Seattle Press on Line - Irish Week 2002: Parade, Party and Pray for Peace

Irish Week 2002: Parade, Party and Pray for Peace

By Sean Patrick Donovan

Mar 14, 2002 -- I love a good story. Thus, when my dear editor assigned me the task to write of Seattle's 2002 St. Patrick's Day festivities, I rubbed my hands in gleeful anticipation. Ireland--a small nation where even the cattle will saunter over in search of discourse if you tarry--has to its credit an astonishing five Nobel Prizes in Literature since 1923. This is an eloquent people.

Deprived of the oral tradition by my disappointingly reticent Irish Grandparents, I grew up with a hunger for that eloquence. Fortunately (I am of the opinion), my father is unsurpassed as a teller of fine jokes, and has woven his share of notable yarns over the years.

He in turn learned the art perched on the knee of his grandfather, the late Jeremiah O'Donovan of County Cork, who immigrated to America in 1891. "He would tell me stories of his beloved Ireland and sing Irish songs until tears would come to his eyes," my father writes. He adds that Jeremiah "had an apple, a cup of hot Ovaltine, and a double shot of Irish whiskey every morning of his life after he retired."

Assorted dignitaries attempt to follow the wobbly Green Stripe laid for last year's parade route.

Perhaps Jeremiah's old spirit inspired me, like my father, to make a pilgrimage to Ireland, ten years ago now. Four years later I moved to Seattle--whose misting rain and abundant verdant foliage evoked clear images of the incomparably lovely month I spent in Ireland. I am decidedly not alone--those of Irish descent have been settling in Seattle for over 150 years. And they are about to cut loose.

Seattle Irish

My attempt to determine just what those Irish have in mind this St. Patrick's Day led me immediately to the website of the Irish Heritage Club (www.irishclub.org) which, in 1983, formed as a conglomeration of the then-separate Irish-American Club, Irish Festivities, and Seattle Gaels Gaelic Football Club. The site is a thorough and exhaustive collection of "things Irish," with references and links aplenty.

Irish Stepdancers work their magic.

An excerpt, from the site, of a young Irishman's letter home in 1883 says of the Seattle area, "Wages is good, work and Land plenty but a wild looking Country, all woods, trees: Some of them I have seen 14 and 15 feet in diameter. If that was in Croagh (Ireland) the people would class it one of the Seven Wonders of the World."

Irish immigrants poured into America during the Irish Famine years (1847-52), as a result of the turbulent years of the Irish War of Independence (1916-21), and again after World War II. Today, local community leaders of Irish descent number many, including the Grand Marshal of this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell.

"There are two things for the Irish," says John Keane, an affable, hardworking member of the Irish Heritage Club, "Irish dancing and Gaelic football." Both those aspects of Irish culture thrive in Seattle, with at least ten Irish dancing schools in town, and both men's and women's football teams, playing as the Seattle Gaels.

T. S. McHugh's Irish Soda Bread

Darina Allen, Ballymaloe Cookery School, Shanagarry, Ireland

Ingredients:
3-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 to 2 cups buttermilk

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Sift the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center. Pour most of the milk in at once. Using one hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl. Add more milk if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. When it all comes together, turn it out onto a floured board, knead lightly for a few seconds, just enough to tidy it up. Pat the dough into a round about 1.5 inches deep and cut a deep cross on it to let the fairies out! Bake on a baking sheet for 45 minutes or until cooked. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread: if it is cooked it will sound hollow.

John hails from West Mead, in the center of Ireland. "If you were to balance Ireland on your finger," says he of his birthplace, "it would be directly under our house." Having resided in the U.S. since 1967 (in Seattle for the last 24 years), John says "It wouldn't feel right if I weren't involved in something Irish." Both the footballers and dancers compete nationally, and it's common for the community to travel along. "I meet people that I went to school with in Ireland," says John; he once met a childhood best friend, and another time a former next-door neighbor, at football matches. The allure of Gaelic football is evident in that, at 60, John wishes the Gaels to know that, should they ever fall short a man, he stands at the ready.

Irish dancing, by the same token, was a very serious American passion long before Riverdance thrust it into the pop limelight. Sara Williams says generations of her family have grown up dancing on Queen Anne, and that she still performs regularly with her 6 sisters and 4 brothers. In 1995, Sara helped found the Tara Academy of Irish Dancing, where she mentored 5 students. The school quickly outgrew its original St. Anne's location, however, and moved to their current home in Holy Names Academy, where the students now number over 70. Sara says the dance is "quite intricate and athletic, and very suited for young children," some of whom start dancing as early as 4. The students will perform at numerous nursing homes the week before St. Patrick's Day, a community tradition continuing from Sara's own childhood, when "Father Tony" would dutifully trundle young dancers from one home to another.

Wee Irish Stepdancers perform in last year's Irish Week festivities.

The Irish Heritage Club itself claims hundreds of paid members, and in addition to sponsoring over 50 events in 2001, has put together Irish Week 2002, a cultural festival produced in part under the auspices of Seattle Center's FESTAL program.

Good Craic!

Craic (pronounced "crack", a Gaelic word meaning "a lot of fun") is an essential part of any St. Patrick's Day celebration, will be available in abundance this long weekend. In anticipation of the magic, slow your pace and tarry a bit; just on the other side of that uncomfortable pause may lay a most delightful story. Anecdotes regarding the entertaining history and spirit of particular events have been included below in italics.

The Irish Week Festival at Seattle Center runs Saturday through Sunday, 12-6pm. Experience Irish music and singing, champion Irish Stepdancers, children's activities, a traditional Irish breakfast, storytellers, and much more.

