From Patrick O'Sullivan

From The Guardian
June 4, 1999

The lady vanishes
Her battle to have compulsory religion removed from schools made her one of the most hated
people in the US. Next she set about having the word 'God' removed from banknotes. Then
one morning she disappeared, leaving her breakfast dishes on the table. Duncan Campbell
reports

Friday June 4, 1999

She was once described by Life magazine as the most hated woman in America. When she went
missing four years ago, it was suggested that she had either engineered her own
disappearance and started a new life abroad or had been assassinated by the CIA or the
Vatican.

Now, as Federal agents carry out excavations in a search for her dismembered body,
supposedly hidden in a 55-gallon oil drum on a ranch somewhere in Texas, the truth about
what really happened to America's most famous atheist may finally be emerging.

Madalyn Murray O'Hair was 77 and a diabetic in poor health when she went missing with her
son, Jon Garth Murray, 40, and 29-year-old Robin Murray, her granddaughter by her older
son, William. Also missing was $500,000 (£312,500) in gold coins which belonged to the
United Secularists of America, one of the organisations to which O'Hair was connected.

It was August 1995 and rumours at the time, fanned by O'Hair's many enemies, suggested
that she had either run off with the funds to start a new and comfortable life - one story
had her happily resettled in New Zealand - or had merely slipped quietly away to die in
peace without the dreadful fate of having thousands of Christians praying for her immortal
soul.

O'Hair had occupied a very particular place in the national psyche because of her success
in bringing about a 1963 Supreme Court decision that ended compulsory prayer in the
American school system. She had embarked on a civil action in 1963 on behalf of her then
teenage son William. She objected to the fact that he had to take part in school prayers
at Baltimore's Woodbourne Junior High and decided to keep him at home until the compulsory
praying stopped.

A local lawyer, Leonard Kerpel man, took on the case and fought it all the way to the
Supreme Court three years later where she won by a majority of 8 to 1. Her ultimate court
success led to her demonisation by the American right in a way that has no parallel in
modern Britain.

William Murray, the son on whose behalf she had waged the battle, was to become estranged
from his mother and announced his conversion to Christianity on Mother's Day in 1980.

Madalyn O'Hair waged other battles, most notably - and without success - to have the words
"In God we trust" removed from the back of American banknotes. She campaigned on behalf of
pornographer Larry Flynt and attached herself to freedom of expression issues, spreading
the word of atheism on a cable channel. But to most of the left she was more of a cranky
soul than a political activist. At the time of her disappearance in the summer of 1995 she
was planning to picket the Pope's visit to New York.

Until now it has been a mystery what happened to her and why she and the two members of
her family to whom she was closest should abandon their three dogs, leave their breakfast
dishes on the table and vanish from their home in Austin, Texas, from where she also ran
the American Atheists organisation.

The last known contact from the three was a series of phone calls they made from a San
Antonio number, in which they were vague about their movements. The last call was on
September 28 1995. By then, it emerged later, Jon had converted a chunk of the
organisation's assets and taken possession of $500,000 in gold coins. Then all went quiet.

Police activity following her disappearance was muted. Even the subsequent sale of Jon's
Mercedes did not prompt much interest. Local officers said that it was not an offence to
disappear and did not take seriously the suggestions of her followers that either the CIA
or the Vatican had done a dastardly deed. Tim Young, a private eye who was puzzled by the
case, took up the trail in collaboration with a local newspaper, the San Antonio
Express-News, and slowly new facts started to come to light.

William Murray, now working for a Christian political lobbying group in Washington, put
pressure on politicians, including the governor of Texas and candidate for the 2000
presidential election, George W Bush, to find out what happened to his mother. Now a story
that could just as well be concocted by James Lee Burke or James Crumley is finally
emerging.

At the centre of events is David Waters, a 52-year-old criminal with a homicide conviction
for beating a man to death. He had worked for the O'Hairs as their typesetter and office
manager at the American Atheists' general headquarters in the early 90s, but in 1994 he
was convicted of stealing $54,000 from the organisation, for which he is still serving a
10-year probation term.

