Erin Go Bragh - We are Family

Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends
Each day your whole life through!







In a few days we will be on a Aer Lingus jet headed to Ireland for the 1st time in my life. We are going to have a reunion with my mother's family in County Mayo. We are connecting with our family for the first time. It's been years since I've focused my attention on Ireland or even the Irish-American experience in America. Yet about nine months ago I started reading books and watching movies on both. Once my relatives connected with us via the Internet and a reunion was planned I stepped up my immersion in things Irish and Ireland. Some books and DVDs I recommend you check out are:

Books:
The Pope's Children
All Souls Day
Easter Rising
Angela's Ashes


DVD's:
Black Irish
Once
In America
The Quiet Man
Angela's Ashes

You can find them and more on my links to the right of this.

Watching Angela's Ashes for the first time I was moved by the incredible poverty and suffering of the Irish people at that time in history and thought about my mother and father making the journey to America at age 18-19 to create a better life for themselves. In many ways it's that Ireland that is still stuck in people's mind so when I started reading The Pope's Children which is the #1 Best seller in Ireland I was blown away by the following facts and realities of the New Ireland.

"Today Ireland is the second richest country in the world". "Ireland is becoming the most middle-class suburban nation in Europe". "The Irish score second in the world as describing themselves as happy and 77% say they are proud of Ireland'. Ireland has been a economic miracle and is a global nation. The story of the new Ireland is worth knowing even if you aren't of Irish descent. I will review the fascinating book 'The Pope's Children" in a future post.

Now back to my experiences as a child of Irish immigrants in the Bronx. I remember as a kid being taken every year to the Saint Patrick's Day parade on New York's 5th Ave. The sound of the bagpipes just touched me all the way down to the bone.
It was a great day especially for my mother who always had a dream of returning home to Ireland. She never made the trip but I'm making it for her. I will post my experiences in Ireland and I will celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Foxford with my family. Truly amazing.........