MOHAWK VALLEY IRISH CULTURAL Volume 13, Issue 5 EVENTS NEWSLETTER May 2016 Remembering the Rising - by Sue Romero The tables, bedecked in green, white, and orange, were filled to capacity with about 130 devotees of Irish culture at the 1916 Easter Rising Commemoration Dinner on April 30. Sponsored by the Utica NY Area Irish Coalition (UNYAIC), the event paid tribute to the valiant men and women who fought for Irish freedom from English rule, while also celebrating the vibrant culture they fought to preserve. After a lovely Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes, everyone met at Hart’s Hill Inn in Whitesboro. Gathering for cocktails to the traditional tunes of Craobh Dugan playing in the background, old friends caught up and new friends were made. As dinner was served, lively conversations ensued filled with stories of Irish ancestors, tales of Irish travels, and recommendations for Irish movies and musical bands, among many other subjects. After dinner, the program began as we all sang the Irish and American national anthems. Then it was time to read the Proclamation written by Padraig Pearse. These words, first read on the steps of the General Post Office in Dublin on April 24, 1916, proclaimed the Irish Republic and set off the rebellion. First, local Irish language teacher Tom Malley read the famous document in Irish, and Geordy Austin, a native of Northern Ireland, followed with the English version. In a celebration of Irish culture, poetry could not be forgotten, so UNYAIC committee members Colleen Martin and Sue Romero each read poems by Irish poets. Colleen read Mise Éire, by Padraig Pearse, and Sue read Easter 1916 by William Butler Yeats. Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, the worldwide Irish cultural organization, had asked each branch to choose seven people -- one each for the seven Irishmen who were executed for signing the original Proclamation -- who had made great contributions to their local Irish community, and present to them framed copies of the 1916 Proclamation. In Central New York, where generous acts abound, to choose only seven was very difficult, but the committee chose Russell Brooks, Pat Costello, Pat Dugan (RIP), Frank Kealy, Kevin Kearney, Jim and Diana O’Looney, and Mark Sisti. Each of their stories, summarized before they received their awards, would be long and inspiring articles for future issues of this newsletter. Irish culture is also world-renowned for its music and dance, so popular local performers Deirdre and Jim McCarthy sang The Foggy Dew, a hauntingly beautiful song about the Easter Rising. Then Deirdre demonstrated sean nos (old style) dancing. Joining in the fun, the Craobh Dugan Ceili Dancers and others took to the floor for a rousing version of Walls of Limerick performed by the Craobh Dugan musicians. It seemed the delightful evening was over all too soon. The Utica NY Area Irish Coalition, a combined effort of The Craobh Dugan branch of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, The Great American Irish Festival, the NYS Corrections Emerald Society, The Ancient Order of Hibernians (John C. Devereux Div. #1) and The Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians (Our Lady of Knock, Div. #17), wishes to thank everyone who put in many hours to make this lovely evening possible. For more information on the Utica NY Area Irish Coalition and on all things Irish, visit the Facebook page. Mohawk Valley Irish Cultural Events - 1 Local Community Loses Grand Lady of Irish Culture But since it falls unto my lot That I should rise and you should not, I'll gently rise and softly call “Goodnight, and joy you be with you all.” The Central New York Irish community suffered a devastating loss on March 31, 2016 with the passing of Patricia M. Dugan, 91, at Acacia Village, where she had lived for the past 18 months. Born March 23, 1925, in The Bronx, NY, Pat was the daughter of two Irish immigrants, Dublin native, Joseph A. Fox, and Ellen (Nellie) Dooley Fox from Rosbercon, County Kilkenny. For all her life, Pat was proud of her Bronx roots and her Irish heritage. And for that pride and for her endless promotion of all things Irish, the entirety of the Central New York Irish community has been greatly enriched. At Saturday’s “1916 Easter Rising Commemorative Dinner,” Pat was slated to be honored as one of the seven notables selected to receive an award for her promotion of Irish music, language and culture in the local – and as you’ll see below, not so local – community. What follows is the write-up for her nomination, read by her dear friend Mike Hoke. “Pat Dugan was chosen to receive this award on March 22nd, 9 days before her passing. Although very humble, she would have been proud and thrilled to