After his conviction, Waters hired a ghost writer and started putting together what he
hoped would be a book entitled Good Gawd, Madalyn about his life inside the organisation.
In the manuscript for the book, he portrays O'Hair as a foul-mouthed, bigoted
misanthropist who had amassed a fortune while pleading poverty. Waters apparently also
suggests in the book that O'Hair was milking funds in preparation for her departure to New
Zealand.

What has focused attention on Waters is the emergence of a headless, handless body that
was dumped near Dallas in October 1995. It was identified in January this year as the
torso of Danny Fry, a conman from Florida who was invited by Waters to Texas in the summer
of 1995, just before the O'Hair disappearance. With Fry's family anxious to know what had
happened to him, local police reactivated the inquiry, raided addresses and arrested
Waters and another career criminal, Gary Karr. He had a record for kidnap, armed robbery
and rape, had been a friend of Waters in their prison days, and had also come to Texas at
his behest at the crucial time in 1995. Both men were found with firearms.

Now Karr has supposedly admitted to moving four bodies - those of the O'Hair family and
Fry - and destroying evidence, although he denies taking part in the actual killings. On
the basis of Karr's new evidence, Federal agents and local police have been searching for
the bodies, dismembered and hidden in oil drums, on a secluded ranch not far from San
Antonio.

At last, the plot seems to be thinning. It seems perfectly possible that Waters, aware of
the money that the O'Hair family had access to, extorted the funds from them and then
killed them. And Fry may have been killed to avoid the possibility of him talking.

Waters is in jail in Texas and has already pleaded guilty to the firearms charges, for
which he will be sentenced on July 30. But did he also organise the murders of O'Hair and
the Murrays about which he is now being questioned? His lawyer, Patrick Ganne, says that
his client denies any involvement.

"When I saw the affidavits, I thought I had come across the script for the next Oliver
Stone movie," Ganne said earlier this week. "It is ripe with speculation." His client had
known both Karr and Fry, he said, but was adamant that he did not know what had happened
to O'Hair and the Murrays.

What he believes is that Mrs O'Hair has probably passed away," said Ganne. "He believes
that she couldn't have let a year go by without having publicity. He thinks that Jon and
Robin are probably together somewhere." As to whether his client would be spelling out
these theories in the book, Ganne said that Waters will have plenty of time to do so as he
can expect at least a two-year jail term on the firearms charge.

Darren Holmes of the local FBI office in San Antonio says that the investigation is being
actively pursued but would not comment on what Karr might or might not have told agents
beyond acknowledging that he has allegedly admitted to "being aware of a number of
homicides in Texas". The local Austin police say that they too are active in their
inquiries and with Karr contemplating his options from jail in Michigan, the final chapter
may soon be written.

Since O'Hair started her campaign to discredit organised religion and evangelical
Christians, many of the evangelists she mocked have done a far more effective job
discrediting themselves. But her main aims remain unaccomplished: even in 1999 only the
very bravest politicians would dare call themselves atheist and God still gets his name on
the banknotes. And depending what happens in the ranches and court-houses of Texas over
the next few weeks, Madalyn Murray O'Hair may end up as famous for the nature of her end
as for her questioning of the Beginning.

From Patrick O'Sullivan

Web 'Gateways' and links pages only work if there is some entity - ideally a person - who
constantly updates, manages and checks the resources.

The Gateway for Irish Studies in the Humanities, at University College Dublin, is now
turning into a useful resource - though the organisation of it, into the traditional
academic disciplines, somewhat disguises the development of Irish Diaspora Studies

It can be found at
http://www.ucd.ie/irh/index.html

It is maintained by Susan Schreibman, Department of Humanities, New Jersey Institute of
Technology
If you would like to add an entry to that Gateway, please mail Susan.Schreibman[at]njit.edu

I have been asked by a number of people if there is a good 'Gateway' to Web resources to
do with the Irish language. The best, at the moment, seems to be
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaeilge/gaeilge.html
That Gateway seems thorough and well-maintained. Of course, Irish language resources on
the Web can be ephemeral, since so many depend on the enthusiasm of enthusiasts. But,
then, that's true of everything...

