Group works to keep Irish culture, heritage alive
BROWNSVILLE – It’s been said that on St. Patrick’s Day everyone is Irish, but for those who are Irish 365 days a year, there’s more to the culture than the wearing of the green. A group of Irish Catholic men in Brownsville is working to keep Irish culture and heritage alive in the region. They are attempting to form a Fayette County chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH).
“There’s been a Sons of Italy in Brownsville forever. This is the same type of thing, but for Irish Catholics,” said Ron Barry.
Members of the AOH must be males over the age of 16 who are practicing Roman Catholics and Irish by birth or descent. There is a related organization for women, the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, and a junior division for boys ages 8-16.
There are currently about 36 divisions of the AOH in Pennsylvania, with most of them in the eastern part of the state. There are four divisions in Allegheny County and 11 in Philadelphia. Barry and several other Brownsville area residents currently belong to the Charleroi Division.
“We had heard of (the AOH), but we didn’t know there was a local division until we read about it in the paper. Those guys welcomed us with open arms,” Barry said.
Barry said that the Charleroi Division has offered to help to get the Fayette County division open in any way that they can. Before Barry and others who are already members of the Charleroi Division can open a new chapter, however, they need to find 15 people who are not currently members of any AOH division to start the new division.
“The division we’re going to start will be named after Father Michael Judge, the New York City chaplain that lost his life at the World Trade Center,” Barry said.
Barry said many of the Brownsville area Hibernians are themselves volunteer firefighters. Barry, his brother Rick Barry and Martin Redigan all belong to the South Brownsville Volunteer Fire Department. Another Hibernian, Tim Sheehan, belongs to Brownsville Fire Co. No. 1 (North Side.)
Sheehan, whose relatives owned and operated Sheehan’s Grocery Store in Brownsville for 50 years, said he has been passing his heritage down to his three children, even though they are still very young.
“I learned a lot about my heritage from my grandfather at the store, especially the Catholic part of it. He taught me about St. Patrick and the snakes,” Sheehan said.
Sheehan said he didn’t have to think twice about a destination when his wife said she wanted an island honeymoon. The only island he considered was Ireland. Their children also bear distinctly Irish names: Timothy John II, Brendan Michael and Erin Rachel.
“When my daughter gets old enough, we want to start her with Irish step dancing,” Sheehan said. “She’s 2 years old.”
Redigan noted that both of his mother’s parents were Irish, as was his father’s mother, who came from County Cork like Barry’s ancestors.
“If you want to get technical, I could probably have dual citizenship,” Redigan said. “My wife and daughter and I went to Ireland four or five years ago.”
Redigan was quick to point out that he used the Irish spelling of Meaghan when he named his daughter.
“With all of us, our parents made us proud of our heritage,” said Rick Barry.
Ron Barry said that in 1910 there were 16 AOH divisions registered in Fayette County, including ones in Uniontown, Connellsville, Leisenring, Fayette City and Dunbar.
“It was mostly in the mining communities because most of the Irish were coal miners,” Barry said. “I have a copy of my great-grandfather’s naturalization papers in 1853. He came from County Cork and worked in the mine in Leisenring. For all I know, my great-grandfather may have been a Hibernian, since he worked in Leisenring and they had a chapter there. I’m going to research that.”
Barry said he would love to hear from any surviving members of the old Fayette County AOH divisions, since there is little on record about them today.
Barry said that AOH has its roots in Ireland during the 1500s to protect Catholic priests during the Protestant Reformation. The organization had its official start in the United States in 1836 in New York City, with the emphasis changing to assistance to Irish immigrants. The association’s motto, “Friendship, Unity and True Christian Charity,” can be traced back to a 1565 Irish Catholic organization called the Defenders. According to the AOH Web site, the 19th Century American organization came about to protect Irish immigrants against bigotry in a society where signs saying “No Irish Need Apply” were seen in major American cities.
The AOH was initially a secret society in America, with little known except that it provided a stipend to immigrants who were members in good standing of their Irish counterpart. The group also helped Irish immigrants find jobs. The focus has changed over the years, Barry said.
“The organization does a lot of charity work. They promote Irish culture. They try to prevent defamation, like when people stereotype the Irish as drunks. They support some political causes in Ireland, but not the IRA (Irish Republican Army) or things like that,” Barry said.
While the organization is primarily social and philanthropic today, there are rumors of violence even in its American roots, Barry said.
“The Molly McGuires were a secret society that protected the coal miners. It’s rumored that they were members of the AOH,” Barry said.
Barry said there’s nothing secret about the AOH today.
“We don’t have any secret rituals or anything like that,” Barry said.
The Charleroi division is known as the singing Irishmen.
“We march every year in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Pittsburgh,” Barry said.
Barry said the group also sponsors scholarship programs and an exchange program for Irish students.
More information about the AOH is available at the organization’s Web site at www.AOH.com
. Anyone interested in joining the Fayette County Division of the AOH can contact Barry at 724-785-4566.