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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, СІЧЕНЬ 2020 WWW. UNWLA.ORG 13 Ireland’ s famine, called in Gaelic “an Gorta Mor” ( the G reat Hunger ) , was, like Ukraine’s Holodomor, a loss of epic proportions. Out of a population of eight million, the Irish lost a million to the famine and probably 2 million to emigration. At least the Irish w ere not prohibited by the government from emigra ting, unlike in Ukraine , where the populace was forced to remain in place and die a slow death by starvation. On the other hand, Ireland suffered from British intransigence in various ways at the time. Even d uring the height of the Irish famine, a shocking amount of foodstuffs and livestock were being exported from Ireland under British rule. A cursory glance at the website Wikipedia under the term “Gorta Mor” provides an indication of the complex political an d economic factors that worsened the famine for the Irish. Today the population of Ireland is about 4½ million , little more than half the pre - famine number. Starting when Ukraine declared independence in 1991, we visited Ihor’s homeland some 15 times over the years. In gratitude for my having fulfilled my promises and having “Ukrainianized” myself, Ihor took me to Ireland in 2003 and 2012 . One evening , in the tiny village of Doolin in western Ireland, we took a stroll down the c ountry road lined on both sides with low stone walls that are seen everywher e in rural Ireland. I was struck with the thought that this same path was probably taken by some Irish families in the past on their way to emigrate from their homeland forever. It was then I noticed that a millstone had been embedded in one of the stone w alls. When it was put there, perhaps there was no more grain to be milled or no one was left to do that work. It reminded me of the Japanese haiku “Since there is no rice, let us a rrange these lovely flowers in the bowl.” Speaking of emigration, Ihor told me how he felt at age 14 when he and his parents were sailing to America. He was standing alone on the deck of the General Holbrook troop ship, and as he watched the cliffs of Dov er slowly disappearing from view, the thought greatly saddened him that he w as leaving not just Ukraine, but Europe , behind. His account made me think of my Dublin - born paternal grandfather, John Mason, who was also sorry to emigrate when he came here at a ge five. He missed Ireland so much that he was taken home but then emigrated to America a second time, arriving here in 1875. We Americans should realize that not every immigrant group who comes here wants to come, but many are forced to seek freedom and safety. In the post - World War II era, many Ukrainians who reached these shor es expressed a wishful toast for several years at Christmas time, s tating, “Next year in Ukraine.” Merely staying alive under foreign rule has been a struggle for both the Irish a nd Ukrainians. The Ukrainians, having thrown off the Russian yoke, are still at war over Russian aggression in Donbas and Crimea. Though Ireland won its independence from the British crown in 1922, a section of the northern part of the island — once the seat of Irish kings — remains part of the United Kingdom. The British exiled whole populations and replaced them by importing Scots loyal to the Crown. Inroads against the cultures of both Ireland and Ukraine have had to be combatted in matters both great and s mall. Violent aggression aside, both peoples have had to fight for their own sense of self - worth and national identity. Ukrainians are familiar with the derogatory term “Malorussians” — Little Russians. I found it interesting that the detractors of the Irish referred to Ireland at one point as “Micra Britannica” — Little Britannia. A century seems like a long time, but memories do not fade so easily. It is only a subtle detail that many non - Irish might miss, but one can still notice today in some British - spons ored television programs, for instance, that unsavory or buffoonish characte rs will often be given Irish names. I remember well just before the breakup of the Soviet Union that a Ukrainian dance troupe performed in Washington, D.C., and how the Soviets att empted to confuse American audience s into thinking “we are all the same.” Mo st Americans would not have realized that the authentic costume of Hutsuls, for example, did not include big leather boots or that the girls dancing in Ukrainian blouses were weari ng Russian, not Ukrainian , headdresses. An interesting study could be made o f the various insidious ways certain conquerors strove to demean the confidence and the souls of their colonists. Both Ukraine and Ireland have had to meet m ajor oppression against their own country’s native language. Two verbs spring to mind here: “to russif y” and “to anglicize.” Ukrainians are quite used to this tactic , which began even before the Ukase of Ems, the secret decree to limit the use of Ukrainian duri ng the reign of Russian tsar Alexander II. In England, it was the Tudors, under Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth I, who sought to “pacify” their Irish subjects by ( among other things ) forcing them to abandon Irish Gaelic and learn English. Forcing the Irish population to learn English, however, eventually backfired. As one observer put it, the Iri sh made the English language their own and turned it against the British , and Irish literature in English became famous throughout the world. What a loss it would have
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