Established 1966
Harp Strings
The Official Newsletter of the Harp & Shamrock Society of Texas Summer 2013 Volume 47
Issue 3
7th Halfway to Saint Patrick’s Day! The Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day Hooley and Irish Stew and Irish Soda Bread tasting contest will be held on Saturday, September 21, 2012 starting at 4:00 p.m. at the “ O’Beethoven Garden Pub.” This is our seventh Halfway celebration and we keep growing every year. We are lucky to be working with the San Antonio Gaelic Athletics Club, especially Chris King, to revive the Halfway golf scramble. Friday, September 20th we’ll be out at Silverhorn starting at 8:00 a.m. Our first few halfway celebrations had golf, but we wore ourselves out and had to drop it. Till now. The youth and energy of the Gaelic footballers is just what we needed. They are taking the ball and running with it, as only they know how. Is it true they use a hurling stick to putt? We’ll see. A big Irish Thank-you to Lion and Rose for coming on as the title sponsor. For the second year in a row we will be having the installation of the new board members and officers as part of the Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Last year was the largest crowd we have ever had for an Installation event. And it felt good! Let’s keep the momentum going. Now for the stew contest. Start working on your family’s favorite Irish stew recipe for the 4th rematch of the Irish Stew Wars! You must register to participate in the cook-off in advance. There is a $10 entrance fee and prizes will be awarded.
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Board members: Erin O’Brien Derrick Cossey J. Sean Habina Allison Hickey Scholarship committee: Tina Grau
Hear Ye Hear Ye! Election Results Are In. Secretary: Dana Goodman
1st Vice President:
Treasurer: JT Norris
Robert Meade President:
2nd Vice President: Steve Mattick
www.harpandshamrock.org
Kevin Patrick Dowd
From the President
HARP AND SHAMROCK SOCIETY OF TEXAS, INC P.O.Box 15306 San Antonio, TX 78212
PRESIDENT Kevin P. Dowd 210-845-4424 VICE PRESIDENT Bob Meade 210-946-7220 2nd VICE PRESIDENT Steve Mattick 210-212-7800 TREASURER J.T. Norris 210-621-3407 SECRETARY Dana Goodman 210-219-7356 CHAPLAIN Bill Merriman 210-259-3482 BOARD of DIRECTORS Melissa Schulz 210-445-2777 Melinda Britten 210-699-8632 Carolyn Dowd 210-896-1598 Darryl Britten 210-215-9952 Elissa O’Brien 210-348-6877 Joan Moody 210-656-2666 Erin O’Brien 210-348-6877 John Smith 210-240-7736 Brenda Tobey 210-523-0761 Tyler Tully 210-688-0079 Ryan Stone 210-849-1215 Rob Holden 210-243-5067 Terence Peak 210-829-3920 IRISHMAN OF THE YEAR Mary Jo Quinn - 2013 Editor in Chief Kevin Patrick Dowd 210-845-4424 The Staff: Mary Jo Quinn Carolyn Dowd Pat Peak John McCarthy Mariee Pilkington
Have you ever known an Irishman short of words? Well I was until I started putting this issue together. I think of those first mimeographed pages that my Uncle Pat stapled together and sent out to those early members of this first united Irish group in San Antonio. I wonder if those crazy kids really thought that this would work. But here we are 47 yeas later and still working to make their dreams come true. An Irish Cultural Center has been in our by-laws since the very beginning. Funds were raised over the years but we have never been as close as we are right now. I realize that some of our members have not been happy with the way the Society has been going. But these goals that are within our grasp right now should make us all perk up. Plans are in the works to bring the Parade back, bigger and better than ever. With an Irish festival to equal, and hopefully exceed any other that we have tried in this area. I ask all board members to be early to our Halfway. Wear your Harp shirts proudly because directly after the induction of the new and returning board members will be our class picture. Last years was great and I feel this year will be better. As far as the stew competition, I must say I hit on a pretty good version of my ma’s recipe last year. Lucky for me it was the blind judging or people would have rioted. Now I just have to recreate the magic from last year. First you start with the Guinness... Isn’t that the way all good recipes start? Then you find the biggest leg of lamb. Make sure you got plenty of mesquite cut up and dried out for the smoker and voilá! Now if I can only get the Irish soda bread working. Make sure you come out and help make this Halfway the best yet. I’d like to thank the Beethoven for hosting us again this year. They were a great help during our March events. The beer garden is the perfect setting for any special event you may be planning. There’s my commercial for the SA Downtown Alliance. The news that the Texas Rose won the top spot of 2013 Rose of Tralee was exciting. (See the news item on page 6) I couldn’t help but think about our 2010 Texas Rose Adrienne Hussey who died suddenly in January 2012 at the age of 26. She had made a point of visiting San Antonio in 2010 for our Installation as well as our Halfway. Thanks for the vote of confidence from our June election. I’d like to thank all my board of directors for a great first year and look forward to the challenges the New Year will bring.
