Tag Archives: St. Patrick’s Day

Gay pride v. St. Patrick

UPDATE 2: No surprise here: The tentative deal referenced below has been swept off the table by parade organizers, according to the Boston Herald. This situation could change again, but now I expect an ugly parade-day scene in Southie.

UPDATE 1:

The Boston Globe and other media outlets say a tentative deal has been struck allowing a gay advocacy group to march in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. The reported agreement, brokered by Mayor Martin J. Walsh, contains a provision prohibiting the group from wearing T-shirts or carrying banners that proclaim their sexual orientation.

This situation could change before the March 16 parade. But as noted in most media stories about the issue, the demographics and character of Boston’s “Southie” neighborhood, once a solid Irish-Catholic enclave, have changed dramatically in recent years.

ORIGINAL POST:

With St. Patrick’s Day less than three weeks away, the showdown over whether gay groups can march openly in two of America’s most famous March 17th parades is nearing a climax.

The Los Angeles Times offers this rundown on the situation in New York and Boston, where each city’s newly elected mayor says they will refuse to march because parade organizers continue to ban gays. Here’s another version of the story from USA Today.

Gays march in Dublin‘s annual parade.

Gays are welcome in Dublin's St. Patrick's Day parade. Image by The Guardian.

Gays are welcome in Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. Image by The Guardian.

Naturally, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has offered her typically snarky take on the Big Apple controversy:

It has just always seemed strange to me that gays were fighting so hard for so long to bust into such a hoary, boozy, corny tradition. Didn’t they have something more fun and cool to do?

But a quote from Dublin drag queen Panti Bliss, a.k.a. Rory O’Neill is the most provocative part of the piece. S/he suggests that the Manhattan parade organizers to pious Orangemen in Northern Ireland, “very much tied up in an old Ireland that doesn’t really exist anymore.”

It will be interesting to see if parade organizers in either city give ground by the time the parades step off.

Visiting St. Patrick’s in the Federal City

It’s a month until St. Patrick’s Day, and the annual parade in New York City is already getting plenty of attention. I’ll circle back to that and other issues in the weeks ahead.

First, I wanted to begin the countdown by attending Mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., established about 1792, “the oldest parish in the Federal City.” You can read the church’s history here. This link details the church’s windows and statues, including St. Patrick, below.

The statue is a little different than most I’ve seen. The saint holds the obligatory shamrock and bishop’s crosier in his left hand. The more prominent sea shell held out in his right hand, according to the church, “represents the means by which St. Patrick baptized thousands of Irish.”

It’s a beautiful church, though not likely to surpass Old St. Patrick Church in Pittsburgh as my favorite Catholic shrine and place of prayer.

St. Pat's 2

St. PAT's 1

 

More on spirit of St. Patrick in Tampa

Here’s a link to my Tampa Bay Business Journal blog about efforts in Tampa to collect food for the needy in the spirit of St. Patrick.

From Downpatrick to Tampa, St. Patrick and St. Francis

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Dr. Tim Campbell, left, director of the St. Patrick’s Centre in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, visited the Franciscan Center in Tampa, Florida, on Feb. 27. He is shown here with blogger Mark Holan, a member of the Franciscan Center’s board of directors.

Campbell was on a week-long tour of the United States to promote the County Down centre dedicated to Ireland’s patron saint, and to encourage more charitable activity among “Friends of St. Patrick’s” groups.

During his Tampa visit, Campbell met with members of the Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies at St. Leo University, and with Tampa Councilwoman Mary Mulhern and Mayor Bob Buckhorn. His day concluded with a reception at the Franciscan Center.

On March 2 and March 16, the city of Tampa and the Salvation Army, in partnership with the St. Patrick’s Centre, are collecting canned food for the needy in the spirit of St. Patrick. “Homelessness and hunger have been very familiar to generations of Irish immigrants,” Campbell said at the Franciscan Center.

The Milwaukee Irish Fest has led the way for making such charitable activity part of its annual celebration of Irish heritage. Now Tampa is trying to do the same as it prepares for the Mayor’s Second Annual River O’ Green Fest.

Irish-American population in the U.S. hits 34.5 million

The U.S. Census Bureau this week released new Irish-American demographic figures in advance of St. Patrick’s Day.

The data show Irish-Americans are older (39.3 years to 37.3 years); wealthier ($57,319 median income to $50,502) and better educated and more successfully employed than the U.S. average.

It’s a long way from the days of “No Irish Need Apply.”

Foreign trade statistics show the value of Irish imports in 2011 topping $39.4 billion, with medical, dental and pharmaceutical preparations leading the way at $27.8 billion. Alcoholic beverage imports totaled a mere $538.1 million by comparison.

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