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1916 MEMORABILIAThe Irish Festival at the Seattle Center had a major display of Irish War of Independence Memorabilia and the items displayed are conservatively valued by collectors at almost $1.5 million. Among the items on display was the sole surviving copy of the Irish War News, a broadsheet newspaper written by Pádraig Pearse, the leader of the 1916 Easter Rebellion. Only one issue was ever printed, on Easter Monday, April 24,1916, and the copy on display is the only copy that is known to have survived. There also was a photo of the First Dáil as it met in the Mansion House in Dublin in 1919, and an original poster from 1866 offering a reward of £1,000 for the capture of James Stephens, the Fenian leader. Many other items of historic significance were also on display, many of them for the first time ever, thanks to the generosity of the collectors who own the items. Several items belonging to the same collectors are on sale at a special auction being held in Dublin in April. Anyone interested in obtaining any of the items, please contact the Irish Heritage Club at (206) 223-3608 or email IrishWeek@irishclub.org.
1960 SHAMROCKOne of the entries in Seattle's St. Patrick's Day parade was a 1960 Shamrock automobile. The Shamrock was one of the more obscure auto ventures of the mid-Twentieth Century, and was an automobile built in Ireland long before John DeLorean produced his stainless-steel sports car. Originally planned for Tralee, County Kerry, Shamrock Motors Ltd. started production in 1960 in Castleblaney, County Monaghan, but the project soon floundered due to money troubles after only eight autos are known to have been completed. The one-piece molded fiberglass, four-seater convertible, looks like a cross between a 1957 Thunderbird and a Studebaker Hawk. It was built on a ladder frame with a 98-inch wheelbase. The independent front suspension used coil springs, as did the live rear axle. The 1500-cc B-Series engine was from the Austin A55, as was the four-speed manual transmission. The car in Seattle’s parade is owned by Dan Holms of Seattle, and is one of only four Shamrock Autos still around. Wearing its original paint, the odometer shows just more than 10,000 miles and runs great! DRAWING WINNERSThe winner of the Irish Festival draw for two free tickets to Ireland on Continental Airlines was Irish stepdancer Leona DeRocco of Seattle, while Diane Gill-Antovich of Seattle won two tickets to the Tony Kenny’s Ireland show on April 7. The draw took place on the last day of the Irish Festival at the Seattle Center. IRISH IMMIGRATIONIrish groups all over the U.S. urge continued support for the McCain/Kennedy bill in Congress that requires the undocumented to apply for a six-year temporary permit, pay a $2,000 penalty, have a job, pay taxes, obey the law, and learn English. All Washington State residents are urged to contact Senators Cantwell and Murray, just to say “I'm an Irish-American who supports Comprehensive Immigration Reform and especially the McCain/Kennedy Bill.” Even if you have contacted them already, call them again. They are getting a lot of calls from anti-immigrant groups and need to know that most people in the U.S. are in favor of fair and just treatment of immigrants. For information, visit www.irishlobbyusa.org. HURLING and FOOTBALLThe Seattle Gaels had a good turnout for their first field day of 2006, at Magnolia Playfield on March 26. There were hurling and Gaelic football scrimmages, and many new men and women turned out to get a taste of Gaelic Games. If you missed the field day and want more information, call (206) 953-8460, or robm@seattlehurlingclub.org. SISTER-CITY ANNIVERSARYThe Seattle-Galway Sister City Association this year celebrates the 20th anniversary of the formal sister-city relationship between Seattle and Galway. The late Galway mayor Bridie O’Flaherty visited Seattle in March 1986 to sign the official documents although contact with Galway regarding a sister city relationship was first made in 1982. To mark the 20th anniversary, current Galway mayor Brian Walsh will be in Seattle on April 26, for a Sister Cities reception being held from 6-8 PM at Seattle City Hall. The public is invited to attend and tickets are available at $20 in advance by calling (425) 290-7839. Tickets are $25 at the door. The Seattle Galway Association is also arranging an anniversary reception and dinner at F X McRory’s on April 27, with cocktails at 6 PM and dinner at 7 PM. Reservations are required to attend, call (425) 290-7839. For more information, visit www.SeattleGalway.org, or email SeattleGalway@irishclub.org. MVP SPEAKERShaun Alexander, the Seattle Seahawks Running Back and NFL MVP, is the Keynote Speaker at the annual business breakfast at 7 AM on April 20, at the Matt Talbot Center, 2313 Third Ave, Seattle. Established in 1985, the Matt Talbot Center is a recovery program and treatment center for the addicted, the homeless and mentally ill. Admission is FREE (donations accepted) and everyone is welcome, but seating is limited. Advance reservations are required to (206) 256-9865 or breakfast@matttalbotcenter.org. BLOOMSDAYThe Wild Geese Players are practicing for their annual Bloomsday production, and this year will be performing the Cyclops chapter from Ulysses. As that chapter is set in a pub, the June 16 performance at 8 PM will be at FX McRory's. The founder of the Wild Geese Players, Dr. Kieran O’Malley, has moved back to Ireland after eight years in the U. S. to assume a teaching position at Queen’s University in Belfast, but he plans to fly back to Seattle to participate in the June 16 Bloomsday celebration. MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS
IRISH CAMPSeattle's Tí na nÓ Day Camp will be held July 17 - 21, from 9 AM - 12:30 PM daily, in Seattle Center House, fourth floor. Geared towards ages four to eight, the camp consists of three different sessions focussing on Irish culture – ceilí dance, language and folklore and crafts (with a bonus geography lesson on Ireland and its counties). Children will rotate through the classes daily. Cost is $175 (includes $15 non-refundable registration fee). The registration deadline is June 26, and a limited number of scholarships are available. For information, e-mail: celticroots_seattle@hotmail.com or call (206) 675-9750. NORTHERN IRELAND CONSULAndrew Pike, Northern Ireland Consul to the United States, was in Seattle recently to speak on “Northern Ireland: Clinching The Peace.” He spoke at the University of Washington's Kane Hall in a talk sponsored by the UW’s European Union Center of Excellence and the UW School of Law. Pike has been based in the British Consulate in New York since February 2004, and his responsibilities involve working with the Irish-American community to represent the United Kingdom’s interests on Northern Ireland. While in Seattle, he also spoke to The Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle. HUNGER STRIKESIn 1981, Irish republican prisoners in Long Kesh in Northern Ireland undertook a fast to the death to retain their status as political prisoners. The “Seattle Irish Hunger Strike Commemoration Committee” is organizing a 25th anniversary memorial event to be held at Seattle University’s Pigott Auditorium at 7 PM on May 9. For more information and details on the commemoration, contact Joe Martin at joemartin@speakeasy.net. IRISH BRIGADEThe Washington Civil War Association is committed to honoring our ancestors, both North and South, who fought in, or lived during, the American Civil War, and to that end they regularly sponsor living history encampments, battle re-enactments, school programs and recruiting drives throughout Washington. One of the units of the Association is The Irish Brigade, a unit that has been in existence for several years and is always looking for new recruits. For more information, visit www.wcwa.net or e-mail Donn Gallon at: thenorwichcadets@aol.com. MEMORY LANEFour women, who worked together 50 years ago in the long-since-closed Gentex factory in Athlone, recently got together for a reunion. The ladies have kept in touch by post over the years and one of the four, Phyllis Samson who now lives in Everett, initiated the idea of a face-to-face reunion in Athlone. Phyllis was the only one of the four who had to travel from outside Ireland to attend.
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