IA.COUNTIES.Revise.qxd
1/10/14
6:14 AM
Page 43
G.A.A. is still a significant rally-call to the Irish immigrant from New York to Boston, and from London to Perth and beyond. In fact, in late 2012, the Manhattan Gaels, the first G.A.A. Club to be based in New York City, was formed. Spearheaded by Deputy Consul General Peter Ryan and an ambitious group of individuals, the organization’s mission, as stated on its website, is “to promote all the games of the G.A.A. for the benefit of both experienced players and complete newcomers. We take special pride in introducing football and the G.A.A. to Manhattanites who would never have experienced the game normally. This will be our focus as we continue to grow and develop a ladies football team, as well as an underage system, while also promoting the language and culture of home to as many people as possible.” The new club’s charter is a reminder of Senator John F. Kennedy’s remarks at the Irish Institute in New York in January 1957, “Whether we live in Cork or in Boston, in New York or in Sydney, we are all members of a great family which is linked together by that strongest of chains, a common past.” For generations, immigrants to America, new and old have have found warmth and sustenance in the shelter of each other’s lives. IA
Irish America” exhibit. The evolution OPPOSITE PAGE: of this exhibit serves as an example of Men’s tug-o’-war: Armagh outing, 1941. a synergy between various groups invested in documenting and preserv- ABOVE: Leitrim ing a community’s historical footprint. Society’s’ St. Patrick’s This initiative brought together the Day Ball, 1946. interests of, historians such as John BELOW LEFT: The Ridge, the United Irish Counties 1946 International Association and New York’s Consul Women's Exposition. Pictured 2nd from General of Ireland. By drawing atten- right is Maureen tion to the role of county loyalty in Mulcahy, who until Irish New York, the effort led to a 1982, ran the Welfare Employment major archival deposit for the Archives and Bureau. of Irish America at Bobst Library, New York University, now the largest repos- BELOW, RIGHT: itory in the world for materials pertain- Members of the UICA Feis Committee, 2010. ing to county societies. “The Fifth Province” has run at the Irish Consulate New York, New York University, and the National Library of Ireland, Dublin. It is will open at Belfast’s Linen Hall Library in March.
Postscript: In 2010, Dr. Marion R. Casey and Dr. Miriam Nyhan, historians based at New York University’s Glucksman Ireland House curated “The Fifth Province: County Societies in
For more information on “The Fifth Province” exhibition visit www.nyu.edu/as/irelandhouse/fifthprovince/index.php. For more on the United Irish Counties Association see www.uicany.org
ARCHIVES OF IRISH AMERICA NYU.
ARCHIVES OF IRISH AMERICA NYU.
ARCHIVES OF IRISH AMERICA NYU.
FEBRUARY / MARCH 2014 IRISH AMERICA 43