P.O'S.


- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

Forwarded on behalf of

Sheffield Irish Festival Meeting
Sheffield, Yorkshire, England

Saturday March 18th
2.30 ? 5.00 pm
Showroom Cinema (5)
Paternoster Row (opposite the National
Centre for Popular Music), Sheffield
(two minutes from train and bus station)


?A SEAM OF GOLD?:
exploring Ireland?s past

Two leading Irish historians and authors explore the legacy of the United Irish Rebellion
of 1798 and suggest some historical stones which remain unturned

?The Untilled Fields of Irish History?
Peter Berresford Ellis
(author of ?A History of the Irish Working Class?, ?Ancient World of the Celts?, ?The
Celtic Empire?, ?Erin?s Blood Royal?, Hell or Connaught & The Boyne Water)

?Making the Union: the Act of Union in History?
Ruán O?Donnell
(University of Limerick & author of ?The Rebellion in Wicklow 1798?, ?Aftermath:
Post-Rebellion Insurgency in Wicklow 1799-1803, ?1798 Diary - The Irish Times?

Meeting organised by Sheffield and SY Connolly Association, the Irish Democrat and the
Four Provinces Bookshop

From: "Ide O'Carroll"
Subject: Re: Ir-D Biddy

A few comments on the discussion of biddys.

For me the term biddy has always had positive connotations, suggesting as it
does our connection as Irish women to a long line of powerful women. Before
I ever knew this history I was made aware by the women in my family that
being connected to Brigid was a good thing. We've just passed Bridgid's
month, a time of reflection and renewal with many folk customs and
pre-Christian rituals. I always take the 1st Feb. off to make my crosses.
This year's batch of reeds were gathered by the banks of the Blackwater
river - the crosses have made their way to places like Hawaii and Cambridge.
As the Goddess of smiths, fire and poetry the level of devotion to Brigid
was so great that the Christians decided to incorporate her into their
tradition - the best source on this is Mary Condren's 'The Serpent and the
Goddess: Women, Religion, and Power in Celtic Ireland (Harper & Row:1989).

I'm also aware that Irish women in domestic service in the USA in the 19c
especially were referred to as biddys - see Hasia Diner on this. I tend to
think that while some of these women may well have been named Bridget (and
other variations on the name) the term developed negative connotations for a
reason. I speculate here, but there must have been some bit of a backlash
to these strong women because not only had they facilitated one another's
emigration in the first place (female chain migration I think is the lingo),
but they were also earning income independent of family. Language being
such a powerful tool, perhaps this is the root of the use of the term in
negative ways such as ' she's only an auld/old biddy.' Of course the irony
of ironies is that these women provided much of the money for the building
fund of St. Patrick's on 5th Avenue, NYC. Later this month another batch of
brazen biddies will march close to St. Patrick's to establish their right to
be considered Irish and lesbian. It is a battle that has gone on for 10
years now. I believe there are two planeloads of biddys en route from here.

Happy International Women's Day to all.

íde O'Carroll
An Tigh Gorm
Lismore
County Waterford
IRELAND

Tel/Fax: +353-58-53276

Research Associate, Centre for Women's Studies, Trinity College, Dublin,
IRELAND.
Email: iocrroll[at]tcd.ie

Níor bhris focal maith fiacail riamh/A good word never broke a tooth.

[Moderator's Note: Reeds and Crosses
February 1 is St. Brigid's Day. Ide refers to the Irish custom of weaving a cross, known
as St. Brigid's Cross, from reeds. The legend is that the saint converted a pagan on his
deathbed, explaining redemption by weaving a cross from the reeds on the floor. It is
intriguing to watch something that might be a page from an illuminated manuscript take
shape out of woven reeds.
P.O'S.]

