Blog - Martha M. Geaney

I’m Irish: Cue the Melancholy

I’m grieving and have been for the last six years. I’ve been a caregiver for my life partner and my mother. I lost both of them this year – only a few months between each one’s passing. But my grieving began when I realized the two I loved the most were passing in front of my eyes. They were dying each day and I was dying with them.

My mother was much more realistic. When I commented once on how sad I was about her and Bill. She replied, “What do you expect? We are getting old.”

Bill was another matter because he didn’t remember most of our life together. I would mention things and he would say, “I don’t remember that.” I’d reply, “Don’t worry, I will remember for you.”

Being the child of Irish parents, you’d think I’d have this grieving thing down pat by now. But no, I don’t. The Irish way might involve wearing black and having the Month’s mind mass one month after the passing of the loved one. The Irish way might mean going to the cemetery every week tending the flowers and the grass. The Irish way might mean crying and weeping years after the passing of the loved one.

There’s a certain melancholy that goes along with being Irish. I cry when I hear O Danny Boy or someone has bag pipers at a funeral. The melancholia stays with me, always lurking, always reminding me that because I’m Irish, sadness is part of my history and culture. I have grown to accept that part of my heritage but I’m curating my melancholy my way.

I may be crying when no one is looking but I’m also planting my feet in nature, on this earth. I gaze at the moon, relish the sun rises and sunsets. When I lay awake at night thinking about my loves, I savor the light filtering through the shutter slats. I snap joyful pictures paired with snippets of song lyrics that communicate how I’m feeling. I’ve instituted “Cryless Monday”; I refuse to give in to the tears on Mondays.

I’m running with my puppy, Turlough. I’m letting go of grudges and looking for forgiveness especially my own. The more I open up the more I realize so many people are grieving – those who lost time during the pandemic or lost a loved one.

Being the child of Irish parents, you’d think I’d have this grieving thing down pat by now. But no, I don’t. And I don’t think anyone else does either. But we all keep trying mixing the melancholy with life and we keep going. For the Irish in spite of our melancholy nature are quite capable of grieving and enjoying life at the same time.

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Welcome to Killarney, Florida!

Killarney, Florida

If you haven’t been able to get to the Killarney along the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland. You might try visiting Killarney, Florida. Yes! Florida has Killarney!

On a recent day trip to Winter Garden’s History Museum, I was surprised to see a series of orange crate labels depicting shamrocks and the word “Killarney”. Here are some of the pictures from the room where a myriad of orange crate art is on display.

So What’s the Story?

According to the museum’s docent, Zip Code 34740’s community was founded in the 1800s and named after Killarney, Ireland. Apparently the Irish folks who settled in the area were reminded of the home place in Killarney.

Killarney is unfortunately unincorporated and there is no exit from the Florida turnpike to Killarney. The post office opened in 1887, closed in 1902, reopened in 1926, and closed again in 2003. According to the docent, people used to drop their Christmas cards to the post office just for the postmark, that said “Killarney, Florida”.

In the spirit of the Killarney Luck image: “May the luck rise up to meet you! Whichever Killarney you happen to be in. Cheers!

Clare Island – A Beautifully, Historic Circuit

“Matthew Sumner liked the five-hour walk around the island best of all: the danger of ‘Beware of Cliff Edges’ signs that warned of falling to the rocky inlet below, the steep climb up Knockmore mountain, the view of Inisturk and Inisbofin islands from the peak, the small lakes, the potato lazybeds, and the Abbey Church.”
-Prologue excerpt from “Death on Clare Island” by Martha Geaney

Clare Island’s Circuit Walks

One glorious summer morning, I set out from French Hill cottage to Roonagh Quay to catch Captain O’Malley’s ferry to Clare Island. Clare Island is a beautiful part of County Mayo – guarding the entrance to the mouth of Clew Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.

Unlike Matthew Sumner, I chose one of the shorter circuit walks that took me as far as the Clare Island Lighthouse, the Abbey Church, and past the famine potato beds.

