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September 16, 2006

Drumcree Parade Go-Ahead Slammed

News About Ireland & The Irish

IN 09/16/06 Drumcree Parade Go-Ahead Slammed
BB 09/16/06 Drumcree Church Fire 'Malicious'
IN 09/16/06 Ervine ‘Never Resigned From UVF’
IN 09/16/06 Plaque For Veterans Of Spanish War
NH 09/16/06 Bobby Sands Biography For Bunscoil — Abridged Too Far?
IN 09/16/06 Opin: Paisley Can’t Stomach Salmond Home Truths
IT 09/16/06 A Big Bill For Dinner With Bill (Clinton)
WP 09/16/06 Mega-Pub: Daniel O'Connell's DC Pub Review
NY 09/16/06 Descendants Gather To Remember 1st Ellis Island Immigrant
GN 09/16/06 Irish Priest Begins Work In Galveston

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http://www.irishnews.com/access/daily/current.asp?SID=535284

Drumcree Parade Go-Ahead Slammed

By Barry McCaffrey

Garvaghy Road residents have expressed anger at a Parades
Commission ruling that a new Drumcree parade is ‘non-
contentious’.

No restrictions have been imposed on the controversial
march next Saturday in a decision described by nationalists
as “nonsensical”.

Portadown LoL No 9 have filed to march from the town centre
to a rally at Drumcree Hill to mark 3,000 days of protests
at Orangemen being prevented from parading on the Garvaghy
Road.

Orange Order spokesman David Jones sparked anger earlier
this month when he urged loyalists across Northern Ireland
to join the parade.

Nationalists were angered as it would pass St John’s
Catholic Church during Saturday evening Mass.

Garvaghy Road residents’ spokesman Brendan Mac Cionnaith
also hit out at the Parades Commission last night for
failing to impose any restrictions on the march.

“The failure of the Parades Commission to classify next
Saturday’s Orange march as contentious means absolutely no
restrictions will be placed upon it,” he said.

“It is nothing short of complete moral cowardice.

“It should be obvious to even the most cursory of observers
that there has not been a continuous Orange presence at
Drumcree and that this march and rally is viewed by the
vast majority of the Catholic community in Portadown as an
attempt by the Orange Order to reignite inter-communal
conflict in Portadown.”

Mr Mac Cionnaith said the parade route would pass many
Catholic homes which had been subject to sectarian
intimidation over the last eight years.

“For the commission to say this march is not contentious is
probably one of the most ridiculous and nonsensical
decisions ever.”

He said the commission decision had now destroyed any
credibility it had with nationalists.

“No amount of public relations spin by chairman Roger Poole
or any other commission member will defuse that [anger].”

However, a Parades Commission spokesman insisted yesterday
that it had properly examined the Drumcree parade before
deciding not to impose restrictions.

He said parade organisers had voluntarily decided to begin
the march 30 minutes earlier at 6pm to ensure that it did
not clash with people leaving Mass.

Meanwhile, there is expected to be increased security at
two contentious loyalist parades taking place today .

In north Belfast, around 2,000 marchers and 39 bands will
take part in a parade on the Whitewell Road to mark the
sixth anniversary of the death of Protestant teenager
Thomas McDonald.

He was knocked down and killed by a Catholic motorist after
he attacked her car with a brick.

In Co Tyrone, around 2,700 loyalists and 72 bands are due
to take part in a parade in Castlederg.

Nationalists have cancelled a planned protest.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/5352480.stm

Drumcree Church Fire 'Malicious'

A fire at Drumcree church near Portadown in County Armagh
is being treated as malicious, police have said.

A tin of paint was set alight at the back of the building
at about 0500 BST, causing minor damage.

The church has been in the media spotlight for the last
number of years, as a result of the controversy over an
Orange Order parade each July.

The nationalist Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition has
condemned the church attack as "wrong".

A spokesperson said: "Nothing can justify this attack on
Drumcree church.

"Irrespective of the very justifiable anger which exists as
a result of the Parades Commission decision not to class
next week's Orange march and rally as contentious, and its
failure to impose any restrictions in that march, this
attack was wrong.

