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Harp Strings

The Official Newsletter of the Harp & Shamrock Society of Texas Volume 43

December 2008 - January 2009

Veteran’s Day Parade 2008

Issue 2

A Special Report From Bob Wehner

I was so proud to be in the Harp & Shamrock Society

group in the Veteran’s Day Parade here in San Antonio Saturday, November 8. There was a terrific turnout despite the almost total lack of publicity prior to the parade. This is a beautiful presentation and tribute for Veteran’s Day. A very moving moment was when we came upon a woman along the crowded route, who was clutching a triangular folded flag to her breast. She held it out for us to see as we passed by and thanked us for our service. It was obviously a flag from a military funeral. I know from my own loss, we cannot know the depth of her loss unless we’ve been there. You’ll find out just how continued on page 7

Participants in our second Veteran’s day parade included Chuck Meade, Bill McCauly, Bill Merriman, Bob Wehner, Terry Peak, Shannon Faught, Wayne Faught, Kevin Dowd, Carolyn Dowd and Pat Peak.

March Events Being Finalized

We are proud to announce Róisín Mulligan, the

2008 Texas Rose of Tralee, as the Grand Marshal for the Harp and Shamrock Society’s 41st Annual St. Patrick’s Day parade March 14, 2009. The Rose of Tralee International Festival celebrates young women in terms of their aspirations, ambitions, intellect, social responsibility and Irish Heritage. Over thirty International centers worldwide share the goal of fostering awareness of Irish heritage. The State of Texas is one of 13 US centers that sends one woman to the International Festival held in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland in August every year. 2009 is going to be the 50th Anniversary of the festival. Róisín is a kindergarten

teacher in the Burleson Independent School District where she loves teaching and having a positive impact on children’s lives. Róisín was born in Dublin and moved with her family to the United States when she was five. Her mother is from County Caven and her father is from County Wicklow. The Texas Rose of Tralee organization’s goal is to promote Irish culture, education and pride among young women of Irish heritage. And of course to find that one true Rose, as the old Irish ballad goes: “with the Our very own St. truth in her eyes ever dawning”. For Patrick statue is more information about the the Texas in need of repair.

www.harpandshamrock.org

More on page 4.

continued on page 3

HARP & SHAMROCK

Please make a note of the dates:

February

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HARP AND SHAMROCK SOCIETY OF TEXAS, INC P.O.Box 15306 San Antonio, TX 78212

PRESIDENT Joan Moody 210-656-2666 VICE PRESIDENT Terence Peak 210-829-3920 2nd VICE PRESIDENT Kevin P. Dowd 210-845-4424 TREASURER Wayne C. Faught 210-699-1362 SECRETARY Eileen Faught 210-699-1362 CHAPLAIN Fr. McNamara 210-635-8539 BOARD of DIRECTORS Marcia Weiner 210-342-7963 Mary Jo Quinn 210-4961778 Tish Villegas 830-885-2096 George Tracy 210-493-0818 Victor Villegas 830-885-2096 Bill Merriman 210-259-3482 Shirley Donohue 210-344-9057 Melissa Schulz 210-445-2777 Melinda Britten 210-699-8632 Carolyn Dowd 210-896-1598 Darryl Britten 210-215-9952 Patrick Clarke 210-257-0462 Diana Jordan 210-872-7092 Bob Burke 210-534-6648 Steve Mattick 210-212-7800 IRISHMAN OF THE YEAR Robert Slattery- 2008 Editor in Chief Kevin Patrick Dowd 210-845-4424 Staff: Terry Peak Joan Moody Pat Peak Eileen Faught Carolyn Dowd John McCarthy Taz Stanfill Mariee Pilkington “A word has never been written or uttered which should not be published.” Barney Rosset Publisher

12 - Board Meeting, Casbeers at the Church 20 - Awards Banquet, Ann Marie’s Catering 12475 Starcrest, SA, TX

March

01 Sunday - Heritage Day San Antonio College 06 Friday - Shamrock Golf Scramble, Location TBD 12 - Board Meeting, Casbeers at the Church 14 Saturday, 41st St. Patrick’s Day Street Parade, 11a.m. 17 Tuesday, The Alamo St. Patrick’s Day Wreath Laying, Noon 21 Saturday, 26th Annual Fun Run, Brackenridge Park, 8:30a. m.

