Ireland Fund Gala Brought Out the Green

Irish prelate Dermot Clifford, archbishop of Cashel, traveled a long way from his diocese in Tipperary to Saturday’s American Ireland Fund dinner. The event, at the Hyatt Regency on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, attracted a crowd of 450 that showed a marked preference for things green.

There was, in fact, a near invasion of Irish Irishmen, who crossed the blustery sea to lead some of their many American compatriots through an evening of contemplation, laughter and song. Among them was Thomas Kinsella, reputedly the leading contemporary Irish poet, who attended, with his wife, Eleanor, as a guest of philanthropist and scholar Marianne MacDonald. The Rancho Santa Fe specialist in classical Greek literature happens to be a fellow of Dublin’s Trinity College and requested an introduction to Kinsella while lecturing there last summer.

Others were Michael Forbes, vice consul of Ireland at the consulate in San Francisco, and a trio of entertainers from the famous Jury’s Irish Cabaret in Dublin.

It was probably inevitable that a St. Patrick in full bishop’s robes and miter should be on hand to shepherd the throng from the cocktail reception to the black-tie dinner in the Aventine Ballroom. Not at all inevitable but entirely delightful were designer Richard Widney’s clever table decorations: arrangements of moss, cattails, mushrooms, ferns and truncated tulips meant to look like patches of the Old Sod, or, perhaps, leprechaun habitats.

Dinner chairman Robert A. MacNamara said that, as always, dinner proceeds would go to support the triple goals of the Ireland Fund, the promotion of peace, culture and charity in Ireland; assistance is rendered on a nonpolitical, nonsectarian basis. MacNamara’s Irish band, or the committee, included San Diego’s two national Ireland Fund board members, Noble Broadcasting Group owner John T. Lynch and mortgage broker Daniel Mulvihill, as well as William Allen, Patrick Connors, Ron Cady, William Toner, Vince Bartolotta, San Diego State University President Tom Day; Christine Holcombe; Mary Curran; Maggie Mazur; Michael Reidy; Brian Monaghan and Frank Gleeson.

More than most evenings, this one gave itself over to music and entertainment, commencing with the irrepressibly energetic In Case Trio during the reception and concluding, after a bout of dancing to the Mellotones, with an Irish sing-along. In honor of Marine Brig. Gen Mike Neil (a partner with developer and In Case singer Mike Reidy in downtown San Diego’s Irish redoubt, Reidy O’Neil’s), the trio played the Marine Hymn, a tune played later by the Marine Recruit Depot Band, more than 20 strong, which performed it in honor of itself after playing the American and Irish national anthems.

Archbishop Clifford offered the invocation in what was most definitely a brogue, and, like many visitors, felt moved to comment upon the weather.

“I’m further from home than I’ve ever been in my life, but the rain made me feel at home. I assume you needed to wet the shamrock on St. Patrick’s Day,” he said. Commenting directly upon the event’s purpose, Clifford added, “I know that the American Ireland Fund is helping Ireland in a very special way, because it is helping to bring about peace.”

This dinner traditionally honors a San Diego Irishman of the Year; tapped for the award in 1991 was San Diego Sockers owner Ron Fowler. During a private, VIP reception early in the evening, Fowler, who also owns Mesa Distributing Co., admitted that he is just sufficiently Irish to qualify for the distinction.

“I think I’m down to about one-thirty-second Irish blood, but being in the beer business, you have to be a little bit Irish,” he said. A speech in Fowler’s honor was made at the dinner by Thomas A. Koehler of Milwaukee, vice president of sales for the Miller Brewing Co., whose products are distributed locally by Fowler.

Ireland Fund dinners have been held in San Diego since the early 1980s, following the success of similar affairs in Boston, New York and other major cities. Michael Forbes, the Irish vice consul, said that the effect of these events is pervasive but not widely publicized in his homeland.

“In many ways, the fund is an unsung hero,” he said. “It goes about its business quietly, but it does its stuff and is very much appreciated by the Irish. You can depend upon the fund; it’s a very practical way for the American Irish to express a love of Ireland.”

Most of the guests at Saturday’s dinner expressed a love of Ireland by listening raptly as tenor Tony Kenny, one of the trio of performers from Jury’s Cabaret in Dublin, sang some of the perennial favorites that refuse to fade from popularity in this circle. Kenny was followed by musician Noel Healy, who offered a similarly nostalgic program, and by comedian Al Banim, whom one guest described as the Irish answer to Henny Youngman.

The guest list included the Hon. Jim Deenihan, a member of the Dail, the Irish parliament; Paulette Gibson; Marsha Holmburg; Marine Col. Jack Kelly; Charles and Gloria Melville; Adrian Jaffer; David Monahan; Paul and Marge Palmer; Karen Ritzman; Jeff and Karen Wheeler; Edward and Debbie Chapin, and Sara Finn.

In the belief that one good fashion show deserves another, the Junior League invented “Encore” in 1987 as a tandem event, a luncheon show followed by a gala dinner-dance-cum-fashion presentation.

The group staged the fifth of these on a recent Saturday at the San Diego Convention Center for a combined audience that numbered more than 800, despite extremely stiff competition from the St. Vincent de Paul tribute to Joan Kroc the same evening at the neighboring Marriott Hotel. The “Carnaval” theme took guests on a brisk tour of Rio, scored to a samba beat and staged in a ballroom decorated with hot tropical colors.

An enduring feature of “Encore” that resulted in whoops and whistles during the show--several local boutiques loaned the fashions--was the substitution of league members, spouses and kids for professional models. The family participation aspect has become so popular, in fact, that a rule adopted this year specified that any leaguer who wanted her family on the ramp had to volunteer for the committee. League president Kim Miller made repeated fashionable forays down the runway.

According to co-chairmen Diana Bryggman and Linda Katz, this committee gave birth to more than “Carnaval;” during the few months preceding the event, seven committee members gave birth to potential Junior League models. “You can’t say we’re not productive,” was Bryggman’s comment on this detail.

Bryggman said that net proceeds from the two events would be some $75,000, or less than earned at the 1990 “Encore.” “It’s less than last year, but with a war and a recession, we think we’re doing pretty good.”

Katz said proceeds will support the Junior League’s goal of providing trained volunteers to the community, and supporting the group’s eight current projects, among which are the “I’m Peer Proof” youth counseling program, the Institute for Arts Education and the Teen Outreach program.

Among key committee members were Marcia Piper, Jennifer Heft, Tina Thomas, Elizabeth Wohlford, Tricia Craven Worley, Lisa Dennis, Sharon Dick, Melissa Worrell Hoiland, Jane Maxwell, Nancy James, Susan Howe, Dawm Matthiesen, Sharon Grissom and Saron Massey.