IRELAND IN A NUTSHELL — Sharon Mark Cohen

There we are at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. We thought the sights couldn’t get any more breathtaking and then we went to the next stop and the next. Such awe-inspiring beauty awaits around the country.

We celebrated my 70th birthday all summer long. Starting in California in June, we enjoyed an extended action-packed stay at our daughter and son-in-law’s home, reading, singing, and playing with our seven-month-old baby granddaughter Stevie.

The festivities continued as we moved on to LEGOLAND in Goshen, New York on the actual date of my birthday, July 8, where we met up with our two sons and their entourage. My happiness that day was magnified by spending the weekend with our family. The icing on the cake was waking up on my birthday with our granddaughter Solly in my arms.

The joy continued with the day spent at Legoland, watching our four-year-old granddaughter and almost three-year-old grandson navigating the amusement park. What fun we had! Our children capped off the evening with a memory book they created for me with pages and pages of entries from family and friends, which captured every aspect of my being. That is one book I read incessantly.

In August, my husband and I continued the celebration with a tour of Ireland. It was a relaxing and rejuvenating trip and we enjoyed every moment. To cap it off, it gave me the opportunity to write an article about Jewish Ireland for the Jewish Link newspaper where I am a staff writer. A longer version of the piece that was published on September 14, 2023, offers a more comprehensive review of Jewish Ireland and our entire trip.

IRELAND THROUGH JEWISH EYES

The Irish Jewish Museum, founded in 1985, is located on Walworth Road in Dublin. The museum's opening was attended by Chaim Herzog, then-President of Israel. Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, Chaim's father, was a prominent figure in both the Jewish and Irish communities, having served as the Chief Rabbi of Ireland, a position that no longer exists. Chaim, born in Belfast, was educated in Dublin.

The largely English-speaking island, divided between the Republic of Ireland (predominantly Catholic), and Northern Ireland (mainly Protestant), is a multicultural destination with endless intriguing places to visit around the Emerald Isle.

Dublin, the capital of the Republic of Ireland, is situated on the country’s east coast and is a member of the European Union. As a result, the Euro (€) is the official currency. The city is home to the largest Jewish community on the island, with two synagogues in the area known as "Little Jerusalem." One is Orthodox, and the other is Progressive. With a population of 1,250,000 people, around 750 citizens are Jewish. Dublin’s origins trace back to the Vikings.

The City of Belfast, a very walkable city, can be traced back to the Iron Age and is full of history. Belfast serves as the capital of Northern Ireland. As part of the UK, Belfast uses the Pound (£).

Some of the darkest times in Belfast were during the 1990s violence between Catholics and Protestants (Ireland vs. Northern Ireland). The Good Friday Agreement, signed in 1998, has brought peace between the two countries.

With only 640,000 residents, Belfast has a single Jewish house of worship - the Belfast Hebrew Congregation (BHC), an Ashkenazi Orthodox synagogue, with fewer than 80 congregants. BHC had its peak membership during WWII with 1,500 members.

Travel from Belfast to Dublin by vehicle on the left side of the road in two hours or take a train that runs every four hours. Stroll along Dublin’s scenic Grand Canal to the Irish Jewish Museum. Located in the heart of the Jewish Quarter, its hours are Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and by appointment.*

A two-sided laminate, packed with information, is suitable for a self-guided tour of the two-story museum and offers a comprehensive history of Jewish Ireland. Details include the earliest community of Jews who fled to Ireland in the 15th century during the expulsion of Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal.

The entry level is filled with showcases displaying memorabilia and artifacts. One side room is a typical Jewish kitchen set for Shabbat in Ireland circa 1900.

A discussion in the former synagogue's second-story room with Edwin Alkin, museum chairman, was comprehensive. Born in Ireland, Alkin is a descendant of Lithuanian Jews who fled during the intolerable conditions in the 1880s when Russian Jews began leaving Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland due to pogroms and other factors.

