All things Irish

March 8, 2009

All things Irish
Rick Coates 3/9/09


During the 1800s the relationship between Irish and Italian immigrants was strained at best. So as Irish Americans from Northern Michigan gather this Saturday for the 30th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festivities in downtown Traverse City, some might be surprised that an Italian American was instrumental in starting the parade.
“Pat Corso was the manager of Dill’s Olde Town Saloon (where Blue Tractor is located today in Traverse City) and he was looking to create a St. Patrick’s Day promotion,” recalls Colleen Zanotti of the Irish Queens organization. “He went to some of his regular patrons such as Louise Hagerty, Peggy Wilson and Trish Fiebing, who helped organize that first parade, and formed the Irish Queens with Lousie Hagerty becoming the Queen Mother and Peggy Wilson becoming our first queen.”
The ladies contacted Mike Shirley and asked him to be the first Irish King for the parade. Mike Shirley, who is known as “Mr. Irish,” didn’t realize what he was getting himself into.
“I agreed, it sounded like fun,” said Shirley. “Well, as the parade ended, Pete Dendrinos, who was mayor of Traverse City at the time, came up to me and handed me a shillelagh and told me I was the first Irish Lord Mayor of Traverse City.”
So when the next parade rolled around, Shirley contacted his friend and Traverse City attorney, Lou Smith, to be the next Lord Mayor. But before that happened, Shirley recalls that in September of 1999 he received a call from John Connolly, an Irishman from Detroit who had recently moved to the area to become superintendent of the Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools.

THE HIBERNIANS
“We had never met -- he was given my name by someone and called to tell me he was starting an Ancient Order of Hibernian division in Traverse City and that the first meeting was going to be at Brady’s Bar,” said Shirley. “There were about 10 guys at that first meeting and we formed the Bernard “Bun” Brady Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. I guess the rest is history.”
The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) has a long history dating back to 1564 in Ireland when a group known as The Defenders emerged. They were a secret society who protected Roman Catholic priests from persecution.
While there is much academic debate about this organization, the modern day Ancient Order of Hibernians was founded May 4, 1836 at New York’s St. James Church, to protect the clergy and church property from the “Know Nothings” (an anti-Irish group)and their followers. At the same time, the vast influx of Irish Immigrants fleeing the Irish famine in the late 1840s prompted a growth of various social societies in the U.S. - the largest of which was, and continues to be, the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

MEN’S GROUP
Today there are hundreds of Hibernian divisions throughout the United States, with 14 in Michigan, including Traverse City and the Monsignor Flannery Division in Gaylord.
The AOH is an Irish Catholic men’s organization made up of members who were either born in Ireland or are of Irish descent.
“Basically if you’re male and have some Irish, we let you join. We have non-Catholic members,” said Shirley. “Our focus as an organization is on the AOH motto of Friendship, Unity, and Christian Charity.”
While in its early days, the Traverse City Hibernians were best known for organizing an annual pub crawl, a tug- of-war with the Italian-American club, and organizing the annual St. Patrick’s Parade Day activities (always held the first Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day), the group has been active in recent years in charitable works and promoting Irish culture in the region.
“Almost from the inception we began buying books, CDs and DVDs that relate to Irish culture for the Traverse City Public Library,” said Shirley. “We have made donations to support Irish bands coming to perform. We are now in our 16th year of the Lucky Leprechaun program; you see them at bars and Shell gas stations all over. That program has raised $150,000 for the Father Fred Foundation.”
Many of the AOH’s charitable acts go unnoticed in the community. Yet one big one is their annual Father Fred Foundation Cigar Dinner (May 21), now in its 14th year of raising 20 percent of the foundation’s annual operating budget.

80-STRONG
Shirley says that over the years more than 300 have been members of the AOH.
“We have about 80 members currently as guys move away, and we have had some members pass on,” said Shirley. “Each year we pick up a handful of new members.”
The group meets monthly at Sleder’s Tavern in Traverse City and enjoys an annual picnic in June and a Christmas dinner.
For years the AOH sponsored Traverse City’s annual Pub Crawl on St. Patrick’s Day.
“John Connolly, when he started our AOH division also said we needed to have a pub crawl,” said Shirley. “Well, we had about 100 that first year and soon thousands were showing up. It just got too big, so the local pubs took it over and they organize it now. Some of us join in, but we go to church in the morning, have an Irish breakfast as a group, and then head to Union Street Station for lunch and a few pints around two and watch the pub crawl come in about 4 p.m.”
While the AOH has relinquished the Pub Crawl, they still organize the annual St. Patrick’s Parade and festivities. Shirley says they expect a record turnout for the 30th annual parade this Saturday.

