Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Monday, March 17, 2008

How Father Thomas Michael Patrick O’Neill became even more Irish

The Rev. Tom O’Neill held Mass recently at San Damiano Chapel at Viterbo University. Dick Riniker photo

By JOE ORSO / La Crosse Tribune

The package that came in the mail to the Rev. Tom O’Neill in January was a long time coming.

He already had the sod.

Taken from his ancestors’ land in County Mayo near the west coast of Ireland, the chunk of land hangs framed in his home.

And he had the kilt, which he might wear during an international dinner or a soccer match.

So O’Neill, vice president for ministry and mission at Viterbo University, was already Irish.

“Whenever I hear Irish music, the Celtic music, I feel an affinity to it as if there’s a little bit of me that has that in me,” O’Neill said. “It’s hard to explain, but if I hear the minuet or the waltz, I don’t feel my foot tapping or I don’t feel I’m connected to that music. But when I hear Irish music, I feel connected to it, kind of like it’s in my bloodstream.”

Which it is. Fifty percent of his blood is Irish, and 25 percent is Scottish, making him 75 percent Celtic, with 25 percent of French blood rounding him off.

He’s so Irish, he hardly celebrates St. Patrick’s Day. O’Neill, 60, said his cousins in Ireland say the holiday isn’t celebrated there like it is here, where Irish immigrants popularized the holiday like other immigrants have done with their cultural festivals.

“When you have a name like O’Neill, or Thomas Michael Patrick O’Neill,” he said, “you don’t need to be demonstrative about it. You don’t need to wear green or buttons.”

Once in a while, he noted, he does wear socks with shamrocks on them.

He also has taken bagpipe lessons in the past, has a collection of Irish films, has Celtic crosses and a book of Irish blessings in his office, and his birthday is 3/7, which is only a wee bit different from 3/17, St. Patrick’s Day.

And perhaps more important than any of this, he has been visiting Ireland for almost 40 years, has been to the home where his father’s mother was born, and has relationships with family in the homeland.

And he has stories, both the legendary ones — such as his grandmother was 16 years old without a penny to her name when she came to the United States on a voyage that took 14 days — and the ones he’s found from researching documents — such as his grandmother was 18, with $2.73 in her pocket when she came to America on a five-day voyage.

All of this is to show that the package that came in the mail was not a life-changing event in the Irish life of O’Neill.

“Dear Applicant,” read a letter inside, “We are pleased to inform you that your name has now been entered in the Foreign Births Entry Book held at the Consulate. Enclosed are any outstanding original documents held by us as well as the Certificate of Entry, which should be retained as evidence of Irish citizenship.”

O’Neill said he didn’t celebrate much after becoming a dual citizen this winter. He did realize, though, that he’d be able to celebrate this St. Patrick’s Day as an Irish citizen, which for him means there’s even less of a reason to prepare for it.

“Now that I’m a citizen, I don’t have to gear up,” he said. “I am part of the celebration.”

Joe Orso can be reached at (608) 791-8429 or jorso@lacrossetribune.com.