Mary Pat Kelly Galway Bay Book

As soon as I got back to Chicago I went to visit the statue of Grainne in Heritage Park across from Old St. Pat's. The artist imagined the daughter of an Irish chieftain--she's proud and free, the kind of strong Irish woman who endured and triumphed. I look at her and think of Honora and all the mothers and grandmothers who were determined their children would not die. The City of Galway, Chicago's Sister City, gave the statue of Grainne as an expression of the historic link between Chicago and Galway and a tribute to Irish women. Grainne will provide the focus when Chicago joins Irish communities throughout the world in commemorating the first Irish Famine Memorial Day May 17, 2009. The American Ireland Fund, The Galway Committee of the Chicago Sister Cities International Program, The Irish Fellowship Club and Old St. Pat's Parish will come together to mark the day and honor our ancestors. I'm to say a few words about the Chicago Irish experience. Afterwards in the parish hall the wonderful singer Catherine O'Connell and I will present a program of songs and stories from Galway Bay. I am so glad these commemorations are happening and glad we can lay a wreath at Grainne's feet. I never see a statue of a woman in a public place. Of course walk into Old St. Pat's and there is St. Brigid, St. Ann and of course the Blessed Mother. Lots and lots of women in all the Catholic Churches in Chicago, not only statues but in the stained glass windows and paintings. Mary Magdalene's there at the foot of the cross and women appear in the stations--Veronica, the women of Jerusalem, Mary and Mary Magdalene. In Galway Bay I imagined women praying in these very churches. I'm sure they found comfort thinking about these other women of strength. Thanks Galway City for giving us Grainne!

Photo: Bert Kelly-Jarchow

How to describe the good time I had on Chicago Irish radio? The studio is on the top floor of the Oak Park Arms, once an elegant hotel that is now a retirement community. The Haggerty family has been broadcasting for 60 years, every Sat from 9 to 11. Denise, the host today, tells me she helped her father when she was 7, answering phones and taking the name of the lucky sixth or 12th or 20th caller who had won tickets or a record or a book. Today, May 9, her daughter does the job and Galway Bay is the prize. Denise interviews me and the give and take is easy and fun. Soon other guests arrive--a musical group, representatives of the Irish Centers-- Gaelic Park and the Irish American Heritage Center-- and the director of a theater group. A lot goes on of Irish interest in Chicago and from here the news goes forth. At 11 the O'Connor family takes over. Siobhan and her mother Margaret and their friend Bridgid continue the mix of music and information. I do feel as if I am in a family's living room. I tell them about the two book signings today--The Irish Shop nearby in Oak Park, and Paddy's on the Square in Long Grove. But we spend most of the time on both shows talking about the Famine Commemoration at the Grainne statue in the park across from Old St. Pat's on May 17th. I'm so pleased to be part of the event and then to be able to present the songs and stories of Galway Bay with Catherine O'Connell. She gives so much to this community. Imagine celebrating joyous occasions with her beautiful voice and from- the- heart delivery as an accompaniment. And then when comfort is needed she is there too. So many people have told me how much her singing meant to them at a parent's funeral. On the 17th she will be singing a lament for the one million who died but also honoring the two million who escaped and saved us all.

May 7th and we were back at home base--the Polo Cafe in Bridgeport, Chicago. Dave, who has just received a rave review for his restaurant in the Chicago Tribune, has hosted members of six book clubs who have all read the book, for a "Galway Bay" evening. Roe Snyder, who organized the signing in Florida, brought the 12 members of her club all the way from Burr Ridge, a good hour and a half away. The daughters of my cousin Tom, and their clubs came, as did his friend Mary Pat. I am now the "other Mary Pat" in this group! His daughter Brigid's group is co-ed. "We like the history," one of the fellows told me, a comment I frequently get from men in their emails. Dave served shark, the signature food that earned him the top prize in the competitive Taste of Chicago Festival. What an experience to talk to a room full of people who had read the book and talked about the characters as if they were old friends. "I read slow at the end. I didn't want to leave the Kellys," one woman told me. Music to my ears. My Aunt Marge came. I'm so grateful for her support. We celebrated her 90th birthday in February though she prefers not to emphasize her age. She's as busy and vigorous as ever and didn't need a song sheet to sing Galway Bay at the end, a tradition at these events now. Aunt Marge knows every word!

Effingham, you called out to me literally. In March your name was our guide on the map we used when we drove through an ice storm to Terre Haute and the Woods. No sooner did I get there than I received an email from Sheila in Effingham, Illinois. So now we are on our way to an event at the Effingham Library courtesy of Sheila, her daughter and Catherine, the librarian who (ready) is from Derry!!! I'm sure we met there when she was with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. She worked with Patsy O' Kane whose hotel Beech Hill Country House is my favorite place to stay in Ireland. Happy synchronicities Galway Bay moments. Providence! A great day and again wonderful family stories from those attending.

So to St. Mary-of-the-Woods and my great and humbling week-end. As part of the Graduation ceremony I received the Distinguished Alumna Award. My sister Mickey, who attended the Woods, and I arrived on Thursday afternoon for the first of two presentations I did for Galway Bay. So many friends and former teachers of mine were in the audience that I felt a special joy in sharing the stories about Galway Bay. I love the Woods. Both the world of the College and the one on the other side of the bridge, the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Providence. I wrote about my time there in Special Intentions. Every morning I walked the beautiful campus through groves of ancient trees. I and the birds-- more sing here than anywhere else I've ever been. I walk along the rows of graves in the Sister's cemetery and read the names on the white stones--so many Irish--75 per cent at least. I stop at Sister Columba's grave who entered from Donegal in the 1880's. Her niece, a Sister of the Presentation in Galway, helped me find the Kelly's homeplace. Providence!

