For two consecutive weeks, Sgt James Hennelly from the Cook County Sheriff’s Department presented examples of updates on recent fraud trends. James taught us about the latest scams and tricks being used by con artists so we can better protect ourselves and our money. 

This year was the turn of Gaelic Park to host the annual Christmas party. As always there will be great food, live music, and plenty of craic! A spontaneous ceili broke out, as you can see here! We had a great party! HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

From the December 1, 2011 presentation: Dr. Charles Fanning with "1933 Worlds Fair In Chicago" with a picture of the Irish-American singer/dancer/actor Donald O'Connor (aged 9). He was part of a family troupe, "The O'Connors" that entertained fairgoers at the Irish Village.

From the December 1, 2011 presentation: Dr. Charles Fanning with "The Irish at the 1933 Worlds Fair In Chicago" discussing his presentation with Richie Piggott and Kevin Henry.

This week the Tara Club welcomed back an old friend. Steve Nakon, from Northwest Yoga, returned to teach us a little about relaxation techniques using breathing exercises and body movement. Steve told us how stress and anxiety negatively affect the body and how we can use quick simple yoga moves to improve our moods and general wellbeing.



This week we were joined by Katie Schmit, the coordinator of the Elder Abuse Program at Age Options. She told us about the various ways in which seniors can be wrongfully treated, and more importantly, what can be done to stop this

Last week some summer school students from the University of Chicago Lab School got the opportunity to attend one of our senior groups at the Irish American Heritage Center. The Kids have been taking a class that focuses on immigration to the Unites States and what that experience was like for those who came here.  Who better to teach the kids about the history of Irish Immigration to the US than those who wrote that history – the immigrants themselves?  The students heard the seniors tell of their experiences of leaving Ireland and how they came to call American home. However, the seniors weren’t doing all the talking and the kids also got to tell their immigration stories to the group.  The meeting provided a wonderful opportunity for some intergenerational learning that enriched the understanding of kids and seniors alike.

On Thursday 30^th June the ‘Tara Club’ from the north side and the ‘Wild Rovers’ from the south side joined forces for our annual cruise on Lake Michigan. With a total of 80 seniors from our groups the Irish were very well represented aboard the wonderful ‘Spirit of Chicago’. The weather was kind to us and we enjoyed a beautiful, sunny day out on the lake. Upon boarding the guests were treated to some refreshments while we waited for the lavish buffet to open. There was a host of mouthwatering food on offer and with the ‘all you can eat’ policy nobody went home hungry. Once we had enjoyed dinner the entertainment began. We had performances of song and dance from the talented crew who managed to keep us entertained throughout. For those more concerned with enjoying the weather and the breathtaking views of the Chicago skyline the outside deck was open to all. A great time was had by all who attended but two hours scarcely seemed long enough to enjoy all that was on offer. But don’t worry; we’ll be back on the lake next year!

Click here to see more photos of our Lake Michigan adventure!



After only a brief absence Fr. Michael Leonard was back with us again. This week we celebrated Mass to mark the end of another fantastic season of senior programming at Gaelic Park. There will be no meetings during the months of July and August. In September we will be back and better than ever. Stay tuned for further information on the exciting line-up of senior events coming to Gaelic Park in the Fall. We would like to remind seniors that if they are in need of our services over the summer break, they should not hesitate to contact us on 773-282-8445. We would like to thank the many wonderful people who attend our Gaelic Park meetings and we look forward to spending time with you again in September.

Healthy eating is essential and it becomes even more important as we age. This week we were fortunate enough to be visited by Katy O’ Connell, a member of the Chicago Dietetic Association who guided us through the fundamentals of nutrition and ageing. We learned how the body’s foods needs change as we age and which food are the best sources of the vitamins, minerals, and fats that we need to stay as healthy and active as possible for as long as possible.

Everyone knows that the legal system is vast and complicated. However, it impacts all of us and as such we need to be familiar with it. That’s why this week at Gaelic Park we invited elder attorney Robert Reidy along to answer some of our questions. He provided a refresher on the previous talks we have had on elder law as well as advising on some upcoming changes to the power of attorney laws due to take affect over the summer.

