Tea at Trianon: An Irish Wake

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, June 17, 2016

An Irish Wake

From Irish Central:

Irish wakes are famous world-wide for the moments of joy and the senses of community and indomitable spirit they bring to otherwise solemn occasions. If you’ve never been to an Irish wake, or if you were looking for first-hand proof of their greatness, look no further than this video of the recent wake for Ger “Farmer” Foley in Killorglin, Co. Kerry. Ger tragically lost his battle with Cystic Fibrosis at just 45 years of age, leaving behind a wife, two young children, and a town full of friends and family members who are devastated by his loss. After the funeral, many of them gathered at Falvey’s Pub to raise a pint in Ger’s memory, and, as is customary at many Irish wakes, a few songs were sung in his honor. When Brian O’Sullivan led the crowd in a lively rendition of “Mr. Brightside,” by The Killers, which is something of a New Year’s tradition in Falveys, little did he think that a video of him would go viral or that the song’s creators would be reaching out to him online in a day’s time. (Read more.)