Souperism, Surfing, and Song

Our morning correspondent today Clark Andrews:


Today was great! After waking from a great sleep, on a real bed, Catherine prepared a very generous breakfast consisting of waffles, real maple syrup, juice, cereal, toast, and tea. She was just one of the many people we met who welcomed us the warmest hospitality I have ever experienced. The people of Achill Island have a very different way of life from the Irish in Belfast. The police station on Achill Island is no barracks. It is merely a small building with one or two cars and officers who do not carry firearms. This service is even less than many small neighborhood police forces in the United States. This is drastically different from the heavily armed police officers and land rovers of the PSNI. The Irish identity of the people of Achill is very distinct from the Irish identity of the northern Irish. They are not caught up in the struggle between British and Irish identity. Irish identity here is uncontested. There is no tension between the people of Achill like there is in Belfast; they are one community. It was a great shock to see the differences between these two different parts of Ireland. The Irishness of the people of Achill fulfilled the much more romantic view I had of Ireland. This may be in part because of the strong connection between Achill and Cleveland. The generosity of the people of Achill was in part from their gratefulness towards the city of Cleveland. They were proud of our twinned cities and the generations of Achill decedents in Cleveland. Achill was my home away from home and the people on the island treated me as if I lived there.

The first part of the day was a bus tour throughout the island of Achill. This tour consisted of the historical sites on the Island. Much of the history on Achill has to do with a Protestant missionary named Edward Nangael. He learned Gaelic so that he would be able to communicate with the people in their own language. He then began to establish schools and bring in large land-owning farmers to create jobs for the local people. Nangeal himself eventually bought two-thirds of the island. During the Potato Famine, Edward Nangeal imported food from Canada to feed the people of Achill with one catch: conversion. The people had to convert to Protestantism to be able to eat at his soup kitchens. This form of bribing people to join the Protestant faith became known as “souperism.” It makes me think of a quote from Dorothy Day, “Food for the body is not enough. There must be food for the soul.” One cannot buy religious allegiance. He also began Trinity College to which Protestant boys could gain entrance if they were training to become missionaries. Nangeal also brought the first printing press to Achill and printed the Achill Herald, which was aimed at people outside of Achill Island. This was to send news to people who may potentially settle on the island. He also began the first hotel and is credited with bringing tourism to Achill. The Archbishop at the time bought land to counteract Nangeal’s mission. He created a Franciscan Monastery and started schools for the local people. The people began to flock to these schools. Many of the sites we saw had to do with Edward Nangeal’s effect on Achill’s history.

Another stop was a Napoleonic Tower. These were used by the British to warn of a French invasion of Ireland. The towers were set up in 1806 after the French helped the United Irishmen in the failed attempt to become an independent Republic. The towers were abandoned in 1811 after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo. The tower on Achill is one of the best kept in all of Ireland.

Another major point that was presented to us on the bus tour was that Achill never had a stable economy. It was never great for planting potatoes so farmers use to travel to Scotland for work. They would be gone from June to November, taking cargo boats known as Hookers to Newport where steam ships would take them to Scotland. One-third of the population left during these months, approximately 2100 people. There was a prophecy that a fire coach would bring the dead to Achill on its first and last voyages. The first part was realized when a Hooker capsized and thirty-two men died and were brought back to Achill on the first train to reach the island. Eventually the economy improved when people bought the 300 acres from the Monastery. More land was won in the Land Wars, in which the major landowners were forced to give up their land after the Land Commission.

Our final stop was the Life Boat station. This is the equivalent of the Coast Guard in the United States. It was enjoyable to talk to the volunteers at the Life Boat station who rush at any call of emergency. They were very humble but proud of their different boats. The bus tour was very important to become immersed in Achill life. I learned so much about the people and culture of Achill. It was a very rewarding experience and I am excited for the rest of our cultural exchange.

Our afternoon correspondent is Brian Clark:

This afternoon we went to The Bay Side Bistro where we had the choice of assorted sandwiches, which were very tasty, drinks, and ice cream. The actual building itself looked fantastic; the interior reminded me of a Victorian style house. Not only was the food great, and everyone happy about his or her choices, the people at The Bay Side Bistro were very hospitable and friendly which made the overall experience that much better.

From The Bay Side Bistro we traveled a ways across Achill to Keel beach where we went surfing! Surfing was fantastic. Everyone who went out into the water enjoyed himself or herself a great deal. We got to put on wetsuits that warmed us up a pretty good amount. We got brief lessons from a surfing teacher on the beach. It was really cool, and I feel like his tips really helped. He made us run into the water like a Braveheart scene because he made us put up fake swords, yell, and charge into the water. Then we got our surfboards and went back into the water. The water was pretty cold, it was about 15°C, or about 60°F. But once we engulfed ourselves in the water, we were quick to forget about how cold the water was; we were all just having fun. Surfing was great because we all got to try and stand up on some waves, and a bunch people did! After about two hours of indulging in “water sports” we got some time to rest before we went to dinner.

Both of the groups went back to their Bed and Breakfasts, but my group in particular mainly got ready for the dinner. We had tea and cookies, talked to Kathryn who is the owner of the B&B that we are staying at, and took showers to get off all of the ocean on us.

Then we headed to Gielty’s to have dinner with everyone. Dinner was amazing. We had choice between fish and chips, or hamburger and chips. I personally chose the hamburger and chips, and it was great, one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. For desert we had a slice of apple pie, which was also really good. But before desert, we played this icebreaker type game where we went around with a piece of paper with a bunch of questions on them where we had to ask people from the other side of the trip (i.e. Only Cleveland students could ask Achill students, and vise versa). There were also stakes for winning the contest (filling out the paper first); the one who won would get 30 Euros. Alice ended up winning the grand prize. Drew won a consolation prize for being the first American to turn it in. Then after dinner, we went to the other side of the pub to listen to some traditional, “trad” in Mr. Bizga terms, Irish music. It was pretty cool because we got to hear some songs sung in Irish, and listening to the small group of people play was really interesting as well. From there we ended up outside where we sang different songs for about an hour.

From all the fun today being with the Achill students, and engaging in their culture, it reminded me a quote by Mahatma Gandhi that states, “No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive.” This quote was one I feel fits the twinning of Cleveland and Achill perfectly. So many people from Achill Island moved to Cleveland, and now many of the people from Cleveland have roots from Achill. So now being able to indulge in the warm hospitality and culture, we get to experience something new, and so do the people of Achill Island as well, and we will learn a bunch about each other in the few days we have here. Even though it may seem like a short time being together, it will create long-term friendships, and life long memories.