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Published on 03/11/1996 All articles from this issue

St. Patrick¹s Day, more than green beer and a pub c

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rawlBy Joanne Griffith DomingueTown Crier Staff WriterFor local Irish-Americans, St. Patrick¹s Day does not mean green beer and a pub crawl.Just ask Irish-born Gretta Lowney, founder and president of the Mountain View-based Irish Cultural Society.³I¹m not into that (green beer and pubs.) That¹s why I started the organization (Irish Cultural Society).²She began the non-profit group last November to bring Irish culture to the community and the schools ­ the language, literature, dancing and music.³Something for everybody,² she said. ³It¹s all about having fun with your own culture. Now first generation immigrants are keeping their culture alive. It gives people a sense of identity to know their culture.²Lowney, from County Cork in Ireland, came to the United States 20 years ago, and works in computers.She¹s a woman with a mission who is passionate about her heritage.³I love it so much. I want other people to share it. Irish and Celtic culture is not taught here.²Ireland is important in the life of Mary Thomas, too. This 20-year Los Altos resident, born in County Kerry in Ireland, is a retired nurse.She said her two adult daughters ³have been steeped in Irish heritage² and visit Ireland frequently. Thomas wants people to know about the long Irish history. ³We¹ve been there a couple of millennia.²She touted Irish poetry and the Irish tradition of drama and literature. She said she feels a special pride for the Irish writer Seamus Heaney who won the Nobel prize in 1995 for literature. ³Underneath it all, and intertwined with the history, is the church. I don¹t think you can talk about the country without talking about religion,² Thomas said.³Catholicism is very important to us. For people of my generation, the church ­ it¹s central.²Meet Maureen Mc Mahon, a software engineer who grew up in Ireland and has been in Silicon Valley five and a half years.On St. Patrick¹s day, she¹s attending an Irish Mass at St. Joseph¹s Catholic Church in Mountain View. St. Patrick¹s day in Dublin is ³a holy day of obligation and you go to Mass,² Mc Mahon said.But not at St. Patrick¹s Cathedral. Because in Dublin, St. Patrick¹s Cathedral is not Catholic, it¹s Protestant. The Rev. Jonathan Swift, an Anglican minister and author of ³Gulliver¹s Travels,² presided as dean of St. Patrick¹s in the 18th century.Lowney stressed that the Irish Cultural Society is non-denominational and open to all.As far as green beer and pubs are concerned, Thomas does admit that drinking is Irish.But green beer ...³That¹s an American cast on St. Patrick¹s day.²