Boston's Bad Guys

Just back from seeing "The Departed" -- whew! Haven't seen that much fake blood since last Halloween when our neighbor put on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Not everyone dies of gunshot, but there is plenty of violence. Trust and betrayal are the major themes in this film, as we have seen in other films by Martin Scorcese.

The setting is Boston, the characters are wiseguys and cops, with a police psychiatrist thrown in, and the plot is tangled enough to give anyone whiplash. Actors Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, Ray Witone, Anthony Anderson, Vera Farmigia and Martin Sheen give excellent performances, but this one is all Jack Nicholson's. His portrayal of the Whitey Bulger type crime boss was something you just know he enjoyed playing -- like his McMurtry in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." We wouldn't be surprised to see another Oscar nomination. Nicholson is one scary dude; his imitation of a rat is truly frightening.

Left to right: Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, and Jack Nicholson. Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures

Did Freud truly say the Irish were the only people who are impervious to psychoanalysis? Boston cops and Boston criminals -- but, as Nicholson says, "When you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?" Martin Scorcese has done an excellent job of portraying the terror involved in such a situation, whether it's the streets of Boston or Belfast, Denmark or Dunsinane.

We don't wonder that Michael Patrick MacDonald, who survived South Boston in the 1970's, wrote about revisiting Southie's culture of death in The Boston Globe in response to this movie.

And oh, yes, that was Martin Sheen quoting "Hamlet" -- "the readiness is all." See this movie.

Patricia Jameson-Sammartano,
WGT Culture Editor

Events Listings

Interesting events coming up in the next few days include: CUNY Institute for Irish-American Studies Book Club, President's Dining Room, Lehman College, the Bronx, Thursday, October 19, 7-8:30. Up for discussion is "Jaywalking with the Irish" by David Monagan. RSVP cunyiias@lehman.cuny.edu or 718-960-6722, appreciated but not required.

GLUCKSMAN IRELAND HOUSE also Thursday, October 19, 7 p.m., Linguist Daniel Cassidy, New College San Francisco, speaks on the impact of Irish words in modern-day American English. Research from his forthcoming book "The Secret Language of the Crossroad: How the Irish Invented Slang" to be published early next year. RSVP to 212-998-3950 or ireland.house@nyu.edu. Free to members of Ireland House community; all others, $10 admission.

JOBS IRELAND NEW YORK EXPO Friday, October 20, 5-8 p.m., Saturday, October 21, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Affinia Manhattan Hotel, 371 Seventh Avenue, New York(across from Penn Station). FAS, the Irish Government Employment Authority will hold a two-day expo on employment opportunities in Ireland. Information on taxation, healthcare, education, employment rights and visas/permits.

Patricia Jameson-Sammartano,
WGT Culture Editor

Wild Geese Teeth

Oh, if these false teeth could only talk, the tales they could tell us about the glory days of the Wild Geese in France and the end of that era during the French Revolution. The teeth were discovered still in the mouth of their owner in a London churchyard during a recent excavation for a new Eurostar terminus. They belonged to Arthur Richard Dillon (1721-1806), a member of that most renowned of Wild Geese families in France. He was a famous ecclesiastic in France, and the son of one of the first famous Dillons in France, the Honorable Arthur Dillon, who led the first Dillon’s regiment to serve with the famed Irish Brigade in France.

The elder Arthur Dillon was born in Roscommon in 1670. He led his regiment to France in 1690 – though he was not yet twenty years old - as part of the brigade commanded by Justin MacCarthy (Lord Mountcashel). He would serve France until 1730, fighting in Spain, Italy, and Germany, and his sons would serve France through the Revolution sixty years later. Dillon's regiment fought on the American side at the Seige of Savannah during the American Revolution.

(Right: the flag of Dillon's Regiment)

Arthur had five sons, with Arthur Richard, owner of the false teeth, being the youngest, born in St. Germain-en-Laye in 1721. The first four sons were all soldiers and served in the Irish Brigade, with the two eldest eventually returning to Ireland to take possession of the family estates. The third and fourth, James and Edward, would both die in command of the family regiment, with James dying in command at that most famous of all battles of the Irish Brigade, the victory at Fontenoy in 1745.

Arthur Richard followed that second likely route of influential Irish families of the day: the priesthood. When his brother James died leading his regiment to victory at Fontenoy, Arthur was the recipient of royal beneficence in return as Louis XV arranged to have Arthur appointed Vicar-general of Pontoise. He rose steadily in the Church thereafter, becoming Bishop of Evreux in 1753 and then Archbishop of Toulaouse in 1758.

Like many of the high Church officials in France in that time, Arthur was perhaps more absorbed with temporal matters than he was religious. He was active in promoting the improvement of road, bridges, canals and other public works. He became a leading figure at the court of Louis XVI and was described by his relative, the Countess de Boigne, as “more gay than episcopal.”

At some point during these years his teeth failed him and he acquired the porcelain dentures that were recently discovered in London. It is believed that he purchased them from a Parisian dentist named Nicholas De Chemant. Museum of London archaeologist Natasha Powers said: "These unique artefacts reflect a pivotal time in dental history with the adoption of new materials and methods of manufacture.”

(Arthur Richard Dillon, right)

When the French Revolution came, and everyone in France had to choose between loyalty to the royal family or the new state, Dillon remained loyal to the crown. Given the historic connections of his family to that crown, and the favors he had received from them personally, that is easily understood.

Dillon managed to escape the guillotine fate suffered by many of the Wild Geese in post-revolutionary France and made his way to London. There he continued to refuse to accept the reconciliation of the Church with the French government of Napoleon, also refusing the Pope’s order that he resign as Arch-Bishop. He did reconcile with the Church before he died in 1806 and was buried, along with his recently discovered dentures, in St. Pancras graveyard.

More information on Dillon and the Irish Brigade:

Irish Brigade & Dillon's Regiment commemorative items
The Irish Brigade at Cremona
200-Year-Old Dentures Go On Display In London

Irish UN Ambassador to Speak at Ireland House

GLUCKSMAN IRELAND HOUSE AT NYU presents Ambassador David Cooney, Permanent Mission of Ireland to the UN on Thursday, October 12th 2006 at 7.00 p.m. Ambassador Cooney, recently appointed co-chair of a key taskforce on reform, will speak on the role of small nations and Ireland in particular within the United Nations. Ireland has been a member of the UN since 1955, and this has been a large part of Irish foreign policy. Ambassador Cooney has held his post since 2005, replacing Ambassador Richard Ryan.

Free admission to all members of the NYU/Ireland House community, $10 admission to the general public. To reserve a seat, call (212)998-3950.

Patricia Jameson-Sammartano,
WGT Culturen Editor

http://irelandhouse.fas.nyu.edu/object/ambassadorcooney.html