The Glorious Craic đŸ”„đŸ‡źđŸ‡Ș

This Week: Boxing Trilogy, O’Bama, NORAID Doc, The Twelfth

So, What’s the Craic?

The Craic is back on a glorious July Friday, giving you a big helping of Irish-themed news, stories, and craic propaganda. If you enjoy the newsletter, ask friends if they’d mind us popping into their inbox on the regular by signing up here.

PATRICK, PAUL AND DARREN IN DUBLIN TOWN

News from Home

The Boys are Back in Town: Yes, that’s us! Shweatin’ in the Dublin heat. Somehow we’re back home all at the same time. Damien Dempsey is playing tonight so that’s where the real craic is happening later. A slow pint (or two
) at Kehoe’s and then a dander down to Iveagh Gardens. Go on ya good thing!

Round 3. Our girl Katie Taylor will complete the final leg in her trilogy with Amanda Serrano this weekend. We have said it before, but the job Katie (and Amanda) has done to put women’s boxing on the global map has been remarkable. And while we are at it, credit where credit is due to Netflix. The streamer has plastered adverts for this one on every billboard, website, and social media feed around, building it up with the Big Fight feel that these two legends deserve.

O’Bama. Big Barack Obama is heading to Dublin this fall for a sit-down interview at the 3Arena with journalist Fintan O’Toole (good writer, that lad is). Anyway, that’s all pretty prosaic, yet our eyebrows nearly went into orbit such was our shock when we heard some tickets were selling for upwards of 600 euros ($670) a pop. So, Yes We Can (sell a kidney).

New Doc. Bill Clinton and Senator George Mitchell tend to be the first figures who spring to mind when you think of Americans helping the Northern Irish Peace Process. Yet, many thousands of ordinary Irish-Americans did their part through the organization known as NORAID. They weren’t always well behaved, as NORAID had some links to the IRA, but the group played a significant role in putting the issue on the agenda. A new documentary on RTE is airing, showing the good, bad, and remarkable side of NORAID.

Message in a Bottle. Lovely little story here: An old wine bottle washed up on a Kerry beach this week, containing a note from two loved-up Canadians who’d sent the bottle into the tide after a picnic date in 2012. The find sparked an online hunt to find the couple (Anita and Brad), and we can report that they were found, and that they are happily married living in Newfoundland with their three kids.

The Irish Influence

It's getting to the business end of the All-Ireland Football Championship, so perhaps we should answer an unspoken question: Just who is the best Gaelic footballer in the land? Many would say it’s the Kerryman, David Clifford. He’s leading the Championship in scores with 7-44 (for folks not au-fait with GAA scoring: that’s really good) and looks to be on a one-man mission to deliver the title to the Kingdom (Kerry). YouTube is littered with videos of his skills, but there’s also a lot of content with titles like “David Clifford gets boxed in the jaw by a Cork player” or “Watch Clifford get poleaxed by Derry.” In short, he’s just too good, so rival players tend to give him a kick or two to remind him that Gaelic football is a full contact sport.

CĂșpla Focal

Deoch an Dorais {Dawk an Dor-As} – the last drink before going home. Deoch (drink) an Dorais (of the door) literally means “drink of the door,” so it’s about having your last wee nip before shuffling back home. There’s a sense of illicitness about the phrase, as if you know you’ve to get up for work in the morning. Interestingly, the phrase “Deoch an Doris” is also commonly used in Scots Gaelic, with the same meaning. Great bunch of lads, the Scots đŸŽó §ó ąó łó Łó Žó żđŸ€đŸ‡źđŸ‡Ș

Blast from the Past

The “Glorious Twelfth” – referring to July 12th â€“ has been celebrated in Northern Ireland since the 1800s. It commemorates the victory of the Protestant King William of Orange over the Catholic King James in 1690 in the Battle of the Boyne. As you might imagine, the Twelfth ‘celebrations’ have been tied up in the region’s tortured history, linked to riots (from both sides of the community) and paramilitary killings. Ulster Protestants/Unionists (those who live in Northern Ireland but want to remain part of the UK) see the events around the holiday (Bonfires, Orange Marches) as an integral part of their culture. Republicans see the Twelfth as anti-Catholic and point to a more recent phenomenon that’s dogged the event, extreme xenophobia.

And One Last Thing
.

If Orange culture is relatively inward-looking and celebrates the past, we can say that we are thankful that the Gaelic Athletic Association has moved in the other direction, promoting Irish sport and culture as something to nurture and export globally. As we mentioned, it’s coming to the climax of the All-Ireland Championships, and we were delighted to learn that the Semi-Finals and Final will be broadcast online in France with French commentary for the first time. It might not sound like much, but these baby steps matter in inspiring people from outside the 32 counties to discover, play, and eventually come to love Gaelic sports.

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