Insight into: St Patrick's Day in Newfoundland

O'Reilly's Pub gets in St Patrick's Day spirit.

St Patrick’s Day is celebrated around the world as a day where everyone can pretend to be Irish, but for an island off the coast of Mainland Canada, it has a very special meaning. Since the 17^th century, thousands of Irish Emigrants have arrived in Newfoundland, setting up fishing and farming communities around the island, which is known as the Irish Loop. The Irish connection is so important to Newfoundland, that it is one of only two places outside of Ireland that celebrates St Patrick’s Day as a public holiday.

Newfoundland’s capital, St John’s, is laden with Irish pubs, but one of the most popular is O’Reilly’s, which was full of people dressed in green and wearing leprechaun hats. On stage was a Newfoundland folk singer, blasting out songs based in Newfoundland, but inspired by Ireland. 

Sitting in a booth enjoying their Irish coffees and breakfast beers were married couples Francis Corrigan, Sylvia Corrigan, Bill Stephenson and Rose Stephenson.  The group, from the Irish Loop, have roots in Wexford and Waterford and say they come out every St Patrick’s Day to celebrate their heritage. They even got to visit Ireland two years ago, something many Newfoundlanders want to do. Francis says that they loved their two-week break, which was their first time in Ireland.

“It was wonderful. We went from Dublin to Galway and then we went around the coast. I’ve never seen so many sheep in my life.  We really enjoyed Galway and the scenes in Dungarvan were beautiful.  We were in Galway for Halloween though and we got egged by a bunch of students.

“The only thing was we went searching for old Ireland, and we didn’t really find it.”

Despite not finding the old fashioned Ireland they were expecting, they couples say that they keep up the Irish traditions in Newfoundland. Francis and Sylvia were also getting ready for perform on stage later on.

“I’ll be singing ‘The Fields of Athenry’ and Sylvia will be singing ‘The Spinning Wheel’. We like to keep up the Irish feel. At home we have a kitchen garden as well. The first Irish that came here, I think the fished out of necessity, but farmed out of love.

“Our son is in his thirties now and he loves the Irish two-step and traditional Irish music. Irish traditions are just so engrained in Newfoundland society and culture. There’s no fear of Irish culture dying out over here. We won’t let it.”

 Francis Corrigan, Sylvia Corrigan, Rose Stephenson
 and Bill Stephenson enjoy a few drinks.

 Also out celebrating were Genie Power and Judy Dawe from Torbay, who were wearing green glow sticks shaped into glasses. Both Genie and Judy have Irish heritage, but neither are sure what part of Ireland their forefathers came from.

Genie says that the week before St Patrick’s Day the schools, shops and pubs are decked full of leprechauns and shamrocks.

“I brought my grandson to his elementary school and the teachers were all wearing green and had big green hats on. [Irish singer] Fergus O’Brien was playing there for a little while as well. St John’s goes all out for Paddy’s Day.”

Judy, whose maiden name is Eustace, will be visiting Ireland next year and is looking forward to touring the country.

“I hear there’s a  Eustace Street in Templebar, so I can’t wait to see that. I will be taking pictures of everything to do with my namesake.  I hear Templebar is the really Irish part of Ireland with all the traditional pubs. I’m so excited. I’m coming over boys. Get ready.”

Genie Power and Judy Dawe enjoy Paddy's Day.

Throughout the day, O’Reilly’s promoter and former radio DJ, Bill Gregory was working in O’Reilly’s to make sure everyone was having a good time. Bill, like nearly 60per cent of the island, has Irish heritage, which he wants to explore with his father.

“My father is always talking about visiting Ireland and seeing where we came from, so I said we should do it sooner rather than later. We have roots in Waterford, so that would definitely be a place we’d have to visit. The amount of Newfoundlanders visiting Ireland is nuts. I was there in 1998 as well.”

Bill also said that if the next generation of Irish emigrants fleeing Ireland’s economic woes would be more than welcome in Newfoundland.

“There is a huge connection between Newfoundland and Ireland. We know that a lot of newer emigrants will want to go to major centres like Toronto and Quebec, but there is so much more to Canada than those places.

“It would be nice to see the Irish emigrants coming here. We would welcome them with opens arms and we know that they would settle in just fine here.”

Bill added that St Patrick’s Day is a huge event for O’Reilly’s pub, which is he says is the epicentre for Irish entertainment on the island.

“People from all over the island come here every year. It’s like Christmas for so many people. It gives them a chance to celebrate their heritage. The people here are fiercely patriotic.”

Bill Gregory celebrates Paddy's Day.

In the same way that many people visit Ireland visit Ireland for St Patrick’s Day,  people from across Canada also visit Newfoundland. Pam Mackay from Manatoba and Lyn Duchesney from Cape Breton came to Newfoundland pub, Shamrock City, for the celebrations. Lyn said that they both love Irish culture and would love to visit Ireland.

“We both would absolutely love to visit Ireland. We just love the culture and the music. We want to go there within the next two years. I expect when we get there we’ will be greeted by green fields, fantastic music, friendly people and lots of horses.

“It would just be like Newfoundland, really.”

Pam Mackay and Lyn Duchesney enjoy Shamrock City.

