tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57131040493940870122024-02-08T02:43:08.513-05:00Shamrock RoadAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.comBlogger117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-47472217656067671732015-05-29T07:44:00.003-04:002015-05-29T08:06:40.896-04:00Moira Ní Ghallachoir Presentation on Donegal Adventure and Cultural Travel<br />
Event:<br />
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Monday, June 1, 2015 7 pm<br />
MOIRA NÍ GHALLACHOIR<br />
Capital District Celtic Cultural Association (Celtic Hall)<br />
430 New Karner Road, Albany (Colonie), NY<br />
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If you are interested in Irish culture or in nature and adventure travel, this is the event for you!<br />
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Donegal is an area of immense natural beauty with a low population density and generally low economic activity. I think there are parallels with the Catskills and the Adirondacks. Moira has formed a company which combines deep connections to the culture of Donegal with experiences in the wild areas.<br />
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Moira Ní Ghallachoir will be in the Albany, NY, area to give a free 30 minute presentation (light refreshments to follow) which is open to the general public and to answer questions about her organization on Monday, June 1st 2015 at 7 PM at Celtic Hall.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNLScFDvWTmVnkFCe0KaP0wAgNYCUrwDRKchgTtt1KKWZvsRaZhxRGmImXxuchHSovlhRE8OQCN4219xMqN2wwleaan0QD5dBTwISkA6brWj5e777nxEoK2kofCRE9AJqlYEa-gevg_EA/s1600/DSCN0533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNLScFDvWTmVnkFCe0KaP0wAgNYCUrwDRKchgTtt1KKWZvsRaZhxRGmImXxuchHSovlhRE8OQCN4219xMqN2wwleaan0QD5dBTwISkA6brWj5e777nxEoK2kofCRE9AJqlYEa-gevg_EA/s320/DSCN0533.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Want to know more about MNG Cultural Tours?<br />
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Moira's says:<br />
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We at WWW.MNG.IE are a bilingual company, working to develop and promote tourism in Donegal, Ireland with emphasis on the Gaeltacht (Gaelic speaking region).<br />
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Associating the term “World Class” when describing Donegal is partly what inspired me to start MNG – an enterprise that combines our outstanding natural resources with local services to create remarkable & highly memorable experiences. In an area with little infrastructure, MNG is a solution. Our mission is to provide bilingual adventure holidays and cultural tours that are personalized and infused with the unique, local & authentic Gaelic culture. Additionally, we seek to develop Donegal, in particular West Donegal into a thriving tourism destination.<br />
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What is the Capital District Celtic Cultural Association (CDCCA)?<br />
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The mission of the Capital District Celtic Cultural Association (CDCCA) is to support and preserve the Celtic culture throughout the Capital District of New York State.<br />
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Call (518) 250-5890 if you have a question.<br />
http://celtichall.org/Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-8652656037936597902015-04-04T18:29:00.001-04:002015-04-04T18:29:55.157-04:00New Gate In Interface Wall In Belfast, Northern IrelandDid you know the installation of a new gate in Belfast, Northern Ireland is very important?<br />
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Let's start with some basics.<br />
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Do you know Belfast is a divided City?<br />
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Most people outside Ireland who are old enough can associate the phrase, "The Troubles" with the conflict in Ireland, and mostly in Northern Ireland.<br />
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What many people around the world do not know is that in Belfast and Derry there are walls to separate those perceived as in favor of Ireland being a republic independent of Britain (Nationalists/Republicans) who mostly are members of the Roman Catholic branch of the Christian religion from those perceived as in favor of Ireland remaining in the United Kingdom (Unionists/Loyalists) who are mostly members of the Protestant branch of the Christian religion.<br />
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The communities are separated by 21 miles of walls in Belfast. These walls, which some have dubbed interface walls, are seriously impenetrable concrete, steel, and razor wire monstrosities with limited gates which are mostly closed at night. The interface walls work from two respects. They complicate matters for those who wish to riot or otherwise hurl insults and missiles at what they perceive to be the other side. On the other hand, those who are more concerned with being harmed, than with doing harm, feel safer knowing the walls are there. These non-aggressors think they are safer than if the walls and gates did not exist.<br />
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The negative side effects are numerous. Among them are the lack of interaction of the two communities. Most of the neighborhoods are not specifically mixed and have been either side of the interface walls for two generations. Approximately 91 percent of the primary schools are religiously affiliated. As a result the children play different sports and thus have no cause to mix even in athletic competition. <br />
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Of course, church attendance is segregated. However, some vanguards of peace and understanding have made a point of crossing that line by intentionally attending the services and gatherings of their opposite faith and by forming friendships which crossed the line.<br />
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While historically segregated, workplaces have been subjected to a series of laws and monitoring so that integration of the two communities is strongest at places of employment.<br />
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However, in regard to the darker and more hidden side of the conflict, in 2012/13 there were 411 cases of individuals and families who informed the Northern Ireland Housing Executive that they were homeless because <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/27/northern-ireland-sectarian-intimidation-figures" target="_blank">they had been intimidated into leaving their properties</a>. This is probably the tip of an even larger iceburg because the individual or family must name any paramilitary groups involved in their intimidation and the police must agree. <br />
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Now comes this development where a new gate was installed in the interface wall at Workman Avenue near the Springfield Road. Here is a view of the former gate:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigoPJMd4WJKTqrcj9I_51QP0tfU2GNtcQwtpapzprDgwgS9YmJRfW6jHtyCGzZHkaBK1GlJmGRFjcGeJbOua0Xr8eVCqyAEfUuzkatGjYOM8_nb-QVnQ7ShCRD4bjIBn76diPbD1ZYgvw/s1600/Workman+Ave+Gate+Old.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigoPJMd4WJKTqrcj9I_51QP0tfU2GNtcQwtpapzprDgwgS9YmJRfW6jHtyCGzZHkaBK1GlJmGRFjcGeJbOua0Xr8eVCqyAEfUuzkatGjYOM8_nb-QVnQ7ShCRD4bjIBn76diPbD1ZYgvw/s1600/Workman+Ave+Gate+Old.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is a view of the new gate under construction:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ml0uJE_36QIgPR-x4MPP2ye26MOTcRB3wrN8WZPEc01T9hRkHpcYMkpCgKOYsN3lWajuoX1bPW3SeLl3GGrec51pDIRGJ1g_mp_3Ub-kB-F3Em5NgYLPqNU9ngbF7-hOJcTDNgYNPps/s1600/Workman+Ave+Gate+Under+Construction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ml0uJE_36QIgPR-x4MPP2ye26MOTcRB3wrN8WZPEc01T9hRkHpcYMkpCgKOYsN3lWajuoX1bPW3SeLl3GGrec51pDIRGJ1g_mp_3Ub-kB-F3Em5NgYLPqNU9ngbF7-hOJcTDNgYNPps/s1600/Workman+Ave+Gate+Under+Construction.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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The gate is see through and everything else about it is the result of cross-community consultations. The community selected the brown color. The community members asked for decorative golden balls on the top of the tines so that it would look more like the gate to a formal garden.<br />
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Sometimes change comes in increments. While this gate might not seem like enough change to some, it is a vast change to those who live there. And it came about with consultation with the people who live there. <br />
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Now the two sides can see into the other neighborhood and that change might make it easier to realize the people who live on the other side are neighbors.<br />
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Here is a link to an article in Belfast Live where you can see the completed gate:<br />
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<a href="http://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/barrier-sectarian-interface-replaced-less-8969840#ICID=sharebar_twitter" target="_blank">http://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/barrier-sectarian-interface-replaced-less-8969840#ICID=sharebar_twitter</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-51686916216824090892014-12-11T23:56:00.002-05:002015-04-05T12:12:50.334-04:00Christmas Links: Enjoy!<br />
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<a href="http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/the-secrets-of-irelands-ancient-celtic-christmas-customs-135785693-237424301.html" target="_blank">The Secrets of Irelands Ancient Celtic Christmas Customs</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwHyuraau4Q" target="_blank">Fairy Tale of New York - yah, it's gritty</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It--iJl7MKM" target="_blank">Irish Christmas with Melanie Murphy | Collabmas Day 2</a><br />
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<a href="https://ballylara.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/the-warrior-carty-an-irish-christmas-story/" target="_blank">The Warrior Carty: an Irish Christmas Story</a><br />
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Latest Blog Post:<br />
<a href="http://shamrockroad.blogspot.com/2015/04/new-gate-in-interface-wall-in-belfast.html" target="_blank">New Gate in Interface Wall in Belfast</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-48302154444717217472014-12-04T23:52:00.000-05:002014-12-04T23:52:03.878-05:00Update on Irish Advent Calendar in Irish (Gaeilge) and English (Bearla)<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">There is an online Irish Advent Calendar here: </span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/IrishAdvent" style="color: #c78645; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.facebook.com/IrishAdvent</a><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Story behind this Irish Advent Calendar:</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Thanks mostly to my wife, we have enjoyed reading an Advent Calendar every year leading up to Christmas.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Several years ago I got the idea to make an Advent Calendar in Irish. As often happens, I never got around to do anything with the idea.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Yet, I didn't forget the idea.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">A year later, maybe more, I mentioned my idea to Pastor Jim and I think to my own pastor, Pastor Karyl. Later, Pastor Karyl, gave me an Advent Calendar that is basically like a trifold card. I think it's the one that has a baby angel with halo and wings, standing by one lamb and holding another lamb, on the cover. Inside there are conifers behind a scene of animals and cute kids surrounding the baby Jesus in a manger. There are little doors with animals or sprigs of holly on the doors. The doors are numbered 1 to 24 and under each opened paper door is a little more of the story in words. Yah, it's very much on the cute side.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">How un-tech, eh? A story that unfolds (pun intended) day by day for almost a month.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">You might not get the idea until you see the little ones really enjoy opening the doors by number. Hey, at a certain age, this is a big achievement! </span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">I hope to reach that age again.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">In September 2012, I started to translate the calendar's phrases and I wrote my version of the Irish right on the card next to each door.