Henry Ford - The Cork Connection

Barry Vosloo

Few nations are as fervently patriotic as the Irish. Even a cursory study of their tumultuous history stretching back to the Neolithic period more than 4000 years ago, confirms this. Contemplating this beautiful land of myths and legends, William Butler Yeats, the renowned Irish poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923, once observed, “It seemed as if the ancient world lay all about us with its freedom of imagination, its delight in good stories, in man's force and woman's beauty.”

Ons vrome voorvaders en die geeste

Carla van der Spuy, Rooi Rose, November 2011

Die toonbeeld van die vroomheid. Eng en streng met die lettelike vertolking van die Bybel as hulle enigste riglyn. Stoere boere. Dit is hoe talle Afrikaannssprekendes aan hulle voorvaders dink.

Was Racheltjie eintlik 'n Amerikaner?

G. Olwagen en Leo Kritzinger, Beeld, 6 Oktober 2012

Die vermoede dat die Voortrekker-heldin Racheltjie de Beer ’n versinsel is, bou al lank op omdat genealogiese navorsing geen getuienis kan vind wat met die gegewens in dié bekende verhaal strook nie. Die joernaliste G. Olwagen en Leo Kritzinger voer aan dat die verklaring dalk by die enigmatiese Eugène Marais gesoek moet word.

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Vir diegene wat van Ierse afkoms is

Barry Vosloo

Ek is baie partydig vir die Iere. Punt.

Dalk is die rede daarvoor dat ons oudste seun vir hom en sy gesin die afgelope elf jaar ‘n goeie bestaan in hierdie pragtige land losgewerk het. Dalk het 'n studie van die Ierse geskiedenis iets daarmee te doen. Dalk vloei daar meer as ‘n net blertsie Ierse bloed deur my are.

Maar, wat beteken dit om Iers te wees?

 

Mary McAleese

In haar toespraak by die Cork University College in Januarie 2006, het die voormalige Ierse president, Mary McAleese, daarop gewys dat die Iere “have often punched above their weight”. Dink maar aan die elf Nobelpryse wat al aan Iere toegeken is: vyf vir vrede twee vir fisika en vier vir letterkunde. Om nie te praat van ten minste twee Amerikaanse presidente wat familiebande met Ierland gehad het nie.

McAleese het voorts gesê: “With each passing year, post-Rising Ireland reveals itself, and we, who are of this strongly independent and high-achieving land, would do well to ponder the extent to which today’s freedoms, values, ambitions rest on [achieving] … the right of the Irish people to [take] ownership of Ireland …”

Die Britsgebore Ierse joernalis, Kevin Meyers, het egter onlangs in ‘n koerantartikel onder die opskrif A genetic condition could explain much of Irish history, daarop gewys dat DNA-ondersoeke daarop dui dat die wesenskenmerke van die Ierse nasionale karakter waarskynlik geneties bepaal is en oorgeërf is van die eerste setlaars wat volgens oorlewering in die verre verlede per boot vanaf Spanje daar aangeland het.

Hy skryf: “We know that schizophrenia and alcoholism are inherited traits. We also know that Ireland has higher rates of both illnesses than any other country in Europe.”

Hy beweer vervolgens dat “other genetically transmitted traits … that cause behavioural characteristics that were specific to Irish people … and have helped shape the culture of the Irish so that they become societal norms, thus affecting the behaviour of people who were themselves not inheritors of the genes. Nature and nurture are therefore intertwined … Possibly other genes caused a predisposition to disregard the future tense. Impetuosity, a refusal to plan, contempt for consequence, for whatever reason, would become common characteristics of the Irish people.

Gerry Adams, Irish republican politician

“We know about other characteristics: a gregariousness, a volubility, an affable charm, a clannishness, an amiable distinctiveness … and also a perpetual sense of victimhood … The golden thread of Irish republicanism, which can turn an affray in a farmyard into a ‘Rising’, takes much of its moral authenticity through a much-cherished sense of oppression.”

Maar wie ookal wat sê, die allermooiste elemente van Iersheid word myns insiens in die onderstaande gedig versgestalt:

In that dear land across the Irish sea.