Parts of this article were published in the 'Irish Independent' on 18/08/2011.

Insight into: St Patrick's Day in Newfoundland

What it means to be Irish

Just before St Patrick's Day 2010, myself and some fellow UL journalism students contacted a handful of public figures to ask what it means to be Irish. Twelve months later, Ireland is in billions of debt and our political system claims to be on the path to recovery, but does the impact of the last year redefine our nation?

From UL Collective blog, which was an academic project.

Padraig Connelly, Former mayor of Galway
“It’s important to celebrate our Irishness, the best of Irish culture. This needs to be expressed in a public way,” he said.
However, he believes the festival has been marred of late by the consumption of alcohol.
“The Irish culture seems to be to celebrate something with alcohol. We need to get away from that. We need to celebrate with colour, with art, show off our cities, towns,” he said.
He believes groups and participants in parades do a good job, but some people need to be more involved. “Many lack cohesion and co-ordination. We need to get more businesses on board. Many don’t show themselves off.”
“They celebrate way better abroad,” he said. “ I’ve been to America, they put us to shame. They are so professional, so Irish.”

Bernie Whelan, the London Irish Women’s Centre. 
The organisation participated in London’s "Go Green" parade, which was held yesterday. They decorated bicycle rickshaws and also held a stall in Trafalgar Square where they had their own products on display, such as books and green pashminas.
“I think the women got a lot out of it,” said Ms Whelan.
St Patrick's Day is still an important festival to be celebrated as Ms Whelan believes the Irish community in London is more isolated than ever before. “Being Irish isn’t as recognisable anymore. It’s second generation now, they have assimilated.”
The centre is involved in lots of other activites including helping specific disadvantaged groups.“We do lots of work with members of the Irish travelling community in London, and we give them councilling and welfare advice."
Ms Whelan believes it's very important that Irish people can see others from their native country. She believes St Patrick’s Day has become a multi-cultural event, but is still essentially Irish.

Deirdre Clune, Former Fine Gael TD
"Being Irish to me I suppose is a sense of a long family tradition. All my family is Irish, going back generations, my grandparents and my great grandparents. I think there is a sense of family and belonging. I suppose it’s like being part of a team if you could use that word. Yeah, I’m very proud of my heritage."

Henry Healy, Barck Obama’s 8th cousin
“For me, being Irish is about the sense of pride in our culture and our history and honouring the people who fought to make this country what it is today. This St. Patrick’s Day, I’ll be helping to organise the local parade. Like I do every year.”

Michael Noonan Fine Gael TD
“St Patrick’s Day means more to those abroad I think than it does to those at home. I will be in Limerick for the parade, I always go to the military mass in Sarsfield Barracks, and then on to the parade. Every nation has their own feeling of pride. There is a strong cultural feeling in Ireland”.

Dan Lynch, Chairman Portumna GAA Club
“The GAA is very much part of the community. It brings a sense of being and togetherness. With the local parish and county behind us, it shows it is not all about doom and gloom. Winning the All-Ireland Club Hurling Final brings great pride to those loyal supporters at home and abroad. Their support is something very special and the players know and respect that. The GAA has a very special place in Irish identity.
“The wide space in Croke Park will suit us, there will be gaps and opportunities for goals. It’s a 50/50 game, but our experience should stand to us. A mistake could be costly. Our lads will play with pride and passion, and that is what it is all about,” he added.

Siobhan O’Connor, Doras Lumni
Doras Lumni, is a non profit organisation operating in Limerick for the past ten years. Their aim is to protect the rights and culture of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Siobhan O Connor, advocacy campaigns officer would like Ireland to be more open and inclusive, skin colour and culture shouldn’t matter. “There are no limits on what it is to be Irish,” she said.

Sophie Lee Fadlallah and her mother Bridget now live between Morocco and Ireland. Bridget had to convert to Islam to marry a man from Morocco.
“With me being Catholic and my mother Muslim I don’t think religion matters in Irish culture these days. I think being Irish is more of an attitude than a culture, we don’t really have many things that re distinct about us as a nation anymore,” she said.
In the days leading up to St. Patrick’s Day debate is ongoing in Limerick city on whether traditional Catholic-oriented public drinking laws should be bended to allow rugby fans celebrate in pubs on Good Friday, April 2nd.
Last Monday members of the Gardaí and Limerick publicans met to discuss a possible relaxation of the laws on the day which, traditionally, fasting, which includes abstaining from meat and alcohol has been observed for decades.
In a country more secular now than ever, the question remains, should Ireland still hold onto its traditional Catholic laws? This is particularly important today given that we now live in a multicultural society.

Fr Gabriel, Franciscan Friars of Moyross
“In a country that’s been historically Catholic since the evangelisation of the church, it’s hard to separate any definition of term ‘Irish’ from religion. I don’t agree with rugby fans going to the pub after the match”. Observing Good Friday is now losing its meaning, it’s become a day disconnected from prayer, fasting or focusing on higher things”.

Interviews by Kieran Foley, Jason Kennedy, Jean O’Donovan, Janna Murphy, Kelly Moran, David Kelly and Niall Kelly.

What it means to be Irish