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">This created some high emotion when my wife thought I was marking up our family Advent Calendar. Hopefully the two calendars are the same, or I owe my wife a new Advent Calendar . . . in English. I still haven't found the second Advent Calendar card. Hmmm.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Still I knew my translations were pitiful.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Roslyn, Nancy and Jonathan from my online Irish class agreed to help me correct my translations. I thank them for all their thoughts and hard work.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">At about the time the group translation was about to kick off, the thought occurred to me that I wanted to have the English version and Irish version displayed day by day. If I posted or put this Advent Calendar out there, I'd be infringing on the copyright for the version written in English.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">I went on a personal crash course on the Advent story, reading different versions of the New Testament Bible and other writings on the Internet. All this so I could write an original version in English of Advent for use as a calendar.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">I learned that the donkey, which everyone is certain is in the story, that Mary rode on from Nazareth to Bethlehem, is not mentioned in the Bible. Most scholars and others think it makes sense given Mary's advanced stage of pregnancy and the distance, but it's unstated in the Bible.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">I also learned there is no inn keeper mentioned. The statement in the Bible is that there was no room at the inn. And the Greek word for "inn" might mean "guest room in the back." Some people think that Joseph's whole family was back home for the census, like a government imposed family reunion, and Joseph and Mary came late, so they got to sleep in the room where animals also slept. Either way, Jesus was wrapped and placed in a manger, right?</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Speaking of the census, there was a problem with the Greek word for census as it could be translated as "tax." That and a Jewish scholar thought the purpose of the census was so that a tax could be levied. A fair number of versions of the Bible say Joseph was going to be Bethlehem to be taxed, don't you know, while most scholars today agree the trip was for a census. </span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">I feel bad about, that for space reasons and presumably to keep the story devoid of downers and violence, the Advent story in these calendars generally avoids the side plots with Elizabeth bearing John the Baptist and King Herod having all the children in Bethlehem killed. Still, the good part is that as an adult, that leaves those parts to be discovered and to enrich appreciation of all the characters and the story.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Roslyn helped me polish the Irish translations of this final version and I owe her great thanks.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Ideas that have been proffered to me or have occurred to me:</span></span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">1. The Facebook version could have art along with the story. Vicki gave a couple of images of her artwork to use. Thanks Vicki! </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">If anyone else has original artwork or images to add, please contact me at the e-address below!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">2. Frieda said cloth Advent Calendars used to be made in the Pawling Avenue Methodist Church in Troy, New York, USA. She suggested there could be an Irish Advent Calendar wall hanging. The wonderful and talented sewers at the Pawling Avenue United Methodist Church sewed several of these and one was gifted to the day care center in the Forthspring Community Center on Springfield Road in Belfast, Ireland.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">3. Make this calendar an instrument of peace and reconciliation among the Irish by making the daily messages in three languages: English, Irish (Gaeilge), and Scottish Gaelic. I think the inclusion of all three languages would be very symbolic of the peace that is possible if all the sides of the Irish conflict cooperate. Anyone know of someone fluent in Scottish Gaelic who could help with this project?</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">4. Possibly this multiple language version could be a book with each page representing a day and having illustrations.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">5. A bigger dream would be to make Advent Calendar's in multiple languages wherever there are conflicts between different cultures around the world to spread the message of peace.</span></span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">So much for my Irish Advent Calendar saga. If you have an idea of how to spread the Irish Advent Calendar or Advent Calendars elsewhere, leave a comment to this blog, or contact me at shamrockroad(at symbol here)gmail.com .</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas or a merry whatever holiday you celebrate to praise and respect God.</span><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="color: #352009; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Rod / Ruairí</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-24132839553800747452014-04-20T23:09:00.000-04:002014-04-20T23:09:07.818-04:00Review of "101 Things You Didn't Know about Irish History"Writing this review of the non-fiction paperback titled, "101 Things You Didn't Know about Irish History," written by Ryan Hackney and Amy Hackney Blackwell, is a challenge.<br />
<br />
If I tried to entice readers of this blog with the entertaining facts from the book, I'd be having to say, "Spoiler Alert" all the time.<br />
<br />
Still, it is a book you should read.<br />
<br />
Before I read the book, I knew some parts of Irish history, but I probably knew "enough to be dangerous," as the saying goes, because I could conflate causes and effects and confuse places and times. So as not to mess it up, I tried not to talk about things I wasn't sure of, and that was most of Ireland's history.<br />
<br />
Now, I'm not an expert from reading this book. One book could never do that. However, I have a better appreciation of the history of Ireland and a handy reference book so I can find the right slot when I'm asked in the future to focus upon any part of Irish history.<br />
<br />
I admire that the book deals with the sectarian divides that rend Ireland, especially in Northern Ireland, with even handed explanations and a plethora of facts. Maybe the authors' American perspectives have served them well. Maybe the authors are removed enough from the present day conflicts to sort through all the conflicting Irish viewpoints and stay neutral. Whatever the cause, the result is refreshing.<br />
<br />
The coverage of topics is wide and not just about battles and dates. The important persons are all included. However, the common people and a wide range of institutions are related as well. The times discussed vary from the end of the most recent ice age up to the present time at the book's writing (the book's copyright is 2007, and is noted to have been abridged or adapted from the Everything Irish History Book copyrighted 2004 by the same two authors).<br />
<br />
The format of the book is helpful. There are 101 labeled segments or chapters in 236 pages, so the average is a little over 2 pages per segment. The pages are on the small side, but the fonts are clear. Reading a segment can definitely be fit into the small spaces of a busy person's day. Still, the flow of the topics builds, so those who want to read a lot at once won't feel slighted.<br />
<br />
There are almost no illustrations. I think they could have added a particular illustration: a timeline to graphically illustrate the topics discussed in the segments.<br />
<br />
My wife says I'm such and engineer, but personally I find the use of bulleted or numbered lists is relatively sparse. The bulleted list on Oliver Cromwell is a devastating indictment. More use of these lists may have helped organize and relate thoughts.<br />
<br />
The mention of the Irish language (Gaeilge) throughout and the inclusion of a very small Primer of the Irish language (and another of Irish Proverbs and Blessings), will help explain to the uninitiated that Ireland has another language from English and a long cultural history.<br />
<br />
I would have been okay with a longer book if it expanded he discussion of the Troubles, the peace process, and the modern Irish politics. Or maybe these authors would do that in a new book?<br />
<br />
My final observation is that the entire book, although non-fiction, does show that the authors did inherit the Irish knack for story telling, and there are some doozies they tell. Whether you read it under a fluorescent light in a hotel room or near the glow from a peat fire, enjoy the stories of a real country coming to grips with the past and the future.<br />
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-80298799473759379962014-03-28T22:31:00.000-04:002014-03-28T22:31:01.163-04:00A Review of "O Come Ye Back to Ireland: Our First Year in County Clare"<br />
On the surface "O Come Ye Back to Ireland: Our First Year in County Clare" is a book about a married couple moving from New York City to a small farm in the west of Ireland. But on a deeper level it's about the changes in relationships that result from a life changing decision.<br /><br /><div>
At first, the differences in the new place swell in importance. The driving on the "wrong" side of the road. The accents and local expressions. </div>
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Then the wetness, the unrelenting wetness slowly drives them crazy.</div>
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Slowly, the initial shyness and subsequent openness of their new Irish friends begins to reward their patience.</div>
<br />Still, the missed conveniences and special worlds in New York nag Christine and Niall. The lost excitement of densely populated New York gnaws at them. The variety and ease of food, in the metropolitan center they used to live in, is sorely missed.<br /><br /><div>
Some images of Ireland, formed before they crossed the Atlantic, might not materialize. </div>
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Will Niall bond with the land? Could it start with the backbreaking work of cutting, drying, and collecting turf to burn through the long dark winter? Even with expert help, the task appears hopeless to achieve. </div>
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Will Christine always be grinding out the existence that rural life demands? Can she catch up and get ahead enough to produce art strongly connected to the land and its people?</div>
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All these quandaries are told in the organic weave of unflinchingly truthful stories. </div>
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Stories are the root core of memoir, but the stories in this book relate the surprises, the connections, the struggles, the disappointments, and the breakthroughs that are as stirring as any great fiction.</div>
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If you have an interest in the real Ireland, not just the tourist attractions, you will enjoy this book.</div>
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If you may have little or no interest in Ireland, think on this - from the lessons of people of different cultures relating, experiencing the lows and highs of emotion, and finding grace in the face of vast change, you will enjoy this book.<br />______________________________________________</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
"O Come Ye Back to Ireland: Our First Year in County Clare" Paperback,<br /> 233 pages, a memoir by <a href="http://www.niallwilliams.com/NonFiction.aspx" target="_blank">Niall Williams</a>, <a href="http://www.niallwilliams.com/ChristineBreen.aspx" target="_blank"> Christine Breen</a></div>
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</div>
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Look for it at your local used or new book store! My store for new books in the USA is <a href="http://bookhouse.indiebound.com/" target="_blank">Market Block Books</a>.</div>
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Other reviews? <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202565.O_Come_Ye_Back_to_Ireland" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-72099085855069771232014-03-26T23:48:00.000-04:002014-03-26T23:48:32.822-04:00Ties Between Ireland and America Formed In World War III think many Americans tend to think of Ireland in the 19th century as when America and Ireland were most connected because so many Irish came to America in that century. <br />