If you ever go across the sea to Ireland,
Then maybe at the closing of your day,
You will sit and watch the moon rise over Claddagh,
And see the sun go down on Galway Bay.

Just to hear again the ripple of the trout stream,
The women in the meadow making hay.
Just to sit beside a turf fire in the cabin,
And watch the barefoot gosoons at their play.

For the breezes blowin' o'er the sea from Ireland
Are perfumed by the heather as they blow
And the women in the uplands diggin' praties
Speak a language that the strangers do not know.

Yet the stangers came and tried to teach us their way.
They scorned us just for bein' what we are.
But they might as well go chasing after moon beams,
Or light a penny candle from a star.

And if there's is going to be a life hereafter,
And somehow I am sure there's going to be,
I will ask my God to let me make my heaven,
In that dear land across the Irish sea.

Who are the Dutch?

[Steven de Jong, columnist for the Dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad, reports on global events for a Dutch audience, and those of us who are of Dutch descent. Here he looks at who his compatriots are today. This article appeared in the October 2012 Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) in-flight magazine – Ed.]

From above, The Netherlands looks immaculate.

From above, The Netherlands looks immaculate: a tidy patchwork of fields, straight ditches and uniform housing estates; every square metre has a purpose. The same order is reflected in Dutch society. A deal is a deal, four o’clock is four o’clock. A visit to family or friends is planned, and joining them for dinner only acceptable if it has been agreed in advance.

“Just be normal, that’s crazy enough,” goes the Dutch saying. It typifies the national character, which is termed calvinistic. Dutch people who flaunt their belongings and success are kept in line with the sneer “don’t get too big for your boots”. Excessive behaviour is not appreciated in principle, but is embraced by groups looking to celebrate their own identity: artists and fans of certain music styles, for example. Crazy glasses or weird trousers can become main stream in no time.

The Dutch consider throwing one’s money around, vulgar. Politicians score points by cycling to work. While foreign heads of state reside in castles, Dutch leaders live in modest homes. Former prime minister Wim Kok lived in a terraced house, the current prime minister Mark Rutte in an apartment in The Hague. Executive salaries and bonuses are ongoing topics of public debate. “Money-grabbing” at the top is a mortal sin.

The cycling monarch

Although The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy, it has little regard for superiority. Queen Juliana (1909 – 2004) was applauded for her everyday appearance. She knitted, peeled potatoes, dressed simply and earned her family the title of The Cycling Monarchy.

Her official birthday, on 30 April, is a popular holiday. Members of the Royal Family mingle with the commoners and take part in traditional Dutch games.

The Dutch dislike paternalism. No uniform is sacred. A son calls his father Piet. You don’t tell them what to do. You accept them as they are. You shouldn’t restrain them. The country is full of protest groups. It is a country of tolerance, except for a neighbour.

The Dutch are known for their social directness

The Dutch care for everyone. Even dogs don’t go hungry. They are known for their social directness, which can be perceived as rudeness; where speaking your mind is considered the most honest of dialogues, and agreeing to disagree is the best way to continue the longest of friendships. However, while they may sometimes be seen as impolite, that really does not do justice to their history of tolerance towards other cultures.

So as we see, on the ground The Netherlands is not quite as tranquil as it looks from the air. But ask the Dutch what they are proud of, and the lyrics of Frank Pel’s song are highly relevant: “Country of a thousand opinions, the country of soberness.”

Greetings from Ireland

Barry Vosloo

We arrived in a bitterly cold Ireland last night (1 October) after a looong 10-hour journey from Johannesburg to Amsterdam. This was followed by a looong 10-hour wait at Schipol airport for a connecting flight to Cork.

By the time we boarded the Aer Lingus flight, I was thoroughly bored. However, idly paging through their in-flight magazine, I came across a website that promises everyone who claims Irish ancestry, to help them to discover their Irish roots.

To begin their journey of discovery, interested persons are invited to read the website’s step-by-step guide to getting started, to read their guide to family history in Ireland, to learn more about their records, and to find out about their research services.

Click here to read more.