businesses and employed more than 7.1 million people. 38% of women 16 or older worked in management, professional and related occupations, compared with 32% of men. So you can see that President Obama's confiscatory tax policies are going to really hurt business women, which makes the Lilly Ledbetter Act a piece of poo.

There's a pretty good chance that those taxes will be prepared by a woman--62% of tax preparers were women in 2007--our accountant owns her own firm.

Irish immigration

When we were in Ireland in September we noticed 1) the booming economy, and 2) the booming immigration. We visited a Catholic church and the newsletter was in Polish and Portuguese. William over at Atlantic Blog is an American living in Ireland, and he comments that they are undercounted in the Census (although obviously, it's a lot harder to sneak into Ireland than Texas or Arizona).

The other night, my wife and I went out to dinner with another couple we know. Here is how the nationalities stacked up. We, an American born couple, got a French born babysitter for our Vietnamese born daughter to go out with a Polish born couple who left their two Polish born children with their Polish born au pair. We went to a Spanish restaurant, where the waitress was Polish and the only other group in the restaurant were English. We did not encounter one Irish born person that evening.

4211

First painting from the last trip

There will be a few touch ups (to make the distance a bit more hazy), but this is my husband's first painting from our Ireland trip in September. And yes, he works from his own photographs, not from memory. I believe this is a scene where we had lunch on Monday near Woodstock House Demesne, a national park near Inistioge.



There is no way to make Ireland more beautiful than it was; the advantage of a painting is to capture the emotional impact, and for us, recapture the memories.

4147

Do you think we have enough photos?

Would you believe we've actually winnowed these down to our favorites? We viewed the disk several times, discussing each one. My husband is returning the album he bought because there weren't enough slots. Now I've just gone through mine and ordered about 45 on-line. That's the problem with digital cameras!

I think the cat has been playing with the layout

Thursday Thirteen

A week ago we returned from a fabulous trip to Ireland, the ancestral home of about 45 million North Americans. Here's a few of the things I saw in Ireland that were new, unfamiliar, or unexpected.

1. Laundry drying on the clothes lines--rural and urban communities both. In many U.S. neighborhoods this is against zoning or neighborhood regulations. You don't realize it has disappeared until you travel where it is common.

2. Unusually large windows, even in modest homes--there used to be a "window tax" in Ireland, but they're over that now! Glass enclosed entry ways for front doors of homes and town houses so the house can be open but not exposed to the weather.

3. Very strict no-smoking rules. Fines for public places could be over 3,000 euros (over $4,000).

4. More auburn and red-haired people in one location than I'd ever seen in my life, and I married a red head. Even so, most are brunette with very pale skin and light eyes. Recent DNA testing show the Irish are probably not Celtic at all, but descended from an area of Spain from which they migrated after the last glaciers melted in Ireland (earlier global warming). When the Celts arrived from Europe, the native Irish absorbed them and took over their culture.

5. Dark skinned, head covered nannies pushing prams of chubby, pale Irish babies on cobble stone and brick walks. The Celtic Tiger has spawned 2 income couples with few or no children.

6. Immigrants from many countries--Eastern Europe, Africa, middle east, far east, Pacific islands, even the U.K. and Germany. They were working primarily in the tourist industry (I'm guessing strict unions keep them out of the skilled trades), so that's who the tourist from America sees. Looks just like home!

7. More Mercedes and BMWs than I've ever seen in Central Ohio, even in our wealthiest suburb, Dublin. However, there are one-car garages attached to the most upscale, newest, elaborate homes. There might be 4 or 5 luxury cars in the drive-way, but the building space is being used for the house, not the automobile. A welcome change from our pattern where the garages often dwarf the main house and the cars are still in the drive-way.

8. Platters of food with mashed potatoes hiding under the fish, and roast potatoes mixed with either parsnips or rutabagas on the side.

9. The most beautiful large, healthy grass-fed animals I've ever seen--the soil is very thin and rocky but extremely nutritious. Pastures are ribboned in stone fences, with cattle lying down, calves frolicking, and horses grazing.

10. Brightly painted stucco homes of yellow, maroon, blue and red in the city and white stucco houses on the farms. An artist's dream (except for the barns which aren't very attractive) when found on curving streets and gentle hillsides. Our Midwestern climate has such extremes that stucco is not a good finish building material--Ireland's climate is very mild with few extremes.

11. Public toilets in Ireland are very clean and modern with ample t.p., but with the same long lines for women as we have in the states. Separate spigots for hot and cold in the sink; every toilet is water-saving, which means you flush 2 or 3 times. Yes, Ireland like all the EU is very "green."

12. Very exotic landscaping. Some yards looked like postcards from Florida or Hawaii. Fabulous flowers, especially roses.

13. Bill Clinton is Ireland's newest saint. He is revered everywhere for helping to broker the current peace in the North. That achievement abroad and welfare reform at home (forced on him by the Republican Congress in the 90s) should be enough legacy for any 2-term President, without the need to be First Laddie, and we can all be proud.

The lost hat

I was talking to my daughter after supper tonight to wish her Happy Anniversary (14th). She had just returned from a medical conference in Chicago, thrilled that she neither had a cold or DVT.

"Have you called the airlines about dad's lost hat?" she asked. "No, but that would be a good idea. We're just sick that it's gone. It was the right size, color, warmth, and of course, was a souvenir of the trip."

