Here it is, the big 4! Not the "Big Four Oh," just 4. I'm not sure of the significance of this, but who needs an excuse to party? At least, an excuse that means anything. So break out the cocoa and cookies and let the good times roll . . .
Naturally, I'm going to give everyone a reminder that if you haven't already registered as a SIG member, please do so. I got the latest issue of the Mensa Bulletin yesterday as of this writing, and it listed some reactivated SIGs. As we do not yet have the minimum number of members to get reactivated, we still cannot get relisted.
I find this strange, because we have around three times the number of subscribers to qualify — if we could count them. The rules that apply to all SIGs, however, are clear: we can't count anyone as a member unless he or she says he or she is a member.
Now, don't make me write that "he or she" bit again. Just send in your registration so we can get relisted.
Beannachtai!
Michael
DISCLAIMERS
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CONTENTS
Announcements
Organization, Publication and Membership Information
Letters
News and Reports
Articles
Food
Reviews
The Fourth Page
ANNOUNCEMENTS
As a newsletter, we rely on you to tell us what's going on. If you have an announcement for an upcoming event, please let us know. Just keep in mind that we try to publish on the 17th of every month, so get your announcements in at least a few days before that. Otherwise, consider sending it in as a report or a news item for the subsequent month.
• Official Nagging Announcement. We still have a number of subscribers who are probably wondering why they're not getting the newsletter. It's because they haven't verified their subscriptions by clicking on the link in the e-mail Google sent to their specified e-mail address. If you subscribed but have not received the newsletter (which means you're visiting the blog and are reading this there), it's an easy matter to correct. Enter your e-mail address again, and Google will send you another verification e-mail. Come on. This isn't rocket surgery. Or brain science.
• As always, feel free to forward this e-mail to your networks. If you haven't registered as a SIG member, please consider doing so.
• The CCÉ — Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Éireann (O'Neill-Malcom Branch) is holding its 17th Annual Irish Festival on Saturday, September 22, 2012 at the Sherwood Community Center in Fairfax, Virginia, from noon to 7:00 pm, and the Auld Shebeen Pub in Fairfax from noon to 5:00 pm. Okay, I'm a little confused, too, but maybe the full schedule on the website can explain matters (http://ccepotomac.org/www/IrishFest.htm). One thing it can't explain is the name of the Auld Shebeen Pub, which translates as "Old Illegal Pub Pub." Maybe that's how you talk after you've downed a few. (A good reason to join the Pioneers Total Abstinence Association, I'd say.) Later note: Okay, I looked at the website, and evidently there are five, not two, parallel programs at five (not two) different locations. There's also a notice that there will be no Ceili this year.
• The ¡BAM! Chicago 2012 Irish Book Art & Music Celebration will be October 11-14, 2012 at the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 North Knox Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 60630. Call (708) 445-0700 for tickets and information. Let me add that, unlike some events that advertise a "star-studded" whatever, this event features people even I have heard about, e.g., Morgan Llewellyn and Phil Coulter.
• The Colonel John Fitzgerald Division No. 1, A.O.H., Arlington, Virginia, will be having a picnic to welcome (back) new (and used) members Sunday, October 15, 2012, at 1:30 pm on the grounds of the Edward D. White Council, Knights of Columbus, in Arlington, Virginia. Come for the food, stay for the view — EDW is located on the highest ground in Arlington, Virginia.
• If you have any news items, announcements, letters, reports, or anything of Irish interest, please send them in. As you can see, we're starting to get some people sending in material. Keep up the good work.
ORGANIZATION, PUBLICATION AND MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
What We Are
Litir Scéala an tSIG Gaelach is the newsletter of the Irish Special Interest Group of American Mensa, Ltd. More information about the SIG and this newsletter may be accessed by clicking on this link.
Resources
We are preparing to put together a list of resources and organizations that might be useful to our members. Due to the global scope of our readership, we are trying to limit the list to organizations that extend beyond a purely local constituency. This is a matter of simple logistics, due to the immense number of organizations out there. If you're looking for a local group to get involved with — and we encourage that — do an internet search. You may be both amazed and pleased at what you will find. We expect to list resources as we rebuild our membership, but right now notifications are coming in at less than a snail's pace.
