Volume XLIII, No. 4 • June (An Meitheamb), 2017 The Angel of Andersonville .........................................................................................................In February of 1864, the small camp of Into this morass enter Father Peter South Carolina, the See that also embraced Fort Sumter, Georgia was turned into a Whelan, an Irish born Catholic priest. He the states of North Carolina and Georgia. prisoner of war camp for Northern soldiers initially ministered to Confederate troops Whelan was ordained in Charleston on who were captured in battle. It was near including the Montgomery Guards, an November 21, 1830. For two years he the town of Andersonville in Macon Irish company established in Savannah for served as secretary to the bishop before County. the First Georgia Volunteer Regiment. He beginning his duties in communities remained with them during the Union It became a necessity because prisoner throughout North Carolina, including siege of Fort Pulaski which guarded Sa- exchanges between the warring sides Fayetteville, and Raleigh. He celebrated vannah harbor, and volunteered to remain broke down in 1863, due to the exclusion the first mass ever in Raleigh in 1832 at with them during their imprisonment in of how black soldiers would be treated. the boarding house of Matthew Shaw, a New York in 1862. About a year after his Union soldiers were then housed in what Presbyterian. His zeal also played a key release in a prisoner exchange, he was as- was originally a 15 acre site, but eventu- role in the erection of the capital city's first signed to minister to the Union prisoners- ally would grow to be acres. Catholic church. of-war held at Andersonville, Georgia, The prison was supposed to include where he became known as the "Angel of Whelan was transferred to Georgia in wooden barracks but the inflated price of Andersonville." 1837, and erected the first Catholic lumber delayed construction, and the Yan- Church in the state, the tongue twisting kee soldiers imprisoned there lived under Church of the Purification of the Most open skies, protected only by makeshift Pure Heart of Mary at Locust Grove in shanties called shebangs (an Irish Gaelic modern-day Sharon. He spent nineteen phrase) constructed from scraps of wood years in this small parish, which was the and blankets. A creek flowed through the first planned, Catholic community in compound and provided water for the Georgia. Union soldiers; however, this became a cesspool of disease and human waste. In 1850, the new diocese of Savannah, encompassing all of Georgia and part of What was supposed to be a place for Florida was established, and Dublin born 10,000 men swelled to 30,000, and there Francis Xavier Gartland became its first were inadequate food stocks for the pris- bishop. In 1854, Father Gregory Duggan oners. One Union prisoner, Robert H. Peter Whelan was born in 1802 in of Augusta became ill during a yellow Kellogg, sergeant major in the 16th Regi- Loughnageer, Foulkesmills, County Wex- fever epidemic. Whelan journeyed to Au- ment Connecticut Volunteers, described ford. From 1822 to 1824 he attended gusta to help handle Duggan's affairs. He his entry as a prisoner into the prison Birchfield College in Kilkenny, where he was then summoned to Savannah when camp, May 2, 1864, four months after its received a classical and mathematical ed- Bishop Gartland, while ministering to vic- opening: ucation before coming to America. Whe- tims of yellow fever, caught the disease “As we entered the place, a spectacle lan heard about an appeal for priests made himself and died. Father Whelan would be met our eyes that almost froze our blood by John England, the popular and dynamic stationed here for the rest of his life. A sec- with horror, and made our hearts fail bishop of the new diocese of Charleston, continued on page 5 within us. Before us were forms that had once been active and erect;—stalwart PM men, now nothing but mere walking skele- JUNE 1, 2017 • 7:00 tons, covered with filth and vermin. Many MILWAUKEE MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP MEETING of our men, in the heat and intensity of Irish Cultural and Heritage Center (2133 W. Wisconsin Avenue) their feeling, exclaimed with earnestness, "Can this be hell?" and "God protect us!" T T T All thought that He alone could bring them Pot Luck begins at 6:30 • Please bring a dish to pass. out alive from so terrible a place.” Scholarship Milwaukee Calendar of Events T T Committee For More Information visit http://shamrockclubwis.com ..................................The Scholarship Committee has se- JUNE lected three young people to be recipients 1 Shamrock Club Monthly Meeting; ICHC; 7 pm of the Shamrock Club scholarship. They are: 2 First Friday Ceili; ICHC; Music by Cream City Ceili; 7:30 pm 3 Milwaukee