Ancient Order of Hibernians
PO Box 682
New London, CT 06320
February 2008 President Sean Moore Rec. Secretary
Vice President Tad Downing Marshall John Duddy
Treasurer Mike O’Brien Sentinel Jim Smith
Fin. Secretary Kevin McBride St. Committee Fran DePeter
Dear Brothers, Sisters, and Friends of the Hibernians
In place of our usual meeting this month we will conduct an Induction Dinner and Memorial service at the New
London Elks on Friday, February 22. We made tentative plans at our last meeting, and have finalized them since
then. We hope to have a grand attendance, as this is the first time in several years that we have held the Induction
dinner. Of course it is a Friday in Lent so the fare will be a fish dinner. We are pleased to have a traditional Irish
musical treat for the occasion; Fr. Mark and his boisterous lads will play for us. The evening’s agenda will consist
of a dinner, followed by a memorial service recalling our gallant Chaplain, Bishop Hart, followed by the induction of
this year’s officers, followed by a bit of a Ceili! All the activities will be punctuated with song, so please come in
your best voice. We will need to give the chef a good estimate of number attending. Hence I will ask you to place a
call to either Tad Downing or Sean Moore prior to February 13.
Tad can be reached at 732-1674 (days) or at 508-641-4877(evenings)
Sean at either 443-2058 or 389-3553 at any time.
We shall have at least one van available if you would rather not drive; please feel free to avail yourselves of this
service. The dinner is priced at $15/head, and it would ease the confusion the night of the dinner if you sent your
check to the PO BOX in advance.
If you have good photos of Bishop Hart at various of our activities please email or get copies to me for display at
the induction dinner.
Hibernian Participation in Right to Life March
Brother Bud Joyce and President Sean attended the Right to Life march in DC. Rita accompanied the lads, as did
one of Bud’s brother knights, Pete Gonzalez. The trip down on the buses from the Norwich diocese was relatively
smooth; the buses were filled with a cross section of ages, clergy and laity. It was impressive to see the cross
section of ages throughout the day; it was especially energizing to see so many young people actively involved in
the Pro-Life movement. Mr. Leone from St Bernard’s accompanied several students as has been his custom for a
number of years. We managed to get together with several of our national officers before the speeches and
parade, but had difficulty gathering as one for the march; so there were Hibernians in separate groupings during
the march. There were touching addresses by those who had been involved in abortion activity and had a difficult
life thereafter living with the realization of their actions. Let us all resolve this year to try and help local groups who
extend a helping hand to those in need of pregnancy counseling. Next month’s newsletter will contain some
suggestions; if you have information that you would like to share please contact Sean, and that information will be
included.
St. Patrick’s Day
Encouraged by the success of our mini-celebration last year the committee chaired by Jim Smith has met several
times, and has an ambitious program in the works. Mayor Kevin Cavanagh, brothers Diarmuid and Tad have
jumped into the ideas and contacts planning. As St. Patrick’s Day falls on a weekday it was agreed that we should
have our celebration on that day and emphasize the religious and cultural importance of the celebration. The
program which is still in the planning stage will begin with a celebration of the Mass, a procession to City Hall to
raise the tricolor, a traditional Irish breakfast, story telling and discussions of St Patrick and St Brendan, display of
some of our posters and information on John Holland, soda bread contest and distribution to those in need, and a
short parade down State Street at which local groups will be invited to celebrate the Irish History and character of
New London.
Brother Jim Kane has volunteered to chair the activities related to our marching in the Mystic Parade at the end of
the month. As in recent years we shall have one of the currachs to proclaim the wisdom and zeal of St Brendan.
Jim and Diarmuid are working on the formation of a local rowing club to be named after our recently departed
chaplain. When I brought the picture of his blessing the currachs to him in the hospital I asked if we might name
the club in his memory, and he said that he would be honored. That blessing ceremony was his last public
appearance before his health failed.
Participation in Local Social Needs
During his communion breakfast presentation Mayor Kevin challenged us as a division to assist in the local
community and help those in need. He pointed to several areas in which local groups are attempting to bridge the
gap between those in need and some solace for those needs. Toward that end Kevin brought me to one of the
downtown sites whose goal is to help people help themselves, and to avail themselves of assistance for which they
qualify. Next month’s letter will have specific ideas that I hope to garner from meetings with some of those actively
involved in this noble effort. This kind of effort has also been put forward by our National Office attempting to focus
on Hibernians charities as a means of fulfilling our role in Christian Charity.
Celts and Currachs
The Celts and Currachs festival committee has been involved in the early planning stages for the festival
scheduled for August 23. Brother Jim Gallagher has been actively involved via email with the entertainment and
cultural teams in efforts to have a diverse and multifaceted presentation.
As a precursor to the festival Diarmuid and Jim Kane will coordinate a currach demonstration at the Mystic Seaport
festival in June. Details are under discussion. Also we hope to have a coordinated education effort for would be
oarsmen under the tutelage of the Hanafin rowers and John Mulkerrin.
Let me again put out the call for photos from the Celts and Currachs festivals. Diarmuid is pursuing the photo
showing the Irish Vice Consul afloat in one of the currachs, but we are interested in reviewing others for a graphic
of the festival
Advertising
Several brothers have brought up our need to place ads in the local parish church bulletins concerning our
organization. Brother Tad Downing is heading up a committee to set that in motion. It would be desirable to have
listed in a parish bulletin the name of a parishioner who is a member and who would serve as the parish contact.
Brother Kevin McBride has volunteered to be the contact at Our Lady of Perpetual Help,(I might add that Kevin has
been active recruiting new members). Please chat with Tad if you would like to help with this effort.
New Member
At our January meeting we formally enrolled two new members who had been presented at meetings just prior to
the end of the year: Jim Kane and Justin Lamoureux. We also inducted a new member who is well known to old
members. Vince Hauser has been an active supporter of Hibernian events since the days of our Feis when he
provided a family full of volunteers for the assembly and disassembly of staging, and at most social and cultural
events with his wife Mary Ann. We are delighted that Vince has become a brother Hibernian. Vince noted that one
of his grand daughters is an excellent traditional Irish stepdancer ( No doubt her artistic talent comes from her
maternal genes!)
Dues
Please remember to send in your dues to our PO Box address. Dues are $27/year with a special rate for those
members who have been active members for thirty years ($20). Hopefully the mailed version of this newsletter ( as
opposed to the emailed one) will have a note for those who are delinquent for last year. We have not seen nor
heard from several members for some time; if we do not hear to the contrary and their dues are delinquent
through last year we will drop them from our list. We are taxed by the National and State boards for members on
our active list.
Remember to please call to announce your intention to attend our Induction ceremony on February 22