Ancient Order of Hibernians

Transcription

1 St Brendan s Feast Day May 16th Ancient Order of Hibernians St Brendan the Navigator Division Mecklenburg County Division # 2 ISSUE #8 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER VOLUME#3 August 2011 Our next business meeting is on Thursday, August 11th at 7:30 PM Room 200 & 201 Chaplain President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Financial Secretary Standing Committee Marshall Sentinel Chaplain Emeritus 2011 Officers Father David Miller Joe Dougherty Brian Bourque Ray FitzGerald Chris O Keefe Ron Haley Scott Stephan Ted Leahy Deacon Bob Murphy Father Pat Hoare

2 THE PRESIDENT S SOAPBOX Brothers, In last month s newsletter, I informed you of the resignation of the Mecklenburg County President and of the County Marshal. Since that time, as per my duties as County Board VP, and in keeping with the Constitution of the AOH, I have assumed the office of County Board President. In keeping with the President s duties, I have appointed brother Sean O Daly of the Sons of Erin division as the County Board Vice President and brother Ron Haley of the St Brendan division as County Board Marshal. For those of you that are new to our Order, according to the National Construction, whenever one county has two or more divisions, a County Board can be formed. The Mecklenburg County Board was formed in August, 2009 with brothers from the Sons of Erin division in Charlotte and brothers from the St Brendan division in Huntersville elected as officers. The Board meets quarterly and the next meeting will be in August. The County Secretary will be asked to send out a notice at least two weeks before the date of the meeting. Brothers, I have been informed that the distributions of the raffle tickets are going very slow. As you all know, this is our only fundraiser and we all need to help out. We have 145 tickets to sell and as of yesterday, less than 75 have been passed out. It does not look like we will be able to sell any outside of church like we did last year because of restrictions of the church administration. I would like to ask those of you that have not taken any tickets yet to please get with Ron Haley, the raffle chairman, and get at least 6 tickets to buy or sell. The North Carolina State President, John Ryan, is planning to attend the August 11 th meeting. Please welcome him in Friendship, Unity and True Christian Charity, God Bless Joe Dougherty THE RAFFLE TICKETS ARE IN AND AVAILABLE. PLEASE SEE BROTHER RON HALEY FOR YOURS. REMEMBER, THIS IS OUR ONE BIG FUNDRAISER FOR THE YEAR AND WE NEED YOUR HELP. WE ASK EACH BROTHER TO BUY OR SELL AT LEAST 7 TICKETS.

3 BIRTHDAYS IN THE MONTH OF August Gene Mann Division Brother August 8th Erin Stephan Wife of Brother Scott August 13th Brian Bourque Division Brother August 16th Ray FitzGerald Division Brother August 21st John O Brian Son of Brother Bob August 22nd Ryan Gilmore Son of Brother Shawn August 23rd Natalie Vaccaro Daughter of Brother Tom August 27th Scott Fisher Jr Division Brother August 29th Brenda Fay Wife of Brother Frank August 31st There are no Anniversaries in the Month of August All the pictures below were taken in Ireland between the years 1880 and 1914 At Kilkee, County Clair Baker Square, County Limerick St Patrick s Cathedral, County Armagh High St, Kilkenny, County Kilkenny

4 Irish Saints Saint Athracht Feast Day, August 11 th Saint Athracht (Modern Irish Naomh Adhracht), in Latin sources Attracta, is the patron saint of the parish of Locha Techet (Lough Gara) and Tourlestrane, Co. Sligo, Ireland. Her legend states that she fled from home and took her vows as a nun under Saint Patrick at Coolavin. She then moved to Lough Gara, where she founded a hostel for travellers at a place now called Killaraght in her honor. The hostel survived until [1] A local well is named after her, as is the new secondary school in Tubbercurry and the parish's second church in Kilmactigue. [2] She lived in the sixth or seventh century. Local tradition remembers her great healing powers. Her convents were famous for hospitality and charity to the poor. She was a brother of St Connell, who is associated with Conainn Ursuline Convent, County Sligo Glenveigh, County Donegal Trinity College, County Dublin Barne s Gap, County Donegal Maghramena, County Donegal

