St Brendan The Navigator Feast Day May 16th
St Brendan the Navigator Division Mecklenburg County Division # 2
ISSUE # 9 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER VOLUME# 7
September 2015 Our next business meeting is on Tuesday, September 15th at 7:30 PM
Holy Spirit, Denver Room 2
2015 Officers
Chaplain Father Paul McNulty President Dick Seymour Vice President Lee Madden Secretary Steve Witmer Treasurer Chris O’Keefe Fin. Secretary Ray FitzGerald Standing Committee Joe Dougherty Marshall Sean Regan Sentinel Ron Haley Past President Ray FitzGerald
www.aohmeck2.org
Irish Blessing: May you always have, Walls for the winds, A roof for the rain, Tea beside the fire, Laughter to cheer you, Those you love near you, And all your heart might desire.
President’s Message St. Brendan the Navigator Pray for Us St. Patrick Pray for Us Erin go Baugh Presidents Message
September, 2015
Brothers,
It has finally arrived, the second busiest month of the year.
This month is of great concern to Brothers of St. Brendan the Navigator Division. One, Brother, Joseph Dougherty is running for NC State President for the term year of 2016 thru 2017. The other is Raymond FitzGerald will be receiving the Tim Lawson memorial award.
We need as many af our Brothers as possible to attend the convention to show our support for Joe and Ray.
The voting delegates to this convention are the Division President Dick Seymour, elected delegates Chris O’Keefe, Tom Vaccaro and John Bunbury. In addition to the above Joseph Dougherty will also be attending in his capacity as the present NC State Vice President and Raymond FitzGerald in his capacity as State Regional Representative.
This month is also the drawing for the “Ireland of your Dreams Raffle”. Ticket sales for our division are going well do to the efforts of Brother Frank Fay. We will still be selling tickets at all masses on August 29 and 30, 2015 at both churches St Mark and Holy Spirit. The last time tickets will be sold at the churches will be on September 12 and 13. The drawing will be at Killington’s Irish Pub on Saturday September 26, 2015.
We had approximately twelve brothers attend the mens only nite at the Cork and Cask on August 27, 2015 and a good time was had by all.
The State convention and fifty-fifty raffle monies are now due. Please bring all monies and ticket stubs to next meeting or leave them in an envelope in the AOH mail slot in the Monsignor Kerin Center
At the next division meeting we will have the final collections for the basket of cheer to be raffled off at the convention. Tickets are $5.00 and all proceeds will go to the division to cover some of our convention expenses. Tickets will be available for purchase at the next meeting. At present items received are Irish Music CD’s and two bottles of Whiskey.
Please remember all Brothers, especially Ron Haley, Walt Martin, Bob O’Brien, Frank Flynn, Deacon Bob Murphy, Dave Foley and all clergy, brothers and family members who are ill in your prayers.
Dick Seymour President St Brendan the Navigator Division Ancient Order off Hibernians
September Birthdays
Naomi Bourque Wife of Brother Brian September 1st Ella Donahue Daughter of Brother Jon September 3rd Jim Leary Division Brother September 4th Shane Lis Division Brother September 6th Susan Phelan Wife of Brother Patrick September 6th Sarah Daniels Daughter of Brother Mike September 7th Kenneth Mescal Son of Brother Paul September 7th Karen Wood Wife of Brother Patrick September 8th Stella Egan Daughter of Brother Billy September 8th Nikki Smith Daughter of Brother Doug September 10th Kate Kelly Wife of Brother Jim September 12th Celine Codd Mother of Father Codd September 12th Katie Egan Daughter of Brother Billy September 12th Mary Margaret Lis Wife of Brother Shane September 13th Richard Murphy Son of Brother Robert September 13th Brian Fay Division Brother September 14th Brooke Brady Wife of Brother Mark September 15th Ron Haley Division Brother September 17th Nancy Dougherty Wife of Brother Joe September 17th Amy Fay Daughter of Brother Frank September 18th Caitlin Byrne Daughter of Brother Frank September 19th Jamie Kelly Son of Brother Jim September 19th Ainsley Donahue Daughter of Brother Jon September 23rd Scott Stephan Division Brother September 24th Kristine Golden Daughter of Brother Denny September 25th Julie Schilling Daughter of Brother Larry September 26th Katherine Greene Daughter of Brother Zack September 27th Ted Leahy Division Brother September 27th Eileen Haley Daughter of Brother Ron September 27th Billy Egan Division Brother September 27th If I missed anyone’s birthday, please let me know. Joe D
September Anniversaries
Erica & Jason Atkins September 2nd Violet & Frank Flynn September 7th Michelle & Scott Fisher September 8th Karen & Patrick Wood September 10th Arlene & Jim Brady September 11th Kate & Jim Kelly September 17th
If I missed anyone’s anniversary, please let me know. Joe D
ASK A FRIEND or FAMILY MEMBER TO JOIN YOUR DIVISION
Division Calendar of Events for September 2015 September 5th – Irish Movie Night, St Mark’s Hall, 7:00 PM
September 15th- Division Business Meeting, Holy Spirit 7:30 PM
September 18th to 20th - NC State Convention, Clarion Hotel, Greensboro
September 26th – Division Social & Drawing for the Trip to Ireland raffle
Killington’s Pub, Huntersville, NC
Irish Movie Night
When: September 5 th 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Where: St. Mark's Parish Hall
The Saint Brendan division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians is proud to present its third “IRISH MOVIE NIGHT” at St Mark’s. The movie, “Michael Collins” is an "R" rated film due to violence and language so it would not be suitable for children. This is the story of the man that led the fight for Irish independence. Admission is FREE! Popcorn and other refreshments will be available for purchase, at much lower prices than in a theater. The film will be shown on a screen and not on a TV.
