Wednesday, September 18, 2013

A Visit to the Old Sod





We have just returned from a fortnight in Ireland, the land of Saints and Scholars, as well as the home of many of our ancestors.  It has been thirteen years since our last visit.  In that time Ireland has joined the European Union, the Celtic Tiger was subdued by the Great Recession, and the population of the island has experienced a great influx of immigrants—from Eastern Europe and Africa. 

In this and the next blog submission I will share our experiences.  Most memorable was a visit with some of my cousins in County Kerry and County Limerick.  Time and schedule did not permit visits with others, nor were we able to see my husband’s family in County Mayo.  The warm friendships we have forged over several decades survive the changes and are stronger than ever.  I am lucky to be “double cousins” with several of my Irish family.  My grandfather’s brother married my grandmother’s sister in Ireland.  An across-the-Atlantic effort to fill in a family genealogy has resulted in a shared enthusiasm and many hours of discussion coupled with hard work. We are making good progress.

Ireland remains the land of Scholars who are universally respected and officially supported.  During our stay we were able to visit a boys’ school and share some time with eager ten-year-olds and their teacher.  It was a church run school, although there are no religious directly involved with teaching or administration, and admission was competitive.

The boys prepared a program about the history and symbols of Ireland as well as a biographical program on Seamus Heaney who died while we were in Ireland.  I was very impressed with the teacher’s classroom control, the courtesy and attention of the boys, and the toughness of the curricula.   The class of about 28 boys included three Africans and two Eastern Europeans.  The church owned schools are not co-educational and all students wear uniforms. 

Students were lively and bright, answering questions in a thorough, charming, respectful, and interesting manner.  They were as passionate about their learning as they were over their sport teams.  The Irish student “does what is expected” and there are few behavior problems.  Although the school had only a few days to prepare the lesson was well planned and presented.  The boys had some questions of their own for the visiting senior citizens.  I’m glad to say that we acquitted ourselves well.

The Irish respect learning and have a deep love of their culture.  I mentioned that Seamus Heaney had died.  Where else would the first five pages of the country’s premier newspaper be devoted to Mr. Heaney, his life and works?  The papers and television were full of tributes to Ireland’s Noble laureate; his funeral was nationally televised.  The entire country mourned his loss. In the August 31-September 1 edition of  The Irish Times Weekend, Fintan O’Toole wrote:
                                “Like all great poets Seamus Heaney was an alchemist.  He turned our
                                disgrace into grace, our petty hatreds into epic generosity…He lacked the
                                arrogance to tell us who we are – much more importantly, he told us WHAT
                                we are.  He reminded us that Ireland is a culture before it is an economy.
                                And in the extraordinary way he bore himself, the dignity and decency and
                                the mellow delight that shone from him, he gave us self-respect…”

Yes, in many ways Ireland has changed. The culture unique to the Irish identity persists, but times are hard today.  The country was one of the first in Europe to be brought to its knees by the Great Recession.  Once again circumstances diminish opportunities for the well-educated, highly motivated Irish young adult who is forced to immigrate to far flung places like Australia.  The United States should capitalize on this talent pool and welcome more of them into the country. They have strong values, a good work ethic, and marketable skills.

The Irish are survivors but a pervasive feeling of despair is seeping into the Irish soul.  This country has survived centuries of subjugation and repression, war, terrorism, and economic deprivation.  They have not forgotten “WHAT they are” through the trials of famine, fight or faith.  However, inclusion in the European Union (EU) is effecting a subtle, yet essential, change in Ireland. More than one Irishman asks how a country that finally overcame more than 800 years of brutal occupation could cavalierly cede much of its sovereignty to the EU. 

There is a cold uniformity and almost automatous acquiescence to the dictates of Brussels and Berlin apparent in Ireland today.  Of course there are economic benefits incumbent upon the Union but with Ireland’s financial collapse ECB imposed Spartan austerity on the country.  It has been a long, painful, and difficult haul, but Ireland has towed the line and is trying to recover. Unfortunately the foreclosures are only just beginning.  Despair over family survival bubbles just below the surface as years of unemployment, underemployment and underwater mortgages begin to boil over.  Many are fearful of what tomorrow will bring—each expecting to be scorched as it evolves.

Immigration into Ireland has not helped the financial situation.  When things were good, people came by the tens of thousands.  Assimilation was slow, but the Irish are a welcoming race and encourage those who wish to make their future in Erin.  Today many immigrants hold the service jobs that were once filled by the Irish.  Some newcomers are gaming the generous social welfare system. However, “Ireland is a culture before it is an economy.”  I imagine that in the future the newcomers and their children will enrich that culture in distinctive ways. After all, “the next great Irish writer may just be a Pole,” writer Maurice Fitzpatrick once noted!

The Irish are survivors, but they do not necessarily flourish.  I fear the culture will not come through today’s troubles unchanged and unscathed.  The modern world is less forgiving than in ages past.  These are good, caring, talented people.  They deserve to maintain the “self-respect” reflected in Mr. Heaney’s art.  

Go Mayo!  In the all-Ireland Gaelic Football Championship game this Sunday.