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Kevin Patrick Dowd shamrockeditor@gmail.com
Sports Report
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A select team of judges will judge the stew using The Irish Stew Appreciation Society International, Inc. guidelines. For those interested in the Irish Soda Bread contest, similar guidelines will be used. The application will be available on our web site and is available in this newsletter on page 7. Like last year, you are invited to be a judge in the PEOPLES’ CHOICE AWARD. For a $10 donation you will be given tasting bowls, spoons and a ballot to complete for Irish stew and soda bread. So come on out for an afternoon of great food, fellowship and a little ‘friendly’ competition. Donations are requested for Irish Soda Bread to be sold with the Irish stew. If you would like your Soda bread to be entered into the tasting contest you must register in advance. Thank you to all previous stew and Irish soda bread contest participants who have so generously helped to support the society the past two years. We look forward to seeing you at this years tasting and hope to see some new folks too. Please contact Carolyn Dowd if you are interested in volunteering at the Halfway Hooley.
The boys and girls of San Antonio Gaelic Athletic Club sent a team to the Nationals in Cleveland, Ohio this past weekend. The SAGAC had a great time at the NACB Finals in Cleveland this past weekend. Thank you to the Cleveland GAA for putting on a fantastic tournament! In our first game, we led Syracuse at the half, but they came back to win 3-8, 3-4. Our second game was also hard fought, but Charlotte came out on top 0-3, 1-7. The SA Ladies teamed up with Dallas Fionn MacCumhaill’s and won against a tough combined Seattle/ Detroit squad. They advanced to the Shield Final for the second year in a row, but were ultimately defeated in a great game against Chicago’s Erin Rovers. All in all, it was a one-of-a-kind experience to grow as a club and to share some craic with teams from across North America. Thank you, thank you, and thank you to the players, the board, our sponsors, friends, and family who made this possible! Laura Domyancic For more information: Facebook/SAGAC or www.sanantoniogac.org
Volunteers are needed to help serve during the tasting, assist the official judges and staff the Irish store.
Congratulations! Charla & Tyler Tully have doubled their family size. They are the proud parents of twins. Good luck to them and we’ll be looking for those baby pictures real soon.
Editor’s note: There is a great report and pictures at Irish Central.
http://www.irishcentral.com/sport/100-teams-from-36cities-delight-GAA-fans-and-officials-in-Cleveland-PHOTOS-222318891.html
Good luck next year in Boston!
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Scholarship Award Winners!
The Harp and Shamrock Society Scholarship Committee, lead by Melinda Britten, made great choices this year from a tough selection. Two Cultural Awards, Irish Dance: Summer McKenna $350 and Jameson Perez(pictured above left with Kevin Dowd and Melinda Britten) $250. Four Academic Awards: College-bound and University Students: Austin Conlin $300.00, Conor Egan $300, Shannon Faught(middle picture) $400, Jonathen McGhiey( pictured right) $400. Congratulations to you all!
Halfway and Past Winners Gallery.
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Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary!
Long-time members and consummate volunteers, Bob and Gloria Walsh just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary! Wow! Left: Gloria visits our booth at the 2013 Highland Games. From left, Barbara Patrick, Darryl Britten, Melinda Britten, Kevin Dowd and Gloria Walsh. Picture at right is Bob Walsh with his shamrock adorned cowboy hat and Kevin Dowd. Once again Happy Anniversary! There should be a special medal just for making this milestone. According to the 2011 US Census only 6 percent of marriages achieve that goal. I hope you all are as impressed as I am. Next time you see these newlyweds give them a Big Texas–sized congratulations.
San Antonio Missions Game Night While we congratulate our half century newlyweds above, we also wish the new kids on the block a long and healthy marriage. Ryan Stone has been a tremendous help with taking on the golf during a difficult family situation. But he did it and during that trial he saw a spark of light in that darkness, and there was Brandy Manade. To know her is to love her. The Society wishes the best to Brandy and Ryan as they take those first steps on their way to a 50th! Now let’s talk baseball. San Antonio Missions baseball. As a thank you for our steadfast volunteers helping build some homes, Habitat for Humanity, sent us some Mission game vouchers. That was a pleasant surprise! It only goes to show that volunteering with the Harp can pay off sometimes. To tell the truth, the good feelings you get doing volunteer work around San Antonio is payment enough. But free baseball tickets are good too. Thanks to Chris Hayes, Hal and Cheryl Carson, Melissa Schulz, Derrick Cossey, Steve Mattick, Carolyn Dowd, Eileen Faught, Terry Peak and Robbie Gzymerk, Ryan and Brandy Stone.
