Volume XLII, No. 10 • December (Nollaig), 2016 An Irish Potpourri

...... It seems that each year, for the past quar- online to make your purchase. Just go to larus, or shawls and toys from Lapland. As ter century, I have written about Christmas http://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/IrishStamps/S ever, a German beer tent sits at the heart of in Ireland. I have varied my topics, because, hop/Shop.htm. it all, with enough Bavarian brews, sauer- if it isn’t new to me, it may not be new to the But if you stay home to buy them, you kraut, and lederhosen to keep the aficiona- readers of the Emerald Reflections. I look for may miss a brand new Irish tradition - dos happy. Or try Cork’s Glow: A Cork Christmas Celebration. They have the mar- the unique, the tried and true, first person Christmas decorations and markets. In re- ket and they have the Tir na Nollaig, the recollections of growing up on the island, cent years, Irish cities and towns have been Land of Christmas. and Irish Christmas stamps. (And if you are dressing up their streets and city and town interested, we have a Christmas page on our centres with lights and decorations. Starting One in Clare,the Burren Christ- website that links to our Christmas articles in November, you can find the tree lighting mas Family Fayre in Lisdoorvarna, is a and recipes since 1998. It is at www.sham- ceremonies, the elaborate town and city fundraiser for a childcare facility. The in- rockclubwis.com/IrishChristmas.html) events with bands, singers, and parades, and door event features 26 craft, food and sea- For Nollaig 2016, I am offering up a pot- a way to make the festive even more so by sonally-themed stalls, classic games at pourri of topics. Maybe it will allow you to joining community. These are a part of the novelty stands, an hourly raffle and freshly get the spirit and breadth of the season. Irish Christmas markets. baked goodies. And down the road, the Christmas at the Milk Market in Limerick The annual Christmas stamps are out. An Dublin has had some of the most elaborate has something for everyone. In existence Post, the Irish Post Office, released the new Christmas and New Year displays. Large since 1852, the Milk Market has dozens of postage earlier this fall. According to An “Nollaig” signs run across streets. Christ- stalls packed with artisan foods, crafts, dec- Post, “The idea of people coming together is mas on the Square is centered on Merrion orations, toys and other tidbits. represented by The Holy Family on the 72c Square. The schedule includes the and The Three Wise Men on the €1.10 lighting in late November, as well as a series And speaking of light, let us not forget SOAR stamp. The third stamp will appear in of open houses and special showings at gal- the passage grave at Newgrange, County the Christmas Stamp Booklet and features leries and museums and shops. Meath. It was built during the Neolithic pe- numerous types of Christmas decorations In Waterford, attracted over a riod around 3200 BC, making it older than which are of importance as they bring the half million people in 2015. The festival in- Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. The family unit together in order to decorate their cludes Winterval Train, ice skating, horse site consists of a large circular mound with a homes in as grand a manner as they can. All drawn sleighs, and the Winterval Illumi- stone passageway and interior chambers. of these beautiful stamps were designed by nates, where the city lights up for the Christ- The mound has a retaining wall at the front WorkGroup in Dublin.” mas season in Cathedral Square. and is ringed by engraved kerbstones. There is no agreement about what the site was used And you can head over to the Galway for, but it has been speculated that it had re- Continental Market. Set in Eyre Square, ligious significance – it is aligned with the and featuring 50 traders from all over Ireland rising sun and its light floods the chamber and Europe, Galway’s Christmas shindig is on the solstice. one of the closest in spirit to the centuries- old Continental markets. Stalls sell all kind None of the structural slabs were of crafts and food — you might find pastries quarried, for they show signs of having been from Brittany, nuns selling icons from Be- continued on page 5

