Joxer Stays Home ⚽️🇮🇪

So, What’s the Craic?

The Craic is back on this wonderful September Friday eve, delivering knowledge of all things Irish into your inbox like stealthy email ninjas. Know someone who’d enjoy The Craic, too? Ask them to input their digits on this sign-up page right here.

News from Home

Highs and Lows. We are now getting down to serious business in the Women’s Rugby World Cup. Ireland made it to the quarterfinals (Yay!), but they will play the heavily fancied France (Boo!) on Sunday. It’ll take a minor miracle for the Girls in Green to progress, but we will say a few Hail Marys and throw in an Our Father to see if that can help them get over the line. On the XY-chromosome side of the sporting world, Ireland crashed to an ignominious defeat to Armenia midweek: It looks highly unlikely we’ll make the World Cup next summer now. Didn't wanna go anyway 😭.

Population Matters. A lot of talk about population at home this week. On the one hand, the number of people living here is tipped to grow faster than expected, mostly due to rising immigration. While that fact acts as fuel to the anti-immigrant brigade, experts have warned that a steady flow of immigrants (likely to be younger, working age) is essential for our economic survival, as we have an aging labor force. And thrown into the mix is a new study that shows 3 of 5 adults under the age of 25 are considering emigrating abroad. Swings and roundabouts, then.

Record-Breaker. An Irish lad, Eamon Keaveney, has entered the Guinness World Records after walking barefoot from Dingle (Co. Cork) to Istanbul, Turkey. The Mayo man (why are these mad men always from Mayo?) trekked over 3,400 miles without the comfort of socks or shoes. It was, of course, all in the name of a good cause, as Keaveney was raising funds for mental health charity Jigsaw and Friends of the Earth.

The Craic Recommends. We admit it: We didn’t have high hopes for Saipan, the movie chronicling the fallout from Ireland’s 2002 World Cup campaign, as it seemed a fairly niche topic with limited appeal to those who didn’t have their hearts broken by Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy in those more halcyonic days for Irish football. But the reviews are out ahead of its general release next week, and they are universally positive. The Guardian has called it a “thrilling big-screen drama” and “the rare football movie that’s worth the replay.” Expect the row that divided a nation to get a second airing in pubs and across dinner tables in the coming weeks.

The Irish Influence

This week’s Irish influence is not an individual, but a collective. Solas Nua has worked tirelessly over the years to showcase and propagate contemporary Irish arts and culture. The organization has been behind countless art exhibitions, theater shows, and more, just round the corner from us here in Washington, DC. One of the highlights of the Irish Calendar every year is the Capital Irish Film Fest, showcasing the works of emerging Irish film-makers. This coming week, Solas Nua is celebrating its 20th birthday party and to ‘shine a light’ on what’s coming next! For anyone in the area, it’s a perfect opportunity to support Irish arts and mingle with the crème de la crème of the Irish community (and yes, that’s code for “Patrick and Paul will be there” so make sure to say hello). This is a well deserved shoutout to the team at Solas Nua for flying the flag for Irish arts and culture with such passion. Here’s to the next 20 years. Bualadh bos! 👏 You can get your tickets here.

Cúpla Focal

Scratcher – Bed. A slang term that’s dwindled in usage these days, you’d often hear your da talking about getting into his scratcher. The Dictionary of Hiberno-English informs us that the term “scratcher” likely came about after a scabies epidemic in Dublin in the 1940s caused beds to come with an extra dose of itchiness. Err, well, now you know.

Blast from the Past

Sometimes artists are indelibly linked to a venue: Billy Joel & Madison Square Garden; Sinatra & Sands Hotel; Grateful Dead & Fillmore West. For Christy Moore? It’s undeniably Dublin’s Vicar Street. He’s played there more times than we – or he, presumably – can count, and he’s coming back for a series of dates across the coming months; you might even see some of the gang from Shift there if our mammies give us the greenlight to head out for the night. We won’t take you too far back in time this week. It’s January 2020, and none of us know that the world will soon reel from a pandemic. Christy’s in great form as he treats the Vicar Street crowd to one of The Craic’s absolute favs - The City of Chicago. If you’re up for seeing this legend live at Vicar Street yourself, tickets went on sale today. They won’t be available for long.

And One Last Thing….

You’ll find no end of Irish-focused social media accounts bigging up the relationship between the Irish and Native American populations, mostly focusing on that incredible gesture from the latter to send aid during the Famine. Yet, the truth is much more complicated and, unfortunately, quite ugly at times. A new documentary from TG4, Éire agus Na Chéad Naisiúin (Ireland and the First Nations), explores the good and the bad in the encounters between Irish settlers and Native Americans, showing how the two peoples interacted as friends and foes. It’s an underreported aspect of history, often uncomfortable, but utterly compelling.

Go on ya good thing! You made it to the end. If you enjoyed The Craic, remember to share the love. Everyone who gets The Craic will get early access to the Shift mobile app, which is coming very, very soon! And if those friends or family are doing alright for themselves, if ya know what I mean, let them know we’re still looking for investors to help us come out of the traps roaring ike a Celtic Ti- eh… Horse. 🐎 Hit us up on [email protected].