"The Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition would ask that
there is no repetition of this attack on Drumcree church."

Peaceful parade

Each July, the Portadown Orange Lodge attends a service at
Drumcree church to commemorate the anniversary of the
Battle of the Somme.

Since 1998, their homeward route, along the mainly
nationalist Garvaghy Road, has been blocked by the security
forces, following a determination by the Parades
Commission.

The commission was set up in 1997 to make decisions on
whether controversial parades should be restricted.

The Drumcree parade has been marked by serious violence in
the past, but it has passed off peacefully in the last
three years.

The march has been one of Northern Ireland's most
contentious. The route was last used by Orangemen in 1997.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2006/09/16 15:47:53 GMT
© BBC MMVI

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http://www.irishnews.com/access/daily/current.asp?SID=535307

Ervine ‘Never Resigned From UVF’

By Staff Reporter

Progressive Unionist Party leader David Ervine has
disclosed he has “never resigned from the UVF”.

The East Belfast assembly member also revealed that 11
years after his release from jail in 1980, he still had an
active role inside the paramilitary group.

“I’ve never been asked to resign from the UVF but then that
would apply to pretty much thousands of people,” he said.

On his links today with the loyalist organisation, Mr
Ervine said: “I have a relationship with the UVF.

“I deal with the UVF at specific levels and I do so on a
basis of the creation of peace.”

Mr Ervine said he joined the UVF in 1972, “was arrested in
1974, served five-and-a-half years in Long Kesh [and] came
out with no intentions of being involved in paramilitarism
again”.

Speaking to The Belfast Telegraph, he would not disclose
the target for the bomb he was caught with in 1974 in east
Belfast.

Meanwhile, the PUP is to send a delegation to meet the
Independent Monitoring Commission next week, although Mr
Ervine will not be attending the discussions.

The delegation will however include Policing Board member
Dawn Purvis, who is chair of the party. The UVF has already
briefed members of the PUP executive ahead of the meeting.

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http://www.irishnews.com/access/daily/current.asp?SID=535319

Plaque For Veterans Of Spanish War

By Marie Louise McCrory

A plaque is to be unveiled in Belfast city centre today in
honour of Irish volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil
War.

The plaque, which has been erected in the John Hewitt Bar
in Donegall Street, is dedicated to the XVth International
Brigade.

Twenty men from Belfast joined the fight against the
fascist army during the war of the 1930s.

They were part of a 79-strong group from across the north
who travelled to Spain following an attempted coup d’etat
by army generals, including Francisco Franco.

The right-wing forces were backed by the international
fascist powers of the time, Hitler’s Germany and
Mussolini’s Italy.

Many of the Northern Ireland volunteers died during the
bitter three year long battle.

The International Brigade Commemoration Committee (IBCC)
has now organised the unveiling of a plaque in their
honour.

Bob Doyle, from Dublin, will be among those who will be
present at the unveiling ceremony today.

Now aged 92, Mr Doyle fought as a member of the
International Brigade. During the war, he was captured and
held in the monastery of San Pedro, which had been turned
into a concentration camp.

He was released in 1939 as part of a prisoner exchange.

He later joined the British Merchant Navy and served in the
Second World War.

He met his Spanish wife Lola in England and they lived in
London where he worked as a printer after the war.

He later returned to Spain and took part in the underground
anti-Fascist resistance.

He now lives in London with his son Robert.

Mr Doyle has now written a book, ‘Brigadista – An
Irishman’s Fight Against Fascism’, which will also be
launched at the event.

Kevin Doherty, secretary of IBCC, said Mr Doyle was the
last remaining Irish International Brigadier.

“This is an opportunity for people from both sections of
the community here to learn and celebrate their common
history,” he said.

Other Irish volunteers included Belfast men Joe Boyd and
Fred McMahon, Lower Falls men, Dick O’Neill and James C
Donegan, Henry McGrath, Bill Beattie and William Laughlin
from the Shankill, and Jim Haughey from Lurgan.

