To the Editor:
On March 17 we have an opportunity to celebrate the contribution of Celtic peoples to North American society. The subject of the myth of an Irish saint was questioned in recent years and Rome cut Paddy from the official list of Catholic mythology.
Ireland, like the Ukrainian nation of the former U.S.S.R., was an abject failure of three centuries of colonialism which was finally put to rest with the demise of Gerry Adams, an elected Member of Parliament who had the courage to sacrifice his life for a just cause.
Ireland, contrary to popular belief, actually exported education and learning to England, which was in a state of anarchy as the Angles and the Saxons were engaged in a brutal civil war. Whoever this St. Patrick was, his influence outside of his adopted home, Ireland, is still seen today in the Commonwealth legacy of great schools of learning, like Cambridge and Oxford.
In Canada, pre-Confederation, the O’Sullivans and O’Reillys and O’Neals dropped the “O” prefix from their names to escape the prejudice associated with Irish genes in the colony of Terra Nova, Newfoundland. So, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, raise a glass on March 17 to celebrate the contributions of Celtic people to our infant nation.
Angus Campbell Sr.
Thompson