Forwarded on behalf of
Maria Tymoczko
tymoczko[at]complit.umass.edu
and
Colin Ireland
cireland[at]beaver.ie


You are invited to submit proposals for contributions to the third volume of the American
Conference for Irish Studies (ACIS) publication series entitled:

Language and Tradition in Ireland:
Continuities and Displacements

Ireland claims two major literatures as its own. Literature in Irish constitutes the
oldest vernacular literature in Western Europe and Irish writers have produced the richest
literature in English in the twentieth century. Yet the terms ?Irish? and ?English? are
both contested in Ireland because language, history, culture, and the very idea of nation
are themselves contested as they are in many countries with a polarized history. This
volume will explore continuities and fractures, linkages and displacements, across
Ireland's divided linguistic and cultural heritage. Submissions related to all facets of
language, literature, history, and culture are welcome. Topics may include folklore,
multilingualism, transculturation, and translation.

Celtic Studies topics and studies of literature in Irish of all periods related to these
issues are especially encouraged, as are theoretical essays on questions ranging from the
stability and evolution of tradition across linguistic boundaries to the definitions of
history in a multicultural community.

Interested scholars are invited to send abstracts of 500- 750 words, articulating their
intended arguments, by 1 May 2000. Contributors need not be members of ACIS. Authors of
selected abstracts will be expected to submit completed essays by 1 November 2000
(Samhain).

For more information or to submit proposals, please contact:

Maria Tymoczko
28 Pomeroy Terrace
Northampton
MA 01060 USA

413-586-3908
413-584-5495 (FAX)
tymoczko[at]complit.umass.edu

Colin Ireland
Beaver College CEA
6 Clare Street
Dublin 2
Ireland

353-1-676-8875
353-1-676-4181 (FAX)
cireland[at]beaver.ie

From Patrick O'Sullivan

Some of the obvious starting points can be found in the text and in the references in my
own chapter, Chapter 9, in Patrick O'Sullivan, ed., The Meaning of the Famine, Volume 6 of
The Irish World Wide, Leicester University Press, 1997, paperback 2000. The Chapter is
O'Sullivan & Lucking, 'The Famine world wide: the Irish Famine and the development of
famine policy and famine theory'.

There is also Keith Jeffery, ed., An Irish Empire? Aspects of Ireland and the British
Empire, Manchester University Press, 1996, especially Chapter 2, T. G. Fraser, 'Ireland
and India'.

I also have a vague memory of seeing something more recently, but the rememberer is not
what it used to be... Any ideas, anyone? Richard Deutsch, in France, was looking at
these issues, a while back.

I can note that it is a spookily recurring aspect of the 'Irish Diasporic mind' to need to
learn more about British India. See for example the literary career of J.G. Farrell.

P.O'S.



- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

We have received requests for information from Tina Rhodes, who is writing a book about
her ancestor, Michael William Shanahan. I have pasted in the basic information, below...

We tend not, on the Irish-Diaspora list, to get involved in detailed genealogical
questions. But the general question, put by Tina Rhodes, is an interesting one. In many
individual Irish life stories you come across this whole issue of a young man 'destined
for the priesthood' (or the Christian Brothers). And always that word 'destined' is
used - I can never quite tell whether this is simply a lazy use of language, or a
reflection of a world view. Migration as escape from destiny...

Has anyone seen any comment on these escapees? I see nothing in Emmet Larkin - but then I
have not read ALL Emmet Larkin.

P.O'S.

- -----Original Message-----
From: Tina Rhodes [mailto:SandRConsulting[at]worldnet.att.net]

I do appreciate your taking the time to respond to my request for information.

To give you more background--my gggrandfather, Michael William Shanahan, was
born on Sept. 29, 1841, somewhere around Limerick and Cork Counties. His
parents, according to family stories died of "the plague" during the famine
(I assume it was hunger and disease). He had three siblings but one drowned
in a nearby river as a child. Michael immigrated in '55 or '56, stowing
aboard a ship, one account has it that it was an army ship. I have as yet
not found him on any passenger lists. They found him on the way over and
made him work off his passage. Evidently he had done very little hard labor
and the work left his hands blistered. He arrived, we think, in New York
City and found his way down to Mississippi. When the Civil War broke out,
he joined up with the state infantry and fought through the entire war. He
was wounded at least two times and survived some of the bloodiest
conflagrations imaginable. If he hadn't, I wouldn't be here today!

