Ancient Order of Hibernians St Brendan the Navigator Division Mecklenburg County Division # 2 ISSUE #5 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER VOLUME #2 May 2010 MONTHLY BUSINESS MEETING ARE HELD ON THE SECOND MONDAY OF EACH MONTH AT 7:30 pm IN ROOM 200 AT ST MARKS PARISH CENTER SOCIAL DINNER MEETINGS ARE HELD ON THE FOURTH THURSDAY OF THE MONTH AT 6:30 PM AT AN LOCAL AREA RESTAURANT 2009-2010 Officers Chaplain Fr Brad Jones President Joe Dougherty Vice President Shane Lis Secretary Kevin Buechler Treasurer Chris O’Keefe Financial Secretary Ron Haley Standing Committee Brian Bourque Marshall Scott Stephan Sentinel Deacon Bob Murphy Chaplain Emeritus Fr. Pat Hoare www.aohmeck2.org PRESIDENT’S REPORT Brothers, On Thursday, April 22nd, the St Brendan division celebrated its one year anniversary at Bucci’s Italian restaurant in Davidson. We also honored our “Hibernian of the Year”, brother Ray FitzGerald. We had 26 brothers, spouses and children in attendance. It was, by far, the largest group we had at one of our socials and I wish to thank each of the brothers and families that helped us in honoring brother Ray. Nancy and I thought the food and service were excellent and our thanks go out to Mario Bucci and his family for hosting the division, on this very important day. Brothers of the St Brendan division were in attendance to show their support at the installation of the LAOH division here in Huntersville on April 15th. All the sisters of the new division took their pledge including some wives of AOH members. This last Saturday, I was in Greensboro, NC for the quarterly NC State Board meeting and gave a report as the St Brendan division President and also as the State Organizer. I also reported on the sale of the State fundraiser glasses and turned over to the State Treasurer the division checks for the glasses that were sold. The Southern hospitality room chairman for the National convention, brother Jim Nettles of SC was in attendance and he gave a report on the status of the committee. If you plan on attending the National convention in Cincinnati, all the information can be found at: www.hibernians2010.com. AOH GLASSES ARE STILL AVAILABLE The cost is $25.00 for a set of four. They are pint glasses, just perfect for your favorite beverage. As the committee chairman, your orders can be sent to me, but please make payment to the division. God Bless Joe Dougherty The next business meeting will be on Monday, May 10th at 7:30 PM and the next social dinner meeting will be on Thursday, May 27th at 6:30 PM, at a place to be determined at the business meeting Irish Saints St Brendan the Navigator Division Patron Saint Feast Day May 16th Of all Irish saints, Brendan was the greatest traveller. He was born near Tralee, Co. Kerry, an event reputedly marked by angels hovering in a bright light over the house. He was baptised by Bishop Erc, who ensured that a year later Brendan was delivered into the care of Saint Ita at Killeedy. At the age of six Brendan returned to Erc, who undertook his education for several years before indulging the boy's desire to travel and study under other holy men. Erc asked only that he could perform his pupil's ordination as a priest, and Brendan duly returned for this ceremony. Among the Irish saints Brendan visited were Finnian of Clonard, Enda of Aran and Jarlath of Tuam. From an early age Brendan attracted disciples, and he established a number of monasteries in Ireland. The most famous was Clonfert, Co. Galway, which was founded around 560, towards the end of the saint's life. Clonfert became one of Ireland's greatest monastic schools and endured until the sixteenth century. Today, Saint Brendan's Cathedral in Clonfert is noted for its magnificent Romanesque doorway. Brendan also founded a convent at Annaghdown, Co. Galway, over which his sister Brig presided. Many landmarks of western Ireland are named after the saint, including Mount Brandon in Co. Kerry. Brendan is associated with a number of monastic sites close to the River Shannon and around the west coast of Ireland. In addition, he voyaged to Scotland, founding a monastery on Arran and visiting other islands. He is said to have met Saint Columba on Hynba Island in Scotland, and even to have gone to Brittany with Saint Malo, a Welsh monk. He may also have stayed at Llancarfan, the Welsh monastery founded by Saint Cadoc. Brendan's reputation as a traveller rests, however, on the Navigatio Sancti Brendani, an account written by an Irish monk in the ninth or tenth century. More than 100 medieval Latin manuscripts of this Voyage of Saint Brendan