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http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2006/sep15_Sands_biography_children.php

Bobby Sands Biography For Bunscoil — Abridged Too Far?

(Maeve Connolly, Irish News)

A 'childrens' version of a book about republican icon Bobby
Sands is to be distributed to primary schools, despite
concerns that it is inappropriate material for young
pupils. Maeve Connolly reports

The authors of a children's version of a biography of IRA
hunger striker Bobby Sands plan to distribute the book to
every Irish language primary school and want it to become
part of the syllabus.

Bobby Sands died on May 5 1981 after refusing food for 66
days.

He was the first of 10 IRA and INLA prisoners who died on
hunger strike in the Maze.

The 27-year-old had served four years of a 14-year sentence
for possessing a gun and had been elected Sinn Féin MP for
Fermanagh/West Tyrone during his imprisonment.

The plan will inevitably bring protests from those who
believe that young children should not be learning about
the life of a man who advocated violence and was a member
of a paramilitary organisation.

A biography entitled Nothing But An Unfinished Song was
published earlier this year and now author Denis O'Hearn
and former hunger striker Laurence McKeown have written a
children's version – I Arose This Morning – aimed at
children in the nine to 12 age group.

The adaptation is also available in Irish entitled D'eirigh
me ar Maidin.

Illustrations in the biography are by Thomas 'Dixie' Elliot
who shared a cell with Sands and was one of those involved
in the blanket protest.

Co-author of I Arose This Morning, Mr McKeown, said that
the writers hoped the book would be made available to every
bunscoil in the north.

"We like the idea of it going on the syllabus. The
curriculum has things like citizenship and modern history
on it so we think there is a place for the book," he said.

Mr McKeown said the children's edition was 100 pages long
and aimed at nine to 12-year-olds "but is accessible to
adults and would be an ideal tool for adults learning
Irish".

He said events in the H Block in the Maze prison had
"contributed significantly to the revival of the [Irish]
language".

"Many former prisoners are today Irish language teachers
and indeed principals of Irish language schools which is
testament to the role they have played upon release."

A spokesman for a teaching union said schools often studied
modern local history and in particular local figures and
while teachers always tried to provide a "balanced view"
they also had a responsibility to tackle "difficult"
issues.

"If a document or material was directly biased a teacher
wouldn't deliver that information, they would prepare their
own material," the spokesman from the National Association
of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers said.

"If a school was going to use something like that [the
book] there should be a counter to it.

"We are not in the age of burning books," he added.

The spokesman said that as the 25th anniversary of the
hunger strikes was being marked this year it was likely
many schools had already looked at the event and the people
involved.

However, questions have been asked about the
appropriateness of primary school children reading about
someone who espoused violence in the face of what he
perceived was injustice.

Co-author Mr O'Hearn said the book was relevant to younger
people who faced challenges and the consequences of their
actions.

"The original biography asked how people like Bobby Sands
become activists and then strengthen their beliefs to the
degree that they willingly make tremendous sacrifices and
do extraordinary things," Mr O'Hearn said.

"Writing for young people adds a new dimension to this
question because we directly addressed the ethical dilemma
that Bobby and others faced in joining the IRA and then
doing things that were quite controversial.

"Young people face hard choices nearly every day and we
hope this book will encourage them to think about the
consequences of the choices they make, even if they are
less dramatic than those that Bobby Sands faced."

September 16, 2006
________________

This article appeared first in the September 15, 2006
edition of the Irish News.

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http://www.irishnews.com/access/daily/current.asp?SID=535312

Opin: Paisley Can’t Stomach Salmond Home Truths

By James Kelly

In 10 week’s time they will pull down the blinds in the
last chance saloon and the muddled Ulster politicians still
don’t know where they will meet.

Will it be in heaven or hell – ask that damned elusive
Paisley Pimpernel and get a dusty answer.

He has been over “on his loneo” to

10 Downing Street, intruding on Tony Blair’s private
troubles with the man next door. Seems that the old
troublemaker decided off his own bat to intervene with his
tuppence worth to tell the prime minister that there will
be no devolution deal by the November deadline and that it
is a waste of money setting up party negotiations somewhere
in Scotland.

