Sunday Poerty with Gypsy Woman, Jenean C. Gilstrap. Today: the leaving of the green

Sunday Poerty with Gypsy Woman, Jenean C. Gilstrap. Today: the leaving of the green. Photo Jenean C. Gilstrap

THE LEAVING OF THE GREEN – For many, the month of March celebrates Irish heritage and culture.  During the time of the French Huguenot Revolution,  my paternal ancestors, the Gaillards [of the Chateau Gaillard south of Paris], fled France for Ireland [and Scotland], making their new life in County Antrim.  There, for many years, they lived  with other family, including the McTaggarts and Rowans, until the great famine forced them to leave their homes once again – this time for the eastern shores of the United States.

 

The family of my grandmother [shown in image], several generations back, were part of that mass movement from France and then from Ireland.  The poem below tells the story of their leaving Ireland, the land of the green, for the United States.

 

the leaving of the green

from islands and highlands

from shores of emerald green

from mountains high with rushing streams

they came to live their life-long dreams

leaving behind the place of their birth

traveling here in a third class berth

they brought with them the crest of their clans

from the lovely lands where it all began

danced their jigs and told their tales of yore

of life and love on those far shores

here they lived and here they died

for a better life they truly tried

and so it is that their own offspring

now long for kilgary and dancin’ the fling

yearn to return to the home of their hearts

to live their dreams right from the start

on islands and highlands

and shores of emerald green

~