Meet Melissa Estelle: President
of the Seattle Irish Heritage Club
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
Melissa Estelle, the president of the Seattle Irish Heritage Club, is also a university student working on research for her PhD.
We met recently when she drove up to Vancouver to support The Celtic Connection fundraiser golf tournament.
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MELISSA ESTELLE |
She told me that it was a coincidence which led to her involvement with the Irish Heritage Club. "I was doing my PhD research in Derry, Ireland, on the cultural heritage in Derry and I had returned to Seattle to earn some money. Strangely enough, it began while standing in line to purchase a Harry Potter book. I got into a conversation with another woman and told her what I had been doing in Ireland.
"She told me that I should speak to her minister, Barry Keating, who is from Northern Ireland. After I interviewed the Reverend Keating, he told me that I should consider getting involved with the Irish club.
" Which I did, and I met John Keane and many other Irish people who have been involved with the club for many years." Then, she laughed and said, "and here I am, President!"
Melissa continues to work on her PhD and needs to speak with more Irish-born or raised residents of British Columbia and Washington State. Her aim is to interview them about their experiences or ask them to fill-out a survey. In order to ensure that her research is more representative of the area, she still needs to communicate with more Irish people in our area.
Speaking about some of the upcoming events planned by the Irish Heritage Club, Melissa told me about a program called Feiceail, which is the Irish word for "in sight of," which is a gathering on the 15th of each month to permit socializing with no agenda.
"We started this because a lot of the young Irish were saying that they would like to get-together and socialize but not necessarily in something that's Irish themed. For instance, last month we went to the Olympic Peninsula and looked at some of the old growth forest.
"We try to do something low key, that you can either attend or not attend. So far, the response to Feiceail has been good, so we will have to see how it progresses since we've just started it."
Every year at the end of October or early November, to coincide with All Saints and All Souls day, the Irish Heritage Club hosts a Mass in Gaelic. In early December they have the annual children's Christmas party.
Every March, to coincide with St. Patrick's Day, Seattle has Irish Week, which takes in the St. Patrick's Day parade, Irish movies, Irish dancing, dances, Gaelic Mass for peace, visiting dignitaries from Ireland, and various other activities. It's basically a showcase of all things Irish. This is a huge event that takes a year of planning with many dedicated volunteers.
"We have already had an early planning Irish Week, meeting in July," said Melissa, "this was just to get the ball rolling but we will start our meetings in earnest in September. We will be keeping our old traditions but will be adding some new ones. For instance, Mary Shriane, who has worked on many of our St. Patrick weeks in the past, is coming back on board and adding some crafts this year.
"We are also very excited about this year's Grand Marshal, but we can't put the word out yet until it's official, and we haven't picked the Honourary Grand Marshal yet."
For more information about the Seattle Irish Heritage Club, visit their website at: www.irishclub.org. [If you would like to help Melissa with her survey, e-mail: melissae@irishclub.org, or call (206) 229-8512.]
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