SEATTLE IRISH NEWS – NOVEMBER 2011
GARY AND NANCY Ingle, Finian Rowland, Fr. Hugh Duffy SJ, and Cáit Callen at the coffee and tea social after Seattle’s Mass of Remembrance in Gaelic.
BILL BARNES, P.J. O’Donnell, Agnes Gawne and Frank Shriane at the coffee and tea social after Seattle’s Mass of Remembrance in Gaelic.
GUESTS at the Seattle launch of Fr. Sean McManus’s book My American Struggle for Justice in Northern Ireland, (L-R) [Seated] Joe Martin, Maura Barnes, Fr. McManus, and Gerri McMorrow. [Standing] Helen and John Harte, Danny and Cathryn Quinn, Hubie McMorrow, Monica McGlynn, Bernadette Noonan, and John Keane.
AUTHOR Father Sean McManus poses with Bernadette Noonan at the Seattle launch of his book My American Struggle for Justice in Northern Ireland.
ANNA LOCKHART, a native of Cork and Washington state’s oldest Irish-born resident, died in Arlington on October 20 at the age of 105.
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By JOHN KEANE
RECENT PASSINGS
• Tom Lynch, who died in Co. Meath on October 21, was the father of Seattle’s Rosarii Lynch.
• Jetta Cummins, a native of Ireland, died recently in California where she has lived for the past 33 years. She taught Irish stepdancing in the Seattle area for many years and is a daughter-in-law of Maura Cummins of Edmonds.
• Nancy Hannon Regan, who died in Limerick on October 28, was the mother of Seattleites Gerard and Martin Regan.
• Anna Lockhart, 105, who died October 20 in Arlington, was a native of Co. Cork.
• Josie Byrne, a native of Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, died in Seattle in August.
• Fr. Gerry Clenaghan, OMI, 89, a native of Co. Clare who served many years as a priest around the Pacific Northwest, died in Dublin in September.
• John Campbell, Jr, 70, who died in October in Vancouver, WA, was a member of Portland's Irish Dance Society.
• Ann G. Segale, 86, who died in Seattle on October 5 was a sister of the Seattle Galway Association’s Murdock MacPherson.
• Tacoma resident Michael Minor, 64, died suddenly on September 29 in Dublin where he was on holiday with his wife Betty.
• Joyce Mitchell, 87, a native of Co. Tyrone, died in Spokane on October 6.
• Joe Graham, father of Burien’s Mike Graham and father-in-law of Kathleen O'Grady Graham, died recently in Guilford, England.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha – May their faithful souls rest at the right hand of God.
CENTENARIAN’S PASSING – Anna Lockhart, a native of Co. Cork, and believed to be Washington state’s oldest Irish-born resident, passed away on October 20 in Arlington.
Anna was born January 28, 1906 in Co. Cork. She emigrated to the United States when she was about 26, and lived in New York and Colorado before moving to Washington state when she was 95 to be close to her daughter who lives in Marysville.
Staying active and volunteering were the secrets to her long life. Lockhart was a member of Immaculate Conception Church in Arlington where her funeral Mass was offered by Fr. Jim Dalton on October 29.
ENCOUNTER IRELAND – On November 12, Rainier Valley Cultural Center presents Encounter Ireland from 5-9 PM, featuring Celtic music group Ockham’s Razor and guests. Also on the bill are Sam Nicols, Irish stepdancer; an instrumental music and dance workshop and Irish cuisine. All at the Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 S. Alaska Street in Columbia City. Tickets are $10 general; $7 students & seniors, and $5 children (2-12), at Brown Paper Tickets or at the door.
SEATTLE GAELS – The annual general meeting of the Seattle Gaels is November 13 at 6 PM at the Wilde Rover in Kirkland. The Gaels is an affiliate of the Irish Heritage Club and fields teams for the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, and men's and ladies' Gaelic football.
The group works to share the unique athletic traditions and culture of Ireland with men, women, and youth in the Pacific Northwest, as well as representing Seattle at Gaelic sports competitions throughout North America. For more information, visit www.seattlegaels.com.