<br />
Perhaps the connections have been forming and reforming as long as America has had European settlement.<br />
<br />
Another connection came to light when I had the opportunity to read two copies of articles which were printed in the area newspapers
for <a href="http://middleboroughcom.vps1.dependable-hosting.com/" target="_blank">Middleboro</a>, Massachusetts, USA.<br />
<br />
The articles describe that Alton Logan of Center Street, Middleboro became a celebrity in <a href="http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Carrickfergus-Visitor-Information-Centre-Carrickfergus-P7119" target="_blank">Carrickfergus</a>, Ireland. Alton Logan was stationed at Prospect Camp in Carrickfergus in 1942 as an American GI. The <a href="http://carrickmethodist.com/" target="_blank">Methodist Church</a> ran a canteen at which Alton formed many friendships. The strength of those friendships was so great that Alton kept in touch by writing to the friends for decades.<br />
<br />
After being away for twenty years he revisited Carrickfergus. That's when he heard there was a plan to build a new church hall. Alton was so committed to his friends that upon his return to America, he started raising funds among the American GIs he knew had been stationed there. He gave talks, accompanied by slides and films, to general audiences and raised even more money. <br />
<br />
The Methodist Church in Carrickfergus was so appreciative of the funds he sent them, they didn't forget. Whenever he went back for a visit he was treated as an old friend. They told him the hall belonged to him as much as any member of the local congregation.<br />
<br />
Officials and notables of the Carrickfergus would turn out to greet him. On one trip with his brother Harold Logan he met with the Mayor and Councillor Sam Murphy, Deputy Mayor and Councillor Charles Johnston, village administrator Geoffrey Gordon, and Methodist Minister David McCune, all of Carrickfergus.<br />
<br />
The Church also held a get together to show their appreciation.<br />
<br />
And like old friends everywhere they would tease him. Once he asked for his old room in the Dobbins Inn in Carrickfergus and was told it was reserved already. When he got there from America, it turned out it had been reserved for him!<br />
<br />
Alto Logan was consistently a contributor throughout his life. When age and heart disease started to take their toll, he knit mittens for the children of Middleboro.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeNvmJ4MTNDUS2vqtVXLgRNh5Njchxo-wanGNaGT9txVjeYahFh4exXciBWlA37CPMSNmeoyBwviqmVFbW8izL1-6ZenZ-z-aoR7YFXB_KCk1KszzB4Yrbjp_8-LmtA4i2mMcu9bd9r0/s1600/IMG_0001+Alton+Logan+Article.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeNvmJ4MTNDUS2vqtVXLgRNh5Njchxo-wanGNaGT9txVjeYahFh4exXciBWlA37CPMSNmeoyBwviqmVFbW8izL1-6ZenZ-z-aoR7YFXB_KCk1KszzB4Yrbjp_8-LmtA4i2mMcu9bd9r0/s1600/IMG_0001+Alton+Logan+Article.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></div>
<br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-79372690645683385292014-03-05T20:47:00.001-05:002014-03-05T20:47:19.841-05:00<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lunasa.ie/" target="_blank">Lúnasa</a> </h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
will be appearing at</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://celtichall.org/" target="_blank">Celtic Hall, Colonie</a>, NY USA</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Thursday, March 13, 2014</h3>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
7 PM</h2>
<br />
"Lúnasa are internationally acknowledged as being the finest Irish instrumental band of recent times."<br />
<br />
"... the blend of intelligence, innovation, virtuosity, and passion has brought them to the forefront of Celtic music."<br />
<br />
Contact Celtic Hall at (518) 250-5890 for tickets at a discount or pay full price at the door.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-38308553228738249892014-03-05T20:15:00.000-05:002014-03-05T20:15:18.602-05:00Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/586512371438920/?ref=br_tf" target="_blank">Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner</a></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Saturday, March 15, 2014</h2>
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4:30 PM to 6:30 PM</h2>
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520 Pawling Ave., Troy, NY 12180 USA</h3>
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Use the side entrance on </h4>
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Woodlawn Ave.
</h4>
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Adults $10<br />Kids 6-12 $5<br />5 and Under - Free<br />Eat in or Take Out<br /><br />Menu:<br />Corned beef and cabbage<br />Potatoes<br />Irish soda bread<br />Dessert<br />Beverages.<br /><br />Tickets are available at the door or call the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PawlingAvenueUnitedMethodistChurch?rf=317932424954468" target="_blank">Pawling Avenue United Methodist Church</a> at<br />518-273-6859</div>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
In Honor of St. Patrick's Day</h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh!</h2>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-32193640075581759572013-11-10T23:12:00.001-05:002013-11-10T23:12:39.249-05:00Plastic Cups are an Instrument? Watch - Amhrán na gCupán in IrishFun video of Irish school children performing the Cup Song (Amhrán na gCupán) using simple plastic cups and the floor and singing the original song "Cups (You're Gonna Miss Me)" translated into the Irish language (also referred to as Gaelic):<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz63M3v11nE" target="_blank">Cups (You're Gonna Miss me) in Irish (Gaelic)</a><br />
<br />
So you say, "What are all those Irish words?"<br />
<br />
That can be found at: <a href="http://songsinirish.com/pop/amhran-na-gcupan.html" target="_blank">Amhrán na gCupán</a><br />
<br />
I'm still a beginner at Irish, but I think I see some differences between the Irish translation and the English version.<br />
<br />
The Irish title (<a href="http://songsinirish.com/pop/amhran-na-gcupan.html" target="_blank">Amhrán na gCupán</a>) looks like it would be translated "Song of Cup" in English. Said another way, "Cup Song". The Irish is more descriptive by saying the work is a song but the English title probably assumes the context of using the title would show it's a song.<br />
<br />
The fourth line of the first verse is, "mbeidh tú liom?" which is short for, "you will be with me?" Kinda different from, "what'dya say?" I like how they both are contractions, are informal, and the meanings come very close.<br />
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The end of the fourth line of the second verse ends with "mo aoibh" which means "my smile." That doesn't match the end of that line in the English version, which says "my hair."<br />
<br />
But keep looking and you'll see the end of the next and fifth line of that verse ends with "'chuile thaobh" which means "all sides." That's pretty close to the word "everywhere" which ends that line in the English version.<br />
<br />
You wonder why go to that trouble to use different words? <br />
<br />
With the Irish line endings, the lines rhyme. They both end with sounds that rhyme with the English word "eve." I am thinking the line about "all sides" is the idiom for "everywhere" in that sense, and then the translators needed a rhyming word for the previous line.<br />
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Pretty clever, eh?<br />
<br />
A change for apparently similar reasons is made at the fourth and fifth lines of the last verse:<br />
<br />
... ag caint which translates as, "talking," and,<br />... ag seinnt which translates as, "playing," as in music or a musical instrument.<br />
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These compare to these line endings:<br />
<br />
... my walk<br />... my talk<br />
<br />
in English.<br />
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Am I suggesting you or anyone be upset about this?<br />
<br />
No. Translating in general is tough because you just can't change each and every word to a translated word and have the meaning work. And in a song, especially one with a staccato rhythm, fitting the translation into the beat is extremely tough.<br />
<br />
I am at the point I expect all translations of songs to be different than in the original language.<br />
<br />
In this case, I like the Irish version and I think it preserves the sense of the English version very well. <br />
<br />
So, if you haven't already, go to the Irish version, click play, and enjoy!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz63M3v11nE" target="_blank">Cups (You're Gonna Miss me) in Irish (Gaelic)</a><br />
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<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-69010220265636580772013-09-14T12:42:00.001-04:002013-09-14T12:42:25.981-04:00LiDAR Finds New Passage MoundA passage tomb was found in an important area with related passage tombs.<br />
<br />
In a first for Ireland, the newly discovered passage tomb was found without digging, using a technique known as LiDAR.<br />
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LiDAR uses laser light to reflect or backscatter from the surface of the earth. Using the extremely precise measurements of distance, very high resolution, detailed images can be created. The name LiDAR comes from combining the words "light" and "radar." The images look to me as if the sun were setting at just the right angle to light the bumps and ripples of the earth from the side.<br />
<br />
Passage tombs are large mounds with stone covered straight passageways which are aligned with celestial events such as the sunrise on one of the solstices. Many have ping etched large stones with fascinating designs or white rocks whose source is many miles away. The exact function of these mounds is a mystery, but they required a tremendous investment of time by a large number of people when Ireland was occupied by hunter-gatherer people fairly sparsely dispersed.<br />
<br />
This new site is being cited as evidence that the Brú na Bóinne <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO" title="UNESCO">UNESCO</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site" title="World Heritage Site">World Heritage Site</a> is a larger complex. This makes the proposed bypass on the N2 road even more controversial.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/savenewgrange/message/138%3b_ylc=X3oDMTJxNHRxZHYxBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzM4MDgxNjc1BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NDIyNQRtc2dJZAMxMzgEc2VjA2Rtc2cEc2xrA3Ztc2cEc3RpbWUDMTM3ODg4NzA0NA--" target="_blank">Impact of New Discovery on N2 Bypass</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Archaeologists-discover-new-tomb-and-passage-at-Newgrange--223443161.html" target="_blank">Newly Discovered Passage Tomb at Newgrange</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-18551039732726414662013-05-21T00:48:00.000-04:002013-05-21T00:48:01.087-04:00Vincent Salafia: Cultural Heritage to Constitutional Protection of Heritage<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>In the last blog entry,
Vincent had just described some of the positive aspects of the campaigns over
preservation of heritage.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Question: Will cultural
tourism catch on?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I think there will be more
cultural tourism rather than straight economic tourism. I do see a lot of
potential now in the people who have been turned on abroad and those here at
home as well. I think the local population up in Meath realizes more now that
they do have something of value that they didn’t fully appreciate before. I was
talking to someone who loves fairies, like Tinkerbell. There is a Florida Fairy
Festival every year. So I was thinking, why don’t they have a Fairy Festival on
the Hill of Tara every year? It would
bring large crowds. People would have fun outside. People would bring their
kids. I think you will see more utilization of these sites and the sites will
come to life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Question: Is changing the
Constitution feasible in Ireland?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As to the Constitution,
there is a Constitutional Convention set up to review the constitution. When
the present government officials were running for office, their parties, Labor
and Fine Gael came in and said there was going to be a Constitutional Convention.
