Chicago Irish & the Green River

Growing up in Chicago, you quickly come to learn that the Irish community is a force to be reckoned with, from plumbers to politicians, parades to pastimes. Although I'm half Irish, half Mexican, my parents felt very strongly about not losing either heritage, so we had close ties to the Irish community of our city. I grew up Irish Step dancing and playing fiddle. My brother played tin whistle, joining sessions in the neighborhood pub or the regional Fleadh. My parents passed down a plethora of old folk songs, so I could regale you with anything from a ballad to come-all-ye.
I also grew up helping my dad in the garden, and he'd tell tales of my grandfather's love for roses and my great-grandmother's homemade tea. For me, the luck of the Irish meant searching for shamrocks in our local city park, practicing the gift of gab with friends and family, and enjoying potatoes in any form you can cook em.
However, there's another side to Chicago's Irish culture and traditions, where we're known for dumping dye into our local river, and drinking copiously from dawn til dusk each March. This prompts violence, litter, and debauchery, (where many are protected from serious charges by a shield of white privilege and connections to the police force). My family isn't a bunch of teetotalers by any means, but traditions of moderation and a traditional religious holiday have been altered by American gluttony and excess. We also have long traditions of altering our local ecosystem, from the Irish canal workers who reversed the flow of the river, to the stockyards workers who dumped endless refuse into Bubbly creek, to Irish machine politicians who put toxic industry next to residences, valuing the bottom line over people's health.
Looking back, the Irish have a strong connection to the environment, prompting the original love of all things green. A people in tune with the rhythms of the ocean were drawn to the midwest similarities of our inland sea. Reduced by poverty and English domination to only one variety of potato, the famed Irish potato famine should have taught humanity the important lesson of biodiversity. Growing many varieties of any species, especially food, makes us more resilient when disasters strike. Instead companies like Monsanto have narrowed the range of seeds and foods grown in the US, building monopolies on Roundup-ready varieties, and hurting our resilience in the face of coming climate change. I wonder if Monsanto founder and Chicago-born Irishman John Francis Queeny had really intended a system this short-sighted.
I know the river reversal was a historic necessity in the face of uncontrollable sanitation issues, I know the low-wage stockyards workers didn't have much say in the waste their industry produced, and I know the river dye isn't actually toxic. Local plumbers have used the solution for years to check our pipes for flow problems. But try telling all that to the invasive species currently encroaching on our city and our Great Lakes system, or the people still living on the river watching bubbling methane gas affect their quality of life, or think about the lesson we're showing our youth, that it's ok to dump things in the river if it's all in good fun.
As we prepare for a celebratory season this March, I invite my community to consider what it is we're celebrating when we dye our local waterway, consider how we move forward from the mistakes of our past, and consider the fine line between fun and mockery. I'm not going to go and guilt you for wearing a green glittery top hat or shame anyone for wanting to have a good time. Just know there is much more to Irish culture than St. Paddy's day. We should celebrate the good green earth we were blessed with, rather than trashing our city streets with beer cans. Can't we make the river greener by adding more marshland reserves, trees, and waterside oases? Which elements of our heritage will we pass on to our children? And how can we do justice to our past by being good stewards of this planet for our future?

Want to learn more?
The photos above are from the Vivian Maier exhibit at the Chicago History Museum, taken at the Chicago St. Paddy's Day parade in the 1960s. Check out a video of the river dyeing here.

Want to help contribute to seed biodiversity and get a good start on your garden?
Check out the UIC Heritage Garden's spring seed swap this Sunday at the Hull-House museum

Want to help clean up the river in Chicago? Join the Friends of the Chicago River at LeBagh Woods on Foster this Saturday

Want to see some music and dance and other Irish culture this weekend? Check out the Irish American Heritage center on the North side or Gaelic Park down South