Monthly Archives: February 2015

Diverted to Charlotte, a visit to Cathedral of St. Patrick

My wife and I were diverted to Charlotte, North Carolina on our flight from Tampa, Florida to Washington, D.C., where snow and ice closed the airport. As we settled into a hotel room near the Charlotte airport Saturday night, I began looking for a place to attend Mass on the First Sunday of Lent. The Cathedral of St. Patrick, mother church of the dioceses of Charlotte, was less than five miles away.

Stained glass window of St. Patrick.

Construction of the church began on St. Patrick’s Day, 1938, according to the church’s website, and it was consecrated in September 1939. Charlotte native John Henry Phelan, who made his fortune as a grocery wholesaler and oil producer in Beaumont, Texas, donated money to build the church in memory of his parents, Patrick and Margaret Adele Phelan. I didn’t find any family connections to Ireland in any of the online biographies, or why the church was named for Ireland’s patron saint.

Here are a few images from the church, including the stained glass image of St. Patrick behind the altar. It was a lovely High Mass, succor for not getting home as planned. In a few weeks the city will host its annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Charlotte Goes Green Festival.

Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Yeats’ birth

“This year sees a worldwide series of creative and cultural events celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of William Butler Yeats,” Adrian Paterson begins an opinion piece in The Irish Times that serves as a good introduction to the sesquicentennial. He writes:

…Yeats was more than a poet. He was a cultural revolutionary who became a cultural entrepreneur. He began things, co-founding the Abbey Theatre, the Irish Literary Society and, with his talented family, the Cuala Press, producing designs and books from a single hand-press in Dublin. He was anything but a solitary dreamer: his collaborations with musicians, actors, dramatists, stage designers, folklorists, journalists, artists, dancers, printers, occultists, broadcasters and lovers are reflected in the vibrant range of celebratory events on offer.

There’s plenty to explore at Yeats 2015, official website for the celebration. And much more at the Yeats Society & Yeats International Summer School.

Here, from February 1915 (when he was 50) is Yeats’ “On being asked for a War Poem,” which was written less than a year into the conflict remembered today as World War I.

I think it better that in times like these 
A poet’s mouth be silent, for in truth 
We have no gift to set a statesman right; 
He has had enough of meddling who can please 
A young girl in the indolence of her youth, 
Or an old man upon a winter’s night.

Old Ireland glimpsed in 1934 James FitzPatrick travelogue

Here’s an 80-year-old travelogue of Ireland called “The Melody Isle.”

IrishCentral posted it the other day. It’s a 1934 James FitzPatrick travelogue.” The American producer, director, writer and narrator, was known from the early 1930s as “The Voice of the Globe.”

You might wince at some of the cliches, but there’s some good footage from the days of the Irish Free State, including the Lakes of Kilarney; Blarney Castle; digging, drying and loading turf on a donkey cart, the River Shannon hydroelectric plant; and Claddagh village near Galway.

Ireland is beautiful even in black and white. Enjoy!

Is deal to acquire Aer Lingus about to take off?

There’s been a lot of attention lately to the possible sale of Irish airlines Aer Lingues to International Consolidated Airlines Group, or IAG.

At issue is whether the Republic of Ireland sells its 25.1 percent share of the airline, best know for the iconic green shamrock on the tail wing. IAG has said it wants state approval for the deal.

aerlingus

“There is, however, another scenario: IAG could still pick up the remaining 74.9 percent of the airline,” The Irish Times reported 7 February. “The institutional shareholders are said to be happy with the price, while many of the retail shareholders stand to gain handsomely.”

The proposed deal is said to be worth 1.36 billion euro ($1.5 billion).

Doubts about whether IAG keeps current employment rates at the airline and maintains popular routes to England’s Heathrow are making Irish politicians nervous ahead of 2016 elections. “If IAG are going to do something they have to do it very quickly if the entrenched positions people have been forced to take are to be unwound,” a senior government source told Reuters.

Herald.ie notes that although Aer Lingus is technically no longer the national airline, “the average Irishman and woman has an extraordinary attachment to it.” The editorial continues:

Aer Lingus was one of the first success stories of the fledgling Irish state. It remains a source of national pride and identity. Despite the proliferation in recent times of budget airlines, many of us still prefer to fly with our one-time national carrier – as Aer Lingus passenger numbers indicate.

Aer Lingus was founded by the Irish government in 1936 to provide air services between Ireland and the UK, according to this company history. The first transatlantic service to New York began in 1958.

The name Aer Lingus translates as “Air Fleet” from the Irish word for “long,” as meaning a “ship.” Here’s a four-part history produced for the airline’s 75th anniversary in 2011. Each segment runs seven minutes: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; and Part 4.

And here’s more history from the Historical Aviation Society of Ireland, compiled five years before the 75th anniversary.

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In other aviation news, Icelandic budget airline WOW announced new routes between Dublin and Boston and Washington, D.C., with stops in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital. Flights begin in October and will take 12 to 13 hours, including the stopover.

The D.C. flights will use Baltimore-Washington Airport, not Dulles or Reagan. Depending on traffic and mode of transportation, that’s about 45 minutes to 90 minutes from the heart of D.C.