That process is beginning. The terms of reference are quite narrow and many are
cynical about it. But none the less, there is a period over the next year to
raise issues. There should be constitutional protections put in place to
protect heritage and the environment, and for our culture, really. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">People abroad have the right
to have these things protected as part of their own culture. This would not
just protect Irish citizens, but all people of Irish decent. That’s why it’s
important for those of Irish decent to express those opinions, especially
during the coming year. I’ll try to get
clear ideas and explanation up on the Internet and into print so that people
can demand their constitutional and human rights. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“We the undersigned were
outraged about what happened at Tara and what was proposed at Slane without due
consideration. We want to be sure as Irish people that this is never going to
happen again. Let’s put the necessary protections into the constitution, once
and for all.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Maybe a petition like
that could happen in the coming months.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-44374595330035579872013-05-19T00:43:00.000-04:002013-05-19T00:43:00.895-04:00Vincent Salafia: Benefits of Archaeology to Achievements<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>In the prior blog entry,
Vincent had just described how the lure of money and employment had turned many
archaeologists against heritage preservation.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Question: Can the public be
educated and turned on to what the benefits of studying archaeology are?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I think the public have been
turned on. There have been various surveys performed by the Heritage Council
over the years starting back around 2000. Every year there was public concern
for protection of heritage and protection of the environment. It wasn’t that
the public didn’t care so much. It was more that the authorities didn’t care so
much because they were so hell bent on perpetuating this model of modernism,
economic development, and real estate.
They saw that as their meal ticket. It wasn’t the public that was the
problem. It was the government. One can say the people were electing the
government, but they were electing them for different reasons than cultural
heritage. Ultimately, the public bought into the economic thing as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now that we are in the post
crisis mode here, there is a realization by both the government and the public
that we should be taking better care of our tourist attractions. Again there is
this idea we could get some money out of these sites. This idea of “the
Gathering” now, which was launched by the government on January 1<sup>st</sup>
of this year to bring all the Irish home, if you will. There are some cynical
views of this as well. An American actor came out and said this is a big joke.
You are just fleecing these people. All you want is a few quid out of them
after ignoring them for years. Thousands of Irish people died on the streets in
London and nothing was done. Even when Irish people did come back to Ireland
during the Celtic Tiger years, those people weren’t eligible for social
services. They were told you are not an Irish resident, or an EU resident. They
were told they were not eligible to student grants or unemployment. You really weren’t welcome at all. That’s all
changing and the Irish authorities are anxious to get any Irish American or any
Irish Australian to come back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is a different view
over here, but I’m still a bit cynical about it. The first economic cuts (in
the Great Recession) were in the area of environment and heritage. A lot of the
cultural centers and historical centers have shut down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I suppose on the bright
side, not just the government sponsored destruction of heritage, the private
sector was doing a lot of damage too. At least, that’s all come to a halt if
you will. The impact to the atmosphere leading to climate change has been
reduced. There are some positives.
Unfortunately, traffic on the M3 is way, way down and we’re having to pay the
investors, this Spanish company, now direct payments. Millions and millions of
euros are being paid to keep the M3 going. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the real
positive things that came out of this, even though it’s been a tough haul, has
been to meet people like you and many others. I met great people along the way.
I didn’t do any of this alone. It was inspiring to see the international support
that we got from all around the world, in particular the US. Lots of people
said this is just wrong. So many people were willing to do something about it.
That made it a success. Even though the M3 went ahead where it shouldn’t have,
and it was heart breaking to see it go ahead, ultimately you have to say to
yourself that campaigning is to make an issue out of something, to put it into
the public mind, and to give the public an opportunity to express their
opinions about it. Clearly, the public had been ignored up until then. We
showed quite clearly that the majority of people were against the selected
route. We can rest and say we did our best.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-65570593094133806902013-05-18T07:37:00.000-04:002013-05-18T07:37:00.447-04:00Vincent Salafia: Sustainable Development to Archaeologists<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>In the prior blog entry,
Vincent had just explained his PhD thesis will put forward the concept that sustainable
development should be constitutionalized here in Ireland.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Question: What would
sustainable development accomplish? </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There would be a
constitutional implementation of social rights, economic rights, and
environmental rights. Hopefully, that constitutional equation would prevent
these types of things from happening again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You and I had worked on the
economic issues having to do with the toll roads on the M3 (I had contributed
some economic analyses which showed the questions the government should have
asked about the deal before it was struck). Maybe in hind sight the economic
issues were a lot more important than people realized in the course of the
campaigning where everybody was so focused on the heritage end of things that the
economic issues didn’t lend themselves so easily to protesting and people
getting excited. There were no grounds to go in and make economic complaints
back then. People need to be given their economic rights to say that public
money needs to be spent in a rational way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am trying to pull
everything together that I’ve been involved in over the last ten years or so.
It is really a formula and I am trying to get it into a few articles or a book.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Question: Is there a
recognition among politicians and other decision makers that the economics of a
road should be a factor? Should the government shoulder all the risk? Ireland
is paying foreign investors for a road, the M3, that is underutilized.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On the M3, they didn’t tell
the public if it was going to be a toll road. They said it could be a toll
road. They got the contract in the public/private partnership to build the
road. However, one of the complaints was made that the traffic numbers didn’t
add up, they didn’t justify this road in the first place. With all these
motorways going north, it was pretty clear that was correct. They realized it
would be a looser for any company getting involved, and they wouldn’t be able
to charge enough tolls to make it pay for itself. So what the government did
without telling anyone was they went out to the EU and got special permission
from the European Commission to allow them to sign a shadow tolling clause into
the contract. Normally they wouldn’t be able to do that, because it would be
seen as impermissible state aid under the European Union economic rules. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They were given permission
to do this in the instance of the M3. Also the Liber Tunnel was the only other
road they got permission to do this. They said this road was so necessary there
was no alternative to building this road. They said they probably wouldn’t need
the tolls anyway because things were growing at such a rapid rate here in
Ireland, there would be enough traffic to support the road. They created the
impression this shadow toll clause would never be used. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">No sooner had they signed
that contract than things started to fall apart in the economic realm. Now it’s
seen to be one of the worst economic decisions ever. Going all the way back to
2000, the roads program in Ireland was supposed to cost 5 billion euros. We
can’t get an exact figure from the government as to how much the roads cost,
but we figure they have cost somewhere in the region of 30 to 35 billion. So
you see how much money disappeared into the ether. Now we can see a lot of these roads weren’t
necessary at all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s gone from one extreme
to the other. Back then, they were building roads everywhere, and now, there is
no road building at all. There isn’t much sense in asking the present
government what they think of building roads, they haven’t had much opportunity
to think about that. Of course, with the troika breathing down their necks,
they are not going to be making any radical decisions. The biggest decision was
seen to be the withdrawal of the 500 million from the northern end of the M2/A5
road, the Dublin to Derry road. It’s going to be a while before they propose to
build new roads. They don’t really need many.
