Cross leaves Donegal for the USA

Fr. Liam Hickey, St Ciarans Parish, Dublin; Mr Peter Cullen, AOH Portland, Oregon; Brendan McGloin and Prof. Peter Harbison, Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy

On Monday night the 30th of April, Donegal Craft Village saw a crowd gather from far and wide, as the culmination of three years work and dedicated study of medieval masonary and carving by Donegal Sculptor, Brendan McGloin, went on view.
Brendan was commissioned by members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, a national group that was founded on the east coast of the US to help the Irish who fled this country during famine years, to create a reproduction of the Cross of Clonmacnoise. The cross is now complete and will shortly be leaving Donegal for its new home in Portland, Oregon, USA. This is a truly amazing achievement for Brendan and I know I talk for everyone who had the pleasure of seeing his work in progress and the end result, that we are all very proud - and would one day like to see it in its final resting place.
Representing the committee of the Ancient Order, Mr Peter M.Cullen expressed delight with the end result, prompting a round of applause for Brendan. He explained that the Irish found refuge in Oregon and the first census for Portland in 1850 showed 12 Irish-born out of a population of 821 - but the migration to America from the famine was just beginning, ten years later in 1860 the Irish made up 10% of Portland’s population.
The Irish made their mark on Portland and Oregon, and contributed substantially to the ultimate success of the State. It is a fact that the majority of Irish Catholics who died in Portland over these many years are buried in Mt. Calvary cemetery. Portland’s Irish famine refugees lie buried there as well as their descendants. And this is where they are going to erect Brendan’s sculpture - the Cross of Clonmacnoise - the Cross of the Scriptures. Standing 13 feet tall on a hill overlooking the cementry and a main intersection in the city, for the next 1000 years and more, it will look down on the many Irish who dwell there - or will come to the city in the future.
Peter quoted Portland committee member David O’Longaigh who commissioned the work as saying
“I wanted people to walk away from the memorial with a visual image of the Glory of Ireland, not just an image of famine and death. When you see Irish Famine Memorials through-out the USA, whether they be in Philadelphia, the UN, New York City, or whereever, the images you see can be depressing”.
David continues, “when people see the cross, I want them to reflect not only on the famine, but also on what was and is great about Ireland. I want them to leave with a sense of hope, a sense of beauty and a tremendous sense of pride”.

Photos and text: Barbara McGroary

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Donegal’s Richest
With County Donegal having approx 3.5% of the country’s population, you would expect it to have at least 8-10 people in Ireland’s top 250 richest as printed in the Sunday Times a couple of weekends ago. But not so – I could only find four - and one of these has a very tenuous connection to the county. At No. 32 with a fortune of ¤395million sits Patrick Doherty from Buncrana whose Harcourt Developments is presently converting Lough Eske Castle into a 5 star hotel.
Hotelier Jim McGettigan rows in at No34 with ¤360 million.
Riverdance’s Moya Doherty with her partner John McColgan are listed at No 103, with ¤129 million.
The tenuous one is Hugh Green, a former Donegal cowherder, who made his fortune in New Zeland. He is positioned at no 139 with ¤102m.
I don’t know about these rich lists. I think from about half-way down, there are boys with far more money than those mentioned. Rich doesn’t just mean money in the bank, it covers a multitude of assets - businesses, stocks and shares, property, pensions, investments etc.
There are boys sitting on acres of land near towns, or just staring at a computer screen buying shares and selling them before they’re even paid for who I reckon could leave many of those listed in the ha’penny class. When we were growing up, a millionaire was a rare species, one that would be pointed at and discussed. Nowadays anyone with a house and a few acres near town - or a computer geared to world-wide stock exchanges, could be in that club. You don’t have to be famous to have money – the boy next door could probably feature in the Sunday Times rich list – but he keeps his mouth shut, his head down - and his money invested.