For any further information: Contact: Joe Dougherty, 704-942-6345 or at [email protected]
Irish America News
The Irish who signed the Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is a physically beautiful document and when I was a kid I had an image of it on my wall. There were Irish names, including "McKean" on that original parchment, and that gave me the story I needed to feel at home here like a native. My love of country, the United States, and of my heritage (Irish) converge in that document because I acknowledge the Irish who risked their lives to sign it.
Among the citizens who signed what could have been a death warrant, were at least eight Irish Americans, three born in Ireland.
Many of them were Orange Irish or Scotch Irish who hated monarchy, and whose spirit of independence is at the heart of the Republics they would crucially help found in America and Ireland. Their brand of Irish defiance saw right through British imperialism, and used Enlightenment Republican ideals to create an alternative society for free people.
Thomas McKean
Thomas McKean (March 19, 1734 – June 24, 1817) was the son of William McKean from County Antrim (Aon Troim) who came to Pennsylvania via the city of Derry (Doire) as a child and later married Letitia Finney whose family had also emigrated from Ireland. Thomas would become an American lawyer and politician, serving as President of Delaware, Chief Justice and then Governor of Pennsylvania. During the American Revolution he was a delegate to the Continental Congress where he signed the United States Declaration of Independence and served as a President of Congress. Thomas McKean led the movement in Delaware for American independence and served as commander of a patriot militia group known as the Pennsylvania “Associators.” Charles Carroll
Charles Carroll of Carrollton in Maryland (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832) was the only Catholic and the longest-lived signatory of the Declaration of Independence, dying at age 95.
He was held up by Catholic Americans as tangible proof of their patriotism and loyalty in America which was run by a largely WASP establishment until JFK's election. He is descended from the noble Gaelic family of Tipperary, Clan Ó Cearbhail who trace their origin to The Cianachta, a tribe recorded to the third century CE. He was born in 1737 in Maryland—the only colony tolerant of Catholic emigration, thanks to Lord Baltimore.
James Smith
James Smith was born in Ireland in c.1719 and was forced with his family to emigrate to the American colonies as a boy due to abuse by landlords. The name "Smith" in Ireland is oftentimes a translation of MacGabhann, which is an older Irish name meaning "son of Goibhniu," who was the Celtic deity of metallurgy.
Smith emerged as a leading lawyer of his day and wrote legal opinions denying constitutional power of Great Britain over the colonies in America. He also urged, as Jonathan Swift would do in Ireland, an end to the import of British goods.
He raised a militia group in York, PA and joined the American Continental Congress in July 1775, a year before the Declaration was ratified. Smith would become a member of the Continental Congress 1776-1778, and served in the War of Independence as a Colonel of Pennsylvania Militia 1775-1776. He was killed on July 11, 1806.
George Taylor
George Taylor was born in Antrim, Ireland in 1716 and emigrated to America in 1736 at the age of 20.
Taylor operated a furnace and was an iron manufacturer in Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Committee of Correspondence, 1774-1776, and of the Continental Congress, 1776-1777.
Taylor is an old name common in Ireland since the fourteenth century. Matthew Thornton
Matthew Thornton was born in Ireland in 1714 and went out to America as as a four-year-old child in the passage of five ships carrying 120 Irish families from the Bann Valley (Coleraine-Ballymoney-Aghadowey-Macosquin).