5 A Bi t of Irish History The Death of Michael Collins August 22 nd, 1922 The last known photograph of Collins alive was taken as he made his way through Bandon, County Cork in the back of an army vehicle. He is pictured outside White's Hotel (now Munster Arms) on 22 August On the road to Bandon, at the village of Béal na mbláth (Irish, "the Mouth of Flowers"), Collins' column stopped to ask directions. However the man whom they asked, Dinny Long, was also a member of the local Anti-Treaty IRA. An ambush was then prepared for the convoy when it made its return journey back to Cork city. They knew Collins would return by the same route as the two other roads from Bandon to Cork had been rendered impassable by Republicans. The ambush party, commanded by Liam Deasy, had mostly dispersed to a nearby pub by 8:00 p.m., when Collins and his men returned to Béal na mblath but the remaining five ambushers on the scene opened fire on Collins's convoy. The ambushers had laid a mine on the scene, which could have killed many more people in Collins's party, but they had disconnected it by the time the firing broke out. [33] Collins was killed in the subsequent gun battle, which lasted about 20 minutes, from 8:00 p.m. to 8:20 p.m. He was the only fatality. He had ordered his convoy to stop and return fire, instead of choosing the safer option of driving on in his touring car or transferring to the safety of the accompanying armoured car, as his companion, Emmet Dalton, had wished. He was killed while exchanging rifle fire with the ambushers. Under the cover of the armoured car, Collins's body was loaded into the touring car and driven back to Cork. At the time of his death, he was engaged to Kitty Kiernan. [26] There is no consensus as to who fired the fatal shot. The most recent authoritative account suggests that the shot was fired by Denis ("Sonny") O'Neill, an Anti-Treaty IRA fighter and a former British Army marksman who died in [34] This is supported by eyewitness accounts of the participants in the ambush. O'Neill was using dum-dum ammunition, which disintegrates on impact and which left a gaping wound in Collins's skull. He dumped the remaining bullets afterwards for fear of reprisals by Free State troops. [34] Collins's men brought his body back to Cork where it was then shipped to Dublin because it was feared the body might be stolen in an ambush if it were transported by road. [34] His body lay in state for three days in Dublin City Hall where tens of thousands of mourners filed past his coffin to pay their respects. His funeral mass took place at Dublin's Pro Cathedral where a number of foreign and Irish dignitaries were in attendance. Some 500,000 people attended his funeral, almost one fifth of the country's population. Collins's shooting has provoked many conspiracy theories in Ireland, and even the identity and motives of the assassin are subject to debate. Some Republicans maintain that Collins was killed by a British "plant". Some Pro-Treaty accounts claim that de Valera ordered Collins' assassination. Others allege that he was killed by one of his own soldiers, Jock McPeak, who defected to the Republican side with an armoured car three months after the ambush. [35] However, historian Meda Ryan, who researched the incident exhaustively, concluded that there was no real basis for such theories. "Michael Collins was shot by a Republican, who said [on the night of the ambush], 'I dropped one man'". [34] Liam Deasy, who was in command of the ambush party, said, "We all knew it was Sonny O'Neill's bullet." [36] Eamon de Valera is reported to have stated in 1966: "I can't see my way to becoming Patron of the Michael Collins Foundation. It is my considered opinion that in the fullness of time history will record the greatness of Collins and it will be recorded at my expense

6 Division Calendar of Events for July August 11 th Regular Business Meeting 7:30 PM Room 200 St Mark s August 21 st Division Social at Charlotte Knights Baseball game, Knights stadium in Fort Mill. Lunch in the picnic area in the stadium at 12:30 and the game starts at 2:15. August 27 th and 28 th St Mark s Ministry Fair. We will have a table in the hall and need two people after each Mass. We will recruit new members and offer raffle tickets to sell. If you have something you would like added to the website, please send to Brother Chris O The pictures below were taken in the 1920 s and 1930 s Children of Mary County Donegal Eamon De Valera walks with church leaders. Priests at Maynooth. 'Boycott British Goods and Courts' protest in Dublin. A family on the Blasket Islands

