ROX-TV presents the St. Patrick’s Day article-Loaded with books, music, and memories to celebrate the day the Irish way.

 

Welcome to the ROX-TV St. Patrick’s Day special edition article, full of interesting music, books, and memories inspired by booze, Ireland and its struggle for independence. Some of the topics covered are political and some are not, so don’t worry…I’ve tried to toss in a little something for everyone. St. Patrick’s Day is a special day in my house because I am happy to have Irish Heritage flowing through my veins and beating in my heart. I believe that everyone should take pride in who they are and where they come from. If you forget where you come from, you will never know where it is your going. For some people St. Patrick’s Day is a wonderful time to get shit faced and party, which for many years I was a very loud practitioner. For most of the past decade though, things have slowly gotten a little quieter around March 17th.

 

In years past, I have travelled to Boston to celebrate with my Irish American “cousins” on the East Coast. Some years I caught amazing shows, like the 2009 St. Patrick’s Day Tour with the Dropkick Murphys in Detroit. Some years I chose to drink the night away with the crazies in my favorite dive bars around Flint and on other years, I whooped it up at my favorite country bar, The Old Hickory. No matter where I found myself on the special day, I always made a point of remembering my Irish Heritage proudly. So I figured to honor the special day, we would discuss a few books that are relative to the subject, kick around a few Irish drinking and fighting songs, and share a memory or two from days long past.

 

So please, pull up a chair, get out your smoke and tray, or the cooler, maybe a tiny balloon of nitrous, and lets celebrate the “Irish” way! From Michael Collins to the I.R.A., here’s to Ireland. May she become whole some day and finally get the independence that is so long over due in Northern Ireland (England if your listening).

 

Part One:  A little history and the Dropkick Murphy’s show in Detroit 2009

I think there is a time when every Irish American kid who drifts into music, especially into punk, stumbles upon a few bands that become a source of pride. When I was a young man, in my early teens and into the roaring twenties, I became excited about my family heritage, as all people of this country should do daily, no matter where your family comes from. As I got older, I became more interested in who I was and where my family was from. As with any family, there is a general idea of what is what, although I was lucky enough to have a parent that enjoyed keeping track of the family lineage.

 

I discovered that my ancestors were from Contae Chorcai (County Cork which covers much of Ireland’s southwest region). The capital Cork, is known for the St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral, among other things. As many people know, the potato famine started in Ireland in the 1840’s and sent waves of immigrants headed to America to avoid starving to death. From around 1820 through the 1840’s, the Irish made up one third of all the immigrants that came to America during that time. From 1841 to 1851, the famine was so bad that the population on the island country dropped from roughly 6.6 million to 4.2 million residents. Between 1841 and the start of World War II, it is believed that around four and a half million people immigrated to the United States from Ireland.

 

Most of the Irish who came to America were extremely poor and could not move beyond the initial port of their landing. My family came from Ireland to New York City in 1882 and spent the next twenty years in Brooklyn, saving money and surviving. Most of the Irish populations arrived in New York and Boston, although some made it as far as New Orleans. The Irish and the African Americans were often pitted against each other for extremely low paying and dangerous jobs. It was not uncommon for employers to threaten to hire Irish and African Americans if the workers advocated for better conditions. This obviously caused ethnic tensions which often times became violent.

 

In addition to the poor job prospects and ethnic intimidation, being Catholic, the Irish also faced religious discrimination in America. By the 1800’s, there had been centuries of conflicts between the Irish Catholics and the English Protestants and it followed the Irish to America. The long established Americans who claimed English Protestant backgrounds, feared the influx of Irish Catholics and were openly hostile to the new immigrants, fearing that the steady growing numbers of Irish in America might translate into political power.

 

Although it has been widely documented about the KKK’s violence towards African Americans in this country, people tend to overlook or forget that the KKK was anti-Catholic and anti-Irish. This led to the burning of Irish American’s homes and property, the loss of life, and mob violence directed at the Irish. In the 1920’s the Klu Klux Klan argued that Catholicism was not compatible with democracy in America. The Irish countered this religious discrimination and ethnic discrimination by asserting that they were “more patriotic than the anti-Catholic nativists” because the Irish believed in the freedom of religion for all. From 1921 to 1925, the anti Catholic/Irish movement intensified all around the country.

 

Eventually though, the Protestants couldn’t keep the Irish shut out forever. The Irish Americans in this country got organized and slowly began to wield political power. This caused the “system” to court the Irish vote, and the urban political machines of the day began to reward the Irish support with jobs in the system including sanitation, firemen, road crews, and police jobs. Most of the Protestants in America tended to lean Republican which often times promoted discriminatory laws and voting restrictions (some things never change). This would cause Catholic Immigrants to become the heart of the Democratic Party in the northern states in the coming years. World War II seemed to have a some what calming effect throughout much of the country as Americans rallied to fight Germany and Japan, (but anti-Irish sentiments would linger along with other groups of Americans).