“A lot of them went to England. The Board of Deputies thought they should be distributed around the UK to find work. Some went to Dublin, Cork, and Belfast.” The synagogue in Cork closed in 2016.

With 450 to 500 Jews in Ireland, North and South by the turn of the 20th century, smaller Jewish communities, now extinct, existed in Limerick, Derry, Waterford, Drogheda, and Carlow. Small synagogues were created in family homes.

The population of Ireland was eight million in the 1840s. Despite the Great Famine when the potato crop failed, 5 to 6 million Irish people and 450 Jews remained.

The history of the museum shows that “Back in the 19th century, when the new Jews arrived, there was an old shul with a capacity of between seventy and one hundred. Located on the north side of Dublin from 1836-1892, that shul served the community until the new Lithuanian community began establishing itself on the south side of the river. While more affordable housing was available there, they required a more adequate place to pray.

“In 1892, with the increasing Jewish population, the leaders of the settled community decided to build a new synagogue on the south side of the city. However, the newly arrived Lithuanian Jews did not feel comfortable going to this brave new synagogue run by the settled community. They had their own traditions and customs. They were more observant and started building little synagogues in their community in this area, which became the Jewish Quarter, where the museum is now.

By 1900, the Jewish population had grown to 3,000. Not all were immigrants; some were born in Ireland. The numbers increased rapidly to 5,000-6,000 until after WWII.

With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Alkin continued, “approximately 800 Irish Jews immigrated on aliyah, and the Jewish population has been declining ever since.”

Multinational Jewish people who recently migrated came to work for pharmaceutical companies, banks and tech firms. Google has employed around 200 Israelis, and with their partners and children, Alkin added, there is a small self-contained Jewish community of around 500.

The Dublin Jewish Progressive Congregation, consisting of Liberal and Reform Jews, has approximately 120 families. Services are held on Friday nights, and a religious leader visits from England once a month.

Alkin said the Orthodox Dublin Hebrew Congregation (DHC) is preferred by frum (very religious) Jews attending services seven days a week, including Shacharit and Mincha/Maariv every afternoon. The community has about 150 families, with extra Israelis who help make the minyan more viable. Although between rabbis this summer, a new young rabbi and rebbetzin are expected from London to help regenerate the community.

Between 1942 and the 1960s, the Jewish population in the area decreased significantly. “They had either gone to the suburbs, made aliyah, emigrated, or passed away,” Alkin said. The DHC remained empty until the 1980s.

During an exhibition of memorabilia, DHC collaborated with the Jewish Historical Society to suggest transforming their display into a museum. The old synagogue, moving from one room in a house in 1905, to owning the entire house in 1916, added a second house, merging the two neighboring houses in 1939 with a seating capacity of 120 men and women.

The museum's main exhibit is currently housed in the second house, featuring the richly furnished former sanctuary. Although largely unchanged, they have added exhibits like a chuppah. The back of the former synagogue's first house displays Jewish lifecycle events, beautiful ark covers and Judaica. The museum also occasionally hosts lectures, book launches, and art exhibitions.

Americans resuming travel after COVID help sustain the all-volunteer museum, which charges a €20 entrance fee. Souvenirs for purchase include magnets in three languages circling the harp, a symbol of Ireland.

Of seven kosher butcher shops in Dublin in the 1950s, today there are none. Citing complications with Brexit and paperwork, the supermarket that stocked kosher products stopped carrying them. As a result, the DHC opened a shop in the back of their reception hall about three or four years ago.

According to Alkin, there are now two places in the community where one can purchase kosher stock. The community's rabbi retired and opened a Chabad center that includes a deli and a restaurant. However, shipping the food can be quite expensive. One volunteer revealed that his wife paid three times the amount for a box of matzah for Passover compared to what their daughter paid in London.

With so few Jews left, what keeps Alkin in Ireland took some thought. "First of all," he repeated, “My family goes back to the Lithuanian invasion of the 1880s and I'm almost the last of my family still here.” "Maybe one day we will move on but meantime,” he added, “It's a vibrant community and we're part of it.”

