SEATTLE-IRISH NEWS
MAY 2007
By JOHN KEANE
CONDOLENCES
To Mary O'Brien and the O'Brien family of Seattle on the recent death of John L. O'Brien, 95, the former Speaker of the Washington State House of Representatives, former Speaker Pro Tem and Speaker Emeritus, who served in the State Legislature for 52 years starting in 1939.
John was also was a faithful member of the Irish Heritage Club and attended the Irish Festival at the Seattle Center just a month before his death. His parents were both from County Cork and his father, a Seattle Police detective, was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1921 when John was nine years old.
To Brendan Gallagher of Tacoma on the death in Ireland of his brother Father Michael, a Kiltegan Father who served for years as a Missionary in Nigeria and also in Scotland.
To Jim Cummins of Kennewick on the death in Tullamore, County Offaly, of his brother-in-law, Pat Jennings.
To Harry and the family of former Galway Mayor Angela Lupton who died in Galway on March 29. While serving as mayor, she and Harry visited Seattle in March 1999.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha - May their souls be at the right of God.
SEATTLE IMMIGRANT CONFERENCE - Over 50 representatives from the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers (CIIC) attended the CIIC annual conference at Seattle's Renaissance Hotel from April 13-15, hosted by Seattle's Irish Immigrant Support Group.
The CIIC is a national umbrella organization representing Irish organizations throughout the United States that provide services to Irish immigrants. The participants heard a tremendously informative presentation by Liam McCarthy and Josephine Murphy from Dublin on Suicide Intervention and Prevention.
Other presentations were given on the Irish Government's task force report, Measurable Objectives and Outcomes, and Preparing for Legalization" - the day when a comprehensive immigration reform bill is passed in the U.S. Congress. Workshops were given on "Diversifying your Funding Base" and "Developing and Implementing a Program for Seniors."
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FROM LEFT, UW Professor Walter Walsh, Michiko Hase, Emily Jarvis, Emily Alvarado, Elizabeth Hawkins, Consul General of Ireland Émer Deane, and the Irish Heritage Club's John Keane, at the Sampson Law Fellowship Reception on April 13 at the University of Washington's William H. Gates Hall.
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On Sunday the CIIC held its annual general meeting and participated in a strategic planning retreat. Among those attending the conference was Consul General Émer Deane from San Francisco, Aoife McGarry from the Irish Embassy in Washington, D.C., and Seamus Carroll with the Irish Abroad Unit in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin. For more information and photos from the conference, visit: www.irishseattle.com.
LAW FELLOWSHIPS - The UW School of Law has announced the 2007 recipients of the William Sampson Fellow in Comparative Public Interest Law: Michiko Hase, Emily Jarvis, Emily Alvarado, Elizabeth Hawkins.
The 2007 Fellowship recipients were announced at a reception on April 13, in William H. Gates Hall, with Émer Deane, Consul General of Ireland to the Western U.S. The Sampson Fellowship program provides an externship opportunity for UW law students to spend up to four months working at a human rights non-profit or NGO in Ireland.
William Sampson was an Irish Protestant human rights lawyer, who, after being imprisoned, disbarred and banished from Ireland following the 1798 Rebellion, practiced as the United States' first career human rights lawyer.
In New York City, Sampson brought test cases on behalf of Irish Catholic refugees, defended striking union shoemakers against conspiracy charges, represented African-Americans in pre-Civil War America, and fought in the courtroom for a host of other "unpopular" causes. He died in New York in 1836.
The UW also sponsors the Thomas Addis Emmet Fellowship in Comparative Public Interest Law, under which a young Irish lawyer comes to Seattle each year to gain first hand experience of public interest practice at the Appleseed Foundation, a public interest law nonprofit.
That fellowship is named after another banished United Irish lawyer who rose from his disbarment in Ireland to become attorney general of New York State and a prominent constitutional lawyer in the early American republic.
In 1998, on the bicentennial of the 1798 rebellion, plaques commemorating these two disbarred United Irish lawyers were permanently placed in the Round Hall of the Four Courts, just steps from the entrance to Ireland's Supreme Court Chamber.
The Law Fellowship program is supported by Seattle's Irish Heritage Club, the Seattle Galway Sister City Association and the Friends of St. Patrick.