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News from Ireland
Texas Rose crowned 2013 Rose of Tralee The Texas Rose, Haley O’Sullivan, from Dallas, has been named as the newest Rose of Tralee, beating out 31 other contestants from around the world. She is a member of Dallas’ GAA club, Fionn Mac Cumhaills and is the first Texas Rose to take top honors in the annual festival. Haley will spend time over the coming year carrying out official duties and traveling. www.roseoftralee.ie
Seamus Heaney’s last words were ‘Noli timere.’ Ireland’s great poet, playwright, translator and Nobel laureate died last week at the age of 74. These words he texted in Latin to his wife mean “don’t be afraid.” Seamus Heaney told generations of aspiring writers: “Do not be afraid” in taking up the pen. Through decades he implored politicians, north and south, unionist and nationalist, “do not be afraid” in choosing the path of peace and eventually ending the Atheist weddings on rise in Ireland Troubles by putting down the gun. Heaney made one The Irish parliament legalized secular wedding services of the best translations of the 1999 Whitbread Book in December 2012, with the law going into effect on of the Year Award winner “Beowulf: A New TranslaJanuary 1, 2013. This marks the first year that Ireland has tion.” The Independent described him as “probably legally welcomed atheist weddings, and the few people the best-known poet in the world.” who are authorized to perform such ceremonies are overwhelmed with the demand. Reuters reports that as Ireland Reverend Andrew Greeley, the Irish American moves away from its traditionally Catholic-centric soci- priest who wrote numerous best sellers died at age ety, the demand for the Humanist Association of Ireland’s 85. Included in his writings was the ‘Irish’ series, a secular weddings has surged. The trend in Ireland shows collection of 12 fiction books. Father Greeley’s final that couples are moving away from the Church and to book, ‘Chicago Catholics and the Struggles Within more secular options for weddings. In 1996, 90 percent of Their Church,’ was published in 2010. Irish weddings were performed by the Catholic Church or Book Review the Church of Ireland. But by 2010 that percentage had The Butterfly Cabinet fallen to 69 percent. A Novel Mairtin O Muilleoir is the new Lord Mayor of Belfast By Bernie McGill Irish Echo publisher and Balmoral area councillor, Mairtin O Muilleoir, was elected at the annual general meeting of Belfast City Council in June. We had the honor of This haunting and wonderful debut novel was inspired by a true meeting him when he came to visit San Antonio a few event that involved the death of years ago and we wish him the best of luck. The Lord Mayor is not having an easy job of it with the sectarian an aristocratic family’s daughter in the late 19th century. Through violence that continues to rise up in Northern Ireland. masterful storytelling the mystery unfolds. The tale is told from two powerful female points of view. Irish Viet Nam Veterans Memorial Project Did you know that over 2,500 Irish Citizens served in al- Alternating between a former nanny in the twilight of lied military forces during the Viet Nam War, and that 29 her years looking to unburden herself of a long held of them, including one woman, an Irish nurse, lost their secret, and the mother’s prison diary. These two tales lives in that conflict? In December 2012, the Ennis Town lead to a complex story of life in a Northern Ireland Council, in County Clare, unanimously approved a pro- manor house. This book is sure to be a hit with the posal to erect a memorial honoring those Irish men and fans of “Downton Abbey” or, if you remember, “Upwomen who served and listing by name those who gave stairs, Downstairs,” only with a much darker mood. their lives. More information or to contribute: www.ivnvmp.org Or Available as an e-book and wherever books are sold. www.theirishvietnamveteransmemorialproject.org 6
256 pages. Published 2011. Paperback Reprint edition (May 1, 2012)
Editor’s Note: The full selection of tasting bowls for judging sells out quickly. So if you want to be part of the Peoples Choice make sure you get there early. As before we’ll have stew to sell along with some Irish bangers (sausage for you non-Irish). Also a selection of Irish soda bread and other treats. The scholarship committee will be selling raffle tickets. If history is any indication the baskets are usually filled to overflowing! And the ticket price is a bargain. See you all there.
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The Harp & Shamrock Society of Texas Newsletter Editor P.O. Box 15306 San Antonio, TX 78212
Fiesta 2013 Pindemonium! Terry Peak, Pat Peak, and Barbara Patrick are ready to sell some Harp fiesta medals in Alamo Plaza.
Cultural
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Our Calendar
Civic
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Thank Our Sponsors
September
12 Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Board meeting 20 Friday, 8:00 a.m. Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day Golf Scrambble Silverhorn G.C. 21 Saturday, 4:00 p.m. 7th Annual Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day Irish Hooley
October
Thank you to our sponsors:
Days of Caring, date to be determined. Member volunteers/participation needed 10 Thursday, 7:30p.m. Board meeting 11 & 12 Feis San Antonio, Inishfree Texas 19 Saturday, Founder’s Day
Lion & Rose Restaurant and Bar, North Park Toyota, Waxy O’Connor’s Irish Pub, Tommy Moloney’s, The Friendly Spot, Bike City
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