DECEMBER 1, 2016 • 6:30 PM MILWAUKEE MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP MEETING The Christmas 2016 stamp issue also in- cludes a First Day Cover featuring the three Irish Cultural and Heritage Center (2133 W. Wisconsin Avenue) stamps. And, as always, you can order these T T T from the post office. If you do not wish to Christmas Potluck & Party Please bring a dish to pass. travel to Ireland to buy them, you can go • Patrick Kavanagh T Milwaukee Calendar of Events T A Childhood Christmas For More Information visit http://shamrockclubwis.com ...... One side of the potato-pits was white with frost DECEMBER How wonderful that was, how wonderful! 1 Shamrock Club Christmas Party; ICHC; 6:30 pm And when we put our ears to the paling-post 2 ICHC Ceili; Music by Cream City Ceili; ICHC 7:30 pm The music that came out was magical. 3 All Through the Night: A Holiday Concert featuring Tallymore; Celtic MKE; The light between the ricks of hay and straw 1532 Wauwatosa Ave., Milwaukee; Doors open 6:00, Concert 7:00. Was a hole in Heaven’s gable. An apple tree 10 Hallamor Concert; ICHC; 2133 W. Wisconsin Ave; Cathy Ryan; 7:30 pm With its December-glinting fruit we saw – 13 Celtic Women International Book Club; An Irish Country Christmas, O you, Eve, were the world that tempted me. by Patrick Taylor; Hostess: Gail McAleese; ICHC; 1 pm To eat the knowledge that grew in clay 14 Celtic Woman; Home for Christmas, The Symphony Tour; Riverside Theatre; And death the germ within it! Now and then 7.30 pm I can remember something of the gay 31 Hogmanay; Sponsored by Wisconsin Scottish; The Clarke Hotel, 314 W. Garden that was childhood’s. Again. Main Street, Waukesha; 6 pm The tracks of cattle to a drinking-place, A green stone lying sideways in a ditch, JANUARY Or any common sight, the transfigured face 2 Irish Genealogical Society Meeting; ICHC; 7 pm Of a beauty that the world did not touch. 5 Shamrock Club Monthly Meeting; ICHC; 7 pm; Dinner at 6:30 My father played the melodion 10 Celtic Women International Book Club; Absolution by Murder, by Peter Outside at our gate; Tremayne; Hostess: Sharon Walsh; ICHC; 1 pm There were stars in the morning east 14 18th Annual Wisconsin Winterfeis; Olympia Conference Center, And they danced to his music. Oconomowoc; 8:30 am Across the wild bogs his melodion called 15 Dairyland Feis; Olympia Conference Center, Oconomowoc; 8:00 am To Lennons and Callans. 28 Monthly Set Dance; Music by Ceol Cairde; ICHC; 8 pm As I pulled on my trousers in a hurry I knew some strange thing had happened. FEBRUARY Outside in the cow-house my mother 2 Shamrock Club Monthly Meeting; ICHC; 7 pm; Dinner at 6:30 Made the music of milking; 25 Shamrock Club Honoree Dinner; tba; 6.30 pm The light of her stable-lamp was a star And the frost of made it twinkle. ON GOING … Set dancing at the following: Set dancing Wednesdays, 7 PM at A water-hen screeched in the bog, T O’Donoghue’s Craobh Curtin Conradh na Gaeilge meeting at O'Donoghue's Pub, Mass-going feet 7 PM, last Tuesday each month T Irish Emigration Library in ICHC open every Crunched the wafer-ice on the pot-holes, Wednesday 12–6 PM T Irish Sing-a-long, Irish Fest Center, First Sundays, (through Somebody wistfully twisted the bellows wheel. May) 7 PM T Irish Fest Sing-a-long: O'Donoghue's Pub, second and fourth T My child poet picked out the letters Sundays, 7-9 PM Irish Music Sessions at the following: Session - O’Donoghue’s, On the grey stone, Sundays 7 PM; Thursdays @ Paddy’s 7 PM; and The Pub in Oconomowoc, 7:30 PM In silver the wonder of a Christmas townland, T T Thursdays: Barry Dodd; County Clare Inn; 10 PM Fridays: áthas and Myserk; The winking glitter of a frosty dawn. County Clare Inn; 6 PM T Cassiopeia was over Cassidy’s hanging hill, I looked and three whin bushes rode across The horizon — the Three Wise Kings. And old man passing said: ‘Can’t he make it talk – Christmas Party - Nollaig Shona Daoibh! The melodion.’ I hid in the doorway Join us for the Shamrock Club's Christmas Party And tightened the belt of my box-pleated coat. Thursday, December 1, 2016 I nicked six nicks on the door-post Irish Cultural and Heritage Center, 6:30 PM With my penknife’s big blade – Potluck Dinner - Ham Provided there was a little one for cutting tobacco. And I was six of age. Fun, Friends, Caroling, and a special guest from the My father played the melodion, . See you there!! My mother milked the cows, And I had a prayer like a white rose pinned On the Virgin Mary’s blouse. 2 Milwaukee President’s Message Sunshine Report

