SNIPPET: At the County Leitrim Society's 101st Annual St. Patrick's Celebration, New York, 1996, a Distinguished Service award was presented to Frank BRADY, born in Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim. Per Dr. BRADY -- "Emigration, whether you regard it as a curse or a cure, a bane or a blessing, is an inseparable part of the story of Ireland. On the 150th anniversary of the Great Hunger it is worth noting that the outflow of people took on a mass character, and Ireland became the most emigrant-prone society in Europe. It was also the century when Irish America was formed, with its Tammany-Hall politics, its St. Patrick's Day parades and its revoluntionary links with the home country. The emigrant mentality developed in the wake of the mass exodus and the history of Ireland profoundly shaped by it. America became the desired destination of the destitute and desperate emigrants, as they fled from death, poverty and starvation in the bowels of "coffin ships." By a strange reasoning, the starving in Ireland were regarded as unfortunate victims to be generously helped, while the same Irish having crossed the Atlantic were regarded as the scourings of Europe, and were met with utter contempt. The U.S. authorities feared that the hordes of diseased and destitute would make their country the "Poorhouse of Europe" and the "Cesspool of the Civilized World." Though the inscription on the Statue of Liberty may read: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores," America was far from openly embracing the immigrant of the famine period. Indeed, some ships were refused entry, and had to go the Canadian ports. This is hardly surprising given that many of the arrivals were described in ghastly and macabre-like terms, such as 'spectre-like wretches,' 'emaciated,' 'cadaverous,' 'feeble,' 'disease-infected' and 'destitute.' The U.S. of the 1840s was still staunchly Protestant, Yankee and anti-Catholic. Consigned and condemned to the cellar dwellings of the appalling and sprawling Irish ghettos on the East Coast, the Irish struggled with an innate tenacity to survive and later thrive. In such depraved and deplorable conditions, it is little wonder than some of the menfolk sought to drown the sorrows and horrors of their harsh existence through the numbing effects of cheap brew. The majority became relatively successful in the country of their adoption. Irish emigration tended to have exceptional degree of finality attached to it, by comparison with other groups. Once the decision to emigrate had been made and the emotional trauma of the "American Wake" undergone, few ventured a permanent return to the old country. The deserted and boarded up houses testify to this irrevocable separation from family and friends. Cecil Woodham SMITH, in "The Great Hunger" summed up the early Irish experience. "The Irish emigrants became, with rare exceptions, what their transatlantic environments made them: children of the slums, rebuffed and scored by respectable citizens and exploited by the less respectable. The Irish were the most unfortunate and the poorest; they took longest to be accepted, longest to be genuinely assimilated; they waited longest before the opportunities the U.S. offered were freely available to them." Irish emigration does not follow the normal pattern, according to social historians. Males and females left Ireland in roughly equal numbers, while emigration from other countries tended to be male-dominated. Apparently, the drudgery, drabness and the prospect of a haggled dowry in a male-dominated oppressive society was less alluring than the bright lights and a vastly improved standard of living in a foreign land. Emigration has been a bittersweet experience for the Irish, but unfortunately the negative aspects have been greatly magnified, while the more positive aspects have been minimized or ignored. Emigration, when stripped from its emotionally laden cloak, has provided substantial gains for those who stayed and those who left. Peter Quinn, in his 1994 bestseller, "Banished Children of Eve," boldly boasted, "The blessing of the Yankee dollar. It brought more comfort to Ireland than all the deliberations of the Parliament in Westminster. The world will never know how much those scared, brave, sometimes ignorant, but always loyal emigrants to the New World sent home in dollars and parcels to the people in the old country. No one will ever know the full extent of their sacrifices and how much they kept hidden from the old people who thought that America was indeed the golden land of opportunity, where the streets were truly paved with gold. For those who earned it, it came hard; the fruits of heaving, hauling, digging, cleaning, sewing, serving, low-paid