Ireland Archives - Standards Michigan

Finian’s Rainbow

“Finian’s Rainbow” is a musical (written by E.Y. Harburg – University of Michigan 1918) that tells the story of an Irishman named Finian McLonergan who comes to the United States with his daughter Sharon to bury a pot of gold stolen from a leprechaun. Finian believes that if he buries the gold in the soil of Fort Knox, it will grow and multiply, allowing him to live a life of luxury.

However, the town they settle in, Rainbow Valley, is owned by a racist senator named Billboard Rawkins, who wants to evict the sharecroppers living on the land. With the help of a local activist named Woody, Sharon and the sharecroppers team up to stop Rawkins’ eviction plans.

Meanwhile, Og, the leprechaun whose gold Finian stole, comes to America to get his gold back. Og meets and falls in love with Susan, the mute daughter of the sharecropper Woody, and realizes that he wants to stay in America with her.

The story deals with themes of racism, prejudice, and the American dream, and features memorable like “Old Devil Moon,” “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?” and “If This Isn’t Love.”

Lively

Newman Centre

“The love of our private friends

is the only preparatory exercise

for the love of all men.”

— John Henry Newman

Coláiste Nuaman | Ballykelly County Tuaisceart Éireann

The Newman Centre in Ireland is a Catholic chaplaincy and student center located at University College Dublin. The center is named after Blessed John Henry Newman, a prominent 19th-century Catholic theologian and cardinal who was recently canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church. Its spaces are open to Catholic students and staff at the university, as well as for the wider community. These include daily Mass, confession, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Bible study groups, social events, and retreats. The center also hosts talks and lectures on topics related to Catholicism and the Catholic intellectual tradition, and supports student-led initiatives and outreach programs.

The Newman Center is part of a global network of Newman Centers and Catholic campus ministries that aim to provide spiritual and intellectual support for Catholic students in higher education. The centers are typically named after John Henry Newman, who wrote extensively on the role of education in developing the whole person and fostering a deeper understanding of faith and reason.

Sacred Spaces

Gulliver visits the Great Academy of Lagado

“None are so blind as those who refuse to see” is a proverbial expression that has been used by many authors and public figures throughout history. The exact origin of the phrase is unknown, but it has been attributed to various sources, including the Bible, where Jesus says, “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind” (John 9:39, King James Version).

The phrase has also been attributed to Jonathan Swift, an Irish author and satirist, who wrote in his 1738 work,

“Polite Conversation”: “Blind, sir? I see every day where Lord M– goes upon the bench without his bag, and you tell me he is not blind?”.

However, it is possible that the phrase existed prior to Swift and was simply popularized by him.