January in Ireland: a Study in White on Green
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February 2010 VOL. 21 #2 $1.50 Boston’s hometown journal of Irish culture. Worldwide at bostonirish.com All contents copyright © 2010 Boston Neighborhood News, Inc. January in Ireland: A Study in White on Green A snowstorm last month made this sturdy home in Adare Village, Co. Limerick, a candidate for a 2010 Christmas card collection. Photo by Nicolaus Boston BY LIAM FERRIE tween Millstreet and Rathmore. When it eventually serious flooding over the weekend when the River Avoca THE IRISH EMIGRANT arrived in Killarney 12 passengers remained on board burst its banks. GALWAY -- The long cold spell seems to be well as the train slowly made its way to Tralee. • On Wednesday morning ice was the problem. Nu- behind us now, although it is more than a memory for • Cork Airport reopened at lunchtime on Monday merous minor accidents were reported and motorists those who broke bones or damaged cars on icy roads, following the snowstorm that closed it the previous were urged to leave their cars at home if at all possible. and for those whose houses were damaged by burst evening. For days, roads in parts of north Cork remained Some 2,500 homes in different parts of the country had pipes or who are still waiting for their water supply impassable while slush was a problem for motorists in no electricity as a result of the weather. to be restored. much of the southern half of the country. • Black ice and freezing fog were widespread prob- Here is a snapshot look at the heart of the wintry • A significant thaw on Monday night brought con- lems on Thursday morning, but it was dry and sunny stretch, the week following Jan. 11: siderable relief to much of the country although not all and there was no wind. The icy roads resulted in many • It was estimated that up to 60 homeless people areas were clear of snow and ice. minor accidents here in Galway and around the country remained on the streets of Dublin when the weather • Tuesday’s rain in Galway, and other parts of the and caused major tailbacks. was at its coldest during the week of the 11th. west and southwest, fell as snow in large patches of • The cold conditions have led to water shortages • The weather contributed to a train from Dublin the country, causing traffic problems. Worst affected in various parts of the country, with Dublin and Cork to Tralee reaching the Kerry town four hours and 40 were parts of Mayo and much of Leinster from south facing the most serious problems. Householders were minutes late. The train, with 45 passengers, began to Dublin to Carlow, Kilkenny and Laois. Precautions said to be running their cold water taps continuously experience difficulties at Mallow, where it was delayed were also being taken against flooding in Skibbereen. in an effort to prevent pipes freezing and that practice for 50 minutes, but then had to stop for two hours be- Part of the town of Arklow in Co. Wicklow experienced was discouraged. Councillor Brigid Ushers So Much Murphy is Springtime to To Do; How Taking Stock Irish Shores To Proceed? “We just want to make Feb. 1 being St. Brigid’s Dr. Larry Ronan, just sure we don’t give voters a Day, spring has formally back from two weeks of niche of anger over some- begun in Ireland. The triage medicine in Haiti thing that we control,” winter past has been aboard a U.S. Navy- says Boston City Coun- especially fierce for tiny owned ship, tells of the cillor Stephen Murphy of creatures like the robin catastrophic effects of the Hyde Park as he plots his who are not accustomed Jan. 12 quake and offers political future in a time to snow, ice and frigid Earthquake survivors walk his sense of priorities by the Cathedral that col- going forward. of electoral turmoil. Stephen Murphy, now 52, has temperatures. lapsed in Port-au-Prince on had a varied career in Bay Jan. 14. AP Photo by Gregory Page 6 State politics. Page 18 Bull. Page 8 Page 2 February 2010 BOSTON IRISH REPORTER Worldwide at www.bostonirish.com Shamrock Nation presents Foster & Allen Friday, March 5, 8:00 p.m. – with Pauline Wells and DEVRI Saturday, March 6, 7:30 p.m. – with Denis O’Gorman Sunday, March 7, 3:00 p.m. – with Denis O’Gorman All Shows include performances from the Woods School of Irish Dance Freeport Hall Local 103 IBEW Hall 256 Freeport Street Dorchester, MA Tickets $30 & $25. Call 781-534-3919 or shamrocknation.com All seating will be at tables. Order now for the Best Reserved seats! Full bar and snacks available. Worldwide at www.bostonirish.com February 2010 BOSTON IRISH REPORTER Page BIR HIstory A Proud Educational Legacy Fights For Survival Second of two parts. BY PETER F. STEVENS BIR STAFF They stood among the cultural and educational crown jewels