 

Beyond the troubles in America, the history of Ireland had a long and difficult past with England, going back to 1169 with the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. Over the centuries there has been much conflict and bloodshed, too much to list here anyway. But I encourage people to learn more about the subject. The relationship with England and the world is something I believe everyone should learn more about, especially if they plan to become involved in politics or activism, as I believe there is much that is either applicable or lessons to learn with dealing with systems of control. Protestants, English, and Scottish were sent to Ireland in the 1600’s to colonize the island and replace who the Irish were. Freedoms were restricted and property seized. Eventually leading us to modern day Ireland, who is still fighting for unification and home rule.

But enough history, we can spend years dissecting the politics and still get nowhere. Back to the American experience and more modern times.

 

Dropkick Murphys come to Detroit for the 2009 St. Patrick’s Day Tour

I had been following the Dropkick Murphys for years at this point and when I heard they were coming to Detroit in 2009, I knew that I needed to be there. My wife had did me a solid and purchased me a couple of tickets to experience the show in person. I had travelled to Boston for St. Patrick’s Day several years earlier but the shows had been sold out. I spent the majority of those four days in Boston, wandering around getting hammered with the locals and maintaining a dusk to dawn drunk state. My time in Boston for St. Patrick’s Day hit a critical point around 4pm when the local police descended upon me, confusing me with a day time robber. I was wandering down the street with a bag of beer and gloves on, and was mistaken for a burglar they had been looking for. When I informed the police that I was merely a tourist on vacation, looking for a place to piss and get drunk, they welcomed me to the town and sent me on my way.

 

Fast forward to 2009 and I was heading to the State Theatre on Woodward, in downtown Detroit for the show. My friend Zac had volunteered to come with me and keep me out of jail. I know it sounds ridiculous but the arrival of the Dropkicks in town had brought out the wilder side of my personality. The State Theatre was the perfect place to catch a show, and had a lovely bar near the main floor, to keep me well fortified during the concert. I remember parking on Woodward and having to piss so bad, that I decided to just let it go next to a parked car. There were Dropkick fans everywhere and the drinks were flowing.

 

When we got inside, I immediately purchased as many beers as the bartender would allow and we headed to the main floor. It was the first show in Detroit I was at where there were actually people already passed out on the floor near the edges of the venue. I remember thinking “that sucks”. Not only were they about to miss an amazing show, I wondered how in the fuck they would be getting home? The energy of the night was crazy and the crowd was amped up. I don’t remember the name of the group that opened up for the Drops, but it had a female lead singer. The lady was obviously either drunk or confused because she came out and said “Hello Chicago” or some bullshit like that. The Detroit fans took great offense and booed back in a deafening roar. At least this is how I remember it. I’m not a weirdo expert in music or shows, just a guy who liked to have a good time and was actually there. If I remember correctly, the poor woman tried to do a quick recovery but the fans didn’t forget. I didn’t.

 

Later in the night she would come back onstage to sing “Dirty Glass” and the Dropkicks encouraged the crowd to show some Detroit love, which eventually they did. Among some of the classics, they did a few numbers off “The Warriors Code” album (2005) and we all went crazy. At one point I wanted to get some more beer, but the venue had stopped selling alcohol just prior to the Dropkicks taking the stage. The idea was that people would be getting too drunk, but from what I had witnessed, they showed up that way. When people are blacking out before the opening band, I don’t see how restricting a few more glasses of beer from being sold would help, but whatever. It was amazing show and the only time I caught them live in Detroit. I still have my concert shirt from the venue and wore it proudly for years.

 

The legend of the Whitey Bulger spoon

Jumping from music to crime, the Irish experience in America has been as colorful as any other group to arrive on the shores of the U.S. and try to make the place home. I don’t think there are many people that won’t recognize the name “Whitey Bulger” or know at least a little bit about the man’s infamous history in Boston. Whitey was a prominent gangster in and around Boston from the 1970’s until he went on the run in 1994, after being tipped off by his FBI handler John Connelly. Whitey had secretly worked with the FBI for years, which is ironic because he lived a very public criminal life. During his trial he was linked to 19 murders by his former associate Kevin Weeks, which had occurred while under the watchful eye of the Boston field office of the FBI and Agent John Connelly. A movie was made about it.

 

One interesting thing about Whitey, apart from his long record of crime, was the fact that he claimed to have been part of the CIA’s MK-ULTRA program while he was a federal inmate at the penitentiary in Atlanta. For 18 months, Bulger claimed to have been given doses of LSD in exchange for a reduction in his prison sentence. Another odd part of Whitey’s federal prison time was a transfer to Alcatraz in 1959. He would be transferred again to Leavenworth and finally Lewisburg before being granted parole in 1965. He would not get pinched again for the next forty six years or so.

