Last year we were able to obtain a copy of the movie voted as “Best Film of the Year” in the annual Irish Film and  Television Awards, the equivalent of our Academy Awards.  But there is a big difference - in Ireland the public votes for the best film of the year, instead of movie industry insiders choosing our award winners.  When we viewed last year’s best Irish film winner, Rory O’Shea Was Here, we knew immediately that a “Best Film of the Year” winner from Ireland has got to be a great movie, and The Wind That Shakes the Barley surpasses even those expectations.  Not only is it the Best Film of the Year in in Ireland,  but The Wind  That  Shakes the Barley has also won the Best Picture award at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Best Cinematography award at the European Film Awards!  We will not be able to see this film in our movie theaters, so this is the best opportunity we will have to see this film on a big screen.  Our fellow member and Chronicle movie critic, Bill Iddings, will provide an introduction before the movie.

      Our screening of this movie will be preceded by our social time partaking of great desserts and coffee.  There is no charge, but free will donations will be welcome.  Reservations are not necessary. Don’t miss this chance to see this compelling film, and learn about Irish history events involving the Black and Tans and the Irish Civil War.  See you there!

Belleek Creates 150th Anniversary Archive Collection

     The Belleek Archive Collection has been introduced as part of Belleek Pottery's celebration of one hundred and fifty years of manufacturing porcelain with distinctive character. It is renowned worldwide for its creamy, translucent, fine Parian china, with the added qualities of strength and lightness. Pieces are delicately decorated in a subtle palette of pastel shades. Each of the fifteen pieces in this collection symbolically represents every decade of the Pottery's history. It celebrates the many talented hands that have forged the success of Belleek from its origins in 1857 to the present day.

Belleek Website.

New Irish Ambassador Assumes Post

     In September Ireland appointed its 16th Ambassador to the United States, the Hon. Michael Collins. Mr. Collins has had a long, distinguished career in the Irish government, most recently serving as Second Secretary to the Prime Minister, Bertie Ahearn. Mr. Collins was a major leader in the peace accord process.  Here are Mr. Collins remarks upon presenting his credentials to President Bush:

    “It is a great honour for me to be Ireland’s Ambassador to the US. This is a time for consolidating peace and advancing economic development in Ireland. I am deeply conscious of how important the US has been to Ireland’s success. Ireland and the United States enjoy an especially close relationship. It is my hope that during my time as Ambassador the links between Ireland and the US will be further strengthened. The support that the US has given in helping bring peace to Ireland is enormously appreciated. People of Irish decent in the United States provide a living bridge between our two countries. The historic developments that we have seen in the Northern Ireland peace process owe a great deal to the enduring support and encouragement of this country. As Ambassador it will be a central priority for me to support our community in every way possible. The Irish Government is deeply committed to the ongoing effort to address the plight of the undocumented Irish. This is a pressing and sensitive issue which needs the earliest possible resolution”.

R.I.P.  Tommy Makem 1932 - 2007

     Tommy Maken has died in New Hampshire on August 1. Makem, who played banjo and tin whistle and sang in a deep baritone, came to international prominence as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.  Makem was born in Keady, Co Armagh, in 1932. During the 1960s, he gained fame with the Clancy Brothers. Makem left the group in 1969 to pursue a solo career. He joined Liam Clancy in 1975 to perform as Makem and Clancy and went solo again in 1988. His best-known songs include Four Green Fields, Red Is The Rose and The Bard of Armagh. Liam Clancy said Makem was "a great fighter" who had battled lung cancer for a year. "We shared a great hulk of our lives together, and we were a hell of a team," he said. "Tommy was a man of high integrity and honesty and his courage really showed through towards the end. Our paths diverged many times, but our friendship never waned. I suppose he was my brother in every way. “I think what Tommy's greatest strength was he was an entertainer. He just had the knack of making an audience laugh or cry . . . holding them in his hands." Makem visited Belfast in July to receive an honorary degree from the University of Ulster despite his illness and also took time to return to Armagh. He also received doctorate degrees from the University of New Hampshire in 1998 and from the University of Limerick in 2001. President Mary McAleese offered her condolences to Mr. Makem's family. "In life, Tommy brought happiness and joy to hundreds of thousands of fans the world over," she said. "Always the consummate musician, he was also a superb ambassador for the country, and one of whom we will always be proud.”

Folk musical legend Tommy Makem died of  cancer on August 1, ending a career that spanned more than five decades. He was 74.