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MEMBERS of Seattle's Irish Immigrant Support Group pose at the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers Conference with Seamus Sweeney from the Irish Abroad Unit in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin. From left: Barbara Birney, Camilla Barrett, Melissa Estelle, Mary Charles, Seamus Carroll, Eddie McLoughlin, Jim Cummins, John Keane.
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BLOOMSDAY - Seattle's Wild Geese Players are already practicing for their 2007 Bloomsday performance which this year will be held at 4:30 PM on June 16, at Elliot Bay Books, 101 Main Street, in Seattle's Pioneer Square. A second performance is being considered for the afternoon of June 17. For more information, visit: www.wildgeeseseattle.org.
IRISH SURVEY - That 32-question non-intrusive survey of Irish-born residents of Washington State and British Columbia is still underway. It is being done in connection with a PhD. research project and is co-sponsored by Seattle's Irish Immigrant Support Group.
The goal is to survey Irish-born people presently in the northwest regardless of when they were born or when they left Ireland. If you or someone you know is willing to participate, please contact Melissa at (206) 229-8512 or melissae@irishclub.org.
IRISH DAY - Irish Day at the Races at Emerald Downs is June 24. Free admission tickets to the racetrack in Auburn are available to anyone who contacts the Irish Heritage Club at: Races@irishclub.org or (206) 223-3608. For information on the racetrack itself, visit: www.emeralddowns.com.
GAELS GOLF - The Seattle Gaels golf tournament will be held at West Seattle Golf Club on June 10, with tee times available between 9-11 AM. Cost is $65 per person or $240 for a foursome. Each participant gets a goody bag, a free lunch ticket, and the possibility of winning some great prizes. For information on the golf or on Gaelic football or hurling for men or women, contact Aidan O'Callaghan at aidanocall@yahoo.com or (206) 940-1113.
LÁ NA GAEILGE - An Irish Language Day is being held in Portland on May 19 from 9 AM to 5:30 PM. It will be a day of immersion in the Irish language for beginners, continuing students, those who would like to rediscover their language and fluent enthusiasts.
All are welcome to this first Irish language day at Marylhurst University, 10 minutes south of Portland and one mile south of Lake Oswego on Highway 43. Visit: www.marylhurst.edu. There will be classes and workshops throughout the day and a seisiún at the end of the day. So, bring your dance shoes and musical instruments. For more information, contact: AnRoibeard@Comcast.net.
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VOLUNTEERS Gabby and David Jacobsen on left with Frank and Cathe Gill on right, at the Irish Heritage Club-hosted party for Irish Week volunteers on April 22 at the Owl 'n Thistle Pub.
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OTHER EVENTS
CONCERT - Celtic Woman visits Seattle's WaMu Theatre on May 12 - visit: www.celticwoman.com.
IRISH PICNIC - The annual Irish Community Picnic will be held on July 22 at St. Edward State Park in Kenmore. All members of the Seattle-area Irish community are invited to attend.
IRISH BASEBALL - The first annual Irish Night at the Mariners will be on July 31 at Safeco Field. Reduced price tickets will be available for the 7:05 PM game versus the LA Angels. For more information, contact: mariners@irishclub.org.
IRISH WAY - The 2007 Irish Way program is a four-week summer study program where high school students are introduced to Ireland's history and traditions through structured classes and tours of southeastern and western Ireland. This summer's program runs July 2-July 26, and more information is available by calling (973) 605-1991 or visiting: www.iaci-usa.org.
IRISH LECTURE - Seattle Arts & Lectures' upcoming 20th anniversary literary lecture series will include Booker Prize-winning Irish novelist John Banville on April 29, 2008 at Seattle's Benaroya Hall.
Banville's novel The Sea was awarded the Man Booker Prize in 2005. Banville has also received the Lannan Foundation Literary Award in the U.S., the Guardian Fiction Prize in England, and numerous other Irish and Italian honors. He also writes crime novels under the pseudonym Benjamin Black. Lecture series tickets are on sale now while single lecture tickets go on sale September 10. For information, contact (206) 621-2230 or visit: www.lectures.org.
IRISH SEATTLE - To read various reviews of Irish Seattle, the new pictorial history of the Irish in Seattle, or to purchase an autographed copy, visit: www.irish-seattle.com
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