Who We Are
As we hinted rather broadly above, we have no new members this month, either. We have a significant number of visitors and casual readers, but that's not going to get the SIG reactivated officially, however gratifying it may be personally.
Anyway, here's this month's membership report:
5 Members of Mensa
2 Other
1 Institutional Member
24 Newsletter Subscribers
32 Total Circulation (This does not include forwarded newsletters or visitors to the website who have not signed up for the newsletter — approximately 500 to date.)
LETTERS
Miss Jean and daughter Dorothy (both of whom are registered SIG members) sent an e-mail telling us that Jean's grandson/Dorothy's son Chris (who is not a registered SIG member) went to Ireland to attend the Notre Dame/Navy game. He is a musical consultant to the Navy team (you can't have everything).
Dorothy promised that Chris would send in a report of his activities, especially since he stayed over for a while to take advantage of the free trip to visit around with friends. Having taken a little business law (see below), I happen to know that Dorothy cannot commit Chris to a contract (and there was no consideration), but maybe we'll get something, anyway.
I should point out (just in case there's any doubt) that calling Jean Miss Jean is just how them Damn' Rebels talk. Her legal label is "Mrs. Jean," etc. She's from Lynchburg, Virginia. Her grandpappy was in the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee. Her father knew Carter Glass. She's got some kind of connection to the Tuckers. (I think I got that all straight. If not, I'll hear about it.) These things are important in some mysterious way that us Yankees can't understand.
NEWS AND REPORTS
Members of the Irish SIG don't usually belong only to the SIG, but to other groups with an Irish orientation as well. This is all to the good — the more society becomes more social, the better chance we have of influencing our institutions in a positive way and carrying out "acts of social justice" aimed at improving the common good for everybody. We want to encourage your community participation and then report on local events in which SIG members took part.
• SIG Coordinator Michael D. Greaney's latest book, The Restoration of Property: A Reexamination of a Natural Right (just published August 31, 2012), is selling quite well, thank you. Drop by Amazon or Barnes & Noble and buy a copy or six — and leave a review. (Barnes & Noble has the cover image up already.) Two print publications have requested review copies. It's (sort of) a commentary on Hilaire Belloc's 1936 An Essay on the Restoration of Property. It identifies two extremely subtle but critical errors that Belloc made, and which — when corrected — could make the goal of widespread capital ownership a reality instead of (as some rather snarky commentators have claimed) a romantic pipe dream.
• Jim C., president of the Colonel John Fitzgerald Division No. 1 A.O.H. Arlington, Virginia (who has not confirmed his subscription to this newsletter, have you, Jim), is currently in Ireland. He sent a nice e-mail that was included in the monthly division newsletter, expressing his wish that all the brothers had an enjoyable Sumer. We did, and our Babylon and Phoenicia weren't bad, either.
• This is more Mensa than Irish ("Mensicis ipsis Mensaior"? — don't let my old Latin prof. see that one . . . Semper ubi sub ubi), but it happened to me, so it counts. As I mentioned above, I'm taking a business law course at the local community college for CPA CPE credits. I have the same professor as last semester. During this past week's session, it came up that I am a member of Mensa. It turned out that the professor was, too, at one time. She asked if I attend any of the parties. I haven't since Mike T. moved out of the area, ending the run of his annual "End of Tax Season Party." I asked, "Do you know Mike T.?" "Know him? I was a bridesmaid at his wedding." I was there, too, though not as a bridesmaid. This led to the usual "small world" comments. I didn't remember her (although, of course, I think I do), but she remembered my calligraphy on the invitations and place cards.
• The president of the Los Angeles Police Emerald Society sent in a news item that is so good I decided to turn it into this month's feature article. AND I figured out how to save the photo as a jpeg, after much trial and trauma, so the resolution is better. Even better, no editing was required. I added a single period at the end, but only because it got left off when I copied it from the e-mail.
ARTICLES
Feature Article: Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums Fundraiser
By Seóirse Ó'Cearbhaill
President, Los Angeles Police Emerald Society
L/R: Army 1st SGT / TSA Manager Bruce Sweeney,
USN Veteran / LAPD SGT / Bagpiper Piper Michael (Mick) Rose,
USN MCPO / Airport Police Ofcr Thomas Dye,
USAF CMSGT / LASD SGT / Emerald Society President George Carroll — at Mountain Gate Country Club.