Dr. Fox – a familiar face at our senior group meetings – was back again to share some intriguing ideas from the world of geriatric medicine. Some professionals in the field of ageing and older adult health care have begun to pose the question – does Alzheimer’s disease really exist at all? Some new theories suggest that the cause of Alzheimer’s is social rather than physical. This idea states that once cognitive decline becomes seen as a normal and unavoidable part of ageing, older people will begin to exhibit the behaviors and symptoms society expects from them. These controversial theories created some interesting discussion amongst our seniors and certainly provided some food for thought.



This week we were joined by Katie Schmit, an elder rights specialist with an advocacy and support agency for seniors called Age Options. She came along to tell us about the various ways in which seniors can be abused and how these acts are defined for legal purposes. More importantly, Katie offered advice about the services and resources available to as well as informing us of how we can identify occurrences of abuse. 



Our visitors this week were two representatives from the Japanese Consulate here in Chicago. They provided us with some wonderful demonstrations of significant cultural practices in Japan including Kendo (traditional sword fighting), calligraphy, and traditional Japanese clothing. We were also given fascinating facts and information about Japanese society and the work of the Japanese consulate here in the USA.



This week Fr. Mike Leonard was back with us at Gaelic Park - he stops by every so often to check up on us! This time he spoke to us about spirituality and provided an opportunity for us to reflect on our busy lives. As always all those who attended thoroughly enjoyed Fr. Mike’s insights and humor and we can’t wait until he joins us again towards the end of the season.



This week we were joined by Sherry Avila at the Irish American Heritage Center. Sherry came to tell us more about a fascinating mission to the Philippines in which she participated in February of 2009. The mission travelled to remote parts of the Philippines to provide medical services as well as assisting in the construction of houses.  As the official photographer for the trip Sherry took many wonderful pictures that gave insights into all that the mission was able to achieve as well as some interesting aspects of Filipino culture and society.



This month both our north side and south side senior groups were visited by Maureen Gavin – a proud Irish American of Mayo roots and the founder of ‘Betty’s Love Alzheimer’s Charity’. Maureen shared with us her own personal experience of Alzheimer’s and taught us about some of the essentials considerations when caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s.  We learned about the way in which Maureen, through the charity she founded and runs, tries to offer support to the families and caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s. Almost no resources or services are available to relatives of Alzheimer’s suffers as they go through one of the most difficult challenges they are ever likely to face. It is this lack of resources that ‘Betty’s Love’ seeks to address. Drawing on her own personal experiences and an expert knowledge, Maureen delivered a presentation that was both informative and unique.



Tim McCarthy is a well known Chicago artist who recently had an exhibit on show at the Irish American Heritage Center. Graciously, Tim and gallery curator at the IAHC, Frank Crowley, agreed to give our senior group a walk-through of the exhibit and provide some background to the many fabulous paintings on display. The artwork showcased some of beautiful old churches and schools around the city of Chicago including Leo's High School, St. Rita's High School, St. Sabina church, St. Mary of the Angels church, Holy Name Cathedral and, of course, Old St. Patrick's Church.

This week we were fortunate enough to have Frank Crowley as our guest. Using a visual presentation, Frank gave us a fascinating guided tour through the pages of the historical 'Book of Kells' – a 1st century illustrated manuscript containing the four Gospels of the new testament. Frank explained the significance of the elaborate religious depictions that adorn the ancient calf-skin leaves of the book and described the painstaking work of the Irish monks who created it. The 'Book of Kells' now resides at the library of Trinity College in Dublin and is one of Irelands most treasured historical artefacts.



We once again welcomed back a familar face to our senior groups - Fr. Michael Leonard. It is now tradition that Fr. Mike joins us to celebrate mass in honor of Ireland's patron Saint, Patrick.

Historian and artist Frank Crowley joined our group this week to instruct us on Celtic art - specifically, the Celtic knot. Frank spoke about the significance of the knot in Celtic art and educated us about the many different types of knot that exist. We also got the opportunity to try our hand at creating our own works of Celtic art!

This week we took a whistle-stop tour through the visual arts. We were joined by representatives of the Art Institute of Chicago’s ‘Art Insights’ program. This program seeks to bring the vast artistic riches of the Art Institute to the broader Chicago community by doing on-site presentations. Through a slide show presentation we learned about the significance of many of the works on display at the Institute gaining a new insight and appreciation for visual arts.