He would practice medicine and become active in pre-revolutionary agitation before being elected to become a member of the Continental Congress in 1776. He was a Colonel of New Hampshire Militia, 1775-1783.
Thornton was sometimes used in Ireland as a synonym for Drennan, Meenagh, Tarrant, or Skehan, while other Thorntons were planted in Limerick in the 16th century.
Edward Rutledge
Edward Rutledge (November 23, 1749 – January 23, 1800) was the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence. His father Dr. John Rutledge left Co.Tyrone, Ireland in 1735, and would raise a son to be 39th Governor of South Carolina.
In the 2008 miniseries John Adams, Rutledge was portrayed by Clancy O'Connor. With his brother John, Edward Rutledge was elected to the Continental Congress in July, 1774.
Thomas Lynch Jr.
Thomas Lynch Jr. (August 5, 1749 – 1779) stood in for his father Thomas Lynch Sr. who was unable to represent South Carolina due to illness. His grandfather was Jonas Lynch of the Galway Lynch tribe who were exiled following the defeats at Aughrim and the Boyne.
At the close of 1776 he and his wife sailed for the West Indies. The ship disappeared and there is no record of his life after.
George Read
George Read was born in Maryland in 1733. He was the son of John Read and Mary Howell Read. John Read was a wealthy resident of Dublin who emigrated to Maryland. When George Read was an infant the family moved to Delaware.
As he grew up, Read joined Thomas McKean at an Academy in Pennsylvania and then studied law. In 1763 John Penn, the Proprietary Governor, appointed Read Crown Attorney General for the three Delaware counties and he served in that position until leaving for the Continental Congress in 1774.
John Dunlap
Dunlap was born in Strabane, County Tyrone. In 1757, when he was ten years old, he went to work as an apprentice to his uncle, William Dunlap, a printer and bookseller in Philadelphia.
During the American Revolutionary War, Dunlap became an officer in the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, and saw action with George Washington at the battles of Trenton and Princeton.
In 1776, Dunlap secured a lucrative printing contract for the Continental Congress. On July 2, the Second Continental Congress voted to declare independence, and on July 4 they agreed to the final wording of the Declaration of Independence. That evening John Hancock ordered Dunlap to print broadsides. Dunlap printed 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence. The first newspaper outside America to publish the first text was the Belfast News Letter in its edition of August 23-27, 1776.
“Cuimhnigi ar na daoine ar thainig sibh” “Remember the people from whom you came”
News from Ireland
Senator Mary Moran: she called on the congregation “to sit down and listen to the people and their priests – to communicate”
Labour Senator Mary Moran has expressed disappointment at the reception she and others received at the headquarters of the Dominican congregation in Tallaght, Dublin, on Saturday.
She and three members of the Dominican community in Drogheda and others undertook the “walk of hope” in an attempt to prevent closure of the local Dominican church as announced last year. The Dominicans have been in Drogheda for 791 years
Last September the congregation said it was to close centers at Leeson Park in Dublin, St Magdalen’s in Drogheda, St Dominic’s in Athy, St Saviour’s in Limerick, and St Saviour’s at Ballybeg in Waterford due to ageing and declining numbers. Currently there are 124 Irish Dominicans, 50 under 65. Three Dominican priests were ordained in 2014 with six to be ordained next year.
Dominicans have been in Ireland since 1224 and have houses in Dublin, Cork, Tallaght, Newry, Dundalk, Newbridge, Waterford, Kilkenny, Tralee , Galway and Sligo.
Led by prior Anthony McMullan the Drogheda group left there on Saturday at 7am and arrived in Tallaght at 5pm where they handed in a petition of over 22,000 signatures in support of “Saving the Dominican Church in Drogheda”.
In a statement on Monday Senator Moran said that on arrival at Tallaght “we received negativity and disdain”.
She called on the congregation “to sit down and listen to the people and their priests – to communicate”, and said they planned on going to Rome where they meet the head of the Dominican congregation on September 9th.
Irish Dominican spokesman Fr Bernard Traecy said “a process of consultation involving a wide range of stakeholders in each centre is under way. In each centre a member of the provincial council is acting on behalf of the prior provincial in convening and chairing these consultations.”
He referred to a statement by Dominican provincial Fr Gregory Carroll, himself a former prior in Drogheda, where he recalled spending 4½ “happy and fulfilling years”.