On Friday, August 10, 2012, the Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums held their first fundraiser and dinner at the Mountain Gate Country Club, Los Angeles.
Over 150 people gathered to acknowledge the volunteer work of the band and to financially support their future appearances at military and peace officer line of duty funerals.
Author James Elroy spoke of events earlier in the day where Ian Campbell Square was dedicated in Hollywood. Mr. Elroy tied in Officer Ian Campbell's love of bagpiping with the selfless effort the band members undertake, driven in part to keep the memory of Ian's sacrifice alive.
Jim Cunningham reminded the audience how Ian Campbell's passing started a tradition within the LAPD of having Piper's perform in token appreciation for the sacrifice soldiers and peace officers make defending our freedom.
Cunningham elaborated on the effect the band has had on survivor's, particularly members of Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) during annual memorial ceremonies at the State Capitol in Sacramento. In the audience and expressing gratitude for the emotional support the band continually shows were C.O.P.S. family members Mary and John Huffman who's son Orange County Sheriff's Sergeant Matt Davis's life was taken in 2002 and Gold Star parents Gary and Elaine Brattain who's son Private First Class Joel K. Brattain was Killed In Action in Iraq in 2004.
Through the generous support of live auction patrons, bidders were generous in their bids realizing the great work their donations support. Cigars, whiskey, fine dining, dancing, and of course a raffle made for a truly fantastic evening.
The Wicked Tinkers Band performed and were able to captivate the audience into forming a huge conga line encircling the entire dance floor!
The Band would like to thank Darrell Calvillo and Mike Jett for their Pipe and Drum performance, the Wicked Tinkers, Bo's Cigar Lounge, Auctioneer Jim Cunningham Esq., and Chris Uhde of JVS Wine Imports for all their hard work to make the event smashing!
The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society was established in 1992 and is celebrating our 20th year in existence. Monthly meetings are generally held the second Wednesday of the month at the Daryl Gates Lounge of the LAPD Academy and meetings are open to the public. The Society invites membership from applicants interested in and the furthering of Irish culture. More information can be obtained by visiting www.emeraldsociety.net.
FOOD
I'm going to cheat a little this month and give another recipe for colcannon. Hey. I've been busy. I've been working on the Most Important Book Ever Written, and it's almost ready to get turned down by the publisher . . . the blaggard. Tell me, how could anyone not get excited about a 100,000 word essay that ties the Medieval shift from status to contract in with the Slaughterhouse Cases of 1873 and the New Deal, and brings in the natural law analysis of the Königswinterkreis and Quadragesimo Anno? This is killer material.
Right. Food.
Shred as much green cabbage as you think you'll need, according to personal taste and experimentation. The proportions can vary from about a quarter as much cabbage as potatoes to equal. That's pre-cooked eyeballing. Cabbage shrinks when you cook it.
About a cup of thinly sliced onion, or to taste. My younger sister won't touch anything with onions in it because "they're gross and slimy." Right. And those onion rings you pound down don't have any gross and slimy onions in them.
Fry the cabbage and onion in whatever variety of cooking fat suits your fancy. Or fanny, as I misspelled it the first time I typed it. (It makes sense either way.) Set it aside.
Make mashed potatoes. (I don't have to tell you how, do I?) Mix in the cabbage and the gross, slimy onion, and serve. Don't worry about all those trinkets they stick in on October 31. I may cheat again next month and give yet another recipe for colcannon, especially since it's traditionally served on Halloween.
REVIEWS
John Henry Newman's Loss and Gain: The Story of a Convert. Once and Future Books, ISBN 978-1-60210-003-9, 328 pp., $20.00.
Most people are unaware that Blessed John Henry Newman wrote novels — two of them, and both hint that, had Newman not directed his energies elsewhere, he could very easily have rivaled the best English novelists of the 19th century. This novel from 1848, Newman's first of two, is indirectly related to Ireland, or (at least) "the Irish Question."
Following Catholic Emancipation (the Catholic Relief Act of 1829), the British Parliament decided to reduce the number of bishoprics of the Church of Ireland as a cost-saving measure. Very few people in Ireland actually attended the church of which they had been, until recently, legally members, so it made sense.
