Catie Keogh - Irish American News

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34 Irish American News “We’ve AlWAys Been Green!” August 2011The Shadowof a GunmanThe Shadow of a Gunman, bySean O’Casey, will be presentedat the Irish American HeritageCenter from September 15 toOctober 23.The play will be produced by theSeanachai Theatre Company. Thiscompany of exceptional actors justfinished a brilliant season of Irishtheatre.O’Casey wrote the play in 1923,KIVLEHANINSURANCE AGENCYHome/Auto/Business/Life/Health708-671-9010Condo and Apartment BuildingsOne of our Specialties Since 1990Health Insurance CompaniesInclude Blue Cross Blue ShieldIndividual & Small Groups11519 S. Harlem Ave.Worth, IL 60482John’s Cell 708-369-6639and set it in the Dublin of 1920.This was during Ireland’s war forindependence from the British Empire.That struggle began in 1916and lasted until 1921. O’Caseyshows the constant fear and tensionpeople endured in war timeDublin.The main character is DonalDavoren, a poet. The rumor in thetenement he is living in is that he isan IRA gunman “on the run.” Oneof the dictionary definitions is: “areflected image.”He doesn’t deny the rumor becausethe air of mystery and dangerhelps him win the attentions of abeautiful girl who lives in the samebuilding.That “shadow” is far reachingand has fatal results.773-878-3727, www.seanachai.org.Focuson Things of BeautyDuring World War II (1939-1945) London and other Britishcities were bombed, or blitzed, bythe German air force.Belfast’s ship building, navalrepair, and airplane productionfacilities were of great militaryimportance. In April and May,1941, this Northern Ireland citywas bombed.The story of that horrific eventis told here by citizens of Belfast.They wrote these vivid descriptionsand accounts immediatelyafter the bombing.The Belfast Blitz: The People’sStory contains over 150 contributionsfrom the widest possiblerange of sources including nurses,policemen, air raid wardens, housewives,parish chronicles, schoolmagazines, newspapers and almostall told by ordinary citizens.After the bombing, Emma Duffin,a volunteer aid worker, describesvisiting an enormousmakeshift morgue. Row afterrow of open coffins contained theghastly broken bodies of Belfast’scitizens: “All the way to the placeI had told myself I was bound tosee horrible sights…” “I had seenmany dead, but they had died inhospital beds… death to a certainextent had been… made decent.Here it was grotesque, repulsive,horrible.”She is in a place of death, sorrowand horror. “I tried not to think of it,and think of whatsoever things aregood… are lovely… birds, flowers,beautiful skies and seas.”The Belfast Blitz: The People’sStory by Stephen Douds. BlackstaffPress and Dufour Editions.factotum@dufoureditions.com.Hero of theWar for IndependenceErnie O’Malley was an extraordinaryperson: hero of Ireland’sWar of Independence, author ofclassic books, and promoter ofIrish culture.After medical school the futurefor this handsome young man wasgolden. But, love of country madehim leave medicine to become afull-time organizer for the IrishVolunteers (later the IRA).During the Revolution (1916 to1921), O’Malley’s advice was soimportant, that on page 276, thebook says he reported “directlyto Michael Collins, Director ofIntelligence.”O’Malley wrote the classic accountof the Irish Revolution. OnAnother Man’s Wound: Raids andRallies is based on the hundreds ofinterviews he conducted during the1950’s with former IRA soldiers.Some were collected into this bookand published in 1982.After all those years, O’Malleywas still amazed at the unrelentingopposition to the revolution. Hetells of the thunderous editorialsof the daily press, the pronouncementsof the Catholic church hierarchy,and the pressures of otherestablishment propaganda.Mercier Press and Dufoureditions. factotum@dufoureditions.com.Dublin WitQuickness of mind is a qualityprized in Ireland since ancienttimes. The traditional stories ofIreland are filled with examples.In Dublin Wit, Des MacHaleassembles examples of acuteobservation and quick thinking. Ireceived a previous book he wrote,and know him to be meticulous inrecording humor.MacHale finds wit in manyplaces and from contemporaryDubliner, as well as from famousDubliners of the past.- Graffiti in a hospital washroom:the human body, properly lookedafter, will last a lifetime.- A Trinity College professor:What the difference between a manand a woman is I can’t conceive.- Graffiti in a psychiatric hospital:Give generously to mentalhealth week - or I’ll kill you.- Oscar Wilde: I regret I mustdecline your invitation owing toan engagement I’m just about tomake.- George Bernard Shaw: I am anunbeliever but sometimes I havedoubts.- Also by Shaw: In baseball I seeno reason why the infield shouldnot try to put the batter off hisstride at the critical moment byneatly timed disparagements of hismother’s respectability.Mercier Press and Dufour Editions.factotum@dufoureditions.com.Was She Going to Livethe American Dream?When my grandmother came herefrom rural Ireland, she worked as adomestic servant. But she probablyfelt lucky because the house of herwealthy employer had running water,indoor plumbing, the new electricity,etc.Kate Kerrigan is the author of EllisIsland: A Novel. It is a love storybecause the main character, EllieHogan, leaves a loved, but disabledhusband in Ireland. She comes toAmerica to earn enough money toreturn and live well.In New York, she is tempted by“this glittering new world of fineclothes and parties, money and mansions.She meets a “charming suitorwho can give her all she ever wanted.”I don’t understand why he falls inlove with an uneducated country girl.This is possible, but not plausible.My grandmother met my grandfather(a handsome Irish policeman)and they lived the American Dream.Harper Paperbacks. www.harpercollins.com.
