A Lesson from the Irish

For two years I have had the opportunity to judge a scholarship contest for the Emerald Society. It is an organization for firefighters and police officers. I want to share here with you what I learned from reading this year’s essays. 
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I have spent a great deal of time reading the essays that 17 seniors in this area have written about growing up “Irish” on our New Jersey peninsula so far from the green, lush country that their forefathers called home.
I was struck by two wonderful revelations. You poured yourselves into expressing how much you and your families loved their country of birth and yet throughout the succeeding generations, fostered an abiding love and respect for this new country – America.
Each essay began with a recitation that told of leaving the “old country” because of famine and strife. Your grandparents and great grandparents left hoping to find a better life in this country – a land of opportunity. Yet upon arrival, the welcome mat was hardly out. Instead, the help-wanted ads read, “No Irish Need Apply.”
It is to their credit and perseverance of those early immigrants that they shouldered the insults and disappointments and continued to look for work in jobs the native-born citizens would not accept. Often those jobs were dangerous, dirty, hard, or manual labor. Because of this, firefighting and police work were among the jobs open for the Irish. As the generations passed, they made their hard and dangerous work a badge of honor, so that today, both occupations are among the most sought-after positions not only in our county but all along the coast.
Your Irish ancestors dignified the work by being honorable and applied.
The second revelation was that even though your ancestors loved their homeland, they LEFT IT to become Americans. Your ancestors’ patriotism was evident in everything you wrote about them. They took pride in being a part of their new country while retaining many of their old cultural habits. Their delight in music and dance only added to their new American “Personality,” and eventually the new immigrants on the block became a beloved part of the American landscape.
It seems that we Americans are like kids on the playground. Frequently we don’t like the strangers (immigrants) until they prove themselves with some feat of strength or demonstrate a needed skill. It is essential for the “new kids” to take up the loyalties of the new school (new country) and teach us their best, most winsome ways. For example, is there a person in this great land of ours who doesn’t know “Danny Boy” or thrill to the strains of the bagpipes playing in the distance as a parade approaches?
The Irish have much to teach us, and I congratulate the three who will accept their scholarships.
Sincerely,
Patricia Hall
ED. NOTE: The three scholarship winners’ names will be announced in June.