“I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.”- James Joyce

June 16th- Bloomsday!

"Mr. Joyce" was greeting the people on the streets of Dalkey

A Happy face from 1904

The sidewalks of Sandycove/ Glasthule where Leopold Bloom began his day in 1904

So, maybe not completely authentic, but people went to a lot of effort.

The cars really added to the atmosphere.

How can I describe it better than Wikipedia?

"Bloomsday is a commemoration observed annually on 16 June in Dublin and elsewhere to celebrate the life of Irish writerJames Joyce and relive the events in his novel Ulysses, all of which took place on the same day in Dublin in 1904. Joyce chose the date because his first outing with his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle happened on that day, when they walked to the Dublin urban village of Ringsend. The name derives from Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of Ulysses."

No, I have not read Ulysses. Yet. It is on my list of things that I will probably do, just like Yoga. But I don't think that reading the book is required to appreciate the affection that Dublin has for James Joyce and he literary tradition that he helped to create here.

"Jogging is very beneficial. It's good for your legs and your feet. It's also very good for the ground. It makes it feel needed." ~Charles Schulz

Jackie, Me & Emma from Team Angus

Just before the race

Yesterday, I participated in the biggest women's race in the world- the Dublin Flora Women's Mini Marathon (10k). Over 40,000 women, and a few men in wigs ran, jogged, walked and skipped the 10K rout through the streets of Dublin. Everyone was raising money for various causes and mine was for the Hospital that took care of my friend Jackie's nephew Angus.

On 3 June 2010 Angus arrived and began his courageous journey. Angus underwent open heart surgery at just 6 days old and despite a few complications he was soon home and began to thrive. Angus' life was full of love, happiness and cuddles but sadly, it wasn't enough and at the end of September 2010 the angels took him away.

Thank to friends and family we raised 1,670 GBP (That's 2,745 US Dollars!) for Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. Hopefully it will help Angus' parents to know that he is remembered near what would have been his first birthday!

I finished in 1 hr 9 minutes and 8 seconds. Better than my last 10K, and yes I ran almost all of it. I am just a slow runner!

Before the race, a radio station had a DJ to pump up the crowd playing songs like "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Shout". I am not really into that crazy crowd stuff, I think that my crazy crowd shennanigans reservoir was depleted during my Club Med Years. But the last song that they played was Molly Malone, and it was really great. In Dublin's fair city, where the girls are so pretty...

“Americans are like a rich father who wishes he knew how to give his son the hardships that made him rich”- Robert Frost

The Wedding Party of Alice Carolan and Harold Scott Hood 1877

We are all born into situations. Some of us would consider ourselves fortunate, and some of us not. Some would consider themselves fortunate to have been born into fortune, while others would consider it a curse.

As a parent, I am constantly thinking about the things I want for my kids. I want them to have every opportunity and be well prepared for them. I want them to know who they are and accept and love that. I want to teach them the life lessons that I have learned. And I want them to always feel loved.

The picture above is a photo of the Wedding party of my Great Grandparents. It was sent to me by a contact that I made on Ancestry.com. I have heard a little about Alice Hood, but I have never seen a picture. And I have heard almost (or totally) nothing about Harold Hood.

Alice's father, Patrick Carolan was born in Ireland on the heels of the Famine and died in New York during the Great Depression. He emigrated in either 1865 or 1868 at age 16 or 19. It appears that he stayed with the Tulley family on Staten Island when he arrived. It is indicated on one of the census forms that he could read but not write. He was married and had four children, including my Great Grandmother. He is always listed as employed at jobs including a "cartman". At the end of his life, he lived with his daughter Mary and her family.

That is all I know thus far about my Great Great Grandfather. It doesn't sound like an easy life, but I hope that he had some love, joy and hope. But my curiosity has been re-ignited by this picture. When I moved to Ireland I sensed the irony that I had ancestors who left this country under extremely difficult circumstances. What would they think of their Great Great Great Grandsons living here so happily? How many generations forward do we think would matter to us?

I do know that I feel blessed to have been born into the family that I have, and we are the family that we are thanks in part to Patrick Carolan and his daughter Alice.

"There has always been a little green behind the red, white and blue" -Barack Obama

President Obama and President Mary McAleese

President and Mrs. Obama with Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his wife Fionnula

I was so struck by the excitement and enthusiasm by the Irish people about a visit from the American President. Politically, the visit is good for Ireland and it is certain to boost tourism, but the emotions were so genuine. The Irish seem so grateful that the President of the United States would come here. About 25,000 people showed up to hear him speak on College Green, some had waited in line since the night before. The speech that Obama made spoke to the long history of friendship between the two countries and was very well received.

Watching the joy and exhilaration of the people in the crowd made me feel like I might take my American Citizenship for granted. I am definitely blessed to be an American, an Irish American in Ireland!

