The Luck of the Irish

I have always been fascinated by the expression, The Luck of the Irish. I am not saying this because my late first wife was an O’ Rourke and was lucky to find someone as wonderful as me.* It might surprise the reader that the expression, the Luck of the Irish did not originate in Ireland. 

The website, Irish Central, cited Holy Cross Professor of History, Edward T. O’Donnell and his book, 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History. In it, he alluded to the fact that the term’s origins were not of pure Irish derivation.

The good professor states that During the gold and silver rush years in the second half of the 19th century, a number of the most famous and successful miners were Irish and Irish-American birth… Over time, their success at mining, which often included games of chance and good fortune, gave rise to the slogan, the luck of the Irish. 

While my mother was probably a quarter Irish, it was never something special in our home. My introduction to the Irish and their history, lore and legends began with my participation in the annual parade on St. Patrick’s Day. This tradition dates back to 1762, 14 years before our Declaration of Independence.

I believe the route has not changed as we marched on New York City’s Fifth Avenue from East 44th St, to East 79th St. in Manhattan. At Xavier High School, our student body regiment had to march during this heralded parade every March 17th as part of its long tradition of wearing the green.

I also learned a great deal about the Irish from Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. Virtually all Catholic families in America had a special affection for Notre Dame, mainly because of their historic football team’s exploits on the gridiron which enhanced the status of all Irish-Americans, especially its Catholics. 

This was especially true during the tenure of Norway’s Knute Rockne who played football in South Bend from 1910-1913 and coached the team from 1914-1930** when Notre Dame first reached the pinnacle of its sports dominance. During his coaching career in South Bend, Rockne amassed a stellar record of 105 victories and just a dozen losses with five games ending in a tie. I believe my mother saw them play Army to a 0-0 decision in the forties.

From then on, Notre Dame became the standard bearer, not just for its sports programs, but also for their leadership in scholastic achievement for all Catholic colleges and universities. They had arguably the most successful sports programing among all the Catholic schools. However, during my youth, I remember them best for their appellation, the fighting Irish. While many basketball fans may argue that the Boston Celtics were more representative of American Irish sentiment, I do not thing any team can hold a candle to Notre Dame.

As an aside, despite Notre Dame’s claims to all things Irish, in a cover issue for Time Magazine in 1960 with Notre Dame’s president, Father Hesburgh on the cover, they noted that Holy Cross College, my alma mater, was wall-to-wall Irish in its student body.

Others believe that the aphorism, the luck of the Irish probably began with the Irish’s long tradition of story-telling. Many of their tales are filled with references to luck and good fortune. In fact, the ancient Celts believed in the power of such talismans. The Celts also had many gods and goddesses associated with their special charms.

According to Mental Floss, the word luck is probably of Middle Dutch origin, coming from, luc, a shortening of gheluc, which means happiness, good fortune… Language scholars think that the word, luck originated in the 15th century and was unsurprisingly associated with betting and gambling.

It was 17th century poet John Milton, who coined the phrase luck is the product of design. As Scott Thurman reminds us in a 2020 essay, most of us would never had heard the quote had it not been for the pontifications of Wesley Branch Rickey, a name most familiar to fans of the legendary Brooklyn Dodgers in the fifties.

Then there is bad luck, the other side of the coin. Their distinction can be best illustrated by a story I heard many years ago. This Catholic wanted to win the lottery in the worst way. He attended daily mass, lit candles by the dozens in Church, prayed the rosary daily, and even made a novena or two. Yet he never won anything. 

After one of his usual hour-long prayer sessions, which had left him perilously close to despair, God’s voice thundered from the Heavens in answer to his question Why can’t I win the lottery? In clear and audible language, God provided a simple suggestion: Perhaps you should buy a ticket!?!

This insight stresses that people often make their own luck by ingenuity, intelligence and research. While it gives a nod to luck, it also states that people can often produce their own success, not through random selection but by studious work and study. Thurman adds that he loves this quote because it reminds him of the 1000’s of hours it took to experience that ‘luck.’  

Luck, both good and bad are most associated with gambling or any kind of game or activity where there is a possibility of a different result. I believe luck and all its variations are an integral part of Our Lord’s Divine Plan for all of His creations. God’s Providence is vitally melded with human history. 

In fact, history could not be possible without Divine guidance. After many years of historical study, I came to view history through the prism of creation and man’s fallen nature, visible on each page of the story of mankind. As a result, I have personally defined History as the study of man’s fallen nature within the context of human life over the course of time.

I believe the idea of Divine Providence is pregnant with important meaning for all of us. It is not mere superstition but a viable plan for all of us to follow. As the Bible says we all can come to God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

St. Augustine of Hippo is often associated with the Church’s doctrine of Divine Providence. He held that the universe is under the continuous control and unifying governance of a single Supreme Being. One must understand that God’s governance involves a vast multitude of relatively independent individuals with differing histories, talents and geographic locations. 