It’s coming up on ‘tax time’ again and we all know that filing can be a complicated process. In the hope of making this a less daunting challenge, this week we welcomed a representative from the Cook County Assessor’s Office to our group. She came to tell us about the new changes to the senior tax exemption that came into effect this year and was able to answer any questions that we had about the ‘tax maze’. Those that attended the group left feeling more informed and a little more relaxed about tax season.

This month both our north and south side groups benefited from a visit by representatives from the States Attorney’s Office. As we all know incidences of ID theft and fraud are now common place and pose a real danger to seniors and what that they have worked hard for all of their lives. Our guest speakers educated us about the many scams and tricks that criminals use to attain personal information for the purpose of ID theft and fraud, allowing us to be more vigilant and knowledgeable about these risks. We also learned about the services that are available to assist anyone who has been the victim of ID theft or fraud.

Charles James Lever (31 August 1806 - 1 June 1872) was an Irish novelist born in Dublin. Although he is one of Irelands more obscure writers he is certainly one of the most interesting. James Murphy, a lecturer on De Paul University’s Irish Studies Program, joined us at the Irish American Heritage Center to discuss the life and works of the fascinating Charles Lever.

Lever was actually very well known as a novelist at the time in which he was writing. However, because of poor relationships with influential peers his reputation became tarnished to a point that almost entirely blotted him from literary memory. Lever wrote many comedy novels as well as a number more serious in nature. He was known to be as much of a ‘wild man’ as he was a novelist which made for some very interesting adventures indeed.

We all thoroughly enjoyed James Murphy’s engaging lecture as well as the opportunity to rediscover a great Irish novelist.

This month we were delighted to welcome our seniors back to another year of exciting group programming. We decided to get the senior group meetings off to an educational start by exploring the concept of ‘ageing in place’. We invited Felice Ekhouse along to both our north side and south side group meetings to explain this topic to us. Felice is an occupational therapist, gerontologist, and certified ageing in place specialist.

‘Ageing in Place’ is the idea of allowing people to stay in their own homes as they age despite their changing needs and abilities. This is done by making modifications or alterations to the home environment that increase safety, functionality, and independence.

Felice, after explaining the ideas involved with ‘ageing in place’ talked us through the practicalities of making changes to the home. She gave concrete examples of some changes that can be made and demonstrated how these can have a very positive impact on an older person’s quality of life.

All who attended found the presentation to be very informative and useful. For anyone looking for more information on remodelling their home to meet their changing needs as they age should check out Felice’s company, ElderSpace, by clicking here.

This year it was the turn of the Irish American Heritage Center to host the CIIS annual seniors’ Christmas party. The festivities officially got underway at noon with the arrival of around 30 of our south side seniors who were bused up to the IAHC especially for the occasion. Delighted by the warm Irish welcome extended by our north siders, it wasn’t too long before everyone had made themselves at home in the beautiful ‘Fifth Province’ room.  We enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings as well as the many sweet treats on offer at the desert table. Once everyone had eaten their fill we were lucky enough to have some talented musicians on hand to provided beautiful live traditional Irish music and songs. This year’s CIIS seniors’ Christmas bash was one of our most successful to date and all those who came along thoroughly enjoyed the day – click here to see for yourself!

At our last senior group meeting we were lucky enough to play host to Mr. Tim Reilly, the Vice-Consulate General of Ireland, based here in Chicago. By describing the range of services that the Consulate offers to the Irish community abroad, Tim outlined the role of the consulate here in the U.S. Through a questions and answers session Tim also explained some of Ireland’s recent economic and social policy developments as well as discussed the probable impact of the recent Irish budget. We had a great turn out for this informative event and all those who attended thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to stay up-to-date with political events back home. 

American Gothic - Housed at the Art Institute of Chicago

The 'Art Insights' program (http://www.artic.edu.html) at the Art Institue of Chicago has sought in the last few years to open up their vast collection of art treasures to the entire community. At one of our recent senior group meetings at the Irish American Heritage Center we were fortunate to play host to representatives of this fantastic program. We were treated to a visual presentation on many of the fine works of art that are on display at the Art Institute. Our knowledgeable guests used their expertise to describe various artistic styles and explained the significance of many of the more well known pieces housed at the Institute. The deeper meaning of art was also explored and all those who attended thoroughly enjoyed the event.

