SEATTLE-IRISH NEWS - NOVEMBER
By JOHN KEANE
CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS - Please don't forget to register children for the annual Irish Children's Christmas Party on December 10, 12:30 to 3:30 PM, Maplewood Church, 19523 84th Avenue West (on 196th Street at 84th Avenue West), Edmonds. Starting at 12:30 PM, there will be crafts, games, and light refreshments for all, and Daidí na Nodhlaig (Father Christmas) arrives in his green robes at 2 PM. Everyone is invited to join us, but please register by calling Áine McDonald at (206) 922-3356, or e-mail xmas@irishclub.org.
NODHLAIG NA mBAN - Seattle's annual celebration of the 12th Day of Christmas this January will be at Mick Kelly's Irish Pub and Restaurant, 435 SW 152nd Street, Burien, near the intersection of Hwy. 509 and Hwy. 518, west of the Airport. The company, the conversation, the food, drinks, flowers, music, and service were very enjoyable last year when there was a packed house and some were turned away. So get your reservations in early to Candace at (425) 745-1263, or e-mail CandaceD@irishclub.org.
FREE PHONE-CALLS - A new service has started that provides free telephone calls to Ireland and over 50 other countries around the world if you have an unlimited cellular or land-line long distance plan within the United States. If you don't have unlimited long distance, you still save by just paying for the cost of a telephone call to Iowa and the rest of the way to Ireland is free! Simply dial (712) 858-8883 and then dial 011-353 and the number you want in Ireland. For more information, visit http://www.futurephone.com.
JAPANESE IRISH - Local Seattle Irish musician Finn MacGinty, originally from Westmeath, is in Tokyo, Japan, this weekend acting in the Samuel Beckett play Rough for Theatre 1, in a performance being sponsored by the Irish Embassy. The play is being staged in a traditional Noh theater and Finn and Irish actor Duncan Hamilton play a blind fiddler and a one-legged man in a wheelchair who meet and try to make a connection by wedding one man's sight to the other's mobility.
SEATTLE CONFERENCE - The Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers (CIIC) will hold its next annual conference in Seattle in mid-spring 2007. The CIIC is a U.S.-based federation whose members are made up of 15 Irish immigrant and pastoral social service centers throughout the U.S., including centers in California, Illinois, Washington D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Florida, Wisconsin and Seattle.
The CIIC's primary functions are to provide a national forum for the sharing of best practices among its member organizations, to educate its members on current laws and proposed changes as they relate to Irish immigrants and, to the extent possible, advocate changes to policies and laws that affect Irish immigrants in the U.S.
In addition to its board and membership meetings and monthly newsletters, the CIIC hosts an annual conference bringing together the best minds and best practices in the areas of Irish immigration, delivery of social and pastoral services, counseling and law reform.
Along with addressing the perennial issue of immigration reform, the 2007 conference will have a special focus on facing the challenges of the growing problems of suicide, depression and mental health issues within Irish communities throughout the U.S., with the goal of starting a process of giving its member centers the tools to provide relevant education, information and outreach on these important issues.
The CIIC owes much of its new direction and energy to recent challenges both here and in Ireland resulting from the 9/11 tragedies and the changes that followed to U.S. immigration laws.
IRISH MEDICAL COVERAGE - For Irish people in the U.S. who don't have medical insurance coverage, especially illegal immigrants, they can't afford to get sick. Now Voluntary Health Insurance (VHI), the largest provider of healthcare insurance in Ireland, has customized a package called Global Insurance to cover those Irish living abroad who intend to return to live in Ireland at a future date.
The medical coverage includes access to all hospitals for both emergency and elective treatment as well as direct payments to hospitals and doctors for "in-patient" treatment. Global Insurance also provides an opportunity to add cover for travel and hazardous sports and activities. To get more information on Global Insurance, visit http://www.vhi.ie/global.