"Feedback is the breakfast of Champions" Ken Blanchard

Last night I got an email. It was from a woman in Los Angeles who has twin boys, and it looks like her husband will be taking a job in Dublin. She was googling ex-pat in Dublin and found my blog. The blog that I stopped writing out of, laziness? feeling that too much time had passed since I'd last written? Anyway, she inspired me. So:

Today we went to a barbecue at a friend's house. There were 5 families there, all with kids at the same school as the boys. One of the Dads was Irish, but everyone else was English, Scottish or American (us!). Our friend Ian was telling us about his experience of shaking the hand of Queen Elizabeth. Apparently she is very little in person. And the Duke of Edinburg is only 5 foot something.

It is pretty unanimous over here that the Queen's visit last week was a huge success and a very historic, healing event. The thing that nobody can deny is how amazingly well the 85 year old Queen and her 90 year old husband held up. She was getting in and out of the Range Rover unassisted, going up and down stairs like crazy and standing for very long periods of time. I am no monarchist, but they must have some secrets to sprightlyness in old age!

"Get on with the bloody play"- Sean O'Casey

The boys are really into taking pictures. I've named this one "tired mom with potty seat"

In an effort to remain focused, Sean O'Casey pinned a note over his desk with the words in the above quote. I read about this a month ago when Tom and I went to see "The Plough and the Stars" at the Abbey Theatre. As some may have noticed, I have not posted to this blog in 3 months, and Mr. O'Casey's motivational strategy has been pecking at my brain for the last few weeks.

After the mid-July posting, we spent August in New York. It was wonderful to see friends and family and by the end of the trip, we were all anxious to get back to our life and our routine here in Dublin. It really does feel like our home now, the boys have lived a large percentage of their lives here.

Last year at this time I was determined to get settled in. I found a school for the boys, set up the house, learned to drive on the left, invited potential friends out on coffee dates and discovered some familiar food (or at least good substitutes). This year, I seem to be moving at a much slower pace. I am exercising, but only when it's something I have committed to in advance. It took me 5 weeks to invite friends over for a playdate. You may read this and think that I am being too hard on myself. Perhaps I am. But if laziness begets laziness, I want to start doing some of the things that I have been wanting to do, but have been avoiding. Getting on with the blood blog is a great start. I feel better already.

“Maybe it’s bred in the bone, but the sound of pipes is a little bit of heaven to some of us.” — Nancy O’Keefe.

There was a time when the mere survival of Irish traditional music was not at all a sure thing.

In January 1951, representatives of the Thomas Street (Dublin) Pipers’ Club went to Mullingar for a meeting with traditional music enthusiasts from County Westmeath. Two ideas which had already been mentioned amongst traditional musicians were discussed at this meeting; the first was the founding of an organisation to promote Irish traditional music while the second was the organising of a great annual festival of Irish traditional music, song and dance. A further meeting was held in February, and at this meeting it was decided that, in conjunction with Feis Lár na hÉireann (a Gaelic League Feis which had been held in Mullingar for many years), a Fleadh Cheoil would be organised in the town in May over the Whit weekend.

In the years before the Fleadh, although the ordinary people of Ireland loved traditional music, the hundreds of traditional musicians in the country were largely unappreciated in popular social and intellectual circles. The aim of the Fleadh was to promote traditional music and to arrest the decline in its popularity. The cream of traditional Irish musicians attending the Fleadh played a major role in furthering this aim.

Fleadhanna Cheoil gave traditional musicians a platform where they could play to an appreciative audience and where traditional style was the criterion. That first Fleadh Cheoil in 1951 attracted only a few hundred patrons - a small but enthusiastic crowd. Within five years, however, this annual gathering had grown to become a great National Festival attended by traditional musicians, singers, and dancers from all parts of Ireland and overseas.

On October 14th, 1951, at Árus Ceannt, Thomas Street, Dublin, the first standing Committee of Cumann Ceoltóirí na hÉireann was elected. At a meeting in St. Mary’s Hall, Mullingar, on January 6th, 1952, the title of the organisation was changed from Cumann Ceoltóirí na hÉireann to Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.

Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is the largest group involved in the preservation and promotion of Irish traditional music. We’re a non-profit cultural movement with hundreds of local branches around the world, and as you can read in our history we’ve been working for the cause of Irish music since the middle of the last century (1951 to be precise). Our efforts continue with increasing zeal as the movement launches itself into the 21st century.

(Above text taken from http://comhaltas.ie)

Thanks again to Catherine and Damien, we were able to experience this wonderful look into Irish music- a huge part of Irish Culture. Irish music, as well as the language, sports and literature were great sources of strength and unity for Irish Republicans during each of the rebellions and the Anglo Irish War in particular. This music center teaches and performs Irish music and dance. Another must see if you are living here. It was great!

Uilleann Pipes