Muskegon Museum of Art
Thursday, November 6

Irish Movie Night

Pierce Brosnan’s - The Nephew
Introduction by Bill Iddings

5:30 - 6:30 pm Desserts - 6:45 Movie

On Thursday, November 6, we return to the Muskegon Museum of Art for our annual private screening of an Irish film.  Prior to the movie we will again enjoy scrumptious gourmet desserts and beverages presented by our dedicated club Secretary, Jeanne O’Brien, and other members, including Jeanne’s husband Jim. And John and Barb McFadden will have select items from our Green Elephant Sale for purchase. 

     We are pleased that our area’s leading movie and drama critic (and fellow member), Bill Iddings, will present an introduction to the film. Bill’s insights and perspective consistently add a lot to our experience of watching our Irish films.

      We have always had great movies for  this event, and this year is no exception.  When Pierce Brosnan formed his Irish Dreams production company to make Irish films, the first movie they filmed was The Nephew. It was released in Europe but not in the U.S.  It has been on American TV on Showtime a few times, and was recently released on DVD.  It is a wonderful film with a heart-warming story.  Much of it was filmed in the Aran Islands, so the cinematography is stunning.  And the plot has humor, mystery, and drama that quickly draws us into the story.  Don’t miss this one, and bring your friends!  You won’t see this movie on a big screen anywhere but here!

      Reservations are not necessary, and free will donations will be accepted to offset the $325 rental and related costs required to support this fun evening.

Last Event

  On Thursday, August 21, about 80 members and guests gathered at the Mona Lake Boating Club for our annual barbecue picnic.  Once again we had a balmy summer evening at  Mona Lake, and we enjoyed a fine dinner prepared by the accommodating staff of the boating club.  The Mona Shores Fiddlers, who had toured Ireland earlier in the summer, provided a full range of enthusiastic and rousing instrumentals and vocals in their concert for us. These talented young men and women are performing at a level beyond their years, and we cannot praise them, their parents, and their instructors enough for keeping the traditional forms of folk music like our Irish music alive in our future generations.  Especially to be commended is Tim Staudacher, the Fiddlers’ founder and Director of the orchestra program at Mona Shores High School.  Kids can be attracted to so much counter-productive activity today,  and it is so refreshing to see Tim inspire this group to participate in the Fiddlers - on their own free time and on their own dime.  By the way, the Fiddlers will be performing at the Frauenthal Theater on Saturday, October 25, ahead of the reading by Frank McCourt.  At the picnic we also thank John and Barb McFadden for their dedicated work in conducting our Green Elephant Sale.  We look forward to continuing the sale at other events, too.

     The hard-working board of our community’s Michigan Irish Music Festival plans for every contingency, including bad weather.  But who would have thought that the effects of a hurricane would have a major impact in Muskegon? And yet, there it was, hurricane Ike sending us tons of soaking rain. But Friday night set an attendance record, and all the vendors “made their rent.” To the credit of the festival volunteers, on Saturday and Sunday all the acts performed at least once. By seating audiences under the main stage canopy, and by switching the headliner bands to the pub tent,  festival patrons were able to stay sheltered and enjoy the performances.  We cannot give adequate credit to our fellow members like Chris Zahrt, Tom Schaub, Kevin Donovan, Mary Price, Bob and Terri Wright, David McIntire, Joe Doyle, Mary O’Connor, Tom Powers, and others, who kept the festival on track. And a note of special thanks to Bob and Bernie DeVoursney, who sponsored Bob and Bernie’s Pub!

      If you have not yet purchased your tickets for the Frank McCourt reading on Saturday, October 25, at the Frauenthal Theater, time is running out fast.  Before Frank McCourt’s reading, the Mona Shores Fiddlers will perform.  Also, please remember that this event is sponsoring a coat drive for Every Woman’s Place.  Some of us may not realize that Every Woman’s Place provides food, shelter, and clothing  not only for women who are in desperate situations, but also for abused mothers and their children.  Please bring a clean woman’s or child’s coat to the theater when you buy your tickets, or on the night of the performance.  Thank you for your generosity!  Our thanks to Angie Maloy, our fellow member who is a leader with the Muskegon Writers’ Center and the Arts and Humanities Festival.

       Please mark your calendar for our annual Pub Party at the Harbor Holiday Inn on Sunday afternoon, January  25, 2009.  As always, we will have a great time the Sunday before the Super Bowl.

In the News

       Two of our members have recently been in the news.  Tom Powers is the chairperson of our community’s United Way drive this year.  This is a huge undertaking, and Tom and his team have an especially tough challenge due to our local economy’s problems.  But those problems make the success of United Way even more imperative for the unemployed and other less fortunate fellow citizens. If you have not already done so, please make your donation to our United Way campaign.

