Irish news from Ireland and America
Celtic culture, literature, sports, history, politics and people covered here.
Following affairs in Ireland went from being a pleasant pastime to being required reading on 5 November 2024. That’s the date I became an Irish citizen. Since I’m spending so much time as a “new” citizen trying to keep up with what’s happening today and happened historically in Ireland, I’ve decided to create Gallagher’s Celtic Corner (GCC) here on Substack. So many stories!
WHY SHOULD YOU BE READING THIS?
Mind if I borrow someone else’s manifesto to define and describe what kind of content Gallagher’s Celtic Corner will contribute to the conversation about Ireland and Irish America and how it will strive to be worthy of a few minutes of your time?
“We can start by reinhabiting our Irish self in simple ways. Read Irish history, novels and poetry. Listen to traditional Irish music. Learn a few words in the Irish language. Observe the old Celtic calendar of festivals based on the seasons of solstice and equinox. Give your child an Irish name. Save St. Patrick's Day from those who think that getting drunk makes you Irish. Visit Ireland, and include south Armagh, west Belfast, and the Bogside, not just the castles, golf courses and pubs. If you are civic-minded, ask why there is no Irish museum, no Famine memorial, virtually anywhere in the United States.”
WHO WROTE THAT?
That was written 30 years ago. Portland now has the only substantial Famine memorial on the West Coast. This isn’t the first manifesto by the Irish American who penned this one. But far more people have heard of his earlier work than what he wrote about Ireland, which he loved by the way. In 1962 Thomas Emmett Hayden attended a conference sponsored by the United Auto Workers to present the Port Huron Statement, the first manifesto he wrote. That statement is seen now as the manifesto for the student activist movement seven decades ago. He was also one of the Chicago Seven. In the later years of his political career, Hayden started writing about his Irish heritage. The result was the manifesto (or marching orders) above in his book Irish on the Inside: In Search of the Soul of Irish America. In the final year of his life he attended the Democratic National Convention as a Hilary Clinton delegate. Tom Hayden died two weeks before the November 2016 election.
That’s Tom Hayden waving behind Republican publican Paddy Nolan. San Francisco, the most Irish city in America per capita in the 19th century, was a hotbed of ant-British sentiment with increased emigration from Ireland in the 1980s.
PORTLAND’S CELTIC REVIVAL
So, what’s with the name Gallagher’s Celtic Corner, you ask. In 1980 Noel Hislop moved to Portland from Ireland. In 1994 he started moonlighting from his job as a metal fabricator to open the Celtic Corner on NE Sandy Blvd. in the same building as the Hollywood Theater. 1980 is also unofficially the first year of Portland’s Celtic Revival. Irish musicians, writers and artists began to discover Portland in significant numbers and we’re a better city for it. Many of them spent time at the Celtic Corner and Noel sold tickets to their performances. The thing is you never knew what you’d find from Ireland (Wales or Scotland) at Noel’s store. Hurlers bought their sliotars there. Music fans found CDs that even Music Millenium didn’t stock. Irish dancers knew Noel would have just the right shoes imported from Ireland. And candy. Lots of Cadburys. The Celtic Corner closed its doors in the winter of 2016. Gallagher’s Celtic Corner is an homage to Noel Hislop, his shop of Celtic curiosities and the community he created.
Noel Hislop showing the same smile with which he would greet visitors to the Celtic Corner on NE Sandy. (Photo: Facebook)
GCC COMING ATTRACTIONS
As for what GCC is About, here’s what I’m working on:
Sun. 5.25 - My failte post. You’re reading it.
Mon. 5.26 - President Michael Higgins and Senator Bernie Sanders not only look alike (a little bit), but they also sound alike refuting the false claims about Ireland being anti-Semitic.
Tues. 5.27 - Air fares to Ireland are a pleasant surprise. Why Aer Lingus doesn’t fly out of PDX. Yet.
Wed. 5.28 - RFK Sr., the most Irish of Joe and Rose Kennedy’s kids, was the first Kennedy to lose an election in 27 years. He finished second to Senator Gene McCarthy on May 28, 1968, in the Oregon Democratic Presidential primary. Read five reasons why Bobby blew it in Oregon.
Thurs. - 5.29 - Kneecap, the trio that raps in the Irish language, will perform at the old Hibernian Hall – now the Wonder Ballroom – in October. THE SHOW IS ALREADY SOLD OUT. What’s the appeal in Portland of the outspoken, obscene, pro-Palestine, anti-Zionist hip hop sensations from Belfast? No idea but we’ll take a dive.
Fri. - 5.30 - Irish Friday. What’s in your queue for the weekend? Brendan Gleeson was just presented with the Lord Mayor of Dublin Award for his good works and for being a generally all-around nice guy. Have you got a favorite movie of his? The Banshees of Inisherin? Harry Potter movies? In Bruges? The Guard? The General?
Yes, Brendan Gleeson was in Braveheart. He played Hamish. By including this I’ve reached my quota of non-Irish Celtic content for this post. Gleeson also had two small non-speaking roles in Michael Collins. (Photo courtesy of IGN)
DISCLAIMER - Though I hold a leadership position with the Portland Hibernian Society, any opinions given at Gallagher’s Celtic Corner are strictly those of the author and no one else.
