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Myths, Dreams, and Reality
- Fordham University Press
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254 255 importantlythedreams- ofthoseimmigrantAmerican Irish ancestors we represent here tonight. In their very special, protected world, the early immigrant tried to banish the “unshapely things” and “wrongs too great to be told.” They learned, from ancient ballads, that troubled seas were but an inevitable part of the voyage of life. They were able to teach new generations how to gird themselves for daily struggles by reaching deep into their souls for those reservoirs of spiritual and emotional courage that are such an integral part of the American Irish ethos. Out of the ancient myths, sad odes, and doleful dirges somehow the American Irish discovered a foundation that did not bend with the temptations of a wider world.The dreams of those immigrants are an essential part of all of us and offer a perspective that the non Irish rarely understand, except on nights such as this when we assimilate all into our family, where everyone becomes, in some miraculous way, a brother, a sister, parent or child of each other. It is obviously difficult for the American Irish, especially when the romance of unity permeates a room, to distinguish dreams from reality. We probably suspected, as children, that our ties to those ancestral kings of Ireland were exaggerated; nevertheless, the family legends put in perspective the significance of mere material goods and the transient, artificial power of titles and position. The lessons of a hard past, never forgotten, were softened by love and lore, and then passed on as tender buds of eternal hope for all who can still dream. left us a sensitive lot, easily moved to joy and sadness, maybe too easily hurt - too often by our own - but with a resiliency that permits us to overcome almost any obstacle, or at least adapt it to our own ends. Myths, Dreams, and Reality Extracts from Annual Address to the American Irish Historical Society, 1998 I begin this Presidential report on a personal note. Many of you - our members and regular guests - will note the absence of an elegant element at this banquet. My wife has set the tone of this dais for the past quarter century.Tonight, the Society misses the subtle direction she gave to our celebrations, one that seemed to elevate confusion and chaos into something magical. A long, long time ago - and a very good time it was when the world was much younger and more innocent, the land of our forebears was the playground of the likes of Angus Og, the God of love, who always had four bright birds hovering over his head in the form of kisses taking flight. There was brave Cuchulainn and Finn McCool, the Sons of Turenn and the Children of Lir, Grainne and Maev, Fergus mac Leda and the Wee Folk. Those who gather here tonight, whether they realize it or not, are made from those myths. For I suggest that what occurred in the remote ages has molded our characters and shaped the uniqueness of our ethnicity and our history. The present is the child of the past and the seed of the future. As a historical society, we believe that appreciating and studying our heritage allows us to understand the fears and demons, hunger and anger, vulnerable beauty and the dreams - oh, most 254 255 importantlythedreams- ofthoseimmigrantAmerican Irish ancestors we represent here tonight. In their very special, protected world, the early immigrant tried to banish the “unshapely things” and “wrongs too great to be told.” They learned, from ancient ballads, that troubled seas were but an inevitable part of the voyage of life. They were able to teach new generations how to gird themselves for daily struggles by reaching deep into their souls for those reservoirs of spiritual and emotional courage that are such an integral part of the American Irish ethos. Out of the ancient myths, sad odes, and doleful dirges somehow the American Irish discovered a foundation that did not bend with the temptations of a wider world.The dreams of those immigrants are an essential part of all of us and offer a perspective that the non Irish rarely understand, except on nights such as this when we assimilate all into our family, where everyone becomes, in some miraculous way, a brother, a sister, parent or child of each other. It is obviously difficult for the American Irish, especially when the romance of unity permeates a room, to distinguish dreams from reality. We probably suspected, as children, that our...