I could go on and on about him and expect to do so in my book. However, as
I mentioned before there are some important gaps in his story that I must
fill in--his childhood and the "training" for the priesthood is crucial.
This "training" provided him with a profession as a clerk and later school
teacher in America and fundamentally shaped him as a person. I would
greatly appreciate your posting my request for information to the Irish
Diaspora list.

Tina M. Rhodes
sandrconsulting[at]worldnet.att.net

Subject: acculturation and psycho-social aspects of living in Britain
From: michaeljcurran


Hi Paddy
good to have met you at the Embassy on the 19th.
See that up-to-date issues around the adaptation (or otherwise!) of the
Irish in Britain are still hot. I am interested in all psycho-social aspects
of Irish acculturation in UK and elsewhere, so would welcome any feedback on
current/recent research - particularly from a quantitative perspective.
Also interested in extracting references from your majordomo - when I get
time and you explain the process further!
Keep us posted and continue with the good work.
Slan agus beannacht
Michael


Michael J. Curran
Irish Diaspora Project
Dept. of Psychology
Trinity College
DUBLIN 2, Ireland
curranmj[at]tcd.ie
Phone: +353 1 608 1886
FAX: +353 1 671 2006, and
+ 44 28 90 836042 (home)

Subject: Re: Ir-D St. Patrick's Day in Montserrat
From: Eileen A Sullivan

Brian,

Wonderful combination of the Irish St Paddy's celebration and the slaves'
uprising.

MICHAEL HIGGINS is stuck on Montserrat, and I will anxiously await his
next work. If I forget, Marilyn has my new Montserrat film. She is
preparing tenure data and will shortly get back to more pleasant things

Dr. Eileen A. Sullivan, Director
The Irish Educational Association, Inc. Tel # (352) 332
3690
6412 NW 128th Street E-Mail :
eolas1[at]juno.com
Gainesville, FL 32653

Subject: Re: Ir-D Irish lawyers
From: Eileen A Sullivan

Dear Paddy,

General John Sullivan of Revolutionary days, grandson of Major Philip
O'Sullivan of Castle Ardea and son of John O'Sullivan born in Limerick in
1690 where his father was part of another lost Irish battle, was born in
New Hampshire and became a lawyer.

In 1763, he was one of the two leading lawyers in NH. He purchased a
home in Durham where no lawyer existed because the people didn't want
one. A mob gathered outside his home to scare him away. John challenged
the mob. He would fight the biggest one of them so he could remain in
town. The factious folk thought it would not be a fair fight because
John was so small. His younger brother James (later Gov of
Massachusetts) was selected. He whipped the assailant and John (later
Gov of NH) began a very successful legal career.

It is in our genes, Paddy.

Dr. Eileen A. Sullivan, Director
The Irish Educational Association, Inc. Tel # (352) 332
3690
6412 NW 128th Street E-Mail :
eolas1[at]juno.com
Gainesville, FL 32653

Subject: Re: Ir-D Akenson, Montserrat
From: Eileen A Sullivan

Dear Paddy,

Bruce Taylor's review of Don Akenson's Montserrat undefined thesis fits Don's
numbering plan to explain social events. Don't think Bruce has a clear
definition of the Irish. Elizabethan settlers were not yet Hibernized by
the time the Cromwellians took over land ownership and murdered those who
would contest their Godliness; thousands were sent as slaves to the
Caribbean. Briskett was hardly an Irishman.

Of course, Elizabethans and Cromwellians were in time Hibernized. Our
own Prof Connor Johnson whose family dates from Cromwellian Drogheda is
a fine example what can happen to people who learn to love and respect
the inner monarchial nature of the Irish world. Never did count all our
blessings and blemishes, but have the overall understanding.

Just think of our ancient O'Sullivan thesis:
NULLA MANUS TAM LIBERALIS,
ET GENERALIS ATQUE UNIVERSALIS,
QUAM SULLIVANUS

Don't ask me why it is written in Latin instead of in Irish; that's
another story...

