Cooking Up a Hooley in the Kitchen: Scones Anyone Can Make
December 26, 2024
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I am much more of a savory person. Yet, oh my goodness do I love scones!
They are perfect because they are …
Cleveland Irish: Superorganic
- iIrish Admin
- December 26, 2024
- Edited 20 hours ago
Table of Contents
By Francis McGarry
The study of Irish immigration in recent years has begun to accept new research that decentralizes the shared narrative, and all-encompassing commonalities. History of the Irish diaspora now includes developing a longer chronological scope. Pre-Famine and late 19th century migration have always been a part of the story, just not as studied in the history of our history.
Recent historians study the strategies of Irish mothers who were the heads of households in Chicago, or how the Land League in America was a means to expand the voice of all the Irish in America. There are two works, Suellen Hoy’s Good Hearts: Catholic Sisters in Chicago’s Past and Maureen Fitzgerald’s Habits of Compassion: Irish Catholic Nuns and the Origins of York’s Welfare System that are well worth the read and are not the newest of studies.
As histories increase the years and the people that are a part of those histories, we get a much deeper grasp of what Irish immigration and the Irish in America were, and are, collectively. I have been reading up on the Irish in the South.
As a member of the Hibernian Society of Baltimore, and a perspective member of the Hibernian Society of Savannah, I need to be informed. Professor Trouillot would be joyous with the unsilencing of those voices of the past.
Holy Name Parish
The Sunday before Thanksgiving, we did some unsilencing at Holy Name. People gathered near the front door, and Bruce Greig piped everyone in just before 11:00am. There were multiple pews reserved and those were exceeded.
Monseigneur Antell began the day’s history lesson discussing the Hibernian window at Holy Name. He then shared some parish and personal history.
It is always a plus when you are afforded a memorable homily. Aunt Irene always liked a good story. That Sunday, Monseigneur was talking to us as he recounted the stories of his Irish mother. “She got more Irish as she got older.”
That was after he noted Father Walsh “puts the ancient in Ancient Order of Hibernians.” It truly was beautiful Mass. Once the choir had concluded “Our Lady of Knock,” most folks went to the brunch.
Irish Breakfast
Tim Neary arrived before the 8:30am Mass to start cooking. Raddell’s bangers, potatoes and eggs were on the menu. Sarah picked up the coffee and soda bread. The brown gravy did bring it all together, like a rug in a room.
Once folks were settled, Chelsea Chavez presented a brief history of the parish. Chelsea is a sophomore at St. Martin de Porres. She attended with her father and St. Martin’s Bill Klein. Each Mass we invite students from the Catholic high schools that receive funding from Bluestone Hibernian Charities to give the presentation and to assist with Mass.
Margaret Lynch, Executive Director of Irish American Archives, provided additional historical data and some interesting stories. She knows Cleveland Irish history.
There was, and still is, plenty to learn about Holy Name and its place in the history of the south side Irish in Cleveland. It was impressive to all the graduates of Holy Name in attendance.
History was in the air that day, a history that is not as well-known as other Irish narratives in our city. That is what the Hibernian Mass was created to be: a celebration of the history of the Irish in Cleveland at the parishes they fought to build. We are just getting started with Mass season.
January 19 is the Hibernian Mass at St. Aloysius. There are at least three members of the Irish Archives that were baptized at St. Al’s.
Ireland Rugby
That was Sunday and we are not limited to history alone. That Saturday, Gormley’s opened early to a full house for Ireland rugby. Fiji did not have a great day, but everyone at Gormley’s did. I even got a haircut, a good one to boot.
Celtic won that afternoon. Irish migration that day was to PJ’s. When we head west we eventually have to head back East. That typically involves a stop for dinner at Harp, Flat Iron, or Old Angle. It takes a lot of calories to cross the river. The weekend concluded at Jack Murphy’s Lounge.
We are blessed to have such a vibrant local Irish community, a community that includes various spaces and opportunities to experience our history and our culture as lived today. In many ways, iIrish chronicles and supports those intersections.
It’s not even March. Just as historians are embracing a wider lens in the study of Irish immigration, we know Irishness is not limited to a particular month, or a singular event.
Unification of Ireland
It can be the weekend before Thanksgiving or a Tuesday at the Westside IA to discuss the unification of Ireland. It can be embraced and celebrated every day, and in the personal moments Monseigneur Antell shared with us.
Culture is alive and each individual has a relationship with that culture. In anthropology, scholars like Alfred Kroeber and Edward Sapir applied the term “superorganic” to the complexity of human society.
Social evolutionary thought uses superorganic to discuss their claim that culture exists in a larger scope than the individuals in that culture. It is the universals of human behavior mediated by the forces of history and culture. It is organic, it is living.
We just live it and sometimes we don’t realize we are living it. There are also opportunities for us to knowingly embrace it.
Either way, live your best Irish. You can do it on your own terms and at your own pace. There are the Speak Irish classes, bagpipe lessons or you can just enjoy the craic at your local Irish pub.
If you are reading this newsmagazine, you are already on your way. It is your Irish journey, so own it and enjoy it.
To read more of Francis’ Cleveland Irish Columns, Click HERE
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Francis McGarry
*Francis McGarry holds undergraduate degrees from Indiana University in Anthropology, Education and History and a Masters in Social Science from the University of Chicago. He is the Executive Director of Bluestone Hibernian Charities and proprietor of McGarry Consulting. He is a past president of the Irish American Club East Side and the founder and past president of the Bluestone Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
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