 

Love the guy, hate the guy, it doesn’t really matter to me. As far as I’m concerned he was a piece of organized crime history in this country and I was fascinated by the story. All the time he was an FBI informant and a very public gangster, he had a famous brother named Billy who just happened to be the President of the Massachusetts Senate for many years. Upon leaving politics, Billy got a job as the President of UMASS (University of Massachusetts). As the scandal with Whitey eventually played out, he was encouraged to resign in 2003. For Whitey, he was murdered by fellow inmates on Devil’s Night 2013, hours after arriving at the United States Penitentiary Hazelton, near Bruceton Mills in West Virginia.

There is an amazing book about this Un-holy alliance that Whitey and the FBI enjoyed and I had to have it. The book was written by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill. The book Black Mass was released in 2000 originally and comes in at right around four hundred pages. Anyone who is a fan of Irish crime in America should check this title out. I have a copy in my library.

 

Which brings me to the spoon. A few years back, I got interested in memorabilia linked to crime, music, and high profile individuals. So there was an auction selling off Whitey items to recuperate money for the victims of his murderous tendencies. All the best shit was too expensive, but when they got down to stupid items, I was in the game. The feds had seized everything from the apartment that Whitey had been hiding out in out West and were selling it all. By the time I got keyed in, most of the affordable good stuff was gone, but they had kitchen silverware still available. For about sixty five bucks, a person could purchase one of the last remaining forks, spoons, and knives from the seizure.

 

I noticed a spoon that was going for about sixty five bucks or so and decided to bid on the item. I won and a few months later, received my very own Whitey Bulger spoon. Who knows if the guy used it to eat cereal or paddle around pudding? All I know is that it’s in my possession. I get it out every St. Patrick’s Day when we have the traditional Irish meal of Colcannon served with soda bread.

 

 

 

 

Irish American themed books

St. Patrick of Ireland by Philip Freeman

Over the course of many years, I have picked up books involving the Irish whenever I seen them or heard of something worth owning. Most of them involve crime, but I do have a pretty good book about the true history of St. Patrick, who was actually English (born in Britannia, United Kingdom). He was English but his family identified as Roman or at least that’s how I remember that playing out. When he was a boy, he was kidnapped from his home, and taken to Ireland as a slave by Irish pirates.

 

The crazy thing is that eventually, Saint Patrick escaped slavery after six years and made his way back to his home in England. His parents and family had given him up for dead many years earlier. He became a cleric and opted to return back to Ireland to preach Christianity. His family thought he was crazy for wanting to return to the place that he had been held captive, but he couldn’t be talked out of it. He went back and began converting as many people as possible, which was a dangerous thing to do considering the Druids were still in high regard, along with other Pagan items of worship. Saint Patrick lived out his days in Ireland doing what he could with his faith and religion to convert the masses. Today he is known for driving out the “snakes from Ireland” but there weren’t any. Post glacial Ireland apparently never had them. I suppose that maybe this might have been some reference to Pagan beliefs possibly, but its been awhile since I read this one, in rehab of all places. Whatever you believe, its an interesting read. I found it interesting when they referenced the end of the world, when Rome fell……but here we still are. I wonder how many times we’ve repeated that song and dance. I never understood why people insisted on carving rocks, but I have a feeling that rock carvings will last longer than any content we currently have on the internet.

 

 

A drink with Shane MacGowan by Shane MacGowan and Victoria Mary Clarke (May 2001)

I got this book after drifting into the Pogues music. I had seen insane interviews of the Irish born Shane, notoriously drunk and incoherent through out most of them and being an alcoholic myself, I wanted to see what was going on. I remember hearing stories about Shane being given two pints of Guinness a night starting at age five by his parents and needed to know more. Although I was drinking when I read it, I remember it as being written in an odd sort of way, with the author speaking about herself in the third person. Sometimes rather dotingly, which tripped me out. Like I said, I was usually hammered when I tried to read this one and because of the style in which it was written, never seemed to get very far. I would rather watch a Pogues video. If your a fan of Shane then owning the book is probably a rite of passage, but for people that don’t enjoy his music, I might advise a pass on this one. Bless the Irish son anyway, even if the book sucked.

 

 

A few more Irish themed books involving crime and music

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that about does it for this St. Patrick’s Day article. I hope everyone had a good time and stayed safe. See you next March 17th, same place and same time. Shout out to all the Irish and non Irish Brothers and Sisters out there. Remember “We’re all Irish Today”

 

 

Signing Off,

Mike Shepard

ROX-TV Head Writer

shepard2909@hotmail.com

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