April

04-05 Saturday & Sunday- Highland Games Helotes Festival Grounds 09 Thursday - Board Meeting Watch the website for updates and applications! Your Gaelic lessons:

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na da oine. “People live in one another’s shelter” From the Laptop  of Your Editor

Irish Proverb

It has been decided that the three day festival will not be happening this year. A combination of factors drove us to make this hard decision. The cost of doing business in downtown have increased and we just can’t afford to take that big financial gamble. Especially in today’s economy. We had been blessed with great weather for the past three years in March. We are due for a wet March. We were unable to reach an agreement with Paseo del Rio on our river parade. “Our” river parade being one of the many problems with the present arrangement. We would have been celebrating our 40th river parade but as we saw last year we received no credit for everything we did yet paid half the cost. There is no river parade without our members and particularly the hard work of Mae Kelly. Mae does all the advance organization of the entertainment and personnel on the barges. On the day of the parade you would see Mae doing the decorating and final check of participants. Yet she gets no credit for all her hard work but Paseo take all the credit for the parade. If there is any member out there with any ideas or helpful hints, or might know someone who can help, please don’t hesitate to call. All board member’s phone numbers are listed for you to use. I can’t dial your phone for you! You elected them and they represent you. Isn’t democracy great? I must take this time to apologize on the lateness of this issue. You see Texas has this great deer season, and then Thanksgiving, more deer, and then Christmas, one more deer, and New Years. See what I mean. But seriously the dog ate my laptop! ;) No really! Thanks for being part of the fastest growing Irish group in south Texas. Kevin Patrick Dowd shamrockeditor@aol.com www.harpandshamrock.org

From your President

March Events Being Finalized continued

Early in November I went to New York to visit my friend Maureen O’Dea Filip and while there had a chance to visit Calvary Cemetery to see the new headstone of Annie Moore, which was placed on her grave after 90 years. Annie Moore, from Cork, was the first person to step on to Ellis Island on January 1, 1892. I am extremely interested in American History and this was a chance to revisit an interest of mine, which is American Irish History. For those of you interested in putting things on calendars ahead of time, I will be giving a talk entitled San Antonio, An Irish Experience 1758-1940 for the Irish Cultural Society on April 19, 2009. There are many things being planned for the upcoming year and I hope that you all will be part of it. Joan Moody

Harp Member’s Days of Caring What a beautiful day to help out the Texas State

Hospital. The old adage goes: ‘help those less fortunate.’ This was a rare opportunity to help those less fortunate and practically forgotten. To die in a strange place with no family and friends around you is bad enough. It is compounded when you are but a numbered plot marked by a block of tilted and cracked cement in a graveyard in a forgotten corner on the State Hospital campus. That was then, this is now. It is with great respect and reverence that the current hospital staff have come together to make this project happen. The future looks bright now for this graveyard and honor has been restored. The weeds and trees have been removed the grass cut and trimmed and on this special day the markers were being restored to their original upright position. It was hot dusty dirty work but this small group of Harp members felt it was worth it. See photos on page 4.

Rose of Tralee go to www.texasroseoftralee.org and for more information about the Rose of Tralee Festival go to www.rte.ie/rose. You can catch video of Róisín and her competition in Ireland at: http://www. rte.ie/rose/rose_profiles/texas.html. The competition is open to Women 18-28 years old of Irish descent. If you missed your chance to meet Róisín Mulligan, the 2008 Texas Rose of Tralee at the Installation Party you will get another chance to meet her this March.

Everyone Is Welcome! Come and March in March!

Please come out and join us as we celebrate the Irish. Everyone is welcome, all members and non-members, young and old, rich or poor, Irish or non-Irish(poor unfourtunates) for our 41st Saint Patrick’s Day Street Parade. WE WANT YOU! We also want other folks. If you know of any group out there that would like to show there stuff send them to our website for the parade application or contact Pat Peak. She can be reached at patsdayparade@yahoo.com or 210545-1633. Boy scouts, American Legions, VFW posts, church groups, businesses, local leaders, or even community organizers. Come one and all.

Member’s Feast of Sharing

Members once again gave up a Saturday to help those in need before Christmas. HEB has been doing this Feast of Sharing for many years but as far as I know this was only the second year that the Harp volunteered as a group. You work hard at times but the feeling afterwards is indescribable. Carolyn and myself were captains for the first time this year. All that means is folks look to us for answers. And in true Irish style I always had an answer whether I knew it or not. There will be pictures in the next issue.

www.harpandshamrock.org

Days of Caring

Veteran’s Day

The Faught‘s Bug was decorated with all the service flags and followed veterans Chuck Meade, Bill McCauly, member Pat Peak and veteran Terry Peak carry our banner. Here we pass in front of Alamo Plaza.