         The Sunday Chronicle published a front page feature story about Cam Farmer and his World War II service in the Marines.  The article was published on the anniversary of the battle for Guadalcanal, where Cam was severely wounded in the intense fighting against a much larger Japanese force.  It was a moving  tribute to Cam,  especially because at age 90 he is the last living member of his regiment.  Congratulation to Cam, his wife Kim, and their family.  Semper Fi, Cam!

“Finnegan” to Perform at Festival of Trees

     At the end of November every year, the Muskegon Museum of Art hosts our community’s Festival of Trees. This fanciful display of uniquely decorated Christmas trees and other Christmas items puts us  in the holiday spirit at the right time.  Last year the Museum added a café setting with live entertainment, and our own Muskegon-Kalamazoo Irish entertainment troupe “Finnegan” was one of the bands.  Finnegan is returning this year, and will playing at the festival at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 25.  Finnegan’s musicians include our fellow members Britta Portenga andJim and Clare Keating, and Muskegonite Lynne Unger.  Hailing from Kalamazoo are Harry and Pat Gilbert.  Their instruments are the guitar, fiddle, flute, and whistle, and they specialize in vocal harmonies.  Harry Gilbert will reprise his original song, “I Love the Irish, which he introduced to us at our annual Pub Party. Put this on your calendar now, and enjoy both the Festival of Trees and Finnegan!

R.I.P.

     Since our last newsletter we have lost two long time members who have passed on, Leo Linck and Tom O’Toole.  Both were dedicated to their families, were prominent attorneys in Muskegon, and contributed to the betterment of our community in many ways.  Leo was age 90, and Tom was age 82.  Our lives were greatly enriched by both Leo and Tom, and we express our deepest sympathy  to both the Linck and O’Toole families. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam (Rest in peace).

Annie Moore’s Grave Headstone Installed

      We all recall the story of Annie Moore.  In late December, 1891, Annie, age 14, and her two  younger brothers boarded the S.S. Nevada at Cobh quay at Cork to travel to New York to join their parents, who had immigrated there two years earlier.  At that time the U.S. was welcoming iimmigrants, and had just finished building our showcase facility to process the thousands of future newcomers — Ellis Island in New York harbor. Ellis Island’s first day of business was to be January 1, 1892, and on that day the first ship to land was the S.S. Nevada, and the first immigrant to enter the Ellis Island center was none other than Annie Moore.  She was met by a top immigration official, who gave her a $10 gold piece, no small sum in those days. And it was her 15th birthday! She spent the rest of her life in New York, where she married a baker, Joseph Schayer.  They had ten children, five of whom lived to adulthood.  Annie died at age 47 of heart failure.  But there is more to her story.

       During the hundred plus years after she crossed the Atlantic, historians had tried to find out what happened to Annie Moore in this country.  Due to some errors in records, another Annie Moore, who was about the right age and had died in Texas, was generally accepted as the Irish immigrant Annie Moore.  But in the early 2000’s a dedicated New York genealogist found the errors and conclusively proved that the Annie Moore had never left New York and was buried in an unmarked grave in the borough of Queens, not far from Ellis Island!  Annie Moore rests there next to her five deceased children. Irish Americans donated to the designing and installation of her grave headstone, which was carved in Ireland from blue limestone. Just a couple of weeks ago a dedication ceremony was held at her gravesite.  In attendance were her three great-granddaughters and their families, along with 300 other guests.  The Irish tenor Ronan Tynan sang as part of the program.

         In 1993 Ireland and the U.S. commissioned two sculptures of Annie Moore by the well-known Irish sculptor Jeanne Rynhart.  Irish President Mary Robinson unveiled both pieces, one at Cobh and one on Ellis Island. Below are photos of the headstone, and the statues at Cobh and Ellis Island

Michigan`s Unique Irish Counties

       Question: How many states have a county named after a county in Ireland?  Answer:  Only one, Michigan.  In fact, Michigan has four counties with Irish namesakes: Clare, Roscommon, Wexford, and Antrim.  Is this a big deal?  It certainly is.

       In the U.S. it is common to find streets, roads, towns, cities, townships, and other entities officially titled with Irish monikers.  But to have an entire county named after another county in Ireland is a much more weighty matter.  A mere village council can decide what a park name will be, but action by the whole state legislature and the governor is necessary to name a county.

       Based upon European governmental organization, the county is the fundamental local building block of government in the United States.  If you live in a state, you may or may not live in a city, but you definitely live in a county.  States are made up of counties, and the power of state government is typically delegated to counties for implementation and enforcement.  And so, when states were formed and counties designated, federal and state leaders attached great significance to the surveying, formation, and naming of counties.  How is it, then, that Michigan has not just one, but four counties named after Irish counties?

       The population of the Michigan territory boomed after the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825.  Many of the workers who had constructed the Erie Canal were Irish immigrants, and after the canal had been built, many migrated to Michigan, which was still a federal “territory.”  Irish immigrants poured into Michigan as laborers, farmers, fishermen, and timbermen.  By 1850, just 13 years after Michigan achieved statehood, one in every seven residents of Detroit had been born in Ireland!