His parents moved to Toronto. His siblings were living in Toronto at first, then his sister in America and a brother in France. While they also grew up in Ireland, today, his son lives in London, and his daughter in New York.

A stone's throw away from Dublin’s Portobello section museum is “Bretzel, a popular bakery in the Jewish community for well over 100 years. Associated with the Kashruth association, Bretzel produces kosher bread. Their cakes are generally acceptable to Jews,” Alkin suggested, “but not to those who follow cholov Yisroel because they contain Irish butter.”**

Throughout history, Jewish politicians have played a significant role in Irish politics. William Annyas made history in 1555 when he became the first Jewish mayor in Ireland, serving at Youghal in County Cork. Additionally, Robert Briscoe made remarkable contributions to Irish politics, serving as the first Jewish member of the Irish Dail and the first Jewish Lord Mayor of Dublin. He held the position of mayor twice, from 1956 to 1957 and 1961 to 1962.

After Briscoe’s death, the "Robert Briscoe Award" was created to honor Jews who helped Ireland or Irish immigrants to the United States. Briscoe's son, Ben, succeeded him in the office.

Ben Briscoe and his father, Robert, were the only Jews to serve as Lord Mayor of Dublin. Ben held that office from 1988 to 1989 and was a member of the lower Parliamentary house from 1965 to 2002 as part of the Fianna Fáil party, Ireland’s largest. Other Jewish Lord Mayors were Gerald Goldberg in 1977 in Cork and Otto Jaffe in 1899 in Belfast.

For more Jewish history of Ireland, look no further than cemeteries and the Epic Museum of Irish Emigration in Dublin, which houses genealogy records. The JFK exhibit at Epic features a quote from President Kennedy’s 1963 speech at the Irish Parliament: “But today this is no longer the country of hunger and famine…nor is it any longer a country of persecution, political or religious. It is a free country, and that is why any American feels at home.”

A knowledgeable guide from Love Irish Tours, Kieran Harten suggested reading "I Was a Boy in Belsen," a book introduced by the Holocaust Education Trust Ireland (HETI) about Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental. HETI created a school program called "Hearing a Survivor Speak," where Tomi shares his experiences with around 4,000 students each year.

No Irish connections? Hold on to your hat, tightly, the winds do get brisk, and enjoy a relaxing trip around the beautiful British Isle.

Capture breathtaking images of beaches and cliffs, explore castles, or simply gawk at the “forty shades of green.” The song with that title, made popular in 1959, was written and sung by Johnny Cash.

This summer, many Europeans and Americans traveled to Ireland to escape the heat wave and enjoy a warm, temperate climate ranging to the 70s. For sudden cloud bursts, carrying a lightweight poncho is recommended.

A visit to the Emerald Isle offers relaxation, peace, natural beauty, and education. County Donegal in the remote northwest of Ireland lends Irish-speaking culture and stunning landscapes. Travelers can choose from a day tour of Dublin or a coastal excursion with many engaging stops, and thousands of grazing sheep and cows.

There is no shortage of splendor, from the famous Blarney Castle to the magnificent Cliffs of Moher on Ireland’s western border. Traveling the Ring of Kerry, a stop at Torc Waterfall in scenic Killarney National Park, County Kerry is rugged and almost mystical. The vibrant streets of nearby Galway City morph into a rollicking nightlife.

Explore Belfast's rich history on a leisurely self-guided walking tour. Highlights are the iconic City Hall and the nearby spectacular Giant Causeway. With a variety of day tours or longer excursions available, Ireland has endless treats in store.

* For more information, visit info@jewishmuseum.ie.

**For more information on keeping kosher in Ireland, please visit https://www.dublinhebrew.org/kosher-food.

Emblem on magnet sold in the gift shop of the Irish Jewish Museum in Dublin, Ireland

In between those trips on my July birthday weekend and a dreamy 11 days in Ireland in August, we spent another night in New York State at my happy place, the Catskill Mountains. I must say, turning 70 was better than I thought.