Even though they were supposed to get these new roads done by 2005, they
did manage to get most of them by 2008 or 2009. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That is really the end of
road building for the time being, and ironically, that also is the end of a lot
of archaeology jobs as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">People want to point
a finger at what happened over here. Certainly the archaeologists deserve their
share of the blame. They weren’t all bad, of course. The guy at Carrickmines,
Dr. Mark Clinton was good. We did have some archaeologists working for us
behind the scenes, but for the most part they were willing to go and dig up
anything. It could have been Cú Chulainn’s tomb. In fact they would have been dying
to get in there. There was just no
stopping those guys. Ethics appeared to go out the window. I’m not sure how
sorry I am to see a lot of them out of work now.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-52398324952331598842013-05-13T00:32:00.000-04:002013-05-13T00:32:00.890-04:00Vincent Salafia: Teaching to Making Sustainable Development Constitutional<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>In the last blog entry,
Vincent had just begun explaining how he started teaching at Queens University
in Belfast, Northern Ireland.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Question: How did things go
after you taught that first class?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then they offered me a
second class in planning and risk assessment, which is a bit more specific and
more into the area of impact assessment. I was nervous teaching my first class
up there, never having teaching experience. It was at the end of this first
class I was teaching that this Slane Bypass issue sprang up. I was able to use
the issue as a class project which showed how these things work in the real
world. It worked out really well in both directions. Some of the students got
involved in some of the campaign issues and certainly some of their research
and work came in handy. I think they enjoyed having the opportunity to deal
with some real world issues. I sort of carried on that tradition. The
north-south connection and the larger issues to do with the road made it an
ideal topic to deal with because, when I first went up to Queens University, of
the 30 students, 15 would have been from the south and 15 would have been from
the north. It was a good coming together type of issue. Although the southern end of that road has
come to a grinding halt as a result of the An Bord Planela decision, and the
south also withdrew the 500 million euro commitment to building the northern end,
the northern authorities have pushed ahead with the A5 upgrade up there. A
group of local residents I’ve had into my class at Queens called the A5
Alternative Alliance just went into court before Christmas 2012 and initiated
judicial review with the high court for the planning approval of the A5 up
there. Everybody is waiting to see what
will happen to that up there with the north. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Question: What is your next
act?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">During the course of all
this, I had to ask myself some of the bigger questions such as why am I doing
all this stuff? What does it all mean? What is the bigger picture here?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">During the course of my
studies along with campaigning, I learned more about this concept of
sustainable development and how it fits in with indigenous rights and
indigenous culture, which are obviously Brehon law concepts, and how it fits in
with environmental protection and heritage protection. I also learned to look
at where does economics come into this? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sustainable development is a
way that ties it all together in a positive way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">During these earlier campaigns,
we were operating in this property bubble and development frenzy that ended up
collapsing here in Ireland, quite dramatically, and showing we had been the
absolute definition of unsustainable development here in Ireland. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">What I’ve done in
terms of academia is I enrolled in a PhD program in Trinity College. I enrolled
about three years ago and I’m working on it right now. I got a bit distracted
but I’m back on the case. I’ve come up with a theory. My thesis will be that
sustainable development should be constitutionalized here in Ireland.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-59792549862295657572013-05-10T07:27:00.000-04:002013-06-01T11:08:43.400-04:00Vincent Salafia: Victory on Slane Bypass, Then Teaching<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>In the last blog entry,
Vincent had just described how the court asked for more information on from the
NRA and the Meath County Council.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Question:What decision did
the court reach:</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course months later,
which was last year, the decision came down that the planning authorities had
refused permission for the Slane bypass. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That was nice end to the whole
odyssey, having had such heartbreaking, I suppose, defeats at both Carrickmines
and at Tara, along the way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Question: Did the recession
help with the decision? </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You would have to wonder.
From a legal perspective, it shouldn’t have had any effect on the planning
authorities’ decision because economic issues usually are outside the planning
concerns. However, the main issue they determined was that the authorities had
not looked at all of the alternatives. One of the alternatives that had been
proposed, and indeed was promised to be delivered, was a ban on HGVs in the
village. Funding had been taken away from the bypass because of economic issues
and they were going to put in this HGV ban because the locals had been calling
for 20 years for either a bypass or a HGV ban. In 2007, 2008 when things were
already getting bad economically, Fine Fail announced that they were going to
go ahead with the bypass and the locals were delighted. Then six months or a
year later, the NRA announced that they didn’t have the money. The government
said they would do the HGV ban. Minister Noel Dempsey, the local TD, who was
also the Minister for Transport promised they would put in this HGV ban. But
they didn’t do that and then after the visit by the Taoiseach, all of a sudden
there was funding for the bypass. So this went back and forth. At the end of
the day no effort was made. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What actually happened was
the County Council came out with this outrageous report saying an HGV ban
actually couldn’t be implemented in the village. They said they would be sued
if they put it in there and that it would be impossible to implement. They even
said it would affect international trade. This was all brought up in the course
of the hearing. I think the planning authorities saw what was going on there,
that this was public money being used not only to get votes, but even the
design was so grandiose. Engineers who worked on the National Development Plan
saying this is gold plated infrastructure and it should be a much further
scaled down version. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The decision came back they
hadn’t looked enough at alternatives. There was obviously a route to the west.
The economic issues probably played a part but I think An Bord Plenala saw how they
had been taken for a ride by the Council and the engineers at Brú na Bóinne.
The same thing had happened at Tara. I think they saw that at Tara and they
realized at both situations that they hadn’t been given all the information. They
hadn’t been apprised of the full information on heritage. The proposers had
assumed the authorities didn’t care. I think by the time of the Slane bypass
they wanted to make up for past bad decisions, as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Question: Where does your
teaching tie in to your development?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is my fourth year
teaching at Queens University at Belfast. Just before the Slane bypass issue
appeared, I had received an email from the Irish law list, one of their usual
emails, and it mentioned that Queens University was looking for someone to teach
a class in environmental legislation. Because I’d been in a tough situation in
Ireland where my Juris Doctorate degree from the United States is not recognized
here in Ireland, I haven’t been able to go into the Four Courts and get
registered as a barrister. I realized my best chance here was to take the
academic route. To be honest, I was never anxious to be a litigator my whole
life and I liked the idea of more of an academic approach to things. So I was
delighted when I saw this opportunity because I figured this was something I
would be fully qualified for. There aren’t a lot of openings for environmental
law here in Ireland. I went up for the interview at the Management School at
Queens. They hired me pretty much on the spot which was great.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">___________________________________</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Next Post: <a href="http://shamrockroad.blogspot.com/2013/05/vincent-salafia-teaching-to-making.html" target="_blank">Vincent Salafia: Teaching to Making Sustainable Development Constitutional </a><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Previous Post: <a href="http://shamrockroad.blogspot.com/2013/05/vincent-salafia-bru-na-boinne-achieves.html" target="_blank">Vincent Salafia: Brú na Bóinne Achieves Progress </a><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-2841667713074112802013-05-07T04:16:00.000-04:002013-06-01T10:56:49.681-04:00Vincent Salafia: Brú na Bóinne Achieves Progress<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>In the prior blog post, Vincent
had just gotten to the point of explaining the need for a safer road in Slane.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Question: Why did they want
to build this road around Slane though? Aren’t there other high capacity roads
nearby?</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They had built the M1
motorway as part of this huge, grand motorway scheme that was introduced in
Ireland by the National Development Plan back in 2000. Unfortunately, in
hindsight, when I took a look at that scheme, there had been huge damage done
to the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site. They hadn’t even included the Brú na
Bóinne site in the Environmental Statement, even though a motorway was planned
to actually go through the buffer zone of the World Heritage Site. There wasn’t
awareness back then in the communities and in society of the idea of protecting
heritage. There were no protest groups. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This M2 is the third major
motorway going out of Dublin and was on the other side of the Brú na Bóinne World
Heritage Site from the M1.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What was happening in Slane
was there were tolls on that M1 motorway, so a lot of the big lorries were
avoiding the tolls by going back onto the old road. There were counted to be
1,400 HGVs , they call them Heavy Good Vehicles in Ireland, a day going down
through the village of Slane. Bad accidents were happening and it was a
dangerous place. I think everyone was in agreement that something had to be
done. It was unfortunate though to have the design affecting the World Heritage
Site. But you have to remember these were the same engineers and the same
County Council who built the other motorway on the other side of Slane and who
built the M3 motorway affecting Tara. We were all very familiar with each
other. The same experts, the same
archaeologists for the NRA (National Roads Agency), even going back to
Carrickmines, we were all old soldiers at this stage. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There was huge support for
the bypass in Slane. We had sympathy at the Hill of Tara with local community
groups. This time, I was public enemy number one in Slane. There was a silent minority of people who
were concerned about the World Heritage Group, but everyone in Slane was scared
to raise their head in Slane to make that point. They all knew they would be
crucified. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was a different type of a
campaign in Slane which was more legally based with people participating in the
public process. The beauty of it was, unlike Carrickmines where the public
process had already ended at the point where we went into court, and unlike at
Tara where a lot of the public campaigners there hadn’t had a chance to
participate, at Slane we were in early. We got a lot of good arguments in and
used a lot of the ammunition that we’d built up over the years particularly
with UNESCO, who had met with us over the Tara issue, when they were over
looking at an incinerator proposal which was also close to the Brú na Bóinne
site. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">We got very good
submissions in. It looked very good when the authorities came back after a
couple of months and asked for more information to be submitted by the NRA and
the Meath County Council. They indicated they didn’t feel there was enough
information submitted about the archaeological information or consideration of
alternatives. That was the first good sign that things were going well for us
there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">_____________________________</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Next Post: <a href="http://shamrockroad.blogspot.com/2013/05/vincent-salafia-victory-on-slane-bypass.html" target="_blank">Vincent Salafia: Victory on Slane Bypass, Then Teaching</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Previous Post: <a href="http://shamrockroad.blogspot.com/2013/05/interview-of-vincent-salafia-hill-of.html" target="_blank">Interview of Vincent Salafia: Hill of Tara to Brú na Bóinne</a><br /><br /><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-13934472651350339982013-05-05T07:04:00.000-04:002013-05-24T06:26:45.131-04:00Interview of Vincent Salafia: Hill of Tara to Brú na Bóinne<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>In the prior blog post, Vincent
had brought the story to the Hill of Tara and how a wooden henge called
Lismullin had seemed to be significant enough to at least delay the
