Sometimes DU feels a good bit like Northern Ireland, if you're a

[DemBones DemBones]

Catholic who doesn't repudiate the Church and faith.


So I'm beginning to think of our group here as being sort of our local, a Catholic pub, where Orangemen and other haters of Catholics are not allowed to interrupt either our talks or our songs.

To the Holy Roman Catholic Church! :toast:

To His Holiness, John Paul II! :toast:

To all the saints, that we all may join them in the Church Triumphant! :toast:

To the Church Militant! :toast:

To all Democrats, radical, militant, progressive, or moderate! :toast:

To all DUers who don't bash Catholics! :toast:

To fellow Christian DUers, particularly the Orthodox and Anglo-Catholics! :toast:

And a very special toast to all Catholic DUers! :toast: :toast: :toast:

:smoke: 'em if you got 'em.

Now, where's our Maeve to tell us a Celtic tale or two?

And do we have a fiddler or other musicians in our group? Irish dancers?

[demosincebirth]

1. Salud (Pesetas) y Amor!

[DemBones DemBones]

4. Irish Blessing

May the sound of happy music
And the lilt of Irish laughter
Fill your heart with gladness
That stays forever after.

:hippie:

[Maeve]

2. It all depends on what kind of tale you're looking for!

Right now, I'm busy with tales of the Other, the People the church doesn't like to deal with. Truth be told, they are very dangerous People to deal with, so the church is right enough on that point... ;)

Maybe a nice Percy French song....

The Garden of Eden has vanished, they say
But I know the lie of it still;
Just turn to the left at the bridge of Finea
And stop when halfway to Cootehill.
'Tis there I will find it, I know sure enough
When fortune has come to me call,
Oh the grass it is green around Ballyjamesduff
And the blue sky is over it all.

And tones that are tender and tones that are gruff
Are whispering over the sea,
"Come back, Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff
Come home, Paddy Reilly, to me".

[DemBones DemBones]

3. I love that song! Tell me about Percy French, please.

And this round's on me. :beer: or :donut: ?

The closest I've come to an Irish pub is River Street in Savannah. You may not know, but Savannah has many people of Irish descent, the country's oldest St. Petrick's Day parade makes that week a huge event there.

Last time I was there, attending a conference, on the Saturday night we went to Vigil Mass at the Cathedral and then to an Irish pub on River Street. They had a good Irish singer playing that night and we enjoyed the music so much we bought some of his tapes. There's a particularly nice song about St. Brendan discovering America on one of the tapes, actually a number of good songs. I'll have to find them and tell you more.

I need to learn more about my Celtic roots (two Irish great-grandmothers makes me 1/4 Irish, after all.) I hope, Maeve, that you'll do some threads here about Celtic stories, music, etc. I'd like to know good books to read, so I don't waste my time reading bad ones, you know?

[Maeve]

9. Percy French was a great entertainer

Born in Co. Roscommon in 1854, he went to Trinity College, became a civil engineer only to lose his job and then his money in a bad investment. He had a talent for music and comedy and turned these into a very successful career as an entertainer and song writer. he never made much money, but it's said that he had a great time of it and that was what really counted for him. Here's one of his poems you might enjoy:

"If I should die tonight
And you should come,
And stand beside me,
Lying cold and dumb,
And if while standing there,
You whispered low,
'Here's the ten pounds
You lent me years ago,'
I would arise, although they'd laid me flat,
And say, 'What's that?'

If I should die tonight
But rose to count
With trembling fingers,
That long lost amount
I might live on;
But when
You said' Here's your umbrella
And your fountain pen,'
For one short space
I'd gaze into thy face
And then
Drop dead again."

[mrgorth]

5. You mean the 6 counties

Since you're obviously catholic you should know that the area you talked about is either called "the north of Ireland" or "the 6 counties". Calling it "Northern Ireland" legtimizes england's hold over the province and it is not even geographically correct as the are areas of Ireland further north. Neither can it be called Ulster since Ulster has 9 counties. The area in question should belong to the Irish Republic. It is occupied. Us "taigs" call it "the 6 counties" or "the 6 occupied counties" if you have the time.

Thanks,

Mark...your friendly AOH Freedom for All Ireland guy.

[DemBones DemBones]

6. I stand corrected! I'm proud to have 1/4 Irish ancestry

but don't know very much about Ireland or my Irish ancestors, am trying to learn more about both.

The rest of my ancestry is English and I take pride in being both English and Irish, will never understand why the English mistreated, and continue to mistreat, the Irish so badly, and pray it ends in this century.

Would I be correct in thinking "taig" is Gaelic for "paisan"?

And what is AOH Freedom for All Ireland?

[mrgorth]

7. Taig

is a disrespectful protestant euphemism for catholics in the north. "Prod" is the term going the other way. AOH is the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish catholic fraternity:
http://www.aoh.com
Every level of the AOH has Freedom for All Ireland chairmen to educate the brotherhood about the history and current events in the struggle for a free and united Ireland. Here's a great resource for you:
EIGHT CENTURIES OF ENGLAND IN IRELAND
A SYNOPSIS OF IRISH HISTORY
http://www.members.tripod.com/mise_eire/irishhistory.html

BTW, I have nothing against english people that don't want the occupation to continue and feel free to PM me if you want more info.

[Maeve]

8. Not just catholic but republican, huh?

Teasing, mrgoth! I'm a bit of an Irish Republican myself (one who believes in the unification of Ireland into one republic, for those who wonder at the term). Altho I do know a priest who is for unification but is a monarchist...wants an elected Irish high-king. I also think it will happen in due course, much like the fall of the Berlin Wall.

[mrgorth]

10. Yep. The only good republican.