Unless you were a "High Church" Anglican, already upset about the secularization of religion, and concerned that the religious needs of the Irish (most of whom who didn't give a hoot about the C of I) would not be met. This kick-started the "Oxford Movement," Tracts for the Times, Newman's conversion — and provided the theme of Loss and Gain.
Like all good fiction, Loss and Gain is firmly grounded in reality. With uncommon wit and an astonishingly deft touch Newman delineates types of characters and at the same time endows them with personality. We are tempted, along with commentators on Jane Austin's works, to declare that no real person ever spoke with such cleverness, but the artistry with which Newman and Austin handle their characters leads us to question that conclusion. The characters are very real at the same time we recognize them instantly as archetypes.
Newman's skill in both fiction and non-fiction led his critics to accuse him of being a "Jesuitical serpent," leading faithful Anglicans into the Catholic fold by the deception made possible by his wit and cleverness. This was even more unfair than the cries of "treason" and exclamations of dismay that accompanied his conversion. The motto that years later he chose as Cardinal, "Heart Speaks to Heart," was in effect simply a statement of how Newman expressed himself at all times, whether preaching, writing non-fiction, or as a novelist.
With Newman's intellectual background, we could expect his fiction to be both tedious and concerned with esoteric minutiae. Esoteric minutiae certainly appear to be there in plenty, but it is only the backdrop against which the story is played out. Astonishingly, we come to realize that Newman is relating a romance, not, perhaps, precisely in the style of Sir Walter Scott (whose work Newman greatly admired), or in the more modern understanding of the term, but a romance nonetheless.
Literature was to Newman "the autobiography of mankind," presented in a manner in which the author's and the characters' — and the readers' — hearts could speak to one another. Unlike the more extreme of the Romantics he did not jettison reason, the classics, or (most importantly) Christianity, but integrated them into a completed picture of the human condition. The "romance" that he relates in Loss and Gain and again in Callista, his second and final novel, is not the typical "boy meets girl" (or "girl snags boy") type of production, however. It is of a soul moving itself closer to God — a romance that should appeal to all people of all faiths. It is that, and not the specific circumstances that surround the novel's creation or even the fact of its explicit Catholicism, that makes this novel a classic, to be read and enjoyed by anyone.
THE FOURTH PAGE
The Geraldines of Ireland, III: Initial Rebellions Against the Crown
THE SUMMONS OF FITZGERALD AND DE VESCI TO Westminster by Edward III, things become a little confused. Or, perhaps, we should say, "more confused than usual." One source maintains that de Vesci showed up, ready and willing for battle on July 24, 1294, but that FitzGerald failed to put in an appearance. Another source states exactly the opposite: that FitzGerald showed up, equipped and champing at the bit for combat, but that de Vesci had fled the country, as he was already in trouble for his mobilization against Offaly in the summer of 1293. In any event, de Vesci was acquitted by the Parliament. One source states that the acquittal was "on the ground of informality," meaning that the assertions against the king had been made only in the course of idle conversation or the heat of the moment and were not taken as expressive of the real views of the speaker.
This same defense, incidentally, was used by St. Thomas More during his trial for treason against Henry VIII. While not admitting that he had even made the statements alleged to him by Richard Rich, and calling Rich a liar into the bargain, More stated, as set forth in The Life of Sir Thomas More, Knight, by his son-in-law, William Roper:
"Can it therefore seem likely unto your honourable lordships that I would, in so weighty a cause, so unadvisedly overshoot myself as to trust Master Rich, a man of me always reputed for one of so little truth, as your lordships have heard, so far above my Sovereign Lord the King, or any of his noble Councilors, that I would unto him utter the secrets of my conscience touching the King's Supremacy, the special point and only mark at my hands so long sought for, a thing which I never did, nor never would, after the statute thereof made, reveal either to the King's Highness himself, or to any of his honourable Councilors, as it is not unknown to your honours, at sundry several times sent from His Grace's own person unto the Tower unto me for none other purpose? Can this in your judgments, my lords, seem likely to be true? And yet, if I had so done indeed, my lords, as Master Rich hath sworn, seeing it was spoken but in familiar secret talk, nothing affirming, and only putting of cases, without other displeasant circumstances, it cannot justly be taken to be spoken maliciously, and where there is no malice, there can be no offence."