He assured people “we will not leave Drogheda suddenly, and we are keen to have respectful conversations with the various stakeholders so as to contribute to a smooth transition for whenever we have to withdraw”.
Cities & Towns of Ireland
Youghal, County Cork
Youghal (/ˈjɔːl/ YAWL; Irish: Eochaill, meaning "yew wood") is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Sitting on the estuary of the River Blackwater, in the past it was militarily and economically important. Being built on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a distinctive long and narrow layout. At the 2002 census the population was 6,597, but the population of its catchment area is about 10,000.
Since 2000 the town has experienced a strong decline in its former extensive industrial base, but there are plans for revitalisation taking advantage of the town's unique assets. As a historic walled seaport town on the coastline of east Cork, it has many historic buildings and monuments within its ancient town walls, and has been designated as an Irish Heritage Port by the Irish Tourist Board. It remains a popular tourist destination. The name Youghal comes from the Irish Eochaill meaning "yew woods", which were once plentiful in the area. Older anglicisations of this name include Youghall, Yoghel and Yochil.
An alternative history for the name is that it is the anglicized spelling for the name of Eochu Liathain, the ancestor of the Ui Liathain family who ruled this area from around AD 600 until the Norman invasion of the 1170s. The area of Youghal (Eochu) was part of the Ui Liathain domain and fell under control of the Ui Meic Caille.
The Anglo-Norman administration identified Youghal to Inchquin as the cantred Ui Glaissin (Glashan, Gleason, Gleeson) a family of the Ui Meic Caille and the area adjoining it as the Barony Imokilly (Ui Meic Caille).
Youghal is also the name of a townland in north County Tipperary, and may share the same derivation, as it is found in the Aradh Tire of this same ancient Ui Liathain territory. Youghal received its charter of incorporation in 1209, but the history of settlement on the site is much longer, with Viking settlements dating back to the 11th century, the Church of Coran in the town's western suburbs dating from the 5th century, and evidence of Neolithic habitation at nearby Newport.
Notable buildings in the town include Sir Walter Raleigh's home Myrtle Grove and the St Mary's Collegiate Church, thought to have been founded by St. Declan around 450. The church was rebuilt in Irish Romanesque style in about 750, and a great Norman nave was erected in about 1220. It is one of the few remaining medieval churches in Ireland to have remained in continuous use as a place of worship. The Vikings used Youghal as a base for their raids on monastic sites along the south coast of Ireland, and a stone in St Mary's Collegiate Church bears the ancient etched outline of a longboat. Since the 16th-century Plantation of Munster it has been the place of worship of the Church of Ireland congregation of Youghal and its surrounding areas.
As the centre of English power in south Munster, the town was badly damaged on 13 November 1579, during the Second Desmond Rebellion, when it was sacked by the forces of Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond, who massacred the garrison, hanged the English officials and looted the townspeople's homes. Even so, the downtown area of Youghal is among the best-preserved in Ireland. The revenge killings that followed this included that a priest, Daniel O'Neilan, OSF, on 28 March 1580. He was fastened round the waist with a rope and thrown with weights tied to his feet from one of town-gates at Youghal, finally fastened to a mill-wheel and torn to pieces.
The Clock Gate Tower – In 1777, the town's Clock Gate Tower was built on the site of Trinity Castle, part of the town's fortifications. It was used as a prison during the rebellion of 1798. The military hanged suspects from a pole lashed from the lower windows to the corner of the first house on South Main Street (now Luigi's). Thomas Gallagher was one of those hanged for trying to seduce a soldier from allegiance to his regiment. Numerous forms of torture were conducted therein including thumb screws, pitch-cap, rack and flogging. A local priest, Peter O'Neill, was flogged 275 strokes with a cat-o'-nine-tails with pieces of tin knotted in, in an attempt to induce him to reveal the names of politically involved people heard in the confessional.
The Clock Gate served the town as gaol and public gallows until 1837 when it was considered "defective in several of the accommodations essential to the health of prisoners".[citation needed] It then became a family home until 1959 when the last family left.
Tynte's Castle – is a late 15th-century urban tower house. It is almost the only fortified relic of the era now in Youghal. It was built by the Walsh family in 1602 and leased by the corporation to the Tynte family towards the end of the reign of King James I. It is shown in a map of Youghal dated 1663 as one of the defences of the town. The building was passed down through the Tynte family and is now the property of the McCarthy family.
The Clock Gate The Alms Houses The Town Hall
ONE ISLAND, ONE PEOPLE, ONE IRELAND