construction of the M3 road. Would the European Union act to protect such an
important heritage site?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Question: What happened with
the complaints to the European Union?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What happened was the legal process
here required the Minister to make a decision to approve for the demolition of
the Lismullin site. The EU wrote to Ireland saying they believed this decision
was in breach of EU law, that the discovery of the site should have triggered a
new environmental impact assessment and that work should cease. However, the
Irish authorities ignored the European Union and went ahead and destroyed the
site. The European Union didn’t feel strongly enough about it at the time to go
into court and seek an injunction to stop it. No intervener here succeeded in
getting before a court to stop it. Nothing stopped it. Sadly, the EU did actually succeed in its
legal challenge to the authorization given by Dick Roche, the Minister for the
Environment, but it was too late to do any good. His decision to order the bulldozing
of Lismullin was found to be in breach of the Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) Directive by the European Court of Justice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The M3 road opened in 2008. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It wasn’t too long after
that the proposal to build the Slane bypass came up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I read in the paper in 2009
there was an advertisement in the paper which included a map showing where they
were going to upgrade the road from Dublin to Derry. The M3 motorway was
replacing the N3 road up to Derry. Approximately seven miles to the east was
the N2 road which they were going to make the M2 motorway. There were going to be all these motorways
going north out of Dublin. When I saw the ad in the paper, I was horrified for
a number of reasons:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">a.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It
was way too close to Newgrange and the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">b.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Also
I was horrified of the prospect of a third major campaign which caused me to
say to myself, “I can’t do any more of this.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I waited over Christmas and
coming into the New Year. I waited to see if An Taise, locals, or anyone would
kick up to get a campaign going. The period
for public consultation was rapidly coming to an end. With two weeks to go, basically, nobody had
said diddly. After I had built up a lot of Facebook contacts and email
contacts, I decided to launch a campaign off the back of that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I started a Facebook group
called Save Newgrange and sent out a lot of invitations. Within a week we had
over 10,000 members on our Facebook group. We had a lot of petition signatures
and a lot of submissions got made before the deadline. That was the objective –
in the space of that two weeks, to get a lot of objections in and we succeeded.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There were public hearings
that were held once the deadline was closed. That particular situation was
similar but very different in a lot of ways to the other campaigns. In Slane, which is a village very near
Newgrange, the overall N2 road that was being upgraded was part of this much
larger project to connect Dublin with Donegal and build the longest motorway in
Irish history. The motorway would pass up through Slane and up to the border
where it would meet up with the A5 road up there. Indeed the Irish government
(in the Republic of Ireland in the south of Ireland) had committed 500 million
euros to the A5 (in Northern Ireland). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This was done under the
North-South Peace Agreement, the Good Friday agreement as a way of building
better connections between the North and the South. This was another sacred cow
for both governments, North and South. Of course, this had been conceived
without any Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), which has a broader take
than an EIA, which only looks at projects. An SEA looks at plans and indeed
policies, sometimes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While I was doing this
campaigning, I had gone back to university here in Ireland. I’d done a Master’s
in law, in European law, so I had some training in Environmental Impact
Assessment and SEA. That came in very handy in the Slane situation. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">The situation in Slane was unique. I had been up in Slane to see the Rolling Stones when I was about 13 years old. From that and other visits, I knew the village very well. It’s got this very old rickety stone bridge that crosses the river Boyne. The existing road, I’d be the first to admit is a very dangerous road.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">____________________________</span></span><br />
<br />
Next Post: <a href="http://shamrockroad.blogspot.com/2013/05/vincent-salafia-bru-na-boinne-achieves.html" target="_blank">Vincent Salafia: Brú Na Boinne Achieves Progress</a><br />
<br />
Previous Post: <a href="http://shamrockroad.blogspot.com/2013/04/interview-of-vincent-salafia.html" target="_blank">Interview of Vincent Salafia: Carrickmines Castle Campaign to Hill of Tara Campaign</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-24724057097630188392013-04-30T20:53:00.000-04:002013-05-05T07:09:25.053-04:00Interview of Vincent Salafia: Carrickmines Castle Campaign to Hill of Tara Campaign<br />
<i>In the prior blog post, Vincent Salafia had recounted how he came to live in Ireland. He had just got to the point of telling how he became involved with those trying to preserve the Carrickmine Castle and that he and his supporters won a Supreme Court injunction which held up further construction of the road.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Question: I know the injunction didn’t hold in the long run. What happened?</i><br />
<br />
That injunction lasted for about a year. Those trying to continue building the road came along with a different legal assault and won a second injunction. Then the government changed the whole national monuments act which included a special provision to put the motorway through the Carrickmines Castle site. A third Supreme Court case was taken, arguing that provision in the act was unconstitutional. There is a constitutional responsibility on the part of government to protect heritage. In fact, it was established that there was such a constitutional imperative for the first time in Irish history and in fact for the first time in world history that this constitutional imperative did exist. It was said the constitutional imperative did not apply in this particular instance for some technical reason.<br />
<br />
Just around the time that was all coming to a head, we had been hearing about this proposal to build a similar motorway up on the Hill of Tara. I had gotten involved in a couple of disputes with this organization known as An Taisce. Generally a good organization, but the person in charge, him and I had some disputes. They wanted to take over all the legal action and I held it should be carried out by the group that had put the case together.<br />
<br />
To cut a long story short, I said I’m going to head up to Tara, and start up a campaign there. You guys can finish off Carrickmines.<br />
<br />
I went up to Tara in 2003. There had been various local groups who had been participating in the public process where an environmental impact assessment was done. There was the Meath Archaeological Historical Society, the Meath Road Action Group, various local resident groups. We started having meetings. The Columban Fathers have a big training institution there, right in view of the Hill of Tara. We started having meetings there in the big old buildings. I used to travel up every week at these meetings.<br />
<br />
The residents were reluctant to take a law suit. After about a year of putting on different events and not being able to persuade the politicians to change their mind, I left the group then and went on my own to the High Court to seek an injunction to stop them from doing the test trenching for the motorway. The judicial review was of the ministers’ decision to grant permission for the test trenching. The archaeological experts had already discovered a huge number of archaeological sites along the pathway of the motorway and a lot of different archaeologists and historians had protested, saying a lot of these sites should be left in situ, rather than being excavated and being preserved by record.<br />
<br />
What happened then, ironically was my case got held up while they awaited the Supreme Court judgment on Carrickmines case determining the constitutionality of the National Monuments Act. It became a long drawn out process. This went on for years really. In approximately 2004/2005 I went to court. It was 2007 before the case came before full hearing. I lost in the High Court. A really nasty decision, it was. I really got abused by the judge and it was really disheartening because he was clearly quite biased against stopping the motorway proposal.<br />
<br />
My appeal was trending toward the Supreme Court, when An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland, came along. My case had really gotten messed up. The judge had tied it up so tightly in knots, I think it was impossible to win in the Supreme Court. At that point, it was an effort to hold them off as long as possible until something else happened. An Taisce came along and said they’d take the case forward if I agreed to drop mine. I did so, however this gave the authorities the opportunity to sign the contract with the construction company. An Taisce waited too long to go into court so there was a window there for the authorities to get the contract signed and get work underway. There was no injunction in place. When An Taisce did get into court, they were run out within a day or two and that legal process was all over.<br />
<br />
There were movements in Europe to stop aspects of the construction. When they started excavating for the road, this new site called Lismullin popped up. It was a previously undetected, unrecorded site which was a huge wooden henge (A henge is a group of standing columns found to be arranged according to the local astronomical events. Stone Henge in England is probably one of the most famous henge). We had experts fly in from the US. Dr. Ron Hicks from Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, was our main protagonist. He helped us do a petition to the world monument fund to place Lismullin on the hundred most endangered sites in the world. We were successful in that and Archaeological magazine came along and said Lismullin was one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in the year 2007.<br />
<br />
<br />
Next Post: <a href="http://shamrockroad.blogspot.com/2013/05/interview-of-vincent-salafia-hill-of.html" target="_blank">Vincent Salafia: Hill of Tara to Brú na Bóinne</a><br />
<br />
Previous Post: <a href="http://shamrockroad.blogspot.com/2013/04/interview-of-vincent-salafia-family.html" target="_blank">Interview of Vincent Salafia: Family History Up to Carrickmines Castle Campaign</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-32415141624849735672013-04-28T20:53:00.000-04:002013-04-30T20:55:41.859-04:00Interview of Vincent Salafia: Family History Up to Carrickmines Castle Campaign<br />
<br />
<i>How can Ireland balance its growth and improvement with the need to preserve its heritage and its environment?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Vincent Salafia has been in the forefront of several important instances in Irleand where many argue there was an imbalance toward growth without proper consideration of heritage and the environment. As we will see in the following interview, Vincent was uniquely equipped by his background in the US and Irish cultures, with his knowledge of the legal heritage, millennia old, in Ireland, and by his own personal commitment to see things done right.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>But before we go to the significant instances that have drawn worldwide interest, let’s hear about how Vincent came to live in Ireland.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Question: What is your history with Ireland?</i><br />
<br />
Brief family history: Our family has had a long tradition of emigrating and returning to Ireland. Starting with my grandmother in the mid-nineteen twenties, she left Ireland. She was one of ten children. One of the McGees from the Longford area. Her brother was supposed to go to America, but got pleurisy after playing Gaelic football. So the ticket was given to her and she came into the lower east side of Manhattan at 16 years old. She had a tough time working in sweat. She married an Italian-American called James Salafia. They had four children there in the States. She always wanted to return to Ireland. They did pretty well over in the US. He was an electrical engineer and built houses, army bases, and other structures in New Jersey. She moved back to Ireland in 1957, and bought up some property in Wicklow. My mom was put into school and my uncle, who had done a year in Georgetown, was here. There was my mother and her three siblings. Three of them went to university here.<br />
<br />
My mother, when she was in the town of Arklow, she met my father who was an O’Toole. The O’Tooles had this farm across the way. They got married and I came along. They didn’t seem to get along too well, so she ended up going over to England to study to be a nurse. I was raised by my grandmother on the farm down in Wicklow.<br />
<br />
After being raised and going through boarding school, I graduated in 1983. By then my mother had moved back to the States. She was living in upstate New York working as a nurse. She was in the Finger Lakes district, Hammondsport, New York, which is gorgeous country. I visited there a few times. She got married again and they bought a motel in Florida.<br />
<br />
When I headed over in 1983, I landed in Florida. I did a year in High School there to kind of integrate a few areas and sort myself out. I went to Saint Leo College, a small Catholic College, which is about an hour north of Tampa. I had a lovely time there. Studied pre-law political science and also worked as a DJ part time. I took a year off before graduating, went to Pittsburgh, worked as a DJ, came back and graduated.<br />
<br />
