Canada"s Ambassador to Ireland Hails From Newfoundland"s Irish Loop
As a former Minister of Education in the Newfoundland government and later a MP and Canada's Minister of Fisheries, Loyola Hearn has been a familiar name to the Canadian public for almost twenty years.
Now the Newfoundland-born, retired politician has been named as Canada's Ambassador to Ireland.
The political pundits can debate the pros and cons of the appointment.
Yet the obvious connection between Hearn and Ireland is unmistakable from any point of view.
Having Irish roots and being born, raised, and maintaining a home on the Irish Loop in Newfoundland and Labrador, Hearn has a definite Irish connection.
Hailing from Renews on the Irish Loop, Hearn can trace his roots back to well-known family names in Ireland.
As far back as the 1700s and later during Ireland's potato blight in the nineteenth century, many Irish people made their way to a new world.
They settled on the island of Newfoundland.
The Irish Loop, a scenic area winding around the Avalon Peninsula, has an intense Irish heritage.
The people of the region hold fast to Irish culture, traditions, and music.
Even an Irish lilt can still be heard in their voices.
The picturesque landscape itself reminds one of Ireland.
In fact, the Irish Loop has been described as "the most Irish place in the world outside Ireland.
" In her book "An Irish Heart," Sharon Doyle Driedger lists ten historic Irish sites in Canada and includes the 'Mass Rock' (the only one in North America) in Hearn's hometown of Renews.
A religious grotto now stands on the sight of the 'Mass Rock' where Irish Catholics would gather in secret at midnight to have Mass and practise their faith.
Penal law at the time forbade Irish Catholics to celebrate Mass.
The bond between Ireland and the Southern Shore of Newfoundland has been entrenched in time.
The connection has always been part of the hearts and emotions of the Irish on both sides of the Atlantic.
Actually in recent years, a concentrated effort has been made by Ireland and Newfoundland's Southern Shore to continue building on these ties.
An annual Ireland Newfoundland Festival is an event that alternates yearly between Southeast Ireland and Southeast Newfoundland.
The 2010 festival was a celebration of the people and culture of the Irish Loop and the southeastern counties of Waterford, Kilkenny, and Wexford in Ireland.
In 2011, the festival will be held on the southern Avalon in Newfoundland.
Irish visitors will have no trouble finding excellent accommodations on the Southern Shore.
They can choose from Atlantic Canada cottages and hotels in nearby St.
John's and other larger centres.
As well, they can enjoy Newfoundland hospitality with an Irish flavor in the bed and breakfasts around the Loop.
Every community, including the childhood home of Canada's Ambassador to Ireland, has at least one (or more) bed and breakfast.
Whether Irish or not, everyone is always enthralled by the spectacular beauty and distinct culture of Newfoundland's Southern Shore.
It will not be difficult to spot why the new Ambassador to Ireland might feel at home in his new role.
No doubt, future collaborations at all levels will take place between Ireland and Canada.
The Ireland/Irish Loop connection is summed up in the following words of a popular tune performed by Kevin Collins, a Newfoundland artist.
"From an island to an island, from the green to the green, they left their homes to settle in a place they'd never seen.
They exchanged the hills of Newfoundland for the ones they left behind and the green of the shamrock for the green of the pine.
"
Now the Newfoundland-born, retired politician has been named as Canada's Ambassador to Ireland.
The political pundits can debate the pros and cons of the appointment.
Yet the obvious connection between Hearn and Ireland is unmistakable from any point of view.
Having Irish roots and being born, raised, and maintaining a home on the Irish Loop in Newfoundland and Labrador, Hearn has a definite Irish connection.
Hailing from Renews on the Irish Loop, Hearn can trace his roots back to well-known family names in Ireland.
As far back as the 1700s and later during Ireland's potato blight in the nineteenth century, many Irish people made their way to a new world.
They settled on the island of Newfoundland.
The Irish Loop, a scenic area winding around the Avalon Peninsula, has an intense Irish heritage.
The people of the region hold fast to Irish culture, traditions, and music.
Even an Irish lilt can still be heard in their voices.
The picturesque landscape itself reminds one of Ireland.
In fact, the Irish Loop has been described as "the most Irish place in the world outside Ireland.
" In her book "An Irish Heart," Sharon Doyle Driedger lists ten historic Irish sites in Canada and includes the 'Mass Rock' (the only one in North America) in Hearn's hometown of Renews.
A religious grotto now stands on the sight of the 'Mass Rock' where Irish Catholics would gather in secret at midnight to have Mass and practise their faith.
Penal law at the time forbade Irish Catholics to celebrate Mass.
The bond between Ireland and the Southern Shore of Newfoundland has been entrenched in time.
The connection has always been part of the hearts and emotions of the Irish on both sides of the Atlantic.
Actually in recent years, a concentrated effort has been made by Ireland and Newfoundland's Southern Shore to continue building on these ties.
An annual Ireland Newfoundland Festival is an event that alternates yearly between Southeast Ireland and Southeast Newfoundland.
The 2010 festival was a celebration of the people and culture of the Irish Loop and the southeastern counties of Waterford, Kilkenny, and Wexford in Ireland.
In 2011, the festival will be held on the southern Avalon in Newfoundland.
Irish visitors will have no trouble finding excellent accommodations on the Southern Shore.
They can choose from Atlantic Canada cottages and hotels in nearby St.
John's and other larger centres.
As well, they can enjoy Newfoundland hospitality with an Irish flavor in the bed and breakfasts around the Loop.
Every community, including the childhood home of Canada's Ambassador to Ireland, has at least one (or more) bed and breakfast.
Whether Irish or not, everyone is always enthralled by the spectacular beauty and distinct culture of Newfoundland's Southern Shore.
It will not be difficult to spot why the new Ambassador to Ireland might feel at home in his new role.
No doubt, future collaborations at all levels will take place between Ireland and Canada.
The Ireland/Irish Loop connection is summed up in the following words of a popular tune performed by Kevin Collins, a Newfoundland artist.
"From an island to an island, from the green to the green, they left their homes to settle in a place they'd never seen.
They exchanged the hills of Newfoundland for the ones they left behind and the green of the shamrock for the green of the pine.
"