The term Providence comes from the Latin, providential, meaning foresight or prudence. Yet despite our disparate talents and nationalities, the Divine Hand is ever-present with His guiding hand en route to a unified universe. The theologians distinguish between God’s general providence, which refers to His continuous upholding of the universe and its natural order and special providence, which is God’s extraordinary intervention in the life of His creations. 

St. Thomas Aquinas was responsible for most of the Church’s teachings on Divine Providence in the High Middle ages, especially his magnum opus, The Summa Theological, written in the 13th century. Summa was a compendium of all the major theological teachings of the Catholic Church, to that point and was primarily intended to be an instructional guide for seminarians and all students of theology, including members of the laity. The Summa presented the following cycle of God, Creation, Man, followed by Man’s purpose, Christ, the Sacraments and back to God.

As I have written many times on these pages, I have been aware of God’s workings in my personal life for many years. In many of my essays for this publication, I have written about special individuals, books I have read, films I have seen and sermons I have heard, all of which have changed, altered or encouraged me through the course of my life. Apropos for this is my fascination with Bishop Fulton Sheen’s book and TV program, entitled, Life is Worth Living.

I think it will be instructive for me to briefly recount the apparent influence of God’s Divine Providence in my own life. In our hearts while many of us plot our own course of life, the Lord establishes our steps. I think this might be similar to my favorite adage, Life is what happens while we are making plans…

I believe my first insight to the wonders of God’s plan for my life occurred at a Sodality Conference at Emmanuel College for Women, in Boston, during my freshman year in 1962. I distinctly remember a chat with a young woman from the hosting college. I think I asked her a question of just how we can learn what God wants us to do in life. 

Though her answer is a bit fuzzy over 63 years, I believe she said I would know by looking into my heart and soul and ascertain just what satisfied my needs. I cannot help but think, her words became prescient when I decided to major in history.

Having an insight does not mean the task of real self-knowledge would be easy. The road was covered with potholes and loose gravel. Often, I found myself marching to the beat of Frank Sinatra’s song, Living My Way. Fortunately, I prayed for guidance and a new direction. More recently, I discovered a Bible verse that underscored my need to find another road. The righteous person may have many troubles but the Lord delivers him from all them. (Psalms 34:19)

I also know now that I cannot worry about this. Another Bible verse helped me to quell my anxiety. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than them? (Matthew 6:26)

My parents Adam and Helen Borst parented me most of my early life. My father was not a Catholic, though his father had been until he had a disagreement with a priest in the Confessional when he was 12 years old. My future grandfather stormed out of the confessional box and in effect took his children with him, including my father. His two sisters both converted later in life but it only found good ground in his older sibling Marie Louise, Mal, to me with whom my parents entrusted me and my Catholic faith during several summers.

Though my dad, never had the desire to follow his sisters, he did the next best thing and married a very good and practicing Catholic woman, who never would have thought of sending her only child to a public school. So, I owe most of my moral outlook to them and my legion of Catholic priests, nuns and teachers along my 22 years of schooling. 

The fact that I was an only child invariably had a role in God’s providence for me. Add this to the fact that my mother had a miscarriage in 1940. The lost child was a girl. I can only imagine what my life would have been like had she been born and I had to endure the torments of an older sister.

I cannot omit my former neighbor Doug Frazer, whom I profiled in my essay, The Boy in a Uniform two years ago. Without his inspiration to go to Xavier and Holy Cross, I would not have met the recruiter from The Catholic Extension Society, which eventually led me to my first wife, and the emanation of the rest of my life.

I am hoping I have some good years left to complete my journey the way the Lord has intended it. What I must remember most is that we are not alone in this struggle to walk the narrow line. I believe that instead of trying to carry my, sometimes heavy cross, I should instead Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

The final truth is that we all will have to wait and see! Most sources attribute this quote to a Chinese fable about a farmer whose son gets a horse and asks a Zen master what he thought. Like a story, clipped from an Abbott and Costello routine,*** they go back and forth between possible good and bad scenarios. The Master’s**** consistent answer is we will see. I cannot help thinking that Irish Luck has something to do with all of this!

*This is an example of ‘Apophasis,’ a rhetorical relative of irony of raising issues by claiming one will not.

** Rockne’s tenure at Notre Dame ended with a fatal airplane crash that killed him and seven others on board in March of 1931. He was enroute to Los Angeles to participate in a production, entitled ‘The Spirit of Notre Dame.’ 

*** They were best known for their baseball skit,’ Who’s on First.’ This has added to the legend and lore of the once National Pastime that Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are the only two inductees into the Cooperstown Hall of Fame who did nothing directly connected with baseball. 

**** Actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman, later popularized this quote in the film, Charlie Wilson’s War.’