Clare Island Shrouded in Mystery and Beauty

Potato Lazy Beds dating to the 1800s

Along the walk, I observed the ridges where, the potato lazy beds, which date back to the Great Irish Potato Famine, were set. During the famine, Clare Island lost half their population due to death and emigration.

The lazy bed method entails planting seed potation within a few inches of the soil top and no more than 12 inches apart. On Clare Island, the planted seed potatoes were covered in seaweed until harvest time. Prior to the famine, the potato crops were sufficient, along with fish, and other whole foods like eggs, milk, and oatmeal to maintain the population. But during the Great Irish Potato Famine, Clare Island lost half of its population to death or emigration. The potato ridges remain today as a reminder of great tragedy amidst great beauty.

Lazy Beds Origin

Contrary to the connotation associated with “lazy”, the lazy bed approach allows for growing in areas where space is limited and for easy harvesting. The “lazy bed” term arose in Ireland among some famers who considered this method of farming “lazy”.

Smart Potato Farming

Nowadays, lazy bed potato farming is considered a smart method of utilizing space and saving time. And, if seaweed isn’t available, the beds are covered with hay/straw mulch.

And so, we’ve come full circle.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day – And the What Abouts?

This is the week! When everyone who has a hint or trace of Irish ancestry dons something green. But did you know Irish history indicates that there was more than one Saint Patrick. What? No, no, no.

I was shocked and disappointed when one of my Irish uncles told me there was probably more than one Saint Patrick. What did you say? Patrick existed but there were others in Ireland who also preached conversion to Christianity. But what about the snakes?

As someone who grew up holding my father’s hand at the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City, I was devastated. I’d bought the entire story including the one about St. Patrick chasing the snakes out of Ireland. But you know I’ve never seen a snake in Ireland so I’m holding fast to the fantasy.

And, what about the ancient pilgrim path that begins on Saint Patrick’s Causeway in County Mayo and ends at the summit of St. Patrick’s Mountain otherwise known as Croagh Patrick? That! That I can tell you is real because I walked the 26 mile Pilgrim Path one summer day. You can read my guest post about The Pilgrim Path and Croagh Patrick over on The Irish American Mom web site. Here’s the link to the post: https://www.irishamericanmom.com/the-pilgrim-path-or-tochar-phadraig/

And while you are there, take a look at the wonderful recipes that you can pursue as you set your table for St. Patrick’s Day.

What about it anyway. However you celebrate. Whomever you claim in your ancestry. I hope you find joy and peace in knowing or having faith in that little piece of Irish you claim on St. Patrick’s Day.

Updated Post: Irish Halloween Blessing

Pumpkins at the Botanical Gardens in Dublin. A few weeks before Halloween — William Murphy, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

We know and love Halloween as a fun loving time of year. In my neighborhood, here in Florida, the adults play a game called “I’ve been boo’ed”. You create a bag of Halloween treats and then secretly place it a neighbor’s door. Then the neighbor creates a treat bag and passes it along. And so the game goes until the entire neighborhood has been boo’ed.

But do you know that Halloween traditions originated in Ireland? And most of them were created as an answer to preparing for the harsh winter season the unexplainable. In the blessing below, goblins, spirits, and overall scary characters are named.– but you wouldn’t want to encounter any of them. For example, the Will o’ The Wisp was believed to be a eerie, ghostly light covering the marshes at night, all meant to mislead you in your travels.

The Jack O’ Lantern that we know as a cheerful, smiling pumpkin is derived from a story about a trickster named Jack who couldn’t die. Even the devil wouldn’t take him. So, Jack roamed Ireland playing tricks and being overall disagreeable. People carved turnips and placed them in the window to ward off strangers or evil people like Jack.

Culture Vannin, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

And so, here’s the Halloween blessing again in 2022. And, if you do encounter the Puca, may it be good luck. Happy haunting, my friends.

At all Hallow's Tide,
May God keep you safe
From goblin and pooka and
Black-hearted stranger,
From harm of the water 
And Hurt of the fire,
From thorn of the Bramble,
From all other danger,
From Will O' The Wisp
Haunting the mire;
From stumbles and tumbles 
And tricksters to vex you ,
May God in His mercy
This week protect you.