Wearin’ o the Green
Ireland’s own Rory McIlroy is one of only four people to ever earn TWO Green Jackets, back-to-back at The Masters. Augusta, Georgia was the site last month of Rory’s second win of the coveted Green Jacket and the site of McIlroy’s Grand Slam last year.
With the azaleas and dogwoods in full bloom Rory’s dominance of the match slipped into high stakes drama at the end. At the finish, all his five-year-old daughter Poppy could say is, “Wow”.
Rory joins Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as the only folks to win consecutive Masters. McIlroy was the first to win without a Bogey (1 under par) since the WWII era.
Rory’s home is Holywood, County Down, where he grew up as an only child to working class parents, Rosie and Gerry McIlroy. He learned to play at an early age tagging along with his father at the Holywood Golf Club, where after his recent victory, he had his caddie call the packed bar of locals to open a tab, drinks on Rory. The HGC bar even had a special cocktail: Rory’s Green Jacket: Gin, elderflower cordial, lime and soda.
McIlroy said it was really cool to have his parents present for the victory. Last year they did not attend out of fear that they would jinx his chances (how Irish).
This year he begged them to come; they attended reluctantly but were thrilled to be present for their son’s great accomplishment. Here’s to going for the first Triple next year.
The Black and The Green
The Black and the Green is worthy of your streaming pursuits. Filmed in 1983 by documentarian St. Clair Bourne, the short (40 minutes) film follows a group of African American civil rights activists who travelled to the Six Counties during The Troubles. The Americans travelled to understand the battle for justice in Ireland and to share some of their own stories, success and failures. Great film footage from that period and fascinating dialogue between the groups is absorbing.
The Black and The Green is a remarkable, under told story of the direct and significant influence the American Civil Rights struggle had upon the Irish fight for justice in the British manufactured statelet, and a chronicling of the universal fight for freedom throughout the world. Available on the Criterion platform.
AOH speaks out on dTrump’s attack on Pope
The Ancient Order of Hibernians, the largest Irish and Catholic organization in the U.S.A. offered the following statement:
“People of good faith may disagree on matters of public policy. No Catholic should be asked to accept language that treats the Holy Father as though he were a partisan figure whose duty is to please the political expediency of the moment or defer to a secular ruler.
To Catholics, the Pope is the successor of Saint Peter; he does not hold his office at the pleasure of any leader of this world. President Trump’s remarks went well beyond reasonable disagreement. To call the Holy Father “weak,” to suggest that his election was engineered as a political response to an American president, and to speak of the papacy as though it should be aligned with a secular agenda is an insult not only to Pope Leo, but to the dignity and independence of the Catholic Church.
President Trump amplified the offense of his remarks by posting an image presenting himself in unmistakably quasi-religious terms, as a radiant healer laying hands on the afflicted, in the style of classical depictions of Christ. To attack the Holy Father and then cast oneself in the role of Christ is not political commentary; it is sacrilege and a defamation of the faith of millions of Christians.
When a president mocks the Vicar of Christ and then cloaks himself in Christ’s image, he has left the realm of politics entirely. He has committed an act of desecration against a faith held sacred by over a billion souls. Americans do not worship presidents.
Our Constitution prohibits religious test acts and the establishment of a state religion. Americans do not bend the knee to political messianism from any quarter. American Catholics have always faithfully followed Christ’s teaching to render unto Caesar what is justly Caesar’s, while reserving that which belongs to God alone.
Founded to protect the Church and defend the faith, the Ancient Order of Hibernians speaks without hesitation when either is attacked. The Holy Father has both the right and the duty to speak on moral questions touching war, peace, justice, human dignity, and the conduct of nations. In doing so, he speaks as the successor of Peter, not as an instrument of any political faction.
People may discuss and disagree on how those principles are applied in public life, but such disagreement should be civil and dignified. The AOH calls on President Trump to withdraw these remarks, offer a sincere and unambiguous apology, and show the respect due to the papacy and to Catholics throughout the world. The Chair of Peter is not an instrument of politics, and no president of the United States should ever mistake it for one.”
Fuel Protests Hit Ireland
In response to rising petrol prices at Irish pumps, the dTrump Persian war of choice is driving petrol prices through the roof. Ireland is completely dependent on imported refined gas and diesel, leaving the small island nation vulnerable to wild price fluctuations. Irish farmers and workers have combined to take to the streets with some spirited rallies, including shutting down major highways, blocking Irish ports and rallies in the cities. The coalition Irish government survived a no confidence vote and suffered its first major defection with the resignation of the junior agricultural minister.
Citizens are pushing for the lone Irish oil refinery to reopen and for suspension of fuel taxes and creation of subsidies to assist folks in covering this dTrump war that has provoked spikes in petrol as well as empty pumps. Critics have asserted the Dublin government has been slow to respond to this Israeli/U.S. forced national crisis impacting affordability across Ireland.
May Limerick
“A bard who resided in Killarney,
Wrote ballads both joyful and barmy.
With a lute and a lyre, He’d set towns afire,
But only with words, not an army.”