Clearly, de Vesci did not win the case by default, as one source stated, but by a point of law. We may take as fairly certain, then, that de Vesci was the one who failed to show up, worried over the outcome due to the fact that he actually had said what FitzGerald accused him of saying. De Vesci apparently incurred the king's unofficial displeasure by this and his earlier high-handed actions in Ireland. So, even though de Vesci had won the case, as the affair concerned the king's dignity, it was referred to the king for judgment.
The source favorable to FitzGerald reports that, since de Vesci had decamped (and thus managed to irritate His Royal Highness — "Majesty" is an imperial, not a royal title, not assumed until Henry VII Tudor, who, among other crimes, added the imperial "closed" crown to his coinage instead of the royal "open" crown), Edward I declared that, "although de Vesci had conveyed his person to France, he had left his land behind him in Ireland," and bestowed the lordships of Kildare and Rathangan on FitzGerald. The other source simply states that nothing more was heard of the affair. Obviously, since FitzGerald was, indeed, awarded de Vesci's land, it is plain that de Vesci had forfeited his favorable judgment in the lawsuit by failure to appear at court.
The de Vesci fight may have been over, but the by-now-traditional feud with the de Burgos continued. Attack and counter-attack went on until 1296, when FitzGerald, in return for his services in the Scottish war, was granted a general pardon for all offenses in Ireland except those against de Burgo. As the result of agreements made in 1298 and 1299, by which all FitzGerald lands in Connaught were ceded to de Burgo, the current phase of the feud was ended.
During the struggle with Robert the Bruce, the Geraldines took a prominent part. Probably partly as a reward for his assistance, Edward II created the earldom of Kildare for John FitzThomas FitzGerald in 1316. Kildare I died the following year and was succeeded by his son, Thomas FitzJohn FitzGerald, second Earl of Kildare.
In 1320 the Justiciar Roger Mortimer, although having only served a year in office, appointed Thomas FitzJohn FitzGerald (Kildare II) his deputy and returned to England. Kildare II was appointed Justiciar in his own right in April 1321, but was replaced a month later when the Earl of Louth was appointed, although it was some time before he took up his duties, and Thomas FitzJohn continued to serve until then. He was again appointed Justiciar in 1327, but held the position for less than a year, dying on April 5, 1328. His son, Kildare III, held the title himself for only three years before dying in 1331.
The Munster Geraldines were not idle during this time. The head of that branch of the family, Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald, first Earl of Desmond (Shanid V, Desmond I), managed to stir up a new edition of the troubles with the de Burgos in 1325. A land-holding dispute between Desmond I and a neighbor, Arnald le Poer, began in that year. It escalated into open war in 1327, probably because the FitzGeralds supported the king, Edward II, against his own Justiciar, Roger Mortimer, who was undertaking an extensive power grab in England and Ireland. (Mortimer was executed for treason in 1330, when Edward III caught up with him.) FitzThomas was supported by the Butlers and the Berminghams, and le Poer by the de Burgos. Le Poer died in prison, where he was awaiting trial for heresy, and a peace was finally worked out in 1329 by the new Justiciar, John Darcy. All concerned were granted pardons. Taking advantage of the chaos, the native Irish carried out frequent raids, but without achieving any lasting gains.
During the confusion caused by the invasion of Robert the Bruce, the Earl of Desmond had allegedly taken advantage of the breakdown of government to adopt many Irish customs and set himself up as an independent monarch. According to the testimony before a jury in 1332, Desmond I had entered into a confederacy in 1326 with other assimilating Norman-Irish lords to set up a kingdom in Ireland, with himself at its head. He was also charged with entering into another conspiracy in 1331 to make himself into the High King, and divide Ireland into four provincial kingdoms, headed by himself in Munster and Meath, Walter de Burgo in Connaught (having apparently achieved some sort of peaceful settlement, at least temporarily, with the Geraldines), Bermingham in Leinster, and Henry de Mandeville in Ulster. The power of the Geraldines was so great at this time that it was not considered prudent to proceed against him, but Bermingham was executed. Judgment against the others was withheld by Roger Outlaw, the Prior of the Hospital (granted special power in this case), who ordered the Justiciar to stay execution against any lords convicted of felonies until either the king came to Ireland, or further orders were received.
#30#