7 Irish Recipe Egg in Bacon Nests Ingredients: 4 Rashers back bacon 4 Small Eggs 1oz Dubliner Cheese Directions: Remove the rinds from the bacon and fry the rinds until the fat begins to run. Fry the rashers for a few minutes until they are cooked but not crisp. Remove from pan, curl each one in to a circle and secure with cocktail sticks. Place bacon circles back in pan, crack an egg in to them and cook gently, spooning fat over the egg to help it cook. Place bacon nests on slices of toast, grate Dubliner cheese over them, remove cocktail sticks. Serves 4 The drawing for the trip to Ireland Raffle is on Saturday, September 17 th. Your help is needed! Please see Brother Ron Haley if you need more tickets. ALL CHECKS FOR RAFFLE TICKETS SHOULD BE MADE OUT TO: MECK 2 AOH

8 McCormick McCormick (or McCormack) is a family name (surname) that originated in Ireland and Scotland. Spelling variations: Cormack, MacCormack, McCormack, McCormick, MacCormick, Cormac, Cormach, Cormich and Cormiche. It comes from the first name of the original bearer. A person whose father was named Cormac would identify as Mc (i.e. "son of") Cormac; the combination was continued as the family name by subsequent generations. Cormac is translated literally as "Charioteer, Warrior". The name was a very popular choice of names by parents in medieval times: this was due to the influences of the Saint of the same name. Saint Cormac was the first Bishop of Cashel an important diocese in the south of Ireland. Cashel was also the King of Munster and responsible for a famous book of Psalms, the Cashel Psalter, he died in battle in AD 908. In those days the McCormack was the name of a powerful Sept (Clan or Family) in the county of Longford. In 1576, 1598 and 1600, MacCormicks are recorded as leading gentry in County Cork and one, of Muskerry, was influential enough to raise a large force to assist Desmond in the Elizabethan wars. The Annals of the Four Masters record the deaths of several prominent MacCormicks of County Fermanagh; the last of these died in Another possible derivation of the name is that it comes from the gaelic Mac Cormaic which comes from corb and mac meaning "Ravenson".

9 The Tradition of Reek Sunday Today, Sunday, the last Sunday in July, marks Reek Sunday, or Garland Sunday in Ireland. At this time between 25,000 and 40,000 people will walk the 3-hour round trip up the Reek Mountain, or Croagh Patrick in County Mayo, Ireland, the sacred mountain of St. Patrick in a popular pilgrimage in honor of the patron saint of Ireland, commemorating his driving the snakes from Ireland. Over 100,000 people a year visit Croagh Patrick. On the summit of this mountain it is believed that St. Patrick fasted and prayed for 40 days in 441 A.D. The story goes that at the end of this fast St. Patrick threw a bell down the mountain side and banished all the serpents from Ireland. The fact that snakes never were native to Ireland does not diminish the tradition. Some believe that the banishing of the snakes represents either certain pagan practices or outright evil. In any event, the pilgrimage in honor of St. Patrick goes back to this date. Radiocarbon dating of the remnants of a dry stone oratory is dated at between 430 and 890 AD. This oratory or place of worship is similar in design to the magnificently preserved Gallarus Oratory found on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The bell we have now dates from 600 to 900 AD and is kept by the National Museum of Ireland. As to the Saint s bell, the so-called Black Bell of St. Patrick it remained a highly venerated relic with an old reference in O Flaherty s History of West Connaught dating back to 1098 AD. The tradition is that the bell was originally made of a shiny white metal though it became black from constant pelting at the demons in the form of black birds and venomous snakes who came after St. Patrick on the mountain. Patrick banished these powers into the hollow of Log na Deamhan (Lake of the Demons.) The devil s mother, Corra (the fiery one,) escaped and flew into the lake south of the mountain, known since as Loch na Corra. Croagh Patrick, County Mayo Chapel at the summit of Croagh Patrick

10 WHAT S GOING ON? Since many of the brothers travel during the year, I will list things that are going on throughout the U.S. that may be of interest to any Irish man or woman. New York City- New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center- Irish America: The Ties that Bind. Now until August 13 th. Info: Free to the Public Dublin, OH Dublin Irish Festival: August 5, 6 & 7 Butte, Montana An Ri Ra Montana Irish Festival: August 12 th, 13 th and 14 th Alexandria, VA Ballyshaners Irish Festival: August 13 th Milwaukee, WI-Milwaukee Irish Festival; August 18 th 19 th 20 th and 21 st Fort Mill, SC - St. Brendan Division picnic at Charlotte Knights Baseball Game: August 21 st Louisville, KY-Louisville Irish Festival: September 10 th and 11 th