FAMILY FUN
“We have a lot of people who have contacted us and all are welcome to walk the parade route, enter a float,” said Shirley. “Everything starts and finishes at North Peak Brewery. They are putting up a big heated tent in the parking lot. Pre-parade festivities start at noon with the crowning of the Irish Queen, the naming of the Irish Lord Mayor, the prince and princess, the Hibernian of the Year. After the parade (starts at 1:30 pm sharp) we have the Wild Sullys performing Irish music and a group of local Irish dancers performing. This is a great day of family fun. “
Anyone interested in joining the AOH in Traverse City should contact Kirt Kilbourne at 231-964-4975. If you reside near Gaylord, contact William O’Neill at 989-731-4329. The group meets once a month at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Gaylord.
As for the Irish Queens and Irish Lord Mayor, these are somewhat secret societies that meet and select their newest member each year. The Queens meet for an annual breakfast or lunch while the Lord Mayors have a dinner.

Robert Emmet Society

There is no shortage of those of Irish descent in Northern Michigan. Evidence of that is supported by the number of counties named after counties in Ireland: Clare, Wexford, Antrim and Emmet.
In the early ’90s, a group of residents formed a loose-knit group known as the Robert Emmet Society (RES) in hopes of raising enough money to erect a statue of the Irish rebel in the Petoskey/Harbor Springs area to honor the namesake of the county.
Emmet, 25, was the leader of a brief - and disastrous - rebellion against Britain in Dublin in 1803 which resulted in the death of around 20 British troops and 50 Irish citizens. He was hanged and decapitated in Dublin later that year.
“We are real loose, no officers or official minutes,” said George Colburn of the group. “We started as a group of Irish-Americans in Emmet County trying to raise money for the statue of Emmet. Well, it never worked out due to the cost. So we decided to make our mission a scholarship to Ireland. For the first four or five years we sent a student in residence in Emmet County to the international summer school at the National University of Ireland.”
Colburn, an internationally renowned documentary filmmaker (Eisenhower) who lives in Walloon Lake, and the other members of the RES decided seven years ago to change the format and send a student for one semester to the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. The student has to currently attend North Central Michigan College in Petoskey and write an essay of 1,250 to 2,500 words on “How do the political values of Robert Emmet, Irish patriot and namesake of Emmet County, relate to our world and our lives today?”
The essay must be submitted by April 15. Finalists are interviewed in May and the winner is announced later in the month. This year will mark the 12th student to garner an educational experience in Ireland, something that Colburn and the others from RES are very proud of.
“This was the vision of my friend Joseph W. McCarthy, who passed away in 1994,” said Colburn. “We are able to do this because the Institute has developed an exchange program so tuition is free, so we have to raise the expenses for the student.
Membership into the RES is $100 a year and anyone donating $25 or more may become a “friend of the RES.”
Colburn said it is a struggle each year to raise the money for the scholarship. “Membership and donations get us halfway there, and the RES Hoolie at the City Park Grill sponsored by the Blissfest Music Organization raises close to the other half needed.”

The annual Robert Emmet Hoolie at the City Park Grill in Petoskey is Thursday March 12. The event features live Irish music with John Richey and his Merry Band, the comedy of Dean Tahtinen and additional entertainment. Door prizes, Irish dinner fare, reduced rates for NCMC Students, Seniors, Blissfest and RES Members. Special price for corned beef and cabbage. Social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. For additional information on the Robert Emmet Society visit emmetsociety.org or call George Colburn at 231-535-2440.

Irish High Holy Days
Happenings

Thursday, March 12
Robert Emmett Hoolie at the City Park Grille in Petoskey - 5:30 pm

Saturday, March 14
Saint Patrick’s Parade at Kilkenny’s Irish Public House and
North Peak Brewing Company.
Noon Pre-Parade
1:30 p.m. Downtown St. Patrick’s Day Parade begins
2:30 p.m. Post parade Irish Entertainment with The Wild Sullys

Sunday, March 15
Kilkenny’s Irish Public House, 6 p.m. Lucky Leprechauns Ball with Song of the Lakes - Father Fred Fundraiser. $10 for adults — kids under 16 free.

Tuesday, March 17
Highest of Holy Days—Saint Patrick’s Day
8 a.m. Mass at Immaculate Conception, TC.