Ãoslódáil (PDF) - Comhaltas Archive
Ãoslódáil (PDF) - Comhaltas Archive
Ãoslódáil (PDF) - Comhaltas Archive
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TREOIR<br />
Annual Boat Ride up the Hudson<br />
River to Bear Mountain State Park.<br />
This event was jointly sponsored by<br />
the Michael Coleman, Paddy Killoran,<br />
Patsy Touhy and Louis E. Quinn, IMA<br />
Clubs. More than twelve hundred<br />
people boarded that huge liner<br />
annually for a day of music, song and<br />
celebration. It always took place on a<br />
Sunday. From very early morning huge<br />
crowds of men, women and children<br />
would gather at Pier 37 New York<br />
Harbour, with picnic baskets and<br />
coolers, all ready for the day. They<br />
never needed an umbrella. On these<br />
special occasions the good Lord<br />
smiled down on the Irish, it never did<br />
rain.As the gang plank was lifted and<br />
the ship eased slowly away from Port.<br />
there was that humongous cheer<br />
from all aboard. Some would have<br />
remembered sadder times in their<br />
own lives as they kissed goodbye and<br />
sadly parted with loved ones at home<br />
in Ireland. This was not to be a day of<br />
sadness but rather one of joy and<br />
celebration. As the old Irish saying<br />
goes 'the craic was mighty', both on<br />
the ship and all day in the park, as<br />
music flowed from under every tree<br />
and shade. It was great to be there.<br />
The day would end when the ships<br />
siren sounded for all to board as we<br />
headed into the setting sun for the<br />
return trip to New York Harbour.<br />
Occasionally, there was the downside<br />
to all the fun, when someone got left<br />
behind. This happened to the late<br />
Johnny Cronin from Rathmore, Kerry<br />
and Pat O 'Sullivan, Spa, Tralee, they<br />
were left behind because they didn't<br />
hear the ships siren. The story goes<br />
that Pat O'Sullivan who had a very<br />
unusual setting of ' The Bright Star of<br />
Munster' was helping Johnny with the<br />
new version of the tune. Anyway they<br />
never heard the ships siren, so they<br />
got delayed. But the chances are their<br />
dilemma may well have come in a<br />
bottle. It is not repeatable here what<br />
Johnny Cronln had to say about the<br />
'Bright Star of Munster', which on<br />
that occasion became a dark cloud in<br />
the lives of two renowned fiddle<br />
players from Kerry.<br />
There were other special events also<br />
of great significance to the Mulligan<br />
Quinn Branch. In 1969 when Labhnis<br />
and Una came here on an<br />
exploratory visit for <strong>Comhaltas</strong>, they<br />
were welcomed at the Irish Centre<br />
Mineola by the late N6ra Mullan RIP,<br />
Armagh. N6ra later served as Branch<br />
Secretary. In 1974 the then branch<br />
hosted the first qualifying Fleadh held<br />
here under <strong>Comhaltas</strong> rules. Together<br />
with the Jim Seery Branch in that<br />
same year, they sponsored two<br />
charter flights to Ireland for Fleadh<br />
Cheoil na hEireann at Listowel. The<br />
Hall of Fame so popular now in<br />
America and Canada was first<br />
introduced at the 1987 Mulligan<br />
j<br />
Quinn Branch AGM by John Whelan<br />
Miltown Malbay. It has been an<br />
outstanding success since 1988. The<br />
branch has hosted every concert tour<br />
from Ireland since 1972, as well as<br />
accommodating the performing<br />
artistes. The branch actively<br />
participated in fund raising for<br />
Culturlann na hEireann which was<br />
officially opened April 23, 1976. These<br />
are but a very few of the activities<br />
associated with the branch over its<br />
many years of existence.<br />
For those of us left to remember<br />
there have been many changes since<br />
1959. I recently paid a visit to St<br />
Bridget's Cemetery, Westbury as I am<br />
wont to do. For most part it is an AlI<br />
Irish cemetery. The head stones so<br />
clearly engraved pay silent tribute to<br />
men and women I had known in the<br />
past. Good friends from Ireland that I<br />
laughed and quaffed with are now<br />
1 • . .,-- -... .....<br />
Ireland's traditional<br />
culture (which they<br />
fully understood)<br />
served as a beacon<br />
and a legacy to all<br />
of us who followed<br />
This year, Kilkenny<br />
and Clare are again<br />
in contention for<br />
the All-Ireland Senior Hurling<br />
Championship. On this occasion I will<br />
not have to climb on to the roof of<br />
my house to get better reception.<br />
Instead I will view the game on a big<br />
screen, where I can even see the<br />
blades of grass on Ireland's Croke<br />
Park. Where games were won and<br />
lost, and where men of deeds gallantry<br />
and zeal once played. Technology has<br />
made possible so many things that we<br />
never even dreamed of. Our Irish<br />
culture and heritage is not the<br />
product of technology.<br />
May our future match our past. It is in<br />
the past that we find our roots and<br />
traditions. The Mulligan Quinn Branch<br />
is proud of its contribution to<br />
Ireland's tradtitional heritage over the<br />
past 43 years.As we continue to grow<br />
and strengthen, may we always be<br />
proud of the spirit of the past.<br />
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