...... Ladies and Gentlemen, Celtic Friends All, ...... Frieda O’Donoghue is home trying to recover from pneumonia. Please keep An Irish Christmas Thanksgiving and the whole "Holiday Frieda and her family in your prayers. Season" usually brings out the best in with Cathie Ryan and folks. A time for family and extended Maureen Konkol’s sister, Frances Daly passed away this last week after a long ill- family and even the many extensions The Winter’s Heart ness. Fran’s husband, Marty, was a mem- beyond that...classmates, neighbors, Friday, December 10, 7:30 pm ber of the Color Guard until they moved clubs, organizations, associations... to Boston many years ago. Marty died ...... Acclaimed Irish singer Cathie Ryan and We all seem to have a little more pep about 15 years ago. her award-winning band will celebrate a in our step during the events, due to the Family and friends celebrated the life traditional Irish American Christmas at the joy we share with others. Yet, we arrive of Tom McAleese on Thursday, October Irish Cultural and Heritage Center, 2133 home exhausted, buoyed only by the 27, 2016. Tom was St. Patrick in the W. Wisconsin Ave., on Saturday, Dec. 10 memories we have created or re-created Shamrock Club St. Patrick’s parade for at 7:30 p.m. and shared with everyone. Then we look many years. He played the role after Jim From ethereal hymns to exuberant jigs forward to doing it all again tomorrow Keane retired from it. and reels, The Winter’s Heart revels in the or next weekend. Del Canon and his family are celebrat- wealth of the holiday traditions such as We, as the Shamrock Club, should be ing his retirement after over thirty years leaving a candle in the window to light proud of our efforts, not only during this of working at Channel 6 as a video pho- loved ones home, hunting for the wren on "most Wonderful Time of the Year" but tographer. Happy, healthy years ahead, St. Stephen’s Day, Nollaig na mBan or the throughout the year, as we contribute in Del. Enjoy this new season in your life. Woman’s Christmas, and much more. so many ways to our community. Maureen and Dan Konkol are cele- A captivating performer, Ryan has been brating forty years of marriage. Dan also in the vanguard of Irish music for more ******************************** retired in July, 2016. We hope the next than 25 years and was twice named Irish Hope you had a "FULL" fulfilling twenty years are even more delightful. Female Vocalist of the Decade by LiveIreland Thanksgiving. Our club participated in Birthdays in November were Deb as well as honored as one of the Top 100 the Annual Holiday Folk Fair for the, Irish Americans by Irish Music Magazine. I'm not really sure, umpteenth plus time. Kreuser, Pam Canon, Erin Canon, and Lisa Rott. We limited our participation this year, Joining Ryan will be Cork-born, award- winning songwriter, Patsy O’Brien. He is but we are still committed to the goals Claire Hart, granddaughter of Barbara one of Irish music’s most respected gui- of the International Institute and look Hart, marched with the Greendale March- ing Band in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day tarists, known for both a driving rhythm forward to continuing our relationship as well as a delicate and melodic finger with them. We used to do so much more. parade. What a wonderful memory to have! picking style. O’Brien has worked with We would host receptions for new fiddle player Eileen Ivers and piping leg- citizens, and sponsor other swearing-in Jerry Hill spoke about the program, end Paddy Keenan, among others. events. Perhaps we could again, when Trees from Home, for the service people Patrick Mangan is currently on break called upon. far from home. Jerry offers about 1000 hours a year to this activity. Many service as the featured fiddle soloist from River- Our Christmas Party on December 