Then I went to work in the family business for a while. Then I went up to New York and worked in some law firms to see if that was what I wanted to do. Entertainment law was what I wanted to do. I went to law school in Fort Lauderdale in 1993 and graduated there in 1996.<br />
<br />
I worked for a while in Florida.<br />
<br />
I got married and moved up to the Indiana area, Carmel, outside Indianapolis. That went well for a while and then not so well. Around 1999 I decided I’d leave America. I’d always wanted to get back to Ireland. Seeing that certain things had come to an end, it would be nice to get a fresh start. I hadn’t seen a whole lot of my grandmother while living in the States, so I’d decided I’d see a lot more of her on this side of the Atlantic. I came back.<br />
<br />
<i>Question: When did you return to Ireland?</i><br />
<br />
The year 2000 is when I started to settle back in. Almost immediately upon my return, I started working on this project called the Brehon Law Project, which I’d started in Florida (Ireland’s own indigenous system of law dating from Celtic times, which survived until the 17th century is known as the Brehon law. Written down in the 7th century AD for the first time, Brehon law was administered by Brehons (or brithem) who served more as arbitrators.) I”d had an amateur type interest in the early Irish legal system. I’d done a paper in an art, literature, and law class. The Internet was just getting started then, so I made up a web site and got in touch with various professors who were working on translating the Brehon laws. I started to put on a series of symposia where I gathered together a lot of different scholars and judges. I did that three years in a row and focused on various aspects of early Irish law.<br />
<br />
During that process I got to know more and more people in Dublin and was fitting back in. I was interested in the O’Toole history as well and part of the reason for studying Brehon law was the tie in with my own family history. The O’Tooles had been chieftains of Leinster. They had been great warriors against the British in their day. There was the history of Saint Lawrence O’Toole who was the patron saint of Dublin. I studied his involvement going all the way back to the Northern invasion. Strongbow, when he came over, married Aoife of Leinster. She was the daughter of Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster and Mor O’Toole. The marriage was performed by Saint Lawrence O’Toole.<br />
<br />
<i>Question: So you really liked that history?</i><br />
<br />
This history fascinated me. I read in the paper there was a Norman castle, known as Carrickmines Castle, outside of Dublin, being attacked by a motorway proposal for the ring road around Dublin. The Castle had been blown up in 1642, so there wasn’t a whole lot of it left, but the huge defenses around the Castle were being excavated in preparation for the motorway to go through. The motorway had been built up to either side of the Castle by the time these protests broke out. It was the tail end of the excavation. The archaeologists were being rushed out of the site. They were furiously objecting, saying they’d made these important discoveries, the site should be a national landmark, and it shouldn’t be destroyed.<br />
<br />
A bunch of us went in and occupied the castle site. We were called the Carrickminders. I got together a legal team and we proceeded to the High Court (In the Republic of Ireland the highest court is the Supreme Court. The court just below that for civil cases is the High Court). We lost in the High Court but won in the Supreme Court obtaining an injunction which held up the road to the dismay of the Taoiseach and many others (The Taoiseach (pronounced approximately TEE-shock) is the equivalent of a prime minister in the Republic of Ireland).<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Next Post: <a href="http://shamrockroad.blogspot.com/2013/04/interview-of-vincent-salafia.html" target="_blank">Interview of Vincent Salafia: Carrickmines Castle Campaign to Hill of Tara Campaign</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-7706803932868607632013-04-26T07:03:00.000-04:002013-05-05T07:53:41.769-04:00Rhino Heads StolenFrom the Weird News Department: Rhino Heads Stolen From An Irish Museum<br />
<br />
Sometimes the global economy has unusual consequences.<br />
<br />
Masked men stole four Rhino heads from a storeroom of the Ireland National Museum in Swords, north of Dublin. The masked men tied up a security guard who later freed himself and reported the theft.<br />
<br />
The century old horns had been placed in guarded security after a spate of such thefts across Europe in recent years. <br />
<br />
Powdered rhino horn is sold at high prices in China and southeast Asia because it is alleged to be an aphrodisiac and to cure cancer. Scientists have found no such properties, which isn't surprising given the horns' content. Rhino horns are made of keratin which is the same major ingredient in skin, hair, nails, claws, and hooves. The fibrous structural proteins in all these items are similar and there is no reason for the proteins to have medicinal or specific interactive value with cellular biochemicals.<br />
<br />
However, because of the persistent perception of their medicinal value half a world away from Ireland, the eight horns are suspected by the guardi (police) to have a value of up to $650,000.<br />
<br />
Investigators wonder if the heist was conducted by an organized crime gang with links to the County Limerick town of Rathkeale. This group is suspected to have conducted the thefts across Europe.<br />
<br />
Obviously this theft has deprived museum visitors of the opportunity to see in person the heads of these powerful beasts to gain an appreciation for their unique size and body form.<br />
<br />
Rhinos have been hunted across Asia and Africa near to or into extinction. One of the stolen heads was of the extinct white rhinoceros from Sudan in North Africa.<br />
<br />
At least the stolen rhino heads were from animals long dead.<br />
<br />
<br />
And the thieves may have an issue in that the eight horns (two per head) were coated with arsenic a century ago as a preservative and arsenic has well known poisonous properties.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-44031579751120851132013-02-26T22:33:00.000-05:002013-02-27T21:49:42.872-05:00Tommy Sands and Family Appearing at 8th Step Coffee HouseThere are a lot of performers in the world and I can't keep up.<br />
<br />
When I started checking into this performer, I was surprised. Surprised I never heard of him. Surprised by who recommends him. Surprised at how he dedicates his life.<br />
<br />
His name is Tommy Sands.<br />
<br />
For the impatient: He will be appearing on:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Sunday, March 10, 2013 @ 7 PM</li>
<li>8th Step Coffee House @ Proctors Theatre, 432 State Street, Schenectady, New York 12304</li>
</ul>
<div>
Who recommends him?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Since I live in the Hudson Valley and have tremendous respect for the man, I'll start with: Pete Seeger.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Pete Seeger has said,"Tommy Sands has achieved that difficult but wonderful balance between knowing and loving the traditions of his home and being concerned with the future of the whole world."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I write poetry myself, so I was intrigued to read Seamus Heany has said of Tommy Sands, "You feel you can trust the singer as well as the song. His voice is at ease, it is not drawing attention to itself and yet, for that very reason it demands attention naturally." For those who may not know, Seamus Heany is Ireland's Nobel winning poet.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Tommy Sands is much more than a singer-songwriter. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In 1986 in Belfast, which was during the Troubles, Tommy Sands organized a "Citizen's Assembly" which included many of the North's top artists and literary figures. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
Then in 1998, politicians were starting to hammer out the language that would later culminate in the Belfast Agreement or Good Friday Peace Accords, a major road map of compromise and concession which would lead to relative peace.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Getting wind of the gist, the media ballyhooed snags in the negotiations.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Tommy Sands could see this could lead to the undoing of the agreement.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
He gathered a group of schoolchildren, half from the Catholic Republican side and half from the Protestant Loyalist side. Sands, the children, and some loud Lambeg drummers walked to Parliament singing the peace song Carry On.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A group of politicians met them on the steps of Parliament and the politicians were teary eyed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Seamus Mallon who became Deputy First Minister in the Assembly that same year said the event was a “defining moment in the peace process.”</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On top of all this, the man's music is well known and so moving.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
His song, "<a href="http://unitedireland.tripod.com/id55.html" target="_blank">There Were Roses</a>" is bone crushing sad.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The song has been covered by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=there+were+roses+tommy+sands&oq=+There+were+Roses&gs_l=youtube-reduced.1.1.0l4.105904.105904.0.109660.1.1.0.0.0.0.118.118.0j1.1.0...0.0...1ac.1.N4XB0Jvwspo" target="_blank">many artists</a> and many would say has entered the Pantheon of Irish songs.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, yes, I recommend you go to hear Tommy, Fionan, his son, and other family members on:</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Sunday, March 10, 2013 @ 7 PM</li>
<li>8th Step Coffee House @ Proctors Theatre, 432 State Street, Schenectady, New York 12304</li>
</ul>
<div>
There will also be a reception where you can hear Tommy speak his special stories before the concert. Ask when you are buying tickets how to attend that.<br />
___________________________________________________<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-7829189364118413202013-02-18T19:48:00.002-05:002013-02-18T19:50:50.511-05:00Tips and Tales from an Irish Genealogist<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Finding records of ancestors in Ireland is difficult. Fire and other means is suspected of destroying the vital statistics records stored in Dublin. Read more about the <a href="http://homepage.eircom.net/~seanjmurphy/nai/censusmemo.htm" target="_blank">destruction of Irish Census Records here</a>. Also, many Irish were tenant farmers whose lives left little in the way of a paper trail.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Donna Vaughn has over 40 years of experience in genealogy and will share her valuable tips including websites and other avenues to help people trace their Irish roots.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Date: March 2, 2013</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Time: 2:00 to 3:30 PM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Place: St. Agnes Cemetery Newly Renovated Map Room</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 48 Cemetery Avenue, Menands, New York</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED as seating is limited.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Contact: Email: <a href="mailto:KellyAnn.Grimalid@rcda.org">KellyAnn.Grimalid@rcda.org</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Phone: 518-463-0134 ext. 110</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-50972688519297353012013-01-30T21:06:00.000-05:002013-01-30T21:06:36.354-05:00The Irish Golden Age in the Catskills<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Interview with Kevin Ferguson
at Catskill Irish Arts Week 2011:<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Kevin Ferguson is producing
and directing an independent documentary film about the Irish Catskills. Its
title: ‘Dancing at the Crossroads: The Musical Birth and Near-Death of the Irish
Catskills.’. In this first part of the interview, we learn about the Irish in
the Catskills and Kevin’s experiences growing up in the middle of living
history:<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Coming to the
Catskills since childhood, how did you become familiar with the Irish tradition
in the Catskills?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My parents met here in 1955. My mother came over from County
Cavan in 1950. The address on the manifest of the ship she came over on said
she was bound for Mullan’s Mountain Spring Farm, which is now called the
Blackthorne. That address was put on there because her sister Marie Mullan and
her husband, Ed Mullan, also from County Cavan, bought what was a German
boarding house run by a Mrs. Peters. They bought it in 1946 and opened in 1947
as Mullan’s Mountain Spring Farm.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They were not the first ones up here. The Irish had been
coming up since the late 1800s, but it was really in the 1930s when it began to
take the shape as an Irish enclave. They settled in Leeds, South Cairo, Oak
Hill, and East Durham.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Shamrock House, the Weldon House, the Fern Cliff, O’Neil’s
Cozy Corner, later known as the O’Neill House or ‘O’Neill’s in the Woods – and
which is now a religious retreat house, were already there. So, too, was the
Haypress, later known as O’Neill’s Tavern and now called The Saloon. Most of
them were opened up by Irish people who had been successful in opening up bars,
dancehalls, and boarding houses in New York City, usually in the Bronx or in
the Rockaways in Queens. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Rockaways had become ghettoized into ethnic areas. There
were Jewish bungalows, the Italian bungalows, and the Irish bungalows. By the
time the 1960s came along, they knocked down many of the bungalows and put up
high-rise buildings. That accelerated them up to East Durham for vacation
experiences. Although the Irish had been coming there for decades, the
Catskills hit their heydays in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. There’re still a
few places in the Rockaways, like the Irish Circle, and in the Catskills, like
the Shamrock House, Blackthorne, Gavin’s, and the Irish Center over in Leeds.
