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From ‘Ashes’ to acceptance: Irish still coming to America
By Michael D. Wamble
STAFF WRITER
Father Thomas O'Halloran is no stranger to tales of young Irish
men and women who struggle to survive and eventually leave home
in hopes of a better life elsewhere.
Since 1997, the diocesan priest from Killaloe, Ireland, has reached
out as archdiocesan chaplain to Irish immigrants throughout the
Chicagoland area.
The only difference with the story he’s invited to engage this
evening--a special screening of “Angela’s Ashes”--is that this
Irish family escapes the bleak economy of the United States for
the shores of Ireland. But instead of finding sanctuary or prosperity
across the Atlantic, the family is devoured by hunger, unemployment
and alcoholism.
The film, based on Frank McCourt’s 1997 Pulitzer Prize-winning
memoir, opened Jan. 21 in Chicago. (The film received an A-4,
adults, with reservations classification from the U.S. Catholic
Conference’s Office for Film and Broadcasting.)
Where the true yarn ends--the author’s emigration back to the
U.S.--is where O’Halloran’s work begins.
Through Chicago Irish Immigration Support, a not-for-profit organization,
O’Halloran helps young Irish immigrants obtain: immigration information,
referrals for legal advice, crisis immigration counseling, outreach
and meetings sensitive to Irish cultural needs, information on
apartment hunting and pastoral service for religious needs.
Over the past two years, O’Halloran has met immigrants at the
places they frequent, including pubs and other establishments
downtown and on the city’s Northwest and Southwest sides.
“At this stage most people know me in the bars. What I do is get
a drink myself [as a prop, not for consumption] and start chatting
with people about football, baseball or even the weather. Then
names are exchanged. When I tell them I’m a priest working with
Irish immigrants I hear, ‘No kidding,’ ” said O’Halloran.
Bartenders have been known to pass along his card to immigrants,
especially those without U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services
documentation.
According to “Emigration and Services for Irish Emigrants,” published
by the Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants and the Irish
Commission for Prisoners Overseas, 1.2 million Irish live outside
of Ireland, the majority of whom are “economic migrants.”
As the so-called “Celtic Tiger” economic boom has brought prosperity
to some Irish citizens, it hasn’t yet trickled down to the poor.
Thus the “Tiger” has created an unusual pattern of high out- and
in-migration rates.
While economic factors have remained the primary reason for departure,
changes have occurred among Irish immigrants coming to this country.
“Today, work isn’t a difficult find for Irish people. There isn’t
that much prejudice against Irish people today. You don’t see
signs like, ‘Irish need not apply,’ as you once did. At the time
he [McCourt] would have come, the signs still would have been
up,” said O’Halloran.
While the success of Irish immigrants and Irish-Americans in urban
centers like Chicago is positive, O’Halloran believes it sends
the message to some that there isn’t much of a need for his ministry.
He disagrees.
“There are still pockets of it [discrimination]. Any immigrant,
no matter what nationality is going to have to struggle a bit
today because the laws don’t prove that much protection until
one becomes a citizen.”
While O’Halloran said he read, and for the most part enjoyed the
book, his perspective isn’t shared by all Catholic natives of
Ireland.
When production started for screen adaptation, churches in Limerick
denied director Alan Parker permission to film their interiors
or exteriors.
Dublin subs for Limerick’s religious locales within the film.
In his 1996 critique of the book, Catholic News Service reviewer
Joseph R. Thomas wrote, “Reading ‘Angela’s Ashes’, it is easy
to understand why ... McCourt distanced himself from the Catholicism
that both nurtured and abused him.
“But after finishing his memoir about growing up in Ireland it
is only natural to ask: where does he stand now in relation to
the church and the country he escaped from 40 years ago?”
That question seemed to be answered in the documentary, “The McCourts
of Limerick.”
Henry Herx of the U.S. Catholic Conference Office for Film and
Broadcasting, wrote of McCourt, “Frank is especially bitter, though
he does recall his mother getting clothes from the St. Vincent
de Paul Society. It wasn’t much, he says, but ‘at least they were
there.’”
O’Halloran tends to agree.
“He [McCourt] has a tendency to wallow in the unpleasantness of
that time. The harshness of the environment and the church come
across more in the movie [than in his memoir],” said O’Halloran.
“McCourt is an excellent storyteller who’s playing with memory
and should be afforded some dramatic license,” said O’Halloran.
“But I would say the church was fairly harsh enough in the ‘30s
and ‘40s. It was a time when the Catholic Church and the state
worked hand in hand. The country really was a confessional state
where you couldn’t move without feeling the breath of the church.”
Overall, O’Halloran said he enjoyed “Angela’s Ashes.”
“The film is a very good portrayal of the effects of alcoholism
in a family. It’s amazing that the mother and children were able
to survive at all,” he said. “Their survival is a testament to
the strength of the human spirit.”
Father O’Halloran is a resident of St. Juliana Parish, 7142 N.
Osceola Ave.
If you, or someone you know is an Irish immigrant in need of support
contact O’Halloran at (773) 631-8498 or at www.irishoverhere.com.
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