You'll be happy to learn that our Latin American reseach librarian
purchased Don's book for the Univ of Florida as a result of my work.



Eileen A. Sullivan, Director
The Irish Educational Association, Inc. Tel # (352) 332
3690
6412 NW 128th Street E-Mail :
eolas1[at]juno.com
Gainesville, FL 32653

From: "Ide O'Carroll"
Subject: Brigid's Cross

A response to Paddy's note at the end of my message which emphasised the
christian lore over the pre-christian re. the construction of Brigid's
crosses, allow me to quote from Mary Condren:

"The symbols associated with Brigit's function as a goddess recur in the
stories told of her as a Christian saint...Brigit was a form of sun Goddess,
and her symbolism remains attached to the sun in the form of Brigit's
crosses. These swastikas are found throughout the world as sun symbols and
probably reached Ireland originally sometime between the second century
B.C.E. and the second century C.E. Brigit's crosses are still used in parts
of Ireland today to protect the harvest and the farm."

There are additional bits to this that I have learned growing up. That on
Lá le Bhríde/Brigid's Day (notice the generic Irish language term has no
saint mentioned), the old Brigid's cross is burned (marking the end of
Winter), the new one constructed and placed over the front doorway for
protection, good fortune and blessings for the year ahead. The other custom
is to hang a rag or brat Bhríde outside to ward off evil. In some places
the rag is kept for its healing powers.

Lá le Bhríde, the 1st of February, marks the Celtic Spring quarter of Imbolc
(pronounced Imm'ulk) which runs from February - April. It follows Samhain
(pronounced Sow' en) November - January, the Winter quarter. Imbolc is
followed by Beltane (pronounced Bell' ane), May-July, the Summer quarter and
then Lughnasadh (pronounced Loo' nassa), August-October, the Autumn quarter.

Cross designs vary from place to place, though in my experience the one we
had as the logo for Radio Telefís Éireann (R.T.E.) for years is the most
common. To view this design check out a US website, one of many on Brigid,
which even shows you how to construct a Brigid's cross.
www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/1956/makeacross.html

Beir bua

íde O'Carroll
An Tigh Gorm
Lismore
County Waterford
IRELAND

Tel/Fax: +353-58-53276

Research Associate, Centre for Women's Studies, Trinity College, Dublin,
IRELAND.
Email: iocrroll[at]tcd.ie

Níor bhris focal maith fiacail riamh/A good word never broke a tooth.

From Patrick O'Sullivan

My apologies to Ide, for unthinkingly going with the Christian anecdote about Brigid's
cross. I was just conscious that there might be many Irish-Diaspora list members,
throughout the world, who were not aware of Irish customs - like the custom, which Ide
describes, of making crosses, fylfots, swastikas or gammadions, from reeds.

Near my home, here in Yorkshire, in the North of England, there is an ancient rock carving
which has, perhaps unfortunately, been marked on the maps as 'The Swastika Stone' - for it
now gets fought over by fascist and anti-fascist groups, and is thus in danger. It might
well have been called 'The Celtic Rose' (see the extract from Hedges, ed. The Carved Rocks
of Rombalds Moor, below) - but that might have caused difficulties of another sort...

P.O'S.

John D. Hedges, ed.,
The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor
West Yorkshire Archaeological Service
1986
ISBN 0 86181 008 2

The Swastika Stone (Fig. 12, no.53).
Description
The Swastika emblem, together with eight cups and two basins, is to be found on an outcrop
of rock on Woodhouse Crag, overlooking the Wharfe Valley, west of Ilk1ey . The 'Swastika'
consists of a groove winding around nine cups in such a way as to form four arms curving
anti-clockwise, the cups making a five by five cross. One arm has an appendage, shaped
like a reversed question mark, with a cup in its centre. No other figure of this kind has
been found on the moor, except for a possible attempt at a Swastika on the Badger Stone
(Fig. 15, no.88).

