Update and review of Sheboygan CWI events 5/2013

May 16, 2015

An update for all the Celtic Ladies and Gentlemen, members and friends of Celtic Women International, the Sheboygan Branch.

Kind of a long formal title, but I am feeling kind of formal today.

The past week had been very full and so much fun starting with our biannual Literary Exchange.

We spent the May 11^th meeting discussing Patricia Monaghan and several of her books. Patricia,who passed away last year, was one of Celtic Women International's staunchest supporters. I had the privilege of hearing her speak a couple of times and found her so much fun and full of knowledge. She was the (pronounced THEE) expert on knowledge of the female goddess history in world culture and in all of us.

As she was also an exceptional poet, we read some of her poems. We also listened to two songs from Jamie O'Reilly, CD, Songs of a Kerry Madwoman, which was a joint venture by Patricia and Jamie. I have that CD and NOW I understand it.

The next Literary Exchange will be in November. Date, Time and Place to be announced when our leader Joan Kramer has her schedule. We are very important to Joan but she is such a busy lady.

We have decided to read NORAH: The Making of an Irish-American Woman in 19th-Century New York City by Cynthia G. Neale. Joan says it is really good and will be an interesting story.

Last night, Nancy Roehre, Joan Kramer and I went to UW Sheboygan for their Speakers' Series lecture. The speaker was Dr. Valerie Murrenus Pilmaier. The title of her talk is “No Longer at the Kids' Table: Irish Chick Lit and the Position of Women in Irish Society.”

Chick Lit, with its roots in domestic fiction, speaks to issues central in women’s lives such as relationships and emotional and financial security, but it does so in a humorous, and often candid, manner. A quote from the description of the lecture on the UW site.

We were fascinated. Literature vs entertainment is the theme. Women writers were for years always considered entertainment. Many still are and we all know of women authors who wrote under male pseudo-names to get their books out there. Literature is always a snapshot of the time it is produced. Our recently deceased Maeve Binchy was a master of Chick Lit.

Valerie is interested in CWI ( Hi Valerie) and said she would be delighted to talk to us about this subject.

Now for the next meeting. We are going to celebrate BLOOMSDAY again. Bloomsday celebrated on June 16 and is a commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce during which the events of his novel Ulysses (which is set on 16 June 1904) are relived. It is observed annually on 16 June all over the world. The name comes from Leopold Bloom, the Ulyssean protagonist.

We will be meeting at 52 Stafford at about 5:30PM, Sunday June 16. We can have a cocktail and mingle then eat about 6PM. After dinner, we will have a short meeting. Then I hope to have a friend of mine who is an expert on the subject tell us about the novel.

So we go on. What do you think about creating Bridget Beads in July? We got the directions and prayers at the Chicago Branch's Brigid Day last January and would be delighted to share. If this sounds interesting we could combine it with tea and scones for a ladies afternoon.

Let me know if you have any interest. We would need to order St. Brigid medals and gather the other beads and such for the project.

That's it. Really.

Dia Dhuit

Mary Kunert

920-893-5139

920-912-5345