be honored this way. Condensing into a couple minutes all that Pat has done to preserve and promote our Irish culture was a challenge. Thankfully, Pat’s daughters have provided much information. My wife and I have known Pat since the late 1970’s, so we have good insight into what Pat Dugan was all about. Pat moved to the Utica-Rome area in 1956 where she and her husband Frank raised 6 children. With her Irish roots in County Kilkenny, Pat was interested in and a life-long learner of anything Irish. She was fluent in the Irish language--and if you know anything about the language, that is not easy! To maintain her language fluency, Pat regularly attended Irish-immersion weeks, even into her 80’s. Because of her knowledge of the language, Pat was awarded the ‘Fonnia,’ which signified that she had reached a certain proficiency in speaking Irish. Since we have known her, Pat has been teaching Irish language lessons…at schools and colleges, through the MVIRL, and privately in her home. She was still teaching Irish in her home until shortly before her death. In the early 1970’s Pat and her husband started the Utica Gaelic Society, which met on Sunday evenings. Through that group, they taught Irish ceili dancing, tin whistle and of course, Irish language. That group was active for several years and had many members. In the late 1970’s, the Dugans learned of the Comhaltas movement in Ireland and attended a few events in Boston and New York City. Around 1980, the local branch of Comhaltas-- now called Craobh Dugan--was formed and has been a force in the Mohawk Valley ever since. For many years, the group met in Pat’s dining room weekly for music lessons and practice. Pat played the tin whistle and concertina, and was happy to instruct others, especially on the whistle. Pat was the secretary for our Comhaltas branch for many years, as well as Comhaltas regional chair, Provincial secretary, and Provincial Irish language officer. Pat was instrumental in spreading the Comhaltas movement across New York State, by helping to start branches in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and Binghamton. Pat was passionate about Irish culture and sharing it with others through the Comhaltas movement. She has received numerous accolades from Comhaltas Ireland for her contributions to Irish culture as well as recognition by the Irish government for her work to have Irish Gaelic recognized as an official language of the European Union. Pat Dugan without a doubt has made a significant contribution to the preservation of Irish culture both here and abroad.” Slán agus beannacht leat, Pat. Farewell and blessings on you. Mohawk Valley Irish Cultural Events - 2 The University of Notre Dame Takes a New Look at Irish History - by Sue Romero We were some of the first people in the United States to see the new documentary produced by the Keough- Naughton Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Gathered at New Hartford High School's beautifully appointed auditorium, we watched the three-hour film with great interest. Well, I should speak for myself, but I think most who were there would agree. I’m a nut for the history of everything, but I have to admit the era of the Easter Rising is a fairly new study for me. So to confirm my enthusiasm for this film, I asked A.J. Pedone, recently returned from a year at the University of Galway where he earned a master’s degree in Irish Studies, what he thought. He agreed that 1916: The Irish Rebellion told the story very accurately. Beginning with 1171 when King Henry II of England first turned his greedy gaze upon the Emerald Isle and ending with the resolution of The Troubles in 1998, the documentary led us through the story of Irish history and how the rising in 1916 was the pivot point of the nation's struggle for freedom. It could have been an exhausting journey seeing as it necessarily covered eight centuries, but the documentary's writer Bríona Nic Dhiarmada, set a very digestible pace. Weaving together historical photos, interviews with several professors, interviews recorded in the 1960s with eyewitnesses and participants in the Rising, and footage of present-day Ireland, the whole saga was told in a completely compelling way. In a particularly powerful film technique, scenes of crowded Dublin streets today are cut between black and white photos taken during and right after the battle. It gave me a sense of what it may have felt like to be in Dublin while the bullets were flying. I'm very glad I was there in 2014 instead! Woven throughout the film, a haunting melody sets the melancholy emotional tone. Later I found out there’s a story to the tune. The lyrics are from a poem written in 1912 by one of the most prominent Rising leaders, Padraig Pearce.