August 2011 Irish American News “We’ve AlWAys Been Green!” 35Irish American Alliance Picnic 8-28The ER did some preliminary testsand the doc told me “You’ve either gotmeningitis or a sinus infection.”They gave me some pretty goodpainkillers and I headed to Walgreensto get my prescription filled.Looking back I realize I wasdrugged during the whole encounter.Maybe that’s why it felt so strange.I handed the woman behind thepharmacy counter my prescription.She blanched. “Mike Houlihan? You’reMike Houlihan?”Yes, why, is there a problem?“Oh, no, the name kind of threw me,that’s all… That was my ex-husband’sname.”For a moment, time stood still.Oh… really?Now the drugs were really startingto kick in. My headache was goneand I was slowly transforming into awerewolf.I grinned at her, suddenly feelinglike an old lecher. She wasn’t bad. HerWalgreens nametag read “Cindy.” Shelooked about forty, nice body, sort of amousy pixie hairdo. She wasn’t a pig.So, you were Mrs. Mike Houlihan,huh? Well tell me what happened,Cindy?The air in Walgreens suddenly grewvery chilly.“It didn’t end well. Your prescriptionwill be ready in about twenty minutes,…sir.”Yeah, keep calling me that, I thoughtas I made my way to a chair in thewaiting area.She’d shut down pretty quick there,wonder what old Mike had done to deservesuch derision from his ex-old lady.I leafed through Modern Maturitymagazine as I imagined what hadgone awry between Mike and CindyHoulihan.Maybe Mike was abusive, camehome most nights three sheets to thewind, told her he wasn’t happy withthe tuna casserole. “This tastes awful,Cindy! Is this your mother’s recipe fordog crap?”Maybe Mike was a womanizer,sneaking around with chicks fromRite-Aid and CVS. One of the pharmaciststold Cindy she saw him onenight picking up a stacked redhead infront of Osco.Mike might’ve been an amateurshrink, who delighted in psychoanalyzingCindy for sport, had her so turnedaround she was practically Sybil.Surely there had never been anydomestic violence; except that onetime when the Sox lost in the tenthinning and Cindy became hystericalas Mike got her in a friendly headlockin the kitchen and explained the infieldfly rule to her.I glanced up and felt the eyes of thepharmacist on me. She was leaningagainst the rack of anti-depressantsand talking to someone on the phonewhile looking directly at me. I couldfeel the hate emanating out of her hornrimmed glasses.Wait a minute, now I get it. Mikewasn’t the bad guy in this marriage. Itwas Cindy!Mike spent the entire ten years oftheir marriage trying to enlighten her.But no, Cindy wanted to be GloriaSteinem.Sure, this psycho bitch would driveany man off his rocker. She was probablyaddicted to the Percodan she stolefrom the pharmacy every day.And what about the time the Reverendand Cindy were discovered togetherone night at Rainbow beach wearingeach other’s bathing suits?Cindy was nothing but a dirty slut,with a drug problem on top of being analcoholic sex addict to boot.Poor Mike once loved her but henever counted on Cindy’s metamorphisminto the centerfold for “WhiteTrash Monthly.”I stood up and made my way to thecounter, ready to give Cindy a pieceof my mind for her cavalier treatmentof Mike. She confronted me with mydrugs and put them in a bag just asthe lovely Mary came in from waitingoutside in the car.I paid for the stuff and jammed thepills into my jacket and grabbed Maryaround the shoulder.Ya see this, Cindy? This is the realMrs. Mike Houlihan!Cindy looked at me with daggersand walked away as Mary and I madeour way to the parking lot.Mary looked at me and said, “Whowas that?’That was Cindy!“Who the heck is Cindy?”My ex-wife!“How many of those pills did you take?”Enough to spot some screwballchick that didn’t know how good shehad it!Mary looked at me funny and said,“You better let me drive.”Don’t worry, I have no intention oftaking any of the poison she put in myprescription.The lovely Mary smiled as shestarted up the car “Shut up and go tosleep.”The Irish AmericanAlliance is hostingtheir 19th AnnualPicnic Sunday, August28, 2011 at Burr OakWoods, Grove 1 (136thand Harlem Avenue inPalos Heights). The picnicfeatures TraditionalIrish Music and Entertainment,Children’s andAdult Games, a BeanBag Tournament andRaffle. It also Featuresfree food, soft drinks,beer and other beverages.The Irish American Alliance is asocial organization open to anyand all individuals interested injoining an Irish Oriented SocialClub. Membership dues are$25.00 per person. The picnicVIRTUAL BUSINESS OFFICE• Prestigious downtown address• Mail-forwarding service• Personalized answering service• Conference room or dayoffice usage• Administrative support services• No locked in contracts• Customized packages withfixed monthly invoices• Great business imageContact us today for yourPrivate Tour and IntroductionBarrett Office Suites & ServicesYour Business Our Centre135 South LaSalle Street • Suite 2100• Chicago, Illinois 60603 •312.254.8700www.barrettoffices.comstarts after a 1:00PM CatholicMass and goes until sunset.For more information, pleasecall Ginger @ 815 666 8154 orgo to our website.www.chicagoiaa.org.
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Catie Keogh - Irish American News

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