These women educated generations and now the era of the gigantic Catholic schools they staffed are passing and new missions are rising. The Sister of Providence serve in so many ways now with lay people part of the community as Providence Associates. I've visited the White Violet Center dedicated to ecology. The Woods is such a healing place. Banners of Mother Theodore fly from the ornate street lights along the avenues. Our own Saint! A strong woman who wasn't afraid to stand up to Church authorities when they were wrong. "I sleep but my heart watches" she promises on the stone that marked her grave. Now she has a shrine in the Big Church. I enter some names in the book of intentions. Good friends are fighting cancer and I'll be happy to tell them the nuns are praying and Mother Theodore is listening. Being a Catholic is such a layered thing. "The Faith" we say and I know Honora and the other Irish immigrants survived because they believed. Ah, well, sorry for the ruinations. Anyway visit the Woods for a shot of the peace and uplift it gave me.

Photo: Mary Pat Kelly of the class of 1967 received the SMWC Distinguished Alumni Award from President David G. Behrs at the 168th Commencement exercise Saturday afternoon. Jim Avelis / The Tribune-Star

Sunday, April 26--Holy Family Church in South Pasadena. They have the most amazing bookstore and I had the best time talking to the people who streamed in after every Mass. Monsignor Clem Connolly stopped by. He's from Ireland and brings a group there every year. His vision reflected in this vibrant parish where the people are involved at every level. Anne McGann manages the bookstore and had flowers and a wonderful set-up but no one could have arranged what I've come to think of as a Galway Bay moment--some incredible coincidence or connection that just happens. Alright, here it is. I was asked by email to sign a book for the St. Mary-of-the Woods (my alma mater) alumna who was to receive a prestigious award during a reunion on the Indiana campus. She walked into the Holy Family Book Store! Jane O'Brien Argento is being honored for her work among the immigrant community in LA. Wouldn't Honora be pleased? When another woman, Maureen, introduced herself as a good friend of Gabrielle Kelly's I wasn't even surprised!

The LA Festival of Books on April 25--tens of thousands ambled past the hundreds of book stalls that filled the UCLA campus. Book Soup invited me to sign Galway Bay. I followed Kristin Chenoweth who inscribed a book to my niece Maggie, a fan since we saw Kristin in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown ten years ago. I love the wide range of authors and interests represented at the Festival. Saw my friends Mary and Carol Higgins Clark and enjoyed their panel so much. Mary talked about the writing group that grew out of the class she took at NYU in the 1970's. I was a member of the group in the late 80's and 90's and Mary's encouragement helped me finish my first novel Special Intentions. She and Carol drew the audience in--we felt part of their lovely relationship. Both are on the Best Seller list with their new books Just Take my Heart and Cursed. Has any other mother-daughter team accomplished that? They said they would try to come to my June 28th Spring Lake event. I signed lots of books at the Book Soup stall. It's such a wonderful store. Friends I hadn't seen for a while came by-- Michael Zannella who was my boss on the Dick Cavett Show, Gabrielle Kelly, who was to produce the movie I wrote for Paramount. We shared an office on the lot. The movie didn't get made but our friendship is a great reward from those days. And today we realized that her father was born in Salthill only one mile from Honora's birthplace, Bearna-- both on the shores of Galway Bay. Gabrielle's busy as always-- producing, teaching, traveling and telling wonderful stories about her adventures.

The heat that held tight to all of LA let go a little as we got out of the car into the shade of the oak trees that make Flintridge Riding Club so beautiful and inviting. Just after 6 and we thought we were first, sticking the rods attached to the Galway Bay poster into the hard dusty ground to direct people to the clubhouse. Red and white tent stalls are being set up for the Children's Horse Shoe--a huge event attracting 200 competitors--the oldest in the US, a happy circus come to town. Quiet now except for one man walking under the trees. Rabbi Cohen! My teacher more than 40 years ago at St Mary of the Woods College. The first rabbi to teach at a Catholic College in the US--maybe in the world, we said as my sister Randy and I introduced him to friends as they arrived. Randy and her husband Ernie hadn't let me help them get the room ready so when I saw the six vases of white and purple lilacs, the long table on the porch with its green tablecloth and waiting tea pots I got the same rush of pleasure the others arrivals did. The room's big fireplace, wooden beams and stucco walls haven't been changed since 1927 when the club was built and felt like we'd stepped into a movie. Randy introduced me to an audience that had lots of friends and family members--her sister and brother-in-law, husband's aunt--a warm and welcoming crowd. Honora was Randy's great-great grandmother too, of course. Her sons Michael and Patrick carry the names of Honora's sons and in the audience were mothers who'd known the boys since they had been in preschool with their own children. A great group with which to talk about tradition and connection and ancestors! And then we drank real Irish tea and ate the best cookies while the book seller from the Flintridge Book Shop proved the show can go on no matter what.

The Saint Bede Parish Book Club invited me to meet with them in the John XXIII room in their lovely parish hall the next morning. The leader, Brenda, is a friend of Randy's. This is my first discussion with a group who have all read Galway Bay. It's a joy to hear others talk about the characters as if they were real people. The dream I had as I sat writing on those long narrow lined yellow pads with the fine point Paper mate pen (both getting harder and harder to find) is coming true!!!

Now I'm heading to the LA Festival of Books and The Book Soup, that very special independent book store that suffered its own tragedy recently when founder died. Tens of thousands of people will be there. Well I have the posters and cards and book plates Randy had printed at her neighborhood shop. I'm ready. Will I be calling out "Step right up for a great read?" Maybe. So many book lovers! What fun!