St. Patrick’s Day is an auspicious date to recount the unique ways Kaua‘i and Ireland are knitted together. While no mass immigration of Irish workers ever happened during the 1800s when workers from around the world were recruited to work
St. Patrick’s Day is an auspicious date to recount the unique ways Kaua‘i and Ireland are knitted together.
While no mass immigration of Irish workers ever happened during the 1800s when workers from around the world were recruited to work on the island’s plantations, the Irish have played key roles here.
On March 17, 1942, first defenders from the Mainland came ashore at Port Allen to defend Kaua‘i’s shores against a Japanese military invasion. Those men where members of the famed Fighting 69th Irish regiment of New York City. The soldiers later left to fight in the South Pacific and other Pacific combat zones of World War II.
Other Irishmen came to Kaua‘i as individuals, and made their way into key positions in government and business. Prominent Irish surnames found recorded in Kaua‘i’s history include Moragne and Coney.
The famed Leprechauns, the little people of Irish fame, are sometimes compared to the legendary Menehune of Kaua‘i. The roots of this comparison is likely a turn-of-the-century elaboration on the Menehune legend made by Waimea merchant C. Hofgaard. Hofgaard related the Menehune to the Norwegian brownie, giving a face to the Menehune, according to Christine Fayé, director of Gay & Robinson’s sugar mill and plantation tours.
A significant chapter of Kaua‘i history beings with the arrival of an Irish Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. A. Walsh. Walsh came ashore at Koloa on Dec. 22, 1841, and celebrated the first mass on Kaua‘i, according to the text of “Saint Catherine Parish 1887-1987,” a book published to mark the centennial year of the Kapa‘a church.
Walsh established a small chapel and school at Koloa, which became the mission of St. Raphael the Archangel, and worked at establishing Roman Catholic missions on the North Shore, founding St. Maxine’s at the mouth of the Hanalei River, and St. Stephen’s at Moloa‘a.
The Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Hawaii offers a way for those of Irish descent to celebrate their heritage in a Hawai‘i setting. The charitable and fraternal organization was founded in Honolulu on March 17, 1955, and is best known for its annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, Hawai‘i-style.
“From the Emerald Isles to the Hawaiian Isles” is a motto of the group, which traces its roots to the first Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, which was formed in Philadelphia in 1771. Membership information is available on the Internet at webtaylor. com/fsons.
Editor Chris Cook may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 227) or ccook@pulitzer.net.
