Tag Archives: Clare

Irish immigrants cited in veep debate

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine (D) made two Irish references in his 4 October vice presidential debate against Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R). Kaine is Hillary Clinton’s running mate, Pence is paired with Donald Trump.

Kaine’s quotes, from the Vox debate transcript:

…we are a nation of immigrants. Mike Pence and I are both descendants from immigrant families. Some things, you know, maybe said weren’t so great about the Irish when we came in, but we [were] absorbed, and made our nation stronger. When Donald Trump said Mexicans are rapists and criminals, he said the judge was unqualified to hear a case because his parents were Mexican. I cannot imagine how you could defend that.

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I grew up with a great Irish Catholic council. I was educated by Jesuits. I worked with Jesuit missionaries in Honduras now nearly 35 years ago and they were the heroes of my life.

Pence also grew up in an Irish Catholic family. As I reported earlier this year in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he has family ties to Doonbeg, County Clare, where Trump owns a golf course. Kaine’s ancestors were from counties Longford and Kilkenny.

Astute readers will remember that Irishness was raised at the vice presidential debate four years ago between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan.

TimKaine.JPG (1400×933)

A view I’d love to see for myself

More evidence the world is getting smaller.

The FiveThirtyEight blog has an interesting post about Geograph, which has collected photographic images of nearly all the 244,034 one-kilometer squares of Great Britain and 41 percent of the 87,933 grid squares on the island of Ireland (Republic and Northern Ireland).

“Geograph was started by geography enthusiasts, sponsored by the government, rescued from a chaotic collapse by its devoted contributors and populated with millions of photos from thousands of people around the island nations it covers,” Carl Bialik writes in the post.

Naturally, I went to the site to look for familiar sights from my ancestral homeland of north Kerry. One in particular caught my eye.

geograph-1882411-by-Graham-Horn

The 2010 image by Graham Horn (copyrighted but licensed for reuse) is taken from the Loop Head Peninsula of southwest County Clare. The view is looking east toward Kerry and Ballybunion on the far side of the Shannon estuary. The peak in the background over the top of the lookout tower is Knockanore Hill, where my grandfather was born.

I’ve made numerous visits to the Ballybunion strand and the 880-foot top of Knockanore, where I’ve looked across the Shannon estuary at the distant shore of Loop Head. But I’ve never been to the Clare peninsula to look back at the north Kerry coast, as in this image.

It remains a view I’d still like to see for myself someday.

In his post, Bialik also discusses Google’s Street View and raises the question of whether Geograph could ever go global. Satellites and digital technology have made such near total photographic coverage of the earth possible. But it isn’t a new idea.

Early in the 20th century French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn dispatched teams of photographers with bulky Authochrome cameras. His project, called “Archives of the Plant,” featured images from more than 50 countries, including what are still believed to be the first color photos of Ireland in 1913.

Storms lash Ballybunion, north Kerry

I have written several posts this year about the terrible weather in Ireland. I am most saddened to hear about damage in my ancestral homeland of north Kerry, including Ballybunion.

“Having lived in this town for over half a century, I have never before witnessed anything like the storm that hit Ballybunion on [5 February],” Gerard Walsh, editor of the online Ballybunion News, reported in his 14 February issue. He continued:

“Winds up to 150 mph accompanied by heavy rain, gave residents just some small idea of what it is like to experience a hurricane, as the storm ripped through the town around noon, causing tens of thousands of euro worth of damage and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Fences were blown down, sheds were turned over, the wooden hoardings in front of the old Atlantic Hotel site came down and parts of it were blown through the front windows of a number of homes on the Sandhill Road.”

In our 10 February exchange on Twitter, Kay Caball of @MyKerryAncestor wrote: “Quite a bit of damage along the Atlantic Coasts – Clare & Kerry. Ballylongford & Ballybunion both badly damaged.” A more recent email from one of my relations in Navan detailed damage to the barn of another family member in Lahardane townland on the hillside overlooking Ballybunion and the sea.

Walsh concluded: “Thankfully, nobody was injured which is a minor miracle in itself and hopefully we are over the worst of it now. Maybe after this weekend we will see some signs of spring as people begin to clear up and carry out repairs after what has been a really terrible beginning to 2014.”

Storm surge on the Ballybunion strand during a January storm. Photo from breakingnews.ie

The Atlantic surges high on the Ballybunion strand during a January storm.                           Photo from breakingnews.ie

 

 

Guest post: Visit to Ireland, Part 2

Our friend Tim McDonnell visited Ireland in October. This is the second half of his guest post about the visit. Part 1 is here. MH

5-Star Eating

Contrary to popularly held beliefs, the food in Ireland was excellent and dramatically exceeded our expectations. Fresh fish, lamb, the mixed grill, full Irish breakfast, brown bread and seafood chowder, fresh scones – all as good as you’ll taste anywhere in the world. But – beyond the more native dishes, there is a very global and diverse range on offer, like any good culinary hub. It was not just the high end restaurants, although we went to several – like O’Grady’s in Barna, the Lodge in Doonbeg, Market Lane in Cork City – heck, we even ate in Stormont’s royal dining hall called “The Long Gallery.” It was also family restaurants like O’Loughlin’s in Miltown Malbay (Clare), Kate McCormack’s in Westport (Mayo), Paddy’s Barn in Downpatrick (Down), and our B&B’s in Doonbeg and Cork City – and the homemade variety with family and good friends in Dublin and Crosshaven (Cork). There’s nothing like local hosts and guides – but if you don’t have family over there or any Irish friends to help personalize your trip, not to worry. Just stop in for a pint at a pub anywhere on the road and lighten up for a laugh – one of the easiest things you can do is befriend an Irishman.

The Self-Deprecating Celebrity

Guest blogger Tim McDonnell, far right. Others left to right are Tim's wife, Amber, his cousin Edelle O'Meara of Galway and jockey Davy Russell.

Guest blogger Tim McDonnell, far right. Others left to right are Tim’s wife, Amber, his cousin Edelle O’Meara of Galway and jockey Davy Russell.

My cousin from Galway, Edelle O’Meara, is dating Ireland’s best horse-racer Davy Russell – and we got to spend some time with the man himself while we were over. Horse racing is one of Ireland’s favorite past times, and everywhere we went, the Irish people knew Davy. As recognizable there perhaps as Evan Longoria might be for the average person walking in downtown Tampa. Davy generously provided tickets for Edelle, my wife and I, along with Amber’s parents, to watch him compete at the Limerick Races in Limerick City. He placed us in a suite along with the University of Limerick racing society – and came up to the suite before the races started to give the students betting advice on the 5 races that he was set to compete in. As Americans, we thought he would be explaining why he expected to win all 5 races – but he went in a much different direction with it. It sounded something like, “Ah Jeannie Mac, that horse there could fall over twice and still beat my horse to the line in this race.” And, “Ah sure, you see now, if I were a betting man – I would wager that my horse in this race will end up in that man’s yard right over there.” Belly laughs all around. Entertaining, endearing, and easy friends – like most everyone on the island, God Bless it. I think we may have even made a couple Euro betting against his advice.