Discussion
The Swastika at Ilkley is different from the traditional, angular, 9-point emblem of good
fortune seen in Hindu ritual, on pottery and ornaments found at Troy and Mycenae (Freed
1980; Schlieman 1874, 1877, 1880) and in most parts of the world. At Ilkley the emphasis
is on curved arms and a basic cross. The design is identical to the so-ca1Ied 'Celtic
Rose' on a rock at Carpene di Sellero in Italy (Anati 1976), where some twenty such
figures can be found in various stages of development (Anati, pers. comm.). Three similar
designs occur in Sweden (Fredsjo 1972), only one of which, at Hovenas is fully developed
and almost identical with the Ilkley Stone. These have been compared with mazes and
labyrinths, common in Sweden, and Jacobstahl (1938, pp. 68-9) sees in the carvings the
'windplay' motif of Celtic art. Anati (pers. comm.) dates his swastika carvings to 800-700
BC; while Fredsjo (1972) regards a much later date likely for the Swedish figures. One of
these, which is too high up a cliff face to be reached by land could have been carved from
a boat when the sea level was six metres higher in the first five hundred years AD.
Holmberg (1848, p.8) quotes an old tradition that these carvings were associated with
Scottish fishermen who visited the coast.

It may be significant that on the Northumberland coast at Morwick near the mouth of the
river Coquet, there are similar carvings whose curvilinear style resembles the swastika
figures and is not found elsewhere in Northumberland.

Though Anati (pers. comm. ) postulates the early movement of Celtic tribes from central
Europe carrying the emblem with them to Scandinavia and Britain, Nordbladh (pers. comm.)
regards them as logical and self- evident signs which could have originated in several
places, and it is unnecessary to attempt to make close connections between them. The
relative sophistication of these designs and their stylistic affinities with Celtic art
make it likely that the Swastika Stone was carved much later than the cup and ring figures
on Rombalds Moor .


- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From: "Marion R. Casey"
Subject: World War II

Has anyone heard of "Lockheed City" or "Little America"? A student tells
me it was a "city-sized industrial complex" in Northern Ireland where the
American company Lockheed built "many masses of warplanes" during the
second world war. Of course, he doesn't give any source for this
information! I'd appreciate any leads - thanks!

Marion Casey
Department of History
New York University

From: "Marion R. Casey"
Subject: Re: Ir-D Irish and Indian Independence



I have a pamphlet called "India and Ireland" by Eamon De Valera published
in New York in 1920 by the Friends for Freedom for India (an interesting
corollary to the Friends of Irish Freedom, founded 1916, but I know
nothing else about the group).

Marion Casey
Department of History
New York University

From: "Marion R. Casey"
Subject: Re: Ir-D Biddy

>Of course the irony of ironies is that these women provided much of the
money for the building fund of St. Patrick's on 5th Avenue, NYC.<

It's really time to put this folklore to rest. St. Patrick's was built
- -- like most of the other churches in the Archdiocese -- with money
borrowed from a bank and with significant contributions from
prosperous Irish Americans. Sure, Irish domestic servants gave money
directly to the building fund, but it was aggregate small deposits (yes,
women were account holders too) invested in real estate by the Emigrant
Industrial Savings Bank that built St. Patrick's Cathedral. Archbishop
Hughes could not have accomplished what he did without the Emigrant Industrial Savings
Bank.
He would wait a long time for the donations of "biddies" to accrue to the lump sums
of $20,000 and more that were needed to begin construction. The Cathedral
was a major financial undertaking with a mortgage at 7% and let's give
credit to the New York Irish community that was mature enough in 1852 to
handle such a business venture with aplomb.

Marion Casey
Department of History
New York University

From: Don MacRaild
Subject: Re: Ir-D India and Ireland

Jawaharlal Nehru said of Roger Casement's trial speech: 'It seemed to point
exactly out how a subject nation sould feel.' Might be worthwhile,
therefore, to look at the writings of Nehru, Gandhi, and so on, to see if
Ireland features in their thoughts. I have a vague recollection that Korean
nationalist also looked to Ireland in this way. The source I have for the
Nehru quote is Adam Hochschild's compelling, disturbing study of the Congo
atrocities, _King Leopold's Ghost_ (Macmillan, 1999). Unfortunately, like
Marion Casey's student, Hochschild doesn't cite his source!.