He is reported to have said: “I told the prime minister
that the deal was not possible until the IRA did the
business and that means an end to all activities and
republican support for police. There is no sign of that and
I don’t see a deal by November 24”.

Meantime his party was still ready to talk but at Stormont
and not in Scotland. Talk about what?

Battles long ago or the more pressing matter of the
threatened iniquitous rates?

Have the politicians at last woken up to the financial
problems confronting their electors? Seems they have.

Paisley even mentioned the rates issue to Blair. That’s a
change from the usual waffle. What did he say?

“The people are not going to have it. Ulster was being
treated like a guinea pig.

It is a total injustice and unacceptable”. What are he and
the rest going to do about it? Nothing except a lot of
belated old guff and leaving the victims to the tender
mercies of London and Chancellor Gordon Brown in the long-
term political vacuum now looming up like a bad dream.

The two prime ministers, Blair and Ahern, had hoped for a
political breakthrough, some would say miracle, if the
parties could be inducted to do some new thinking about the
way ahead matching the success story of the Celtic Tiger in
the quiet surroundings of St Andrews in Scotland far from
the influence of the old time green and orange tribesmen.

You would think that proud Ulster-Scots would welcome
joining their blood brothers for a short break and at the
same time take the opportunity to see how devolution has
transformed the picture of life in the lowlands, highlands
and islands.

But no, something has happened to cast a cloud over the
long-time relationship.

Why the reluctance to go there?

Could it be the dramatic change reported this week in The
Scotsman newspaper’s poll showing that the balance of
opinion, surprisingly, has shifted towards Scottish
independence.

The poll shows that in the event of a referendum held today
44 per cent in favour of Britain and Northern Ireland, with
15 per cent “don’t knows”.

Again Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish Nationalist
Party beat Labour’s Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell
in the poll in popularity and ability.

Salmond who is now likely to take over in the Edinburgh
parliament as the head of a coalition with the Liberal
Democrats and the Green Party.

Salmond is on record as hailing the Republic’s Celtic Tiger
as a model for an independent Scotland.

But here’s the rub which has now disturbed the Ulster No-
men. Salmond has also made no secret of his advice to
Ulster politicians to grasp the opportunity they are
missing to emulate Scotland’s successful devolution.

So it is no wonder why Paisley – who seems to be reaching
his sell-by date acting on his own and leaving other party
spokesmen sprawling and liable to be contradicted – prefers

hole-in-the-corner talks at Stormont to a public showdown
in the press at a highly publicised event in Scotland.

Will this be his last stand?

Belatedly Gordon Brown in an almost gushing tribute to “my
friend Tony” makes a surprising and perhaps significant
reference to that last chapter.

He said: “In Northern Ireland he has brought greater peace
than there was before and I think he will do even more in
the next few months”.

We can’t wait! The world is full of surprises.

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/newsfeatures/2006/0916/1158271608962.html

A Big Bill For Dinner With Bill

The ex-president is coming to Dublin, and you can have
dinner with him. But it will cost you, writes Deaglán de
Bréadún

Almost six years after he left the White House, former US
president William Jefferson Clinton remains a very popular
man in this country.

There's no denying that his close and possibly decisive
involvement in the Northern Irish peace process won him a
special place in the affections of many Irish people, who
are inclined to overlook or dismiss his flaws and failings
as a result. Monica who?


Bill's latest visit takes place on September 27th, but if
you want to meet him it's going to cost you. The ex-
president is guest-speaker at a lunch in the Burlington
Hotel, Dublin, and tickets for the event start at a cool
€750.

That will get you into the hotel ballroom, where the
initial champagne reception and four-course lunch is being
served. But if you want to actually meet the great man, who
celebrated his 60th birthday last month, you will have to
pay an extra €3,000.

Alternatively, if you are part of a group, an "executive"
table for 10 people costs €7,500. Or you could upgrade to
one of the "platinum" tables that will be clustered around
the stage. These cost €10,000 (plus 21 per cent VAT), which
entitles the host of the table to shake hands and get a
souvenir photograph taken with Bill as well as receiving a
signed copy of his lengthy memoir, My Life.