       Another factor attracting hard-working immigrants to Michigan was its status as a “homestead” state. Basically, if an immigrant could “squat” on 160 acres and farm it continuously, acts of Congress in 1841 (The Pre-emption Act) and 1862  (The Homestead Act) legalized the landholdings of “squatting” immigrants.  The agricultural land of the northern half of Michigan’s lower peninsula was especially attractive to Irish immigrants, because those areas closely resemble the farming countryside of the Emerald Isle.

       When Michigan entered the Union as the 26^th state in 1837, the Michigan Legislature designated 38 counties, with those counties retaining their original territorial names.  However, three years later, in 1840, the Michigan Legislature changed the names of 16 of those original 38 counties.  Four of those names were changed to Antrim, Clare, Roscommon, and Wexford.  And to put a finer point on it, the legislators also re-named yet another fifth county as Emmet County, after the young Irish patriot Robert Emmet, who was hung at age 23 by the British in 1803.  And that is how  Michigan actually came to have five counties with names stemming from strong Irish roots.

        Although these Irish county names show the obvious influence of the Irish in Michigan’s early development, the naming of five Irish counties in a new state is an astonishing event in the broader historical context of those times. Those were the days when anti-Irish prejudice and anti-Catholicism were prevalent attitudes shared by many of America’s politically powerful officials.  Several other states had much larger Irish populations, but Michigan is the only state to recognize Irish immigrants by naming counties in their honor.

As a youngster, my only knowledge of Irish music was the American Irish songs, like “Too ra Loo ra, Loor a,” and “McNamara’s Band,” that my mother taught us to sing from Bing Crosby albums. In the 1960s, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem changed all that, bursting on the scene with traditional Irish music. Bob Dylan called Liam Clancy the best ballad singer he had ever heard. Wanting to hear Liam’s current offerings, I went to his website to see what I could suggest my children give me for Christmas. I discovered that Liam would be featured on an Irish music cruise to the Mexican Riviera in January. When I called the cruise organizer, I discovered that Liam no longer sings in the U.S., but does this yearly cruise, along with relatives Aoife Clancy, Robby O’Connell, the sons of Tommy Makem, and a host of other Irish performers.

CRUISING WITH THE CLANCYS by Jim Keating
Editor’s note: Our thanks to fellow member Jim Keating for submitting this article and pictures

        I have never had the desire to take a cruise. My fear was that after a week of constant eating, drinking and sunning, I would spend the next two months trying to lose the weight I had gained. It didn’t seem worth it. But Liam is the last man standing of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, since Tommy passed away last year, so my wife Clare and I decided to sign up.

There were more than 20 perfomers on board, including Danny Doyle, another favorite balladeer of mine.  On seven of the eight nights, there were concerts from 9 till midnight. One night was dedicated to Tommy Makem’s songs, and another was all Liam’s music. In addition, there were three afternoon jam sessions at which anyone was invited to sing. With such a line up of Irish musical stars present, it was a bit intimidating, but three of us did offer a song.         

If that wasn’t enough music, the group sought out bars after midnight to continue informal jam sessions into the morning hours. Two of the surprises to me were Gabriel Donohue, who was an accompanist at the Muskegon Irish Festival a few years back and seemed to be able to play any instrument that makes music, and Ciaran Sheehan, a tenor who had played the lead in “Phantom of the Opera” and “Les Miserables.” He treated us with pieces from both, as well as Dublin street songs.         

Fiona Walsh, a comedienne, did a show and acted as mc at times. One of the entertaining sidelights of the trip was the witty banter that flowed between the congenial group of performers. At an after-hours session, the crowd was coaxing one of the Makems to do a song. Just then the phone on the bar rang, and instantly his brother Rory chipped in, “See, they’re even phoning in requests.”725in 6.3611in 6.9965in 7.6326in 8.2694in 8.9055in 9.5416in 10.177in; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 10.0pt; color: black; font-weight: normal; margin: 0pt">         

The cruise stopped in five ports, including Acapulco, where Clare and I got to see the famous cliff divers, and Cabo san Lucas.where we parasailed at 700 feet. In addition, the stops gave us glimpses of  places we might want to revisit in the future. As for my concern about over-indulging on a cruise, I am still trying to lose five of the pounds I gained.        

For those who want a full week of Irish music, I highly recommend next year’s cruise, January 18 to 25, 2009. It goes from Tampa to Key West, Guatemala’s Mayan ruins, Belize and Mexico. Most of the same entertainers will be performing, but Danny Doyle will be replaced by an entertainer familiar to all of us, Seamus Kennedy. You can get more information by calling 888 56-IRISH, or at the web site www.irishmusiccruises.com;