With tools in hand our hard workers tackled a tough job. Melissa

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Saint Patrick’s Troubles

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It seems our statue has not fared well over the year. Our � �� Saint Patrick Statue is falling apart. I had put the call out for help or information but alas it was not in time. Now we are looking at a repair job. The board has approved funds to this end and I’ll keep you posted on the progress. We have no choice but to act now. Special thanks to Shellie Eagan the curator at UTSA’s Institute of Texan Cultures �

Schulz, Pat Peak ,Eileen Faught, Kevin Dowd and Wayne Faught.

Melissa Schulz holds a headstone straight while Derick Cossey fills in some dirt. Pat Peak, with her back to us, and George Tracy, hidden behind Derick as they work down the line.

You can see the grave markers before we got to them. The maintenance crew had done an outstanding job of cleaning up all the weeds, bushes and trees that had grown up in this area.

On a recent trip to New York City I was able to visit the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park City and get a personal tour from Lisa Miller and my brother Frank Dowd. The picture on the left is from the Embassy Suites across North End Ave looking down on the 1/4 acre piece of Erin. Every rock and plant was brought over from the old sod. I’ll have more on this memorial in the next issue.

These pictures show the damage that can still happen when you do nothing. Our Saint Patrick statue is in a climate controlled room in the Institute of Texan Cultures and needs a hand. Literally! His hand has fallen off. This isn’t too bad for a 300 year-old fella. An expert has looked at this and seems sure he can fix it. We are now looking for a paint expert to look at what needs to be done to repair the paint and gesso. Gesso is a compound of plaster of Paris or glue used in sculpture as a base for painting on wood. That is your Scrabble® word for the day. shamrockeditor@aol.com

www.harpandshamrock.org

An Irish Chritmas @ The San Francisco Steak House

Bob Dunphy, Tim Reilly, Vice Consul at the Consulate General of Ireland in Chicago, Joan Moody and Robert Slattery celebrated Christmas. These pictures show that they were not the only ones. A grand evening was had by all who came and the Fisher House was thrilled.

www.harpandshamrock.org

In Memoriam Maureen Halligan Ibbs

Joseph G. Lynch

May 6, 1914 to October 19, 2008

December 13, 1932 to December 28, 2008

The Irish community and San Antonio in particular lost a true legend. Maureen Halligan Ibbs, born May 6, 1914 in Dublin, Ireland, died Sunday, October 19, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas. She was a University of the Incarnate Word Professor Emerita of Theatre. Halligan taught classes at what was then Incarnate Word College. She later cofounded the theatre program at University of the Incarnate Word. She was 94.

Our sincere condolences go to his wife Genny L. Lynch. Genny lost her mother Dottie Kuhns in October. Joe’s sudden passing was a suprise and especially hurts during the holidays. Joe had just turned 76. He is survived by two daughters, Katherine A. Warren of Roswell, GA, & Doreen E. Rohan of Alpheretta, GA and one son, Kevin J. Lynch of Alpheretta, GA; & 7 grandchildren. Contributions as a Memorial may be made to the Saint Bernadette Roman Catholic Church Building Fund, 350 NW California Blvd, Port Saint Lucie, FL 34986.

Myrl Ralph Britten

January 9, 1919 to December 11, 2008 Our condolences go out to Darryl Britten and his family on the loss of his father. Myrl, while serving in the Army, met and later married Maxine Sauls, who was his wife of fifty years. She preceded him in death in 1998. Mr. Britten was 89 and he is buried at Fort Sam National Cemetery. He is survived by a large loving family including his three brothers and one sister.

Review

By Kevin Patrick Dowd Book Irish America

The Historical Travel Guide Volume 1 By Richard Demeter

Ní bheidh mo leithéid arís ann! Never see the likes of me again! Queens. Her previously unmarked grave was identified in September 2006 and a dedication ceremony was held on October 11, 2008 of her new grave marker a Celtic Cross. The copyright is 1997, so there are bound to be a few new sites that were not in the book. At 630 pages believe me it covers most sites. This volume covers the Northern Atlantic States, District of Columbia, the Great Lakes region and Canada. Now I’ll be looking for Volume II and see what the southern states have to offer. Irish America: The Historical Travel Guide is an excellent work for locating and identifying historical places significant to the Irish-American and anyone with historical interest. The section on Canada was enlightening. It has a good account of the “coffin ships” and the Grosse Ile Irish Famine Memorial and the Black Stone Ship Fever Monument that marks the cemetery where 6000 Irish immigrants are buried, victim to the typhus epidemic of 1847-48. This book is also a great source of biographical material about hundreds of Irish & IrishAmerican figures. Special thanks to the Catherine C. Demeter Foundation for the donation of this book to the society. I will get a copy to our shared librarian with the Irish Cultural Society Susan Feeley.