The event is being organised by Paul Allen & Associates of
Mount Street, Dublin, in conjunction with World Celebrity
Events, owned by Glasgow-based entrepreneur Satty Singh and
the Harry Walker Agency of New York.

Never far from the headlines for one reason or another,
Clinton is likely to be back in the news that afternoon.
Immediately beforehand, he is scheduled to be in Manchester
to address the Labour Party conference and - who knows? -
throw a lifeline to his old friend and fellow peace-
processor Tony Blair.

The previous evening, he will be in the Royal Albert Hall
in London, also for a speech and question-and-answer
session. The cost will be very much lower at a reported
£60-£150 (€90-€220) but organisers of the Dublin event
point out that there won't be the same intimacy.

The target for attendance of the Dublin dinner is about 600
people or 60 tables.

There will be about 100 special guests and the organisers
have cast their net wide among the "great and the good",
inviting Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and senior members of his
staff; rock band U2 and their manager Paul McGuinness;
former taoiseach Albert Reynolds; Nobel laureates John Hume
and Seamus Heaney; former tánaiste and foreign affairs
minister Dick Spring; businessman Dermot Desmond and sports
stars ranging from Olympic gold medallist Ronnie Delaney to
rugby international Brian O'Driscoll and GAA luminaries
Páidí O Sé and Paul Caffrey.

Some may not be able to make it and the Taoiseach has what
Americans call a "conflict", in that the Dáil returns after
the summer recess that day; however, he is expected to "pop
in" to meet his old friend Bill beforehand.

The Barnardo's children's charity will derive "a
substantial sum" from the proceeds but the organisers will
not say how much. They say the ticket charges are similar
in the US: "That's the going rate to meet president
Clinton." Somewhat surprisingly, they say Clinton is "not
here for the Ryder Cup" (celeb-spotters will have to settle
for George Bush snr, who is expected at the K Club),
although he will fit in a round of golf with his friend
Dick Spring at Waterville, Co Kerry the next day.

Meanwhile, a follow-up to the Clinton visit is planned for
the New Year, a double act featuring his former vice-
president, Al Gore, and UN weapons inspector Hans Blix.

Amid all the publicity about the Clinton lunch, little
attention has been paid to what the man might actually say.
For the record, his speech is entitled "Leadership for the
Future" and will cover such topics as global terrorism, the
world energy crisis, globalisation, world poverty and "the
future for Ireland". It's quite an agenda - but at those
prices you would expect nothing less.

© The Irish Times

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091301616.html

Mega-Pub: O'Connell's Is A Better Place To Drink Than To Eat

By Walter Nicholls
Sunday, September 17, 2006; Page W46

* 1/2 Daniel O'Connell's Restaurant
112 King St. (at S. Union Street) Alexandria. 703-739-1124
www.danieloconnells.com

Open: lunch Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; brunch
Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; dinner Sunday
through Thursday 5 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 to 11
p.m. All major credit cards. Separate smoking bar. Street
parking. Prices: dinner appetizers $6 to $16.50, entrees
$17 to $36. Full dinner with wine, tax and tip about $60
per person.

The owners of Daniel O'Connell's call their whopping,
8,200-square-foot establishment that opened in March "a
modern Irish restaurant in an ancient Irish setting." Named
for a 19th-century Irish patriot and located at the foot of
Old Town, it's not a sticky-floored, beer guzzler's dive by
any means. A more fitting description might be: an
expensive, Irish-influenced mega-pub that promises diners
on its menu cover page an opportunity to "experience the
culinary arts of Ireland as they are today!"

Built of old woodwork from Dublin watering holes,
O'Connell's features four bars on two levels and more nooks
and crannies than a Thomas' English Muffin. It's a fun spot
for friends to gather in comfortable surroundings. The
friendly and accommodating staff can steer singles to
plenty of noise and action or offer a couple a table for
two away from the din. In fine weather, the small second-
floor balcony dining area is particularly attractive for
intimacy. And at the rear of that floor is the cutest bar
for four in the region.

