Irish Cultural Society of San Antonio

Irish Cultural Society

of San Antonio Texas

MINUTES 18JAN04

IRISH CULTURAL SOCIETY MEETING - January 18. 2004

Gene Logan introduced our guest lecturer, Dr. Paul Cohen, who made a valiant
attempt to familiarize us with the works of James Joyce, in particular
Finnegans Wake, and in particular a snippet from that book,
"The Tale of the Prankquean." The book was published in 1929 after the
successes of The Dubliners and Ulysses. It employs words never before seen
by man. The last word in the book is "the" which connects to the first words
"river run" in the first chapter, conveying the meaning of "cyclical" or "never-ending".
The whole 628 pages deal with an innkeeper's one night of dreaming (and a
typesetter's nightmare).
Dr. Cohen said this would be an ideal book for someone marooned on a desert
island. Otherwise, he considers it too daunting for anything but collaborative study.

The minutes were read and approved. The treasurer's report was read showing
assets of $9306.36, and approved pending the annual audit.

The three Irish organizations cooperated to make the visit of the Irish athletes a
success. There was a fine write up in the Express-News, Saturday, January 17. A
sign-up sheet was passed around for serving at Irish Heritage Day February 22
at the Live Oak Civic Center.
Susan brought a number of tapes and books, not Finnegans Wake, however.
Brenda said we had a nice turnout for the Chieftains' concert. We will get
advance notice of upcoming events from ArtsSan Antonio, and Kay can get
discount tickets for 20 or more.
Willie Fahey described the collectors' plate he will donate to the IHD raffle(*).
Tickets for the March 27 dance will not be mailed out. There are only 350
places and tables will be assigned. Tickets are $10.
There were 37 members present and 20 guests.

Respectfully submitted,

Peggy Hill, Secretary
*editors note: The Collector's plate is a beautifully crafted, fine bone china plate made
by the world renowned Royal Tara Company in Ireland. These items are very costly.
The events related to 9-11 preclude the Royal Tara Company from continuing in this
business, and this line of products is ended.
LPK