OTHER
• Dublin's Gate Theatre will visit Seattle's Moore Theatre for five performances of Samuel Beckett's acclaimed play, WAITING FOR GODOT. Performances are from November 8-12, Wednesday through Sunday. For tickets and information, visit http://www.themoore.com.
• The Seattle Arts and Lectures Literary Lecture Series presents FRANK MCCOURT at Benaroya Hall, 7:30 PM, November 21. Tickets are available at http://www.lectures.org/boxoffice.htm.
• CHRISTMAS FROM DUBLIN will be November 25 and 26, at the Kirkland Performance Center, 350 Kirkland Avenue. The production features three Irish Tenors - Ciaran Nagle, Brian Dunphy, and Anthony Norton, plus a company of 10 singers and musicians. For more information, contact (425) 893-9900 or http://www.kpcenter.org.
• Celebrate Magical Strings' 28th Annual CELTIC YULETIDE CONCERT series with a joyous evening of music, dance, song and storytelling. The series of shows start on December 2 in Portland, Olympia December 9, Tacoma December 15, and Seattle on December 16. For all the details, call (253) 857-3716 or visit http://www.magicalstrings.com.
• The IRISH TENORS HOLIDAY CONCERT, Anthony Kearns, Karl Scully and Finbar Wright, come to Seattle for their Holiday Concert on December 18 at 7:30 at Benaroya Hall in aid of Ballard Northwest Senior Center. For information, contact Carlye Teel at (206) 297 -0403 or carlyet@seniorservices.org.
• Applications for the 2008 DIVERSITY VISA (DV) LOTTERY will be accepted until noon on December 3 at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov. Anyone born in Ireland, north or south, is eligible to apply and there's no fee involved.
NEW PUBS
• Congratulations and best wishes to Carl Rogers on opening THE BLARNEY STONE, a new Irish Pub located at 1909 Third Avenue, Seattle. It's on Third Avenue at Stewart Street, kitty-corner across the street from the downtown Macys department store. For more information, call Cathy Bethune at (206) 448-8439, or e-mail ms_cmb@yahoo.com.
• Also, best wishes to Shawn O'Donnell who recently opened O'DONNELL'S AMERICAN GRILL and IRISH PUB at 122 - 128th Street SE in South Everett, just off I-5 at Exit 186. For more information, call (425) 338-5700 or visit http://www.shawnodonnells.com.
PHOTOS
THE IRISH TENORS, Anthony Kearns, Karl Scully and Finbar Wright, perform on December 18 at 7:30 PM at Seattle's Benaroya Hall in aid of Ballard Northwest Senior Center.
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DAIDÍ NA NODHLAIG (Father Christmas) is the special guest at the annual Irish Children's Christmas Party on December 10, at Maplewood Church in Edmonds.
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DAIDÍ NA NODHLAIG (Father Christmas) is the special guest at the annual Irish Children's Christmas Party on December 10, at Maplewood Church in Edmonds.
BORN IN IRELAND in 1910, Jack Riley started his professional Ice Hockey career in 1929 with the Seattle Eskimos (http://www.azhockey.com/Se.htm#Seattle Eskimos), and later played in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings (http://www.azhockey.com/De.htm#Detroit Red Wings), the Montreal Canadiens (http://www.azhockey.com/Mo.htm#Montreal Canadiens), and the Boston Bruins (http://www.azhockey.com/Bo.htm#Boston Bruins). He retired in 1944 to Vancouver, B.C., where he died in 1994. A Montreal Canadiens Poster from 1934 translates as follows: Riley's debut with the Canadiens last year was sensational. He began like the wind and in a few weeks had moved up the ranks to become a team Ace. Jack Riley - left wing forward for the Canadiens. Jack is the first National Hockey League player
to be born in Ireland. It's often been said that he played like a bulldog, because of his aggressive spirit and tenacity. (From Irish Seattle, a pictorial history due to be published February 2007).
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