Certainly, there are suds, with 11 beers on draft,
including the flavorful, smooth Smithwick's red ale. If
it's wine you want, the thoughtful, novice-friendly list
offers moderately priced bottles that hail from four
continents, arranged according to light-, medium- and full-
bodied categories.

The kitchen is under the leadership of executive chef Arra
Lawson, a native of Perry, Ga., who, I'm told, has never
been to Eire. His last gig was cooking at the Pentagon for
the dining room reserved for three-star generals and up.
And I would wager he'd be thrown in the brig if he'd served
the well-traveled brass the dry, poor-quality French bread
that lands on my table at O'Connell's.

And then there are the overwrought entrees, presented on
enormous square plates, which strive for elegance but
scream for attention like a wail from songstress Sinead
O'Connor. Dish after dish of inconsistently cooked meat or
seafood is buried under an assortment of frilly garnishes
and encircled by squirt-bottle sauces.

Take, for example, the arty entree called, simply, breast
of duck. Overcooked gray slabs of the bird come with a swag
of spicy chutney on one side and a sweet fruit sauce on the
other. There's a tangle of micro-greens here and a slice of
kiwi and some blackberries there. Let's not forget the
several sprigs of curly frisee on top, nor the three whole
chives tossed about for emphasis.

There are some good things on the menu. In the starter
category, the best may be the two-bite, crispy crab
croquettes of fresh lump meat served with a tarter-than-
sweet honey mustard dressing. Still, at three little balls
for $15, there is an ouch factor. I enjoy the four
substantial Pacific prawns that dangled from the rim of a
martini glass filled with a tangy cocktail sauce that keep
me dipping. The idea of grilled black-and-white pudding
pizza sounds intriguing. It turns out to be a nice pie with
a paper-thin cracker crust, sprinkled with bits of goat
cheese, caramelized onions and flavorful ground sausage.

Far less successful: a boring, unseasoned potato leek soup
and a Caesar salad composed of limp greens soaked in what
tastes like thinned mayonnaise and topped with mealy, sweet
croutons. Boy, is it bad. A far better choice is the red
romaine salad, with its lovely, crisp leaves, chunks of
tart apple, a little bacon, summer tomato and a light,
creamy blue cheese dressing. For some reason, my fried
favorite, fish and chips, is listed with the appetizers.
I'm no fan, though, when a full-size portion of good cod
comes covered with soggy batter on top of droopy, room-
temperature french fries.

When it's time for the main course, diver scallops are
plump, perfectly cooked and have a briny essence that
speaks of the sea. But on the same plate, here we go again
with the silly sauces. Grilled salmon, a fine-size fillet,
is moist and flaky and, thankfully, sauce-free. I'll pass
on the lifeless, dry, striped bass that swims in a pool of
sweetened citrus juice. And it's never again for the
equally arid roast chicken, although I do like the ramekin
filled with rich, chickpea cassoulet with a crunchy, bread
crumb crust that came alongside.

The Irish love their lamb. Yet this Irishman isn't wowed by
lamb chops that are heavily charred and too chewy. (But
then, as my County Kerry-born mother would say, "that's why
God gave us teeth.") The former rack arrives next to a,
sort of, shepherd's pie tower, where the flavors are right
but the mashed potatoes are stone cold. Oh, I should
mention the chops are $35. I had better luck with a cooked-
to-order, deeply seared and succulent rib-eye steak that
nearly fills the big square plate. It's large enough to
share with a pal.

Side dishes are ordered separately. Normally, I don't care
for creamed spinach, but I liked this little portion of
whole baby leaves in a broth and cream medley. An adult
version of macaroni and cheese, seasoned with fresh basil,
is salty but satisfying as well.

The desserts aren't worth the calories, aside from,
perhaps, sorbet. There is a cheese plate from the old
country with farmhouse selections. But then you might not
have room if you ate your garnishes.

Walter Nicholls is a reporter for The Post's Food section.
Tom Sietsema is on assignment. To chat with Sietsema
online, go to washingtonpost.com on Wednesdays at 11 a.m.