Keeping Email Addresses Current

     If you have not recently been receiving  our club’s emails, we may not have your current email address.  If you have changed your email address in the past few months, we almost certainly do not have your new one.  We do not share your email address with anyone without your consent, and our club’s emails are the best way to keep up with Irish items of interest between newsletters.  Please send your new email address to our website manager, at if you wish to receive email updates from the club.  

Irish Honor Fr. Flanagan Upon 90^th Anniversary of Boys Town

(Editor’s Note: Did you know that for nearly 20 years the Muskegon County Juvenile Court has had a close relationship with Boys Town, recently renamed Girls and Boys Town?  Usually about 5 - 6 high risk youth from Muskegon are living at Girls and Boys Town. These are kids without a stable home life here, who would likely end up in prison if it were not for the guidance and education that Girls and Boys Town gives them to lead fulfilling lives. The main campus of Girls and Boys Town outside of Omaha consists of 900 acres where 700 girls and boys live in groups of about 6 in a home with a married couple who are called “family teachers.”  They live as a family unit, and the kids attend school at Girls and Boys Town’s elementary, middle, or high school.  By the way, Girls and Boys Town often hires retired couples as family teachers because retirees bring a lifetime of wisdom and experience to the kids. At Girls and Boys Town the students can learn everything from farming to auto mechanics to computer technology to college prep to you name it. Girls and Boys Town is a wonderful place, and visitors are welcome for tours. If you are in the Omaha area, take the time to visit – your faith in humanity will be rejuvenated!  90 years ago a great Irish-American, Fr. Edward Flanagan, founded Boys Town when he borrowed $90 from a friend to start a home for wayward boys from the streets of Omaha. From the original 5 boys Fr. Flanagan was quickly overwhelmed with more, and he soon moved the home to a farm outside of Omaha, which grew to the Girls and Boys Town of today. This is an article that appeared in the Irish Times, when Mickey Rooney, now 86 and still going strong, made a trip to Ireland to commemorate the 90^th anniversary at a special ceremony honoring Fr. Flanagan.   For more information on Girls and Boys Town, visit their website at www.girlsandboystown.org.)

Mickey Rooney performed with Spencer Tracy in the 1938 film Boys Town, which transformed Fr Flanagan into an international name. 

The actor flew into Knock airport yesterday morning from the UK where he is currently performing in a show at Blackpool. 

At the Fr Flanagan Memorial Centre in Ballymoe he said Boys Town was his favourite film in which he had taken part, and because of it he was forever associated with Boys Town the place, set up by Fr Flanagan on December 12th, 1917. 

Girls and Boys Town, as it is now known, is the largest privately funded organisation serving severely at-risk, abused, abandoned and neglected children in the US. It currently cares for more than 43,000 children. 

Mr Rooney was presented with a bronze harp by Fidelma Croghan of the Ballymoe Boys Town Association. 

Association chairman John Griffin said that Ballymoe had seen "great and difficult days". He said that 150 years ago it experienced the Famine and 100 years ago it greeted Michael Davitt of the Land League. 

In 1946 it welcomed Fr Flanagan as a hero, he said. 

Prayers were led by Dr Christopher Jones, Bishop of Elphin, and a portrait of Fr Flanagan was presented to the memorial centre by Fr Steven Boes, Fr Flanagan's current successor at Boys and Girls Town. 

The portrait is by former Boys Town resident Paul Otero. 

On his 1946 visit to Ireland Fr Flanagan was very critical of childcare in this State.

In her book States of Fear, Mary Raftery recalled that he said then that Irish orphanages, industrial schools and residential homes were "not fit for human habitation and were a disgrace to the nation". 

The then minister for justice and Roscommon TD Gerry Boland castigated Fr Flanagan in the Dáil and told him to mind his own business. 

The priest planned to return to Ireland in 1948 to deal with the matter but was sent by US president Harry Truman to establish orphanages in postwar Germany, where he subsequently died. 

Mr Griffin said last night that it needed to be acknowledged that what Fr Flanagan said was true. 

Now, when it seemed we had heard the worst about what happened in those institutions, such acknowledgment was also necessary if people were to move on, he said.

Reprinted from the Irish Times, Wednesday, September 12, 2007

by Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondant                                                                                                                                                

Veteran Hollywood actor Mickey Rooney (86) visited Ballymoe, Co Galway, yesterday for celebrations marking the 90th anniversary of the founding by local man Fr Edward Flanagan of Boys Town in Nebraska.