Highland Games; Hart Park; Heavy Games, haggis taco eating Rachel Bielfuss who is a freshman at Marquette University and is majoring in contest; ceilidh featuring Dirty Wellies, War Piper, and Dublin O'Shea; 9 am 13 Celtic Women International Book Club; Rather Be the Devil, by Ian Rankin; Exercise Physiology. She will be study- Hostess: Gail McAleese; ICHC; 1 pm ing this summer at the UC-Dublin and the 30 Bloomsday; by Steven Dietz; Directed by Joseph Hanreddy; Next Act National University of Ireland-Galway. Theatre Hannah Crownover who is a sopho- more at Marquette University and is ma- JULY joring in Biomedical Science. She will be 11 Celtic Women International Book Club; Lunch at O’Lydia’s; 338 S. 1st St., studying in the fall at the National Uni- Milwaukee, WI 53204 versity of Ireland-Galway. 13 Shamrock Club Installation Dinner; Alioto’s Restaurant, 3041 N. Mayfair Rd., Wauwatosa; Cocktails at 6 pm, Dinner at 7 pm Kyle Battle is a junior at UW-M and is 15 Badger State Feis; Pettit National Ice Center, 500 S 84th St; Supporting majoring in economics and creative writ- Glencastle Irish Dancers ing. He will be studying in Ireland this 16 Cream City Feis; Pettit National Ice Center, 500 S 84th St; Sponsored by summer to continue learning Gaelic and Kinsella Academy Family Association Irish culture. AUGUST These three students are expected to at- 3 Shamrock Club Monthly Meeting; ICHC; 7 pm; Dinner at 6:30 tend the SC general meeting on June 1 to 12 Milwaukee Feis; University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Student Union, 2200 explain their program of study and to ac- E. Kenwood Blvd. cept the scholarship. - Mary Moze 18-21 Milwaukee Irish Fest; Maier Festival Grounds; Paddy Keenan; Dervish; Scholarship Chair Frankie Gavin;Moxie Strings; The High Kings; Jig Jam; Skerryvore; We Banjo 3; Scythian; Drowsy Lads; Eileen Ivers; The Elders; Gaelic Storm; more ON GOING … Set dancing at the following: Set dancing Wednesdays, 7 PM at O’Donoghue’s T Craobh Curtin Conradh na Gaeilge meeting at O'Donoghue's Pub, 7 PM, last Tuesday each month T Irish Emigration Library in ICHC open every Wednesday 12–6 PM T Irish Sing-a-long, Irish Fest Center, First Sundays, (through May) 7 PM T Irish Fest Sing-a-long: O'Donoghue's Pub, second and fourth Sundays, 7-9 PM T Irish Music Sessions at the following: Session - O’Donoghue’s, Sundays 7 PM; Thursdays @ Paddy’s 7 PM; and The Pub in Oconomowoc, 7:30 PM T Thursdays: Barry Dodd; County Clare Inn; 10 PM T Fridays: áthas and Myserk; County Clare Inn; 6 PM T Installation Dinner Thursday, July 13, 2017 Alioto’s Restaurant, Wauwatosa Sarah Mraz Cocktails (Cash Bar) . 6:00 pm 2016 scholarship recipient, Sarah Mraz, Dinner . .7:00 pm gave a brief presentation about her studies Cost: $25 per person and travels in Ireland last summer to the Buffet dinner of Roast Beef au Jus, Baked Cod Florentine and Club at the May general membership Chicken Parmesan with salad, assorted sides and dessert. meeting. Tickets can be ordered at the June meeting or by emailing Ron Danielson - [email protected] by July 9th. 2 Milwaukee Guard and support crew) Come to the President’s Message 6. Ongoing drives: think scholarships and parade Shamrock Club 7. Samhain (All-hollows eve) Installation Dinner! ..................................Ladies and Gentlemen, Celtic Friends 8. Thanksgiving Drive (New...let's All, do something big) ..................................The club officers for 2017 will be in- 9. Honoree Dinner June (actually Memorial Day) is the stalled on Thursday, July 13, 2017 at official Summer kick-off and a wonderful We need NEW volunteers to step up Alioto’s Restaurant, 3041 North Mayfair way to begin a "new" Shamrock Club and think "OUTSIDE" the box. What can Road, Wauwatosa. The social hour, with season. we do to bring more focus and publicity a cash bar, will be at 6:00 pm, with a Let us pay tribute to all those from to the Shamrock Club and get more people buffet dinner at 7:00. This dinner will be every branch of the military that have involved? in place of our July general membership served during war and peace. Let us also These events will NOT exist unless oth- meeting. It is being held one week later not forget those brave "First Responders" than normal because of the first Thursday who often put their lives on the line. They ers assist and step-up. - Joseph Hughes, President being so close to July 4th. All are comfort us through municipal disasters or welcome to attend! personal tragedies: the fire across the street, your neighbor's heart attack, or the The buffet will include three main child's bike accident. T T T entrees: Roast Beef, au jus, Baked Cod Florentine, and Chicken Parmesan. The When you meet or see any of these fine folks, stop and say "thank you" for dinner will include mashed potatoes and a job well done.