Items
of Irish Interest
Cailyn
McDermott. Cailyn, 24-years-old, is a graduate of Suffolk University. She is employed
as an audit associate. She is currently attending the Carroll School of Management
at Boston College. She would eventually like to earn a doctorate degree in accounting
and become a professor. Cailyn resides in Brighton. She grew up on Cape Cod. Cailyn's
ancestral roots are in Counties Cork, Galway, and Waterford.
2008
Boston New England Rose
|
Eire
Society honors O’Malley
Scholar cited for work at reconciliation
By
Stephen Hagan
 ‘It’s
because of the peace talks with Northern Ireland and South Africa and now he’s
in Iraq.’
Barbara Fitzgerald, Eire Society’s Board of Directors
With
the divisions is today’s world, Democrats versus Republicans, haves versus
the have nots and us versus them, it’s no wonder people are left befuddled
and asking what it all means.
Enter Padraig O’Malley, this year’s
recipient of the Gold Medal at the Eire Society of Boston's Gold Medal Dinner.
O’Malley, a distinguished professor at the University of Massachusetts, was
honored during the organization’s gathering, held at Boston’s Omni Parker
House earlier this month. He is chiefly known for his peace and reconciliation
work in Northern Ireland, South Africa and Iraq.
~Padraig O'Malley~
The
Dublin-born O’Malley is hailed as a peace negotiator and also as a published
writer.
Those honoring O’Malley at the April 3 dinner included local activist
Jim Brett, Irish Consul David Barry and Boston Globe writer Kevin Cullen. Cullen
served as toastmaster at the dinner, which was held in the hotel’s Rooftop
Ballroom.
The Eire Society's Gold Medal is awarded annually to a person of
who has made significant contributions to benefit society and to their chosen
fields of expertise.
Barbara Fitzgerald, a member of the Eire Society’s
Board of Directors, said the award for O’Malley was well deserved.
“It’s
because of the peace talks with Northern Ireland and South Africa and now he’s
in Iraq,” she said.
Previous Gold Medal recipients include filmmakers
John Ford and John Huston, Irish actresses Siobhan McKenna and Maureen O'Hara,
Irish poet Seamus Heaney, U.S. ambassadors to Ireland William Shannon and Jean
Kennedy Smith, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John McCormack
and President John F. Kennedy.
For most of his professional life, O'Malley
has been involved with the conflict in Northern Ireland. Working with all the
political parties to the conflict, he convened the Amherst Conference on Northern
Ireland (Massachusetts, 1975), the Airlie House Conference (Virginia, 1985) and
co–convened the Arniston Conference with the government of South Africa (Western
Cape, 1997).
In 1987 O'Malley initiated a meeting with the dissident Northern
Irish hosted by Nelson Mandela in South Africa known as the Great Indaba. In 1992,
he participated in bringing some of the South African figures in that transition
to Boston for a meeting with representatives of the factions in Northern Ireland.
Most
recently, O'Malley helped arrange a 2007 conference at a resort in Finland, where
16 Iraqis met with experienced negotiators from South Africa and Ireland who described
the processes toward peace in their countries.
The society’s Karen Ann
Thornton described O'Malley as a charming man who is able to gather together a
range of interested parties, often those with differing viewpoints.
“He’s
been involved in the Irish community for years,” she said. “He’s
bringing all these different factions together.”
Dublin born
O'Malley
was born in Dublin in 1942. He was educated at University College, Dublin, and
at Yale, Tufts and Harvard universities in the United States.
O'Malley has
authored many books, among them the award-winning Uncivil Wars: Ireland Today,
Biting at the Grave, and, most recently Shades of Difference, Mac Maharaj
and the Struggle for South Africa. He is recipient of the International Association
of University Presidents Peace Award (1985) and the Chancellor's Award for Distinguished
Scholars (1985).
The Eire Society will hold their annual general meeting
on May 15th at Boston College’s Burns Library. The meeting will review past
events and achievements of 2007-2008 year, review constitutional amendments and
elect new members to the Board of Directors. This event is for members only and
the cost for the dinner is $15 per person. Members are asked to RSVP by telephone
at 866-560-1050 on or before May 8.
| |
Map
of Ireland
"ASGARD" The
gaff rigged Ketch "Asgard" was designed and built in Norway by Colin
Archer of Larvik in 1905 and was the wedding present of Dr. and Mrs. Hamilton
Osgood of Boston, U.S.A. to their daughter Mary on her marriage to Erskine Childers,
father of the late President Childers. The Name "Asgard" is an old Norse
word meaning "Home of the Gods."
In July, 1914 "Asgard"
with Erskine and Mary Childers and four others on board, sailed to the North Sea
to collect a cargo of guns which had been bought in Hamburg for the Irish Volunteers.
After a difficult voyage the cargo was landed at Howth on 26 July 1914. "Asgard"
was sold by Mrs. Childers in 1926 and passed through several hands before being
purchased by the Irish Government in 1961 because of her historical association.
In
1968 the Government formed the committee known as Coiste an Asgard and placed
"Asgard" under their guidance and control to be used as a sail training
vessel for the young people of Ireland. Sail training cruises were carried out
on "Asgard" each year from 1969 to 1974. "Asgard" was transferred
to Kilmainham Jail Historical Museum in 1979 for exhibition to the public.
"ASGARD
II"
"Asgard
II" was designed by the late Jack Tyrrell, and built in Arklow, Co. Wicklow.
She was commissioned by the Irish Government and launched on 7 March 1981.
She is managed by Coiste an Asgard, the Irish Sail Training Organisation. Each
year over 500 trainees are given the opportunity to go to sea on a traditionally
rigged sailing ship and learn much about the sea, sailing and themselves. "Asgard
II" participates in the annual Cutty Sark Tall Ships Races and has taken
the first place in her class several times over the years.
As befits the traditional
design of the vessel, "Asgard II" carries as her figurehead a carving
of 'GRANUAILE," the famous 16th century May Sea Captain and "Pirate"
Queen of the sea.
Irish
Proclimation:
| | | |