Being a wee bit of the Irish gypsy blood I was immediately in love with this book. I am a history buff and had already been to many of the places in the Northeast that are presented here. The cover picture is the Irish Brigade Monument at Antietam National Battlefield, Maryland. Many more Civil War era monuments to the Irish are in the book. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania has 11 pages of monuments, memorials and statues. New York City has 48 pages and I know of two more monuments that have appeared since this tome’s printing. The Irish Famine Memorial at Battery Park City on the tip of Manhattan and the new This book was only available used at amazon.com. monument to Annie Moore in Calvary Cemetery, 6 www.harpandshamrock.org

From Society Archives

The above news clip was from the San Antonio Light, a newspaper out of print for many years now. Joan Moody was the photographer at the time and had this in her scrapbook . It shows the presentation of the Saint Patrick statue to the University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures. Our secretary Eileen Faught got a call from the new curator Shellie Eagan looking for Col. McShane whose name is on the lender card that is with the statue. Eileen was able to set the record straight that the Harp and Shamrock Society is the rightful owner of the statue and we are now on file at the Institute.

San Antonio Irish News The Archdiocese of San Antonio’s biweekly newspaper Today’s Catholic of December 5, 2008 had a wonderful picture of a Celtic cross on the front cover to highlight the headline: Sister Carmel O’Callaghan – still answering the call. What follows is a great story by Today’s Catholic reporter Carol Baass Sowa. County Cork’s Sister Carmel O’Callaghan, PBVM, has a wonderful story to tell. It starts with her growing up in Ireland, getting the calling for a religious vocation, moving to San Antonio with the Presentation Sisters, and teaching at St. Gregory the Great Catholic School. Sister Carmel was also a founding member and first secretary of the Irish Cultural Society. The next time you see Sister, besides asking for an autograph please take the time to thank her for all her years of service. Thank you Sister Carmel and see you at the next ICS meeting. To see the entire story click over to:

Vet’s Day continued

many goose bumps you really have. There were literally thousands of untold stories along the parade route of heroism and loss of loved ones. So much sadness, and yet, the parade was a catalyst that brought together the widow with her flag with other survivors, some who perhaps were there when the ultimate sacrifice was offered. The alpha and the omega. I remember the parades when I was a kid. I played the snare drum in junior high and high school, so I started marching in the parades during WW II when I was in seventh grade. Our band director was a WW I Vet, and he would have us marching at the drop of a patriotic hat. I was so proud during those times. I also remember the metal drives during WW II. We had a pile of scrap metal on the school yard during one drive that reached to the second story of the school building. We had tire, meat, butter, gas…. All kinds of rationing for the war effort… and NO ONE complained. We busted a gut to “do our part.” I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard the broadcast Sunday morning, December 7th, and the same when I saw the paper about the D-Day Invasion. What’s happened to the kind of electrifying patriotism we used to have? I don’t remember it during Korea when I was serving, or on the home front during Vietnam, Desert Storm or this go round. I saw a turn out for the parade Saturday, though, that said to me, “Maybe, just maybe, we’re starting to wake up and get priorities a little bit in order.” Let’s all pray that’s where we’re heading. Bob Wehner Editor’s Note: I’d like to thank Bob for sharing his special insight on this memorable day. That day will hold an important place in our hearts for each of us who participated. The people of San Antonio do love their military. This was only our second time marching but I hope to grow this into something better attended by our members. For one thing this is one of the parades the city pays for. We just have to show up and be proud to be Americans, or Irish-Americans or Texans. So mark your calendars now for next November and join us for the San Antonio Veteran’s Day Parade. KPD

http://www.satodayscatholic.com/120508_carmel.aspx www.harpandshamrock.org

The Harp & Shamrock Society of Texas Newsletter Editor P.O. Box 15306 San Antonio, TX 78212 www.harpandshamrock.org Email: Shamrockeditor@aol.com

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Mark Your Calendar

March Events

Thanks To Our Sponsors

06 Friday -29th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Golf Scramble 01 Sunday - Heritage Day San Antonio College 12 - Board Meeting 14 Saturday, 41st St. Patrick’s Day Parade, 11 a.m. 17 Tuesday, St. Patrick’s Day The Alamo Wreath Laying, Noon 21 Saturday, 26th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Fun Run, Brackenridge Park, 8:30a. m. www.harpandshamrock.org

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