KNIGHTS NIGHT – This year’s Irish Night at The Knights, "A night of Ceol agus Craic" in support of St. Mary's Food Bank, will be November 19, at The Knights of Columbus Hall, 722 E Union Street, Seattle with music, dinner, dancing, and auction.
The cocktail hour starts at 5 PM, the first silent auction closes at 6 PM, followed by dinner at 7 PM and dancing until midnight. It’s an occasion for Seattle's Irish community to gather for a night of ceol agus craic – good music and great fun – with all proceeds going to St. Mary's Food Bank.
Tickets $60. No host bar. Call John O’Malley at (206) 547-1612 or jomalley@mail.com.
IRISH SENIORS – The Irish seniors’ Christmas luncheon, organized by Irish Immigrant Support, will be at noon on December 3, at F X McRory’s in downtown Seattle. The subsidized cost for the sit-down luncheon remains $10 per person, and all who consider themselves to be Irish and senior are very welcome.
Doors open at 11:45 AM and lunch will be served starting at approximately 12:30 PM. Expect Daidí na Nollag (Father Christmas), Irish music and singing, great door prizes, and a large crowd, so early reservations are advised by calling (425) 290-7839.
CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS – Seattle's Irish community children's Christmas party with Daidí na Nollag (Father Christmas), is 1-4 PM on December 4 at Maplewood Church Hall, 19523 84th Avenue W. (on 196th Street), Edmonds.
Everyone is invited to meet Daidí na Nollag when he arrives in his green robes at 2 PM. To make sure there's a present for every child, please submit your child’s name and age in advance by contacting Mary Shriane at MaryS@IrishClub.org, or (206) 329-7224.
MOTHER'S CHRISTMAS – The 2012 Nollaig na mBan (or Mother's Christmas) dinner will be January 8 at 6 PM at Mick Kelly's Irish Pub and Restaurant, 435 SW 152nd Street, Burien. To make reservations, call (425) 745-1263, but please be advised that this popular dinner has sold out early every year since 2000!
NEW PRESIDENT – Following last week’s presidential election, Michael D. Higgins, a former mayor of Seattle’s Sister City of Galway, is the new president of Ireland. Alumni of the National University of Galway now occupy the positions of Ireland’s president (Michael D. Higgins); taoiseach (Enda Kenny); tánaiste (Eamon Gilmore): and attorney general (Máire Whelan).
BOEING CONNECTIONS – Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ Engineer of the Year in Seattle is Pio Fitzgerald who hails from Killarney, Co. Kerry.
The 34-year-old graduate of the University of Limerick joined Boeing in 2005 and he is now the lead engineer for the 747-8 Flight Control Laws team.
A recent Seattle Times article about Pio was written by Dominic Gates, the Seattle Times’ Aerospace/Boeing reporter, who himself hails from Co. Tyrone.
Meanwhile, the chief executive of Boeing Shanghai is Dubliner Bernard Hensey who oversees Boeing activities in Shanghai including engineering, aircraft maintenance and modification, component repair and overhaul and material management on Boeing aircraft at regional and international airlines as well as domestic Chinese airlines.
LECTURE SERIES – The University of Washington’s 2012 History Lecture Series has an overall title of ‘Revenge and Reconciliation in Modern Ireland’. The lectures start on January 17 with ‘Maimed at the Start? The Origins of Unrest in Modern Ireland’; then on January 24, ‘A Terrible Beauty: Physical Sacrifice and Irish Nationhood’; and on January 31, ‘Peace Versus Forgiveness in Northern Ireland Today’. For additional information, visit UWalum.com/events.
OTHER MISCELLANEOUS
• The 11th Friday Harbor Irish Music Week is March 5-9, 2012, in beautiful Roche Harbor. Register for classes in fiddle, flute, concertina, guitar, button accordion, tenor banjo and tin whistle at www.fridayharborirish.com.
• The next meeting of Seattle’s Irish Book Club is November 29 at 7 PM in west Seattle. Call (206) 361-1713 for details.
• The defense lawyer who represented Seattleite Amanda Knox in her Italian murder case was the son of a Dublin woman.
• For the latest information on Irish or Celtic events in the Seattle area, visit www.hoilands.com.
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