by cue » Sun Apr 10, 2011 5:45 pm
Ireland was the first country in Europe where AA started in 1946. An Irishman, Conor F from Philadelphia came home on holiday and decided to do his best to leave a group behind. He did not have much success at first. New fangled American ideas were treated with suspicion and the fact that AA had its roots in a Protestant Evangelist movement meant that the Irish Catholic Church would have been very wary of it. AA had previously been mentioned in the Irish papers by a returning Irish priest from Australia but nothing had happened since. Conor was near admitting defeat when by chance he got talking to a social worker, Eva Jennings, in his hotel. She put him in contact with Dr Moore who was head of the infamous Protestant asylum set up by Jonathon Swift. Although Conor had been shown the door by other doctors, Dr Moore was interested and he said that he had a patient that he feared he would be saddled with for life. If Conor could help this man, Dr Moore said, he would believe in AA. The patient, Richard P from Co Tyrone, was sent with two guards to Conor's hotel and the two men clicked. That was the start of AA in Ireland.
It was helped by a later member, Sackville, who was a retired army officer. Through his letter writing to the papers and in Catholic magazines, the message of AA was eventually accepted by the Church authorities and AA started to spread throughout the land.
It's amazing how, just like in America, AA was helped by the services of professional people outside AA who took an interest in the new organisation!
It kind of gives me goose bumps when I think about how big AA is. That I could go anywhere -- even to Ireland -- and find me some fellow sober alcoholics to hang out with and to experience being at home with them in our Fellowship.
I'd love the opportunity to visit Ireland! Until then -- I hope you keep coming back here. It's great to hear from you and to hear about AA in Ireland. And, we never now when someone comes here -- searching to find an AA in Ireland that can help them or show them around in AA there! And, of course -- it you ever make it over here on this side of the pond -- it would be great to have the opportunity to show you some of this side!