Episode 49: Growing Up Irish: My Memories of the Irish American Community in the 1950s and 1960s

This episode I'm going to share my own memories of Cleveland’s Irish community during the 1950s and 1960s--my growing up years. My family was involved with the Hibernians and Irish dancing. The Hibernians put on an annual St. Patrick’s Day banquet and held card parties to raise money for Irish missionary priests. We helped with Parade floats, manned tables at nationality fairs, and attended Irish picnics at Euclid Beach Park. Our parishes reinforced our Irish identity. At St. Mel's Parish, where I grew up, Fr. Tom Flynn organized an annual St. Patrick’s Day show and encouraged us to take Irish dancing lessons from Tessie Burke at the old I.A. Hall on Madison Avenue. We attended feises or dancing competitions at the Berea Fairgrounds, did danceouts at the Irish Cultural Garden, and went to ceili dances sponsored by the Gaelic Society--nurturing a lifelong love of Irish music and dance.