Lady Lavery

This week our south side seniors group welcomed back Tom O' Gorman - entertainer, historian, and expert on all things Irish. On previous vists to our group, Tom has delved through the history of saints and cities and brought us along for the ride and this occassion proved to be just as fascinating.Tom took us on a journey through the life and times of Lady Lavery, a Chicago born woman, who became a most influential character in Irish high society in the early 1900's. Such was her importance in Irish  culture that she appeared on the old pound notes and her image can still been seen today, hung on the walls of the Hugh Lane Art gallery in Dublin. Lady Lavery also kept some prestigious company, counting among her friends figures of great historical significance such as Winston Churchill and Michael Collins.

This month both our north side and south side senior groups were fortunate enough to avail of the expertise of Erin Weir, the Statewide Coordinator for the SMP program which educates and empowers individuals to prevent health care fraud and abuse.

The vast majority of physicians, providers, and suppliers who serve people with Medicare are committed to providing high quality care to their patients and to billing the program only for the payments they have earned.

However, there are a few individuals who are intent on abusing or defrauding Medicare, cheating the program (and in some cases the people with Medicare who are liable for co-payments) out of billions of dollars annually. Medicare fraud takes a lot of money every year from the Medicare program. People with Medicare pay for it with higher premiums.

Ms. Weir educated us on exactly what Medicare fraud is, how to detected and protect against it, and what to do if we encounter Medicare fraud.

Now armed with all of this knowledge we think that our Irish seniors are the newest crime fighting team in Chicago!

Erin Weir works with AgeOptions (http://www.ageoptions.org/) and can be contacted with any questions or concerns about Medicare fraud. She can be reached at (708) 383-0258.

Robert Byrne

This week we were back at Gaelic Park and we had money on our minds. We were joined by Robert Byrne (pictured left) from the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) - Ireland's inward investment promotion agency. IDA Ireland partners with foreign investors, helping them to set up and develop their businesses in Ireland. Essentially the name of the game is attracting foreign companies to set up shop on Irish soil.

Robert traced the origins and development of the modern Irish economy, guiding us from our agriclutural beginnings on to the industrialisation that gave rise to the fierce 'Celtic Tiger' economy of the 90's and 2000's, and thru to the current state of economic recession. Roberts left us with some rays of hope as he explained our successes to date in attracting high-skill industries and his belief that the economic situation in Ireland right now, although harsh, will serve to make us a more competitively placed contender for attracting foriegn investment now and in the future.

Many thanks to Robert for joining us to share his expertise and contribute to another fun and informative morning at Gaelic Park!

Be sure to join us for a group meeting soon!

Rita and Barbara were among the 34 seniors that enjoyed the delicious buffet lunch at the Horseshoe Casino.

There were both high rollers and modest gamblers amongst the 34 seniors that ventured to Hammond, Indiana in the hopes of winning big at the Horseshoe Casino. The group was made up of seniors from both our north and south side meetings as well as a few newer faces eager to try their luck.

Shortly after arriving at the casino we enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch while looking out across a peaceful Lake Michigan. Once we had eaten our fill we were back downstairs for the main event of the day - trying our luck at the many slot machines and table games that the Horseshoe has to offer.

Unfortunately, that great 'luck' for which we Irish are famed was not with us and we had no really big winners. Despite this, a great day was had by all who attended and thanks to all the seniors who came out and made it such a fun day!



Irene, Eileen, and Mary were among the many seniors who attended the Five Wishes' form presentation.

This week's well attended senior event welcomed old friends and new faces. We gathered at the Irish American Heritage Center to learn about and discuss an issue that, although uncomfortable for some, is important to all.

Although few of us like to spend time thinking about our own death, it is important for us all to consider the kinds of issues that might arise in our final days or months. The kind of care or treatment we wish to have, who we want to be making our decisions for us, and what we want those left behind to know, are all crucial questions that we need to reflect upon. The 'Five Wishes' form helps us do just that.

The 'Five Wishes' form is an advanced directive document. By completing the form you are communicating your healthcare choices in advance and ensuring that your desires are known. At the same time, your family memebers will benefit from knowing exactly how to carry out your requests. Form more information on the 'Five Wishes' for feel free to call our office on 312-534-8445. You can also contact Rainbow Hospice on 847-685-9900 or check out their webpage at www.rainbowhospice.org.