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http://spe.atdmt.com/b/HLHLCHLC1LLC/LT_Refi_choose_rate_300x250.gif

Descendants Gather To Remember First Ellis Island Immigrant

September 16, 2006, 10:56 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) _ The first immigrant to be processed on
Ellis Island will soon lie in a marked grave _ four
generations after she arrived from Ireland.

The descendants of Annie Moore Schayer gathered for the
first time Friday to raise money for a headstone for her
unadorned burial plot in Queens' Calvary Cemetery.

The dozen gathered Friday at the New York Genealogical and
Biographical Society, along with the Irish consul general
and representatives of the city's Tenement Museum, the
National Park Service, the National Archives and the County
Cork Association.

For the headstone, the first contributions of $500 each
came from Schayer's great-niece, Patricia Somerstein, of
Long Beach, N.Y., and Brian G. Andersson, New York City's
commissioner of records.

The two donated their share of a $1,000 prize given by a
genealogist who had been looking for clues to support the
theory that a woman who died in Texas in 1923 and was
historically considered the Ellis Island Annie Moore was in
fact someone else.

The immigrant Annie Moore came to the United States in 1892
at age 15 from County Cork, Ireland. She lived her whole
life on Manhattan's Lower East Side, marrying the son of a
German-born baker with whom she had at least 11 children,
five of whom survived to adulthood.

Schayer died of heart failure in 1924 at 47. She is buried
with six of her children at the cemetery in Queens'
Woodside neighborhood.

"We knew it was the truth, but we couldn't prove it,"
Maureen Peterson, a great-granddaughter, told The New York
Times.

In addition to Peterson, 61, of Ocean Grove, N.J., the
descendants include Somerstein's brother, Michael Shulman,
49, of Chevy Chase, Md., an investment analyst; Julia L.
Devous, 41, a great-granddaughter from Phoenix; and great-
great-great-great-grandson, Dylan Donovan Krauss, 9 months,
of Derby, Conn.

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http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=56e692bdf2d369f0

Irish Priest Begins Work In Galveston

By Rick Cousins
Correspondent
Published September 16, 2006

GALVESTON — The Rev. Niall Nolan insists that he is BOI —
Born on the Island. But, with a twinkle in his eye, he
allows that the island in question isn’t Galveston, but
Ireland.

The arrival of the second Irish priest serving in the
Houston-Galveston Diocese has caused enough curiosity that
for the next few Sundays, church bulletins at Galveston’s
Sacred Heart Catholic Church will carry a special section
titled “The Legend of Father Niall.”

Drawn to the priesthood while still in high school, Nolan
said that he was advised not to rush into taking vows, but
to see a bit of the world first, so he headed to the
continent.

He went to Hamburg, Germany, in 1972 where he watched the
Olympic hostage drama unfold.

“Coming from Ireland to Galveston, I noticed the wooden
structures and I liked the weather,” he said. “But now I
think ‘O, Lord, it’s hot!’”

But hot food is good.

“I love fish and spicy food,” Nolan said. “I have no (food)
dislikes at all.”

He even has a predilection for fiery peppers, including
jalapeños.

Unfortunately, the well-traveled priest, who is conversant
in Gaelic, French and German, said that idiomatic local
English sometimes caused him problems in both understanding
and being understood. However, Nolan said he is a quick
study and will soon be able to communicate fluently.

As to his new parish, Nolan noted a distinction between
parishioners who are culturally Hispanic and those who
speak Spanish. As a priest, he said he plans to meet the
needs of both groups.

Nolan said he will encourage lay involvement wherever
possible and expects that deacons and others will be called
to help compensate for the shortage of priests and nuns.

“Dynamic groups have appeared and disappeared throughout
church history,” he said. “Priests are becoming something
of an endangered species.”

Nolan also is sure that he will have to give up his habit
of taking long walks because of his new latitude.

“I walked miles every day in Berlin, and I was in a walking
club and walked in all kinds of weather,” he said. “But I’m
the wrong color for the beach, and quickly turn red, and
holy wisdom dictates that I stay out of the sun.”

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