Royals and Presidents

Today, we have been having wild winds, sun and pelting horizontal rains. It was a special day, as President Obama came to Ireland, and I saw my first rainbow in months.

President Obama came to this small island of 4 million people today. It was a great day for the Irish. They gave him good coming out in the 1 block town of Monegall, where his distant grandfather was born. He met a cousin, tried a pint of Guinness in the local Pub (great political opportunity ad and one survey estimated that his suds-mustache picture taken at Ollie Hayes’s pub in Monegall, is worth about $200 million to Guinness), and shook hands with many of the town members. The weather was wild, with up to 90 mph winds experienced here on the west coast, and similar wind speeds across Ireland.

Then, he flew to Dublin, and gave one of his great inspirational speeches to the crowd, speaking some words in Irish, apologizing for his pronunciations saying ''poor Irish is better than clever English''.  Justine and Stephen left here at 0730 today, travelling 4.5 hours by bus, then walking the rest of the way, to arrive at 2PM, wait in line for hours, get screened, and get into the outdoor square where Obama gave his speech. They were one of the last of 25K that got in, another 50k were left out. The atmosphere was electric, with an energetic crowd. U2 couldn't make it, as they were touring the USA. There were other Irish bands that played. Justine said it was an amazing speech, quite inspirational and full of hope. Also the Taoisech, Enda Kenney, gave an arousing speech. A good day for Stephen to skip school. He was more interested in spotting the Secret Service, than in seeing Obama.



President Obama having a Guinness in a local Pub in Monygall, population three hundred


Ireland has a special place in American hearts. Over 10% or Americans are of Irish heritage. The Irish I know speak fondly of America. They often debate me in current events there, and most have either lived worked or visited there at one time or more in their lives. They all have relatives there. As Obama said, they are signatories on the Declaration of Independence. Gerard reminds me the architect of the White House was an Irishman.

The Queen of England also came to Ireland, last week. The last royal visit was when Ireland was still ruled by the English, King George V, in 1911. This was even bigger than the Obama visit. The Royals are a unique, anthropological sector of society. I went to a dinner meeting with the Connamara general practitioners at the Zetland Hotel in Cashel, not far from Carna.  Our menu read ''On occasion of her majesty's visit to Dublin. Recollections of the Vice Regal Tour in Connemara 1902 which consisted of his Excellency and the Countess of Dudley who remained in residence at the Zetland Hotel''. It was a regal evening for us physicians, 109 years later.  Part of the meeting was spent discussing the rural healthcare cutbacks imposed by the government austerity measures. There was a good presentation on Cystic Fibrosis, which has the highest rate in the world in Ireland. Genetic factor.

One might sum up the relationship between the Irish and the British as ''best of enemies''. After 800 years of brutal English rule, the Irish Republic achieved independence in 1922.  Now, there are 6 million people living in Britain with Irish ancestry, which is more than the current population of Ireland. As you recall, Northern Ireland remains British, hence there was the time there known as the Troubles, when there were IRA bombings. Peace came to Northern Ireland in the 1990's, although there still are occasional bombings. I will visit the Giant's Causeway there this summer, a magnificent coastal rock formation. My personal favorite English with Irish blood are John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

The Queen made all the right moves, earning more respect from the Irish. She humbly visited  Croke Park, where the ruling British killed 15 innocent people, still remembered by the name ''Bloody Sunday'', immortalized as well by U2. This location is now the Gaelic Athletic Headquarters, for Gaelic football and hurling. It is intimately bound up with the modern Irish identity. It originated to promote these sports, as well as Irish music, dancing and language.  The Queen also remembered the 50,000 Irish soldiers who died fighting for the Crown in WWI. Interestingly, Ireland remained neutral in WWII, I imagine as a self preservation measure. Most pundits, and the patients that I have seen, feel that the Royal visit did a fair amount to improving this relationship between the ''best of enemies''..

I saw a interesting article, coincidentally published recently, written in the USA 25 years ago, as an attempt to describe the Irish:

US HANDBOOK: “THE IRISH are an amalgam of many strains, often inconsistent and more often marked by contradiction,” according to US briefing documents produced 25 years ago.

The Defense Intelligence Agency, which produced a Cultural Behaviour Handbook for staff deployed here following Ronald Reagan’s visit to Ballyporeen, advised on the character of the Irish.

Its document, dated 1986 and now declassified, found the Irish “fatalistic and full of optimism; fiercely loyal and bitter rivals among themselves; proud and self-deprecating; fighters and kind of heart, sentimental and hard realists, maudlin and above all, mirthful”.

For all the country’s difficult history and then current problems, the handbook said the Irish people were “radiating a joy in life which comes straight from the heart”.

Author JE Craddock prefaced his 40-page document, which comes complete with extensive bibliography, with a disclaimer.
His work was “a humble attempt to capture the Irish character”, he said.

Its narrative, while striving to avoid condescension, chimes in with the Guinness-and-potatoes view of Ireland and describes a country, North and South, which has changed dramatically in the interim.

“The Gaels had lively imaginations and whimsical beliefs in the supernatural which remain to this day,” it found.

“An old Cork woman who was asked: ‘Do you believe in the fairies?’ replied, ‘I do not, but they’re there’.”

In another section on Irish social mores, the handbook declares “no other institution is of greater social significance than the Irish pub”.

“ . . . the pub is a place to socialise, where the men often go for relaxation at the end of a long work day before going home.

“Dinner, as we know it has already been served in the early afternoon, and the evening ‘tea’ consisting of cold cuts and other light snacks is not usually served until 9-10pm.”

Analysing the succession of invasions, rebellions, wars, settlements and disasters, the handbook attempts to explain what the author clearly saw as the riddle of the Irish outlook – particular regarding our nearest neighbour.

“It was in the time of Elizabeth I that there was laid the foundation of traditional Irish hatred for governing Englishmen,” Craddock opined, “which was to remain so deep in Irish consciousness”.

On religion, the handbook emphasises the “deeply-felt respect for cloth by Irish Catholics,” but it also detected “a growing willingness to abandon the rigidity of some formal church positions”.