Thursday, March 14
First Annual Guinness Pub Crawl, 5 - 10 p.m., $10/person. The bus will load at Fado Irish Pub (First and Columbia), and proceed to Murphy's in Wallingford, the Irish Emigrant in the University District, then back to Fado. Contact Jim Miles at 546-0942 or jim@irishclub.org.

The Myth of Saint Patrick

During a visit to Ireland in 1992, I scaled a large, steep hill--the very hill, my companions insisted, from where St. Patrick supposedly banished the snakes from Ireland by casting them into the sea--with a running start--one handful at a time. Upon encountering a resistant old serpent, one legend has it, the Saint was forced to resort to the use of his wits. For the purpose he constructed a box, into which he invited the serpent with many mellifluous and honey-scented words. A disagreement ensued, with the snake contending that the box was much too small to accommodate him, while the Saint held that it had more than enough room for the purpose. Perturbed, the snake--to prove himself correct--proceeded into the box, whereupon the Saint made fast the lid and cast it, too, into the sea.

Since it is likely Ireland was devoid of snakes well before St. Patrick came on the scene (he died in A.D. 493), this myth is more likely symbolic of Christianity's attempted eradication of the pagan religions, in which the serpent is often portrayed as a potent image.

A second myth relates that in a lake in one of the Galtee mountains "there is a great serpent, chained to a rock, who may be heard crying out, 'O Patrick, is the Luan long from us?" For when St. Patrick cast this serpent into the lake he bade him chained to the rock till La-an-Luan (The Day of Judgement)." The serpent misheard, and thought the Saint meant just until Monday, or Luan. Thus, the serpent "still expects to be freed from one Monday to another, and the clanking of his chains on that day is awful to hear" as he struggles to loose himself.

I tend to prefer this more imperfect myth, which speaks to the latent potential of the still surviving serpent. Though chained, he represents more closely my own experience of Ireland: that of an irrepressible people, and of the indomitable spirit of a country which, despite centuries of oppression and strife, remains at heart a wild Ireland, yet unbowed.

Perhaps, as you awake this Monday after Saint Patrick's Day, you might pause to listen for the sound of clanking chains, and the plaintive cry of a lonely and powerful spirit yearning to be set free.

"We hope to have an Irish singer on the bus," says Jim, and games and music will be readied at each location.

Friday, March 15
John Doyle Bishop Memorial Laying of the Green Stripe, 6:30 p.m., free. Gather at FX McRory's for the truck or trolley ride to Prefontaine Park. Contact: Heidi Danielsen, 425-644-0105 or see www.irishclub.org.

"John Doyle Bishop," relates John Keane, "owned a ladies clothing store downtown. He was a very flamboyant character, and could be seen wearing white suits," which would change to kelly green on St. Patrick's Day. "Every year John would insist, the night before St. Patrick's Day, on painting a green stripe down Fifth Avenue, past the front of his store. It became a tradition for the police to pick him up. The media would be notified, and he'd get his picture in the paper. And always, two or three of them would end up getting hauled down to the station."

Saturday, March 16
St. Patrick's Day Parade, 12:20 p.m., free. Begins at Prefontaine Park (Fourth and Jefferson). Contact David Jacobsen at 241-2960 or gabby@irishclub.org.

According to the Irish Heritage Club website, "there was no official St. Patrick's Day Parade in Seattle until 1972...The 1972 parade was held as a solidarity march in response to the killing of 13 civil rights demonstrators in Derry the previous January. In 1973, local politicians proclaimed March 10-17 as "Irish Week." This 31st Annual Parade will end at the Seattle Center at 2 p.m., with much ballyhoo and introducing of dignitaries.

Wee lads in last year's St. Patrick's Day Parade.

An Irish Cabaret in Everett, Everett Theatre, 1911 Colby Ave. (at Hewitt), 7 p.m., $13. Contact David McCourt for info and tickets at 425-252-8807.

John Keane calls the host and MC of the Irish Cabaret, David McCourt, a "tremendous storyteller." David (who for 16 years taught Irish History at Everett Community College) adds that the Historic Everett Theatre is an old vaudeville house, with wonderful acoustics perfect for this old-fashioned Irish variety show with Irish humor, music, singing and Irish dancing "that'll take your breath away." Local importers Galway Traders is sponsoring this event, which will bring champion dancers (9 girls and 1 boy, aged 12-18) direct from Ireland. The first year David brought talent from Ireland, in 1996, among the dancers was an enormously talented young man, Anthony Sharkey. So talented, in fact, that he now performs with the Riverdance company (look for him when they visit Seattle, April 2-7).

Sunday, March 17
St. Patrick's Day Dash from T.S. McHugh's (First and Mercer; try their beef and Guinness pot pie--delicious!) to FX McRory's in Pioneer Square, $30 (no race-day registration).

Join about 12,000 others for a nearly 4-mile jaunt to run off some of that Guinness you've been tucking away!

St. Patrick's Day Mass for Peace, Plymouth Congregational Church (Sixth & University), 10-11:30am. Contact John Keane at 425-290-7839 or jkeane@irishclub.org.

The annual Mass for Peace, as far as John Keane is concerned, is the "highlight of the weekend." The power and symbolism of this event causes John to "get goose bumps every year," and inspires by bringing together the local Catholic Archbishop and a Presbyterian minister from Belfast; the collection goes to promote reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

Reader Comments

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Ralph L Sherlock	Jan 07, 2003	Barnstaple Devon	retail assistant
Have a great Irish Week there in Seattle, I am decended from Irish kings, but live in England.


Mary	Apr 03, 2003	Montana	Psychologist
It's a wonderful day for the Irish.


James Curtiss	Nov 08, 2003	Shelton,Wa	Gold Prospector
Mary said it's a great day for the Irish. Evry day is a great day for the Irish. Eringobraugh.