{"id":17817,"date":"2020-11-11T13:47:18","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T17:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=17817"},"modified":"2020-11-11T17:17:09","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T21:17:09","slug":"outabout-97","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=17817","title":{"rendered":"Out&About"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Greg Harrington with now-President-Elect Joe Biden<\/figcaption><\/figure>By Paddy McCarthy<\/em><\/p>\n

OK! As the Rolling Stones lyrics would say, \u201cIt\u2019s All Over Now\u201d and that is this historical President election that just happened here in the United States of America. If your\u00a0name is Timothy or Pat or Joe Biden<\/strong> as long as\u00a0you come\u00a0from\u00a0Ireland, there\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0welcome on the mat, or should I say the White House. \u201cThe successful Democratic candidate Joe Biden President-elect can trace his Irish roots back to both the Blewitt\u2019s from Co Mayo and the Finnegan\u2019s from Co Louth.\u201d<\/p>\n

All eight of Joe Biden\u2019s great-great-grandparents on his mother Catherine Eugenia \u2018Jean\u2019 Finnegan\u2019s side were born in Ireland during the first half of the 19th century, and on his father Joseph R. Biden Sr.\u2019s side, two great-grandparents were also born in Ireland. Joseph Sr.\u2019s parents, Mary Elizabeth (n\u00e9e\u00a0Robinette) Biden (1894\u20131943) and Joseph Harry Biden (1893\u20131941), an oil businessman from\u00a0Baltimore, Maryland, were of\u00a0English,\u00a0French, and Irish descent. Biden\u2019s paternal third great-grandfather, William Biden (1787\u20131849), was born in\u00a0Sussex,\u00a0England, left England, immigrated to the United States and settled in Maryland. Jean\u2019s parents were Geraldine Catherine (n\u00e9e\u00a0Blewitt) Finnegan and Ambrose Joseph Finnegan. Jean was of\u00a0Irish\u00a0descent, with roots variously attributed to\u00a0County Louth and\u00a0County Derry. Irish genealogists presented Joe Biden with his Irish maternal family history on his visit there in 2016.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s maternal great-grandfather (Geraldine\u2019s father),\u00a0Edward Francis Blewitt, the child of Irish emigrants from Rappagh,\u00a0Ballina, County Mayo, was a member of the\u00a0Pennsylvania State Senate. With Biden having two great-great grandfathers being born in Ireland (Owen Finnegan and Patrick Blewitt), this makes Joe Biden 12.5% Irish. Biden still has distant relatives in the town of Ballina, Mayo and on the opposite side of Ireland Joe Biden\u2019s great-grand father James Finnegan came from Carlingford, County Louth. In both counties they are celebrating with the passion of his relationship with both counties and we say here send congratulations as I am sure he will be calling to see you all when this pandemic is over.<\/p>\n

I am so sure that Adrian Flannelly<\/strong> is a very happy man with the Mayo connection and will never let us forget it. Up Mayo outcha boyo.<\/p>\n

This came to me from one of Ireland\u2019s biggest music ambassadors, none other than Greg Harrington<\/strong>. He has told me in his words, \u201cI had the honor of performing for Joe Biden some years ago, a performance that my dad came over from Ireland to see. I chose music by a blind Irish composer from County Louth as the then-Vice President\u2019s great-grandfather was a blind musician who played the violin from County Louth in Ireland. It was one of my favorite performances of \u201cO\u2019Carolan\u2019s Concerto\u201d and one that he loved. Afterwards, we had a beautiful conversation. He told me about standing in front of a mirror when he was a kid struggling with his stutter and reciting W.B. Yeats to overcome that fear. And the difficulties of being onstage in front of others. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe spoke about family and music. And loss. He was so gracious and kind. And just before he departed, the then Vice-President finished our conversation with \u2018Greg, if I had your talent, I\u2019d be President.\u2019
\n\u201cApparently Mr. President, you have an abundance of talent.\u201d Now wasn\u2019t that nice, and good on yea Greg.<\/p>\n

This Wednesday the Irish Business Organization of New York<\/strong> are holding the IBO November Virtual Evening from 6:30 to 7:45 pm on Zoom. Their Guest Speaker is Ian McLernon, President and CEO Americas at Remy Cointreau<\/strong>. Ian will share lessons learned from his global career and for these trying times he\u2019ll provide insights on how to navigate\u00a0VUCA.<\/p>\n

The President and CEO Americas for Remy Cointreau, the French Spirits Group, Ian is originally from Co Antrim, and his wife Julia is from Co Derry. They keep strong links with Ireland with a vacation house in Co Donegal, and Ian is on the US Board of Co-Operation Ireland. You can join them to Network Reciprocate Communicate. <\/p>\n

They will send the ZOOM log-in a few hours before the event. If you don\u2019t see it by 5:30 PM, check your spam filter! For more information, email info@ibonewyork.org.<\/p>\n

Here is an invitation you cannot miss from The Irish Repertory Theatre<\/strong>. You are cordially invited to attend a virtual performance of\u00a0\u201cOn Beckett\/In Screen, An Exploration of the works of Samuel Beckett\u201d<\/strong>. Conceived and Performed by Tony Award winner\u00a0Bill\u00a0Irwin<\/strong>,\u00a0On Beckett\/In Screen\u00a0begins digital performances on\u00a0Tuesday November 17\u00a0at\u00a07 pm EDT\u00a0and\u00a0is part of\u00a0Irish Repertory Theatre\u2019s 2020 Digital Fall Season series of\u00a0A Performance on Screen.<\/p>\n

Performances will be broadcast on Tuesday November 17 at 7pm, Wednesday November 18 at 3pm and 8pm, Thursday November 19 at 7pm*, Friday November 20 at 8pm, Saturday November 21 at 3pm* and 8pm and Sunday November 22 at 3pm All times EST.\u00a0Performances marked with an asterisk (*) will feature captions.<\/p>\n

Bill Irwin\u00a0can\u2019t escape Samuel Beckett. The pandemic hasn\u2019t changed this. Two years ago, Irwin took the Irish Rep stage to premiere\u00a0On Beckett, his award-winning meditation on Samuel Beckett\u2019s works and language. Since then, Covid-19 has upended daily life worldwide and live theatre is on hold as venues stand empty. In this time of anxiety and loss, Irwin revisits the words of\u00a0Samuel Beckett\u00a0and returns alone to the Irish Rep virtual stage to bring us\u00a0On Beckett\/In Screen, a new meditation filmed for our current times.<\/p>\n

In this intimate evening,\u00a0Irwin\u00a0will mine the physical and verbal skills acquired in his years as a master clown and Tony Award-winning actor to explore a performer\u2019s relationship to\u00a0Beckett\u00a0in the time of COVID. Irwin\u2019s approach to the comic, the tragic, to every side of Beckett\u2019s work \u2013 including\u00a0Waiting for Godot,\u00a0The Unnamable\u00a0and\u00a0Texts for\u00a0Nothing\u00a0\u2013 will allow audiences to experience the Nobel Prize winner\u2019s language in compelling new ways. <\/p>\n

For more information call their Box Office at (212) 727-2737 or visit IrishRep.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

See you all next week when I am hopefully Out&About again… <\/p>\n

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