work, of which the very numbers available to do it drove down wages further." The Irish had started down on the shanties, scrimping and saving, and with every generation moved further and further, until they made it to the lace-curtain heights. The vast majority of the emigrants improved their stakes by leaving and many moved remarkably quickly up the social ladder. Despite a number who have fallen on hard times and the rough conditions that the immigrants are forced to endure, there is a consensus that the Irish have achieve and acquitted themselves well. We have been inbued with the twin feelings of guilt and embarrassment that so many have been forced or chose to leave their native shore. Terms such as the cancer, the scourge, the shame, the evils of emigration reinforce the negative aspects. Celebration rather than lamentation should be the approach, otherwise we will pine our lives away waiting to return to the promised land when we may already be in it." Per the County Leitrim Society of NY -- "Frank was born in Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim, IR, to Bernard BRADY (deceased February 24, 1996) and Mary Kate, the second oldest of ten. Mary (Dublin), Barbara (London), Attracta (Sligo), Padraig (Ballina), John (Longford), Brian (London), Gerard (Dublin), Fr. Anthony (Knockbride, Co. Cavan) and Paul, (Manorhamilton). After attending St. Clare's Primary School, Frank obtained an academic scholarship to St. Patrick's College, Co. Cavan. Here, he excelled at academics and athletics, winning an Ulster cross-country title, as well as representing the school in football and handball. An academic scholarship followed to St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, where Frank was awarded a B.A. Degree and a Higher Diploma in Education. Later, at St. Patrick's, Drumcondra, Frank obtained a B.Ed. Degree, and then began his career as a primary school principal, first at Ballintrillick, Co. Sligo, and later at Glangevlin, Co. Cavan. As an educator, Frank was a great believer in giving his pupils a good foundation in their formative years. Most of his former pupils regarded him as firm but fair. As a sportsman, Frank was regarded as being tough and tenacious, and a great exponent of physical fitness. He played in all grades with his club, Glencar, and later Glencar-Manorhamilton. He has an impressive list of medals: Junior League in 1968, 1969 and 1970; a Junior Championship in 1970: an Intermediate Championship, 1973; a Senior League, 1976; Senior Championship, 1977. Frank was a team trainer for many years and was awarded Player of the year in 1974. He also represented Leitrim in all grades. With the Manorhamilton Rangers soccer team, Frank won a League title in the Sligo-Leitrim League. In 1970, Frank arrived in the States on the student exchange program, and was a frequent summer visitor for a few years. In 1978, he arrived on a permanent basis, became keenly aware of the great opportunities available and enrolled at New York University, where he obtained M.A. and Ph.D Degrees. In NY, his interest in sport continued; he joined the College Point Track Club and the Shamrock Soccer Club. His high level of fitness was illustrated by running a half-marathon and lining out as center-half back a Gaelic Park two hours later! He also won a Metropolitan League medal with the Shamrocks. Currently, (1996) Frank is the president and manager of the very successful Leitrim Football Club in New York - they have amassed three Championships. He is involved with the St. Barnabas Club in under-age football. He is also the coach for the McLean Heights track team in Yonkers. Apart from his coaching and management duties, Frank is much in demand as a referee at all levels and still finds time to run the odd road race with his son, Douglas. Frank likes to write. Last year's Centennial Journal is testament to his busy pen. Frank has gotten renewed respect for the achievements of Leitrim people in the USA and in Ireland. He is a frequent correspondent to the editorial pages of the New York and Irish American papers. He has also been a regular contributor to the "Leitrim Guardian" for many years. Frank and his wife, Helen, a native of Glenade, and their children, Douglas and Sharon, reside in Yonkers. Currently, Frank is a Professor of Education at the C. W. Post Campus of Long Island University. The County Leitrim Society of New York is proud and privileged to present Frank BRADY with the 1996 Distinguished Service Award. You have done yourself, and your family, and your county proud, and we are greatly indebted to you." Frank's contributions were also recognized in a personal letter from the Archbishop of New York."