still exist, and there are versions in Middle English, French, German, Italian, Flemish and other languages. The story has been much embroidered from its original factual basis and it is impossible to separate fact and fancy. However, an epic modern voyage led by Tim Severin in the 1970s showed that it was possible to sail a coracle of wood and leather to America, and consequently that Irish monks might indeed have preceded Christopher Columbus by several centuries. On the 3200-foot high summit of Mount Brandon are the ruins of a small beehive-shaped chapel commanding views of up to 100 miles in distance. There, it is said, the saint had a vision of the Promised Land. (There are, incidentally, many recorded accounts of the sighting of an island, a mirage usually identified as the fabled Hy-Brasil, off the west coast of Ireland.) Brendan's first attempt to sail to the Promised Land was apparently unsuccessful, but he was not discouraged. He and his crew of monks prayed and fasted for forty days, and set off on a second voyage which lasted seven years and probably took them to Iceland, Greenland and even the American mainland. The Navigatio Sancti Brendani describes meetings with Saint Patrick and Judas Iscariot, the latter clinging to a rock during a temporary release from Hell. The saint celebrates Easter on the back of a whale, and escapes a predatory sea-cat as big as a horse. It is a work in the tradition of Homer's Odyssey, and draws on Celtic mythology as well as classical sources and the Scriptures. Many medieval cartographers included Brendan's island on their maps. In later life Brendan returned to his work in Ireland and died there in 578 at Annaghdown. Please check the division web site often to keep up with what’s going on. www.aohmeck2.org A Bi t of Irish History Gustavus Conyngham, from an original lithograph by Arthur Szyk, courtesy of the Arthur Szyk Society On April 27, 1779 Irish-born (County Donegal) U.S. Navy Capt. Gustavus Conyngham, "The Dunkirk Pirate", was captured by the British navy in the waters off New York. Conyngham had immigrated to the American colonies in his teens and went to work for his cousins shipping house in Philadelphia. By 1775 he was the master of the brig Charming Peggy, sailing to France to pick up war supplies for the colonial government. The British got wind of his plans and managed to maneuver him out of his ship with the help of the Dutch. Conyngham was stranded in France for the next year, until the American commissioners in Paris helped buy a ship for him to use against the British. Setting sail in a small ship called Surprise, Conyngham scored a first victory that would warm the heart of any Irishmen, capturing the British merchant ship Prince of Orange on May 3, 1777. Later that year he was commissioned a captain in the Continental Navy and given command of the Revenge. He began a series of highly successful raids into British waters from the port of Dunkirk, thus earning his sobriquet The Dunkirk Pirate. In 1778 Conyngham set sail for the West Indies and terrorized British vessels there before finally returning to Philadelphia on February 21, 1779. He and his men had claimed 60 prize vessels in just 18 months. When he set sail again his luck ran out and his ship was captured by the British vessel Galatea in April. Conyngham was taken to prison in England and treated harshly by his British captors. But after two other failed escape attempts, the determined naval officer tunneled his way of Mill Prison in Plymouth and managed to make his way to the continent. Conyngham joined John Paul Jones on a cruise on the Alliance before returning to the United States. He made his way back to the U.S., but was captured by the British again in March 1780 and spent another year in Mill Prison. After the war Conyngham failed in his efforts to continue his naval career or to gain recognition from Congress for his service during the war. He had lost the commission papers given to him by colonial representatives in Paris in 1777. It was said that Conyngham assisted in the defense of Philadelphia against his old British foes during the War of 1812; he would die in that same city seven years later. Some hundred years after Conyngham's death his commission papers surfaced in the collection of a Paris autograph dealer, proving that the "Dunkirk Pirate" had never been a pirate at all, but one of the first heroes of the United States Navy. Division Calendar of Events for May 10th Regular St Brendan Division Business Meeting – Room 200, 7:30 at St Mark’s 27th Division Social dinner, 6:30 PM at a place TBD later.