1 personnel receive Christmas trees to cele- dance, where he was initially invited to perform when he was just 16-years-old. promises to be a wonderful wrap-up of a brate the holidays. challenging year and, looking forward, I His respect for traditional music – along think we should all resolve to bring in If you have Sunshine news, please email with the gift of playing with fluidity and new ideas and new members, even it to: [email protected]. fire – twice earned him the coveted All- - Maggie Blaha, Sunshine Chair combining the two. Ireland fiddle championship. Merry Christmas !!! Kieran O’Hare is an internationally re- spected and sought-after musician on uil- Happy New Year !!! leann pipes, concert flute and tin whistle. Nollaig shona dhaoibh !!! O’Hare has performed with the Milwau- - Joseph Hughes, President kee Symphony Orchestra and with artists Ambassador Hotel in many musical genres including Mick Special Hallamor Concert Rates Moloney, Liz Carroll, Josh Groban and Don Henley...... The beautiful Art Deco style Ambassa- Tickets for the show are $29 in advance, dor Hotel, 2308 W. Wisconsin Ave., is of- $33 on concert day and $10 for students fering a special rate - subject to with an ID. To order online, visit availability - for Hallamor concert-goers. www.ichc.net. Tickets may also be www.ambassadormilwaukee.com. ordered by calling (414) 345-8800. 3 Jackie’s Emerald Reflections Corner Cupboard Copy Deadline ...... I hope everyone enjoyed the Thanks- ...... Content for Emerald Reflections is due giving dinner at the November meeting. on the 15th of the month (next deadline: Thank you all for contributing! The Celtic Women December 15th to appear in the Jan. issue). December meeting will include the annual Copy received after that date will not club holiday party with the club providing International appear due to deadlines. While we try to the main course of hot baked ham. Please include every submission possible, due to bring side dishes and desserts to share. We ...... The CWI Book Club meetings begin space limitations, we cannot guarantee that will also have festive raffle prizes just in at 1:00 pm at the ICHC and include every submission will be included imme- time for the holiday season. discussion, tea, and treats. New members diately. E-mail submissions preferred, and guests are always welcome to join us! send to: Gail McAleese will host our December Brian Witt, Editor 13th meeting when we will discuss An [email protected] Irish Country Christmas, by Patrick Taylor. Pam Canon, Publisher To start the new year, Sharon Walsh will host our January 10th meeting. Our topic Looking ahead to January we will be will be Absolution by Murder, by Peter Membership Chairs having a soup cook off where you are in- Tremayne. vited to bring your favorite homemade On February 14th we will discuss The DANE COUNTY ...... Pat McCarthy soups and the members will have the op- Wonder, by Emma Donohue. Our hostess P.O. Box 70765, Madison 53707-0765 portunity to vote for their favorite. There [email protected]; (608) 277-0394 will be prizes for the top three. If you will be Nancy Vose. FOX CITIES . . . . .P.O. Box 1632, Appleton 54912 don’t want to bring soup please bring sides Sheila Isakson will be our hostess on including cheese, crackers, breads, and March 14th when we will discuss The LA CROSSE ...... Linda O. Pfaff, desserts. There will be options for you to Spinning Heart, by Donal Ryan. 1702 Jackson St., LaCrosse 54601 choose from at the December meeting. - Rosemary Walsh LAFAYETTE CO...... Beverly Mulcahy, I hope everyone has a very Merry [email protected] 504 E. Mary, Apt. A, Darlington 54530 Christmas and Happy New Year!! Slainte! MILWAUKEE . . . . Member. Chair Maggie Blaha, - Jackie Konkol 2133 West Wisconsin Avenue, Sergeant-at-Arms Milwaukee, WI 53233 [email protected]; (414)344-0688