of Boston and environs for nearly a century. Today, however, the city’s parochial schools are fighting for survival. Many have lost the battle because of declining enrollments, changing urban demo- graphics, and budget shortfalls for the archdiocese. The scenario is a far cry from the glory days of the system from the turn of the 20th century to the post- World War II Baby Boomer era. By 1900, Boston’s Irish Catholics had made huge inroads politically, religiously, culturally, and economi- cally. The Catholic Church’s Third U.S. Plenary Council, held in Baltimore in 1884, had made the Baltimore Cat- echism the cornerstone of Catholic edu- cation and had mandated that every parish should have a parochial school. Boston Archbishop John J. Williams was poised for the mission. Originally, he had believed that separate Catholic schools would hamper the Catholic student’s assimilation to American life and exacerbate the tensions with Boston’s Protestants, but his viewpoint had shifted even before the landmark Baltimore convention. In The Boston Irish, Thomas H. The Central Campus of Pope John Paul II Academy, sited on the campus of the former St. Mark’s Grammar School, O’Connor writes: “Four years earlier will be closing in June as part of a continuing consolidation of Dorchester’s old parish school system. [1880], in response to longstanding Photo by Ed Forry. complaints that Catholic schoolchil- worship based on culture but rather dren suffered constant humiliation at to accommodate different language expansion of the Boston flock. By administrators announced the shut- the hands of Yankee schoolteachers, needs. For although the Mass was the mid-1960s, the archdiocese was ting down of St. Mark’s Grammar Williams had announced that he would said in Latin, sacramental and other tending to some 3.5 million Catholics. School, an 87-year-old institution just establish a parochial school system services were provided in English, a When Cushing died, in 1970, the city’s off Dorchester Avenue that in its prime and would withdraw Catholic children language the newer immigrants did parochial schools and Catholic high some 50-60 years ago was a sparkler in from the public schools wherever prac- not understand.” schools had educated, and was continu- Richard Cushing’s school system. ticable.” By the time Williams died, in O’Connell’s hard-charging, hard- ing to educate, a virtual Who’s Who of All across the archdiocese, parents, 1907, he had founded some 76 paro- nosed personality and style was the the Baby Boomer set. students, teachers, and Cardinal chial schools in the archdiocese. polar opposite of the quiet, stoic Wil- Today, the educational firmament of O’Malley’s administrators and accoun- What Williams had begun, his suc- liams; from the moment O’Connell was the archdiocese has shifted dramati- tants struggle to come to grips with cessor, Cardinal William H. O’Connell appointed overseer of the archdiocese, cally – in the direction of closed schools. this new educational landscape. While would take on a huge leap forward over he pushed hard for more parishes and According to bostoncatholic.org, mid- the glory days of parochial schools the next three decades. By 1907, the more schools. On both fronts, he proved 2009 enrollment in the archdiocese’s have waned, it is a solid bet that the archdiocesan population had swelled enormously successful: he not only in- Catholic schools was about 45,000. In system will continue in the surviving or to nearly a million, a majority of the creased the number of parishes to 325, Dorchester, for example, seven schools merged schools to impart a solid educa- members being Irish, but with increas- but also raised the number of parochial were closed and five buildings trans- tion to the next generation of pupils, ing numbers of Italians, Germans, schools from 76 to 158. Additionally, formed into the new Pope John Paul Catholic and non-Catholic alike. Lithuanians, and other immigrant he helped institute 86 Catholic high II Academy. Even that ground keeps groups. Robert Johnson Lally, Boston schools under his purview by 1944, shifting: Just last month, academy END OF SERIES Archdiocesan Archivist and Records the year of his death. Manager, notes: “For the archdiocese, O’Connell’s successor, Cardinal The ICCNE Academy Spring Classes 2010 this generated a need for ethnic par- Richard J. Cushing, a product of South Tin Whistle Set Dancing Instructor: Andrea Mori Instructor: Cait Diamond ishes. The purpose of these parishes Boston and the parochial schools, Offering Beginner I, Beginner II, Advanced Offering All levels was not to set up separate places of continued in earnest the educational Beginner, Intermediate/Advanced Levels Classes Start: Continues throughout the year every Monday.