And both areas have strong Irish communities, but they are not like they were,
of course. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Were they doing Irish
set dancing or American popular music?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the Catskills, as well as in New York, they were doing both.
They would play music somewhat dependent on the decade. The people who came
were mostly Irish immigrants, and some Irish-Americans. That ratio shifted as
time went on. Some places played the traditional Irish dance music on one floor
and more American stuff on the next. They even had signs that said, “Irish
Music,” “Irish-American Music,” or “American Music.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After a while they began to blend them a bit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was just talking to Felix Dolan this afternoon and Felix
was, and is, a great keyboard player. He had played the dance halls back in the
day. He was telling me what they’d play. There was always “A Stack of Barley,” and
there might be a “Siege of Ennis.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Irish who were coming over in the 50s started liking what
they called “Irish country music.” There would be some country music with some
Irish favorites, like a quick step or some waltzes. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Depending on the demographic, they’d shift it to get more
popular music in. There would always be an orchestra, which might be three
people or might be eight people. There would be someone who could play the
waltzes, foxtrots, and other ballroom pieces. There would be others who could
play the Irish as well. The dance halls in New York were crucial to what became
the explosion of Irish culture, because they were crucial to assimilation and also
to matchmaking. If you ask any person over the age of sixty who is Irish and
living in America now, chances are they met their spouse at some place like the
Jaeger House. Time and time again, they talk about how they met them there.
Immigrants would come and someone on the bandstand would say, “Okay, we have
new people here from County Cork. Anyone who wants to meet them, come over
here.” They would match them up. If their parents were here, they’d encourage
them to go to these dances, so they’d meet a nice Irish girl or boy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It became this social dancing, which we don’t have so much
anymore. We have set dancing and ceili dancing, which is well organized and not
as spontaneous as it was back then. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That social scene was a huge thing up in the Catskills, as
well. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You’d have Ralph Kelly who was a carpenter and an accordion
player from Albany. He opened Kelly’s Brookside Inn sometime in the 50s. He
built the dance floors at the Shamrock House, at McKenna’s Irish House, and the
Tower View. Those were all built by the Kellys. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dancing was massively important and is still going on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unfortunately, outside of the Catskill Irish Arts Week and
some other special events, there isn't a lot of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The culture is surviving in the set dancing and step
dancing, but it doesn't emphasize so much exploration as it used to. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>What was it like for
you growing up? Were you running around behind the scenes?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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It was fabulous here. It was as busy here as it is now during
Catskill Irish Arts Week but every day of the whole summer, say from July 1<sup>st</sup>
to Labor Day. Places were packed. You’d walk around at night completely
untethered from your parents, but you were safe because all the parents knew
each other. It was one big community and everybody watched out for each other.
You could walk around without any fear of harm and that was great. I loved it
because my aunt and uncle owned what is now the Blackthorn. We thought we were
royalty; whether anyone else thought so or not, we thought we were royalty.
We’d get together and sneak in the back ways. Of course, we also had to work
from the time we could walk. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At five or six, you were out collecting bottles, doing other
small tasks. When I was a teenager, I worked up here six days a week. Six days,
eighty dollars a week in the mid-70s. But we were teenagers and we enjoyed
getting away from our parents. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The music was the center of everything. As the pubs served
as a meeting ground elsewhere, the bars up here did, too. It was very common to
be in the pub at 10 o’clock at night when you were 8 years old sitting around a
table with people of all ages. You’d hear traditional music. By the late 60s
and the 70s, there would start to get the show bands in. In the 70s, I heard more
Neil Diamond, such as Sweet Caroline. A typical night in the mid-70s here,
you’d go and you’d hear the Mason’s Apron play Sweet Caroline, the Stack of
Barley, the Siege of Ennis, some soft rock, with lots of waltzes interspersed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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We danced them all, even if we couldn't dance. I couldn't dance. You looked forward to dancing the Siege of Ennis because you’d be pushed
around because you didn't know which way to go or if you were like me and had
two left feet. But you’d get out there and they’d shove you to the next part. </div>
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<br /></div>
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It was a wonderful time to be here between the music, the dancing, the
community, and the community meals.<o:p></o:p></div>
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___________________________________________________</div>
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<br /></div>
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Next blog: What happened to the Irish culture in the Catskills after the peak?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713104049394087012.post-64272346293706258392013-01-14T07:36:00.000-05:002013-01-14T22:22:46.597-05:00Part 3: Northern Irish Scientist Works to Prove Higgs Boson Exists <span lang="">Steve Myers was born in West Belfast, Northern Ireland and was taught mathematics and physics by priests, one of whom was the younger brother of the Cardinal of Ireland.<br />
<br />
He more or less stumbled into electrical engineering at Queen’s University Belfast. He and four other friends were applying to the University. Only one of them had an idea of what to study. That young man’s father was an engineer who said electrical engineering was a profession under demand. All five of the young men, including Steve, put electrical engineering on the top of their applications.<br />
<br />
This was a fortuitous choice for Steve as he eventually received a PhD from Queen’s University in Belfast.<br />
<br />
He had another brush with synchronicity when his invitation to CERN was delayed by a long postal strike until the day before he was due in Geneva. He rushed to the interview and while waiting to be invited before the interviewers, he picked up a paper lying on the waiting room table. He noticed the term and concept of the "head tail instability" which has to do with electrons hitting the walls of the particle accelerator causing more electrons to leave the wall, creating an electron cloud that reduces the quality of the beam. Unknown to Steve at the time, this was a prime concern of his interviewers.<br />
<br />
The resulting job, which he started in 1972, was Engineer-in-Charge of the operation of the Intersecting Storage Rings Collider (ISR). In 1979 he started working on the Large Electron–Positron Collider (LEP) which was the most ambitious collider to be built in its day. The design, approval, and construction took 10 years. A 27 km tunnel was excavated about 100 m underground with four large underground expansions of the cavern to house the detectors.<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, he was chosen to be the Deputy Leader of the SPS (Super Proton Synchrotron)-LEP (SL) Division in charge of preparing the LEP Collider for physics. From 1996 until 2000, he was Project Leader of the LEP upgrade (LEP2). In 2000 Myers became Leader of the SPS-LHC (Large Hadron Collider)(SL) Division and in 2003 he rose to be Head of the Accelerator and Beams (AB) Department.<br />
<br />
In 2009, he was appointed to be in charge of all the accelerator and technology activities at CERN as Director of Accelerators and Technology. Thus, he is in charge of the organization that has produced these groundbreaking results while it simultaneously uses all its colliders and develops new projects. <br />
<br />
Through all these changes and challenges within the organizational hierarchy, he has stayed intimately familiar with how to coax the particles successfully around all the rings at CERN. Not bad for a young man from West Belfast who barely knew what electrical engineering was when he launched onto that career path.</span><br />
______________________________<br />
<br />
<a href="http://shamrockroad.blogspot.com/2010/12/blog-listing-of-talk-given-by-reverend.html" target="_blank">If you want to learn more about West Belfast and the efforts to achieve peace, click here.</a><br />
<br />
Did you miss earlier posts in this series? <a href="http://www.shamrockroad.blogspot.com/2013/01/northern-irish-scientist-works-to-prove.html" target="_blank">Click here to go to the first post.</a><br />
<a href="http://www.shamrockroad.blogspot.com/2013/01/part-2-northern-irish-scientist-works.html" target="_blank">Click here to go to the second post.</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926982824002282354noreply@blogger.com0