NEW DUBLIN ...... Suzi Snyder, 313 W. Beacon Ave.., New London 54961

NORTHEAST WISC...... Judy Brehm, 2577 Oakwood Ave.., Green Bay 54301 Rent the ICHC for your next SOUTH CENTRAL ...... Ellen Dargel, E9899 Trophy Tr., Reedsburg 53959; (608) 356-7646; email: [email protected] Susan Dushek Independent Sales Representative E-mail: ...... [email protected] Party 414-793-7318 Web site: ...... http://shamrockclubwis.com [email protected] Meeting To become a member of the Shamrock Club of Wisconsin contact the membership chair of the youravon.com/sadushek chapter you would like to join. MILWAUKEE ONLY: Family membership (includes both parents and Recital all children under eighteen) - $25.00. Single membership - $20.00. Membership is renewable Wedding annually on the anniversary month of the original membership. Please send all new and renewal Spaces available for large Milwaukee club membership dues to Membership Chair, 2133 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, Call or small events WI 53233. Be sure to send change of address notification to Membership Chair, also. The post Me! Email: [email protected] office will NOT forward copies of Reflections. or call (414) 345-8800

4 continued from page 1 As he recounted, “She was afraid. Afraid naturally weathered, so they must have been that we would see through the cheapness of collected and then somehow transported it all, the remnants of wool, the scraps of largely uphill to the Newgrange site. Mean- felt, the absence of anything that reeked of while, the stones used for the cairn, which shops and money. together would have weighed around She need not have been – it reeked in- 200,000 tons, were likely taken from the stead of sawdust and animal sweat, of colour Win Tickets to the river terraces between Newgrange and the and fantasy. And somehow, though we knew Celtic Woman Concert Boyne, and there is, indeed, a large pond in nothing of where it came from, what lodged this area which has been speculated was the it unforgettably in our memories was not site quarried out by Newgrange’s builders to just the thrill of the circus but the movement ...... use for material for the cairn. of the hands that made it.” The monument is noted for its artwork Not all Christmases in Ireland come from and carvings. Many were very sophisticated the gloom and doom side of life. Here are in their design and work. Many more of the the Christmas memories of Marie O’Byrne, kerbstones are also carved, some of them originally from Ireland, and now living in with carving on the side facing inwards. California. On a shopping trip with her mother, she recalled this conversation her Of the many notable features at New- mother was having, mostly with herself: grange, the most famous is the small opening “I’ll make the once I get in, and you or ‘roof box’ situated above the passage en- and Pauline can peel all the potatoes and trance. At dawn on the winter solstice, the vegetables and put them in pots of water on The stunning Irish music sensation shortest day of the year (December 21st) and the stove top. The cake and the pudding are ‘Celtic Woman’ returns to The River- for a number of days before and after, a shaft ready and Dad has the whiskey and the side Theater on December 14th at 7:30 of sunlight enters the chamber through an Guinness. Angela will whip up the cream to- pm for a very special holiday celebra- opening in the roof box. morrow so it will be nice and fresh and then tion featuring The Milwaukee Sym- To the Neolithic culture of the Boyne Val- we’ll be all set,” she went on, sometimes re- phony Orchestra. ley, the winter solstice marked the start of the peating herself. “Do you think it will snow You can win a pair of tickets to the New Year - - a sign of nature’s rebirth and for Christmas Day, Ma?” I asked her again. concert at the Shamrock Club meeting promising renewed life to crops, animals and “Well, it sure feels like it love, it’s certainly and Christmas party on December 1st. We humans. It may also have served as a pow- cold enough but we’ll have to wait and see,” will be raffling off a pair of tickets to one erful symbol of the inevitable victory of life she replied matter of factly. over death, perhaps promising new life to the lucky winner. You can purchase these Which brings us to a simple recipe for spirits of the dead. special raffle tickets for $5.00 each. the holidays. A dessert, fruit and nut But, if you plan on being a part of the sun- clusters, it is from the Irish Times. Discounted tickets may also be rise inside the tomb, do not just drive up and purchased using the code SAVECW. • 1 large bar white chocolate hope to get in. The people selected are cho- CelticWoman.com • handful of dried cranberries and sen by lottery. And the lottery winners were blueberries, chopped drawn in September. If you wish, you can • mixed (unsalted) nuts, chopped apply for 2017. And again, they will be pulled in September, 2017. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water. Stir the dried fruit into one half of the Then there are the memories of Irish chocolate and the nuts into the other half. Christmases. A while back, Irish Times Drop teaspoonful’s of the chocolate and columnist Fintan O’Toole recalled a Christ- fruit/nut mixture onto a greased baking sheet mas when he received a knitted circus from and chill in the fridge until set. his parents. “When I close my eyes and think of Christmas, I see a fat man in a top hat with RING THE CHANGES: Make half white a whip. I see lurid stripes of red and yellow. and half milk chocolate clusters, with fruit This is not delirium tremens. It is the only in the white and nuts in the milk chocolate. Christmas present I can remember from And now, after you have viewed the childhood.” lights of Ireland, both current and Neolithic, His parents had suffered through a long mailed your cards with the 2016 stamps, and and despairing year. His mother was preg- recalled your own Christmas memories, nant, just months after she miscarried. His enjoy your meal and dessert, and create your father had been on strike for three months own modern Christmas for now and into the and all the family savings had dissipated. future. There was no money for presents. Then his Nollaig Shona Daoibh. mother came across the patterns for the knit A Merry Christmas to all. circus. She made them out of leftover yarn. - Brian Witt 5 Holiday Folk Fair Milwaukee Nominations For Membership News Irish Honorees ...... Thanks to everyone who worked for the Holiday Folk Fair merchandise booth...... We continue to receive renewals and re- ...... Nominations for the 2017 Irish Rose, We couldn't have done it without you! quests to become new members of our illus- Irishman of the Year, and Parade Marshal, Mary Koehler trious Club. Having just completed my Friday must be received by 6 pm, January 26, - Retail Chair stint at the Holiday Folk Fair I am feeling before the start of the Shamrock Club elated. We had a great team in the first shift Board Meeting. Nominations must be in * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * greeting the children who come to learn more writing or e-mailed, and be made by mem- Thank you so much to everyone who about all the cultural groups still reaching out bers in good standing. Nominations can be gave of their time and volunteered at the to the Milwaukee community. The members given to any board member or mailed to cultural area at Folk Fair. It was very much stepped up and donated their time to respond Shamrock Club, 2133 W. Wisconsin Ave., appreciated. Special thank you to the Mil- to our commitment to the International Insti- Milwaukee, WI 53233, or sent via email to: waukee Currach Club for donating the tute who has recognized and supported im- Joe Hughes at: [email protected]. model currach and displays on Irish migrants for almost seventy years. The maritime history. Shamrock Club is proud for good reason. Word of the Month Jackie Konkol We are also grateful. Happy Thanksgiving! - Cultural Chair - Maggie Blaha, Membership Chair Comhairle...... - (coor-leh) - Advice Níl aon chomhairle agam duit. (Nil heen coor-lleh a-gam dit.) I don't have any advice for you. Advertise in the Emerald Reflections

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6 Thanks to our Shamrock Club Volunteers at the International Holiday Folk Fair! ......

7 SHAMROCK CLUB OF WISCONSIN 2133 W. Wisconsin Avenue Milwaukee, WI 53223

For Information: http://shamrockclubwis.com or: www.saintpatricksparade.org

An Old Gaelic Prayer

May the Road Rise to meet you May the wind be always at your back May the sun shine warm upon your face, till the rains fall soft upon your fields. And, until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hands.

EMERALD REFLECTIONS PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Parade Marshal Jacob Nowak, Irish Rose Peg Hamill and Irishman of the Year Denis Donohoe were celebrated at the recent Honoree Dinner. Photo by Del Canon HOME FOR CHRISTMAS The Symphony Tour December 14 • 7:30PM The Riverside Theater CELTICWOMAN.COM Save on select tickets with Code SAVECW

Available while supplies last. No double discounting. Offer not valid on previously purchased tickets. Offer not valid at the Box Office. Discount valid on P1 tickets only.