She then went on to tell me that a colleague they'd met with had lost her cell phone on this last trip and had called the airlines, it had been turned in and was being mailed to her. She also told me that she always takes off the book cover of a new read and puts it in her bag, but had lost one a few months back. She is meticulous about her books (must be hard cover and never a library book). Even though she'd used that suitcase several times since losing the cover, it fell out of the bag in the hotel room. She thought she'd examined every square inch of it.

And a thought came to me. I'd taken my husband's word for it that he'd gone through the suitcases--every zippered pocket. This is a man who can't find the quart of milk in the refrigerator because I moved it 2 inches. So after we hung up, I went up to my closet and took out the suitcases and unzipped and went through them one by one. Nothing. As I put the last one away, I ran my hand through it one more time and felt something. The hat. It was folded up and in a side pocket.

Our Ireland Trip from U-Z

United Dioceses of Cashel and Ossory: Couldn't figure out a "U" entry until I saw that the St. Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny was in this diocese. I didn’t visit this Cathedral and round tower, but my husband went with Joe and Pam and they climbed it together--what a challenge. But a fabulous view of the city.



The stairs to climb the tower

View of Kilkenny from the top of the tower

St. Canice's Cathedral

Vikings: The Vikings destroyed or pillaged many monasteries and churches, taking slaves and booty, decimating those communities of learning in the late 700s. Eventually over a few hundred years they stayed and established towns, intermarried with the Irish, and became Norse-Irishmen, contributing to Ireland's economic growth and trade. Placenames left by the Vikings in Ireland include Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, and Wexford. Brian Boru, High King of Ireland (Rock of Cashel) was supposed to have united the Irish against the Vikings, but they were probably just Irish by then (11th century).

Waterford Crystal: On Monday September 17 we had a very interesting tour of the glass factories. We saw every step in the processes and heard about the long training and apprenticeships. We spent some time in the gift shop, but I stood firm.







X: Mark your calendar for a trip to Ireland

Yeats, William Butler, John Butler, and Jack Butler: W.B. Yeats was a famous Irish poet, and we visited his home, Thoor Ballylee in County Galway. His father was the artist, John Butler Yeats, and his brother Jack was also an artist.

Yeats study in Thoor Ballylee

The copper beech at Coole Park where W. B. Yeats and other Irish carved their initials

Zip:We still had plenty our last night for our graduation party . . . it was the trip home that zapped us.

Our Ireland Trip from S-T

Sanachi: Irish story telling with singing was our entertainment Saturday evening September 15 at Brod Tullaroan. These guys were fabulous, we participated, and ended the evening with a cup of Irish coffee.






He also quoted poetry and Shakespeare.

Shopping in Blarney: About half the tour group went into Blarney to shop while the rest of us had a day of leisure in Ennis on September 13. They were delayed getting back because of a traffic accident, so we waited dinner and all had a late supper together.

Thomastown: Just outside on the banks of the River Arrigle, stands Jerpoint Abbey, a well preserved Cistercian monastic ruins. It was self-sustaining, so there were many buildings to suit the needs of the community. The wind was brisk and a drizzle started and my cold was coming on, so the carvings and crosses were starting to all look alike by this time, but it really was a magnificent place.







Travellers, Irish: It didn't seem appropriate to take photos, but they are an ancient people, sometimes called Roma or Gypsies, which travel in caravans. We did see small groups parked along the road with vans and trailers and laundry. When I googled the term I was surprised to see there are a lot of social workers and about 80 organizations making a living trying to fight for their civil rights and new regulations to protect them. If I might just editorialize a moment, I’d guess that if they want to preserve what's left of their culture they should dump the camp followers! They've made it a few thousand years without them. There are also Irish Travellers in the United States, having come here from Ireland in the 19th century, living in their own communities, but becoming ever more assimilated and middle-class moving from trailers to McMansions, old vans to new SUVs.

Our Ireland Trip from Q-R

Quebec: The Dunbrody, (we visited a replica of this 3 masted cargo ship), was commissioned in Quebec in 1845 and had a low mortality rate. It took Irish emigrants to Canada and returned to Ireland with timber, cotton and fertilizer. Actors playing the parts of passengers, one first class, one steerage, talked to us about the conditions

This cubicle might hold a family of 6 or more, or if they had no family, it might be people unrelated. They were sick and starving, so many didn't live through the passage. The passenger/actor who talked to us, a widow with 6 children, didn't make it.

First class passengers had more space and better food. Sort of reminds me of the difference between first class and coach on the airlines, but at least the time is less.

Only first class passengers could come up for a little fresh air--I suppose it helped control the spread of disease, but just worsened conditions for those already sick and using slop pails. I think only the most hardy Irish-Americans and Irish-Canadians survived to pass along their genes and desire to make it in a new location.

Residents of Kilkenny: Three people from the community met with our group on September 17th and fielded questions about the country and city. They were well informed, and our group asked good questions. My husband rarely takes photos of people, and I think I left my camera in my room.

Rock of Cashel and the fortress of Brian Boru: The word "cashel" is from the Irish word caiseal, meaning "fortress." The Rock of Cashel is several ruins, the largest structure is the remains of St. Patrick's Cathedral, built in the 13th century. It was destroyed by fire in the 15th century and later restored. Cromwell's forces destroyed it again burning to death hundreds of townspeople who had fled there. The British version is that this was a civil war; The Irish Catholic version is that it was a brutal invasion by a foreign power. I don't know that you could find a single person more hated to this day in Ireland than Oliver Cromwell.

If this sight doesn't put your heart in your throat, it's as hard as a rock from the Burren! Call it a castle, a fortress or cathedral, but it is incredible. Our guide Bridget seem to be one of the few guides who talked to us who believed with her heart the Christian symbolism she discussed.