Don MacRaild
Sunderland

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From: "Brian McGinn"
Subject: Sheila in Newfoundland

Sheilas with Irish connections occur in at least two
distinct contexts in Newfoundland folklore:

1. The legend of Sheila Na Geira, an Irish 'princess'
kidnapped by the pirate Gilbert Pike during the reign of
Elizabeth Ist and spirited off to Carbonear on
Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula; the first Irish children
born in Newfoundland were their offspring. This Sheila was
the daughter of John Na Geira, the 'King of Co. Down.'
Sources are Aidan O'Hara, Na Gaeil in dTalamh an Eisc
(1998) and Herbert Halpert (see below). Perhaps the same
'Sheela Na Gyra' mentioned without elaboration by P.W.
Joyce in English as we Speak it in Ireland (1910)?

2. During the second and third decades of the 19th C, at
least, the day after St. Patrick's Day was known and
celebrated in St. John's, Newfoundland, as
'Sheila/Sheelah/Sheelagh's Day.' This Sheila is described
in Newfoundland folklore as the companion, girlfriend,
mistress or 'wife' of St. Patrick. She has also earned a
place in Newfoundland English. 'Sheila's Brush' describes
the snowfall that commonly occurred around, and often the
day after, March 17. And 'dirty Sheila' is a Newfoundland
metaphor for foul winter weather.

Just how Patrick's Sheila reached Newfoundland is still
something of a mystery. Various possibilities were weighed
by the Newfoundland folklorist Herbert Halpert in his 1976
CAIS lecture "Ireland, Sheila and Newfoundland", published
in Literature and Folk Culture: Ireland and Newfoundland
(St. John's, Newfoundland: Memorial University of
Newfoundland, 1977). One that caught my eye, in light of
Dymphna Lonergan's query: "Could this Sheila have figured
in some presently unknown English farce in which she served
as a female counterpart, the stage Irishwoman, to Teague or
Paddy, the stage Irishman?"

Brian McGinn
Alexandria, Virginia
bmcginn[at]clark.net

From: Cathy Collins
Subject: Lockheed building planes

attn: Marion R Casey

A Chara,

I remember my mother saying she used to go from Belfast on the train....unusual
in those day, to make parachutes during the war. I did not think there was
heavy building - but some old codgers of that era would be glad to tell you.
I knew Mackeys engineering works were nearby and a target.

There were a lot of "Yanks" going through Belfast at that time, it was a very
interesting period for some. My aunt (mothers sister) married a Swedish guy who
came through entertaining the troops and is still living with him in Udevalla in
Sweden.

Unfortunately, both my parents are gone now, otherwise I would have traced same
somehow. Hope you have some success in tracing these.

Cathy Broderick Collins

p.s. I am working on a thesis at the mo. of women working in southern ireland
and how they were treated both sexually and emotionally, just after DeValera's
l937 constitution. Any advice would be most graciously appreciated.

From Patrick O'Sullivan

Dion
Irish Government?s Advisory Committee on Emigrant Welfare

Research Project

Dion invites proposals for a research project to review Dion funding on issues of concern
to the Irish community in Britain and other research on similar topics over the last
decade; assess its impact on public policy and service delivery; and recommend the
priority areas which are in need of further research.

Research should be conducted by a qualified person with relevant experience and I should
be of a standard which would be approved by a recognised research institution. The Dion
Committee expects this project to be completed no later than 30 October 2000. A grant of
up to £20,000 will be available towards costs of the project.

Initially, Expressions of Interest (confined to one side of A4) should be submitted
outlining relevant experience of researchers and supervisor(s); sources of additional
funding; and the staffing, resources and facilities available to undertake the project
within the timeframe specified. Further information, application form and a research brief
will be available from:

Secretary
Dion Committee
C/o The Embassy of Ireland
17 Grosvenor Place
London SW1X 7HR

Fax: 020 7823 1082 or 0171 245 6961

Expressions of interest must be submitted by 17th March 2000
Deadline for completed applications: 26th April 2000
Late applications will not be accepted.



- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England