![[text]](http://ilind.net/oldkine_images/Cathcart%20family.jpg)
And a Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you! That’s a greeting from my Irish side, which goes back to my great-grandfather, Robert William Cathcart, shown in this photograph taken soon after the beginning of the 20th Century. I posted the same photo last year on St. Patrick’s Day, and my sister added more details on the children who appear. My grandmother is the shorter of the two girls standing in back.
Cathcart was born in County Down, Ireland, a bit south of Belfast, on January 20, 1856. He arrived in Honolulu by ship from San Francisco on October 24, 1881 at age 25. My grandmother, Heleualani Eva, was born towards the end of 1888. She was half-Hawaiian, and half-Irish. That makes me–what, 1/8th Irish? This is the one day of the year I dust that pedigree off and take it public.
My mom compiled a short biography of Cathcart, which you can read here. I saw later notes reporting on research into Irish records, which had found that Robert William Cathcart had been written out of his father’s will, likely after taking off for strange spots like Hawaii. Hopefully I’ll lay my hands on that bit of research soon.
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Every year March 17 is recognized as St. Patrick’s Day. ‘Tis a day to honour the memory of the man who brought Christianity to Ireland and chased the snakes out. These days it’s mostly a chance for all people to feel Irish at heart, speak some blarney, and perhaps to hoist a pint.
But for a century and a half, this day has also been recognized in Hawai’i as the official birthday of King Kauikeaouli Kamehameha III. He chose St. Patrick’s Day to be his “official birthday” and made it a national holiday. As a man of Irish ancestry, and gazing upon a piece of the old sod brought to me from the ancestral homeland by my friend, the late Patrick W. Hanifin, I am pleased to declare Kauikeaouli an honourary Irishman, at least for today. So hoist a shamrock-decorated glass of Harp light or Guinness stout in memory of the Hawaiian monarch who was Irish-at-heart, His Royal Majesty Kauikeaouli Kamehameha III.
Now there’s a tale to be told, and ’tis no blarney. I’ll keep it short so we can hele on with the paahty.
Why is this day the “official” birthday of Hawai’i’s third King? Ah, matey, now there’s a mystery. Indeed, a double mystery. The first mystery is: Why is it that nobody knows the actual date of the king’s biological birth? The second mystery is: Why did the king choose St. Patrick’s Day to be his “official” birthday? After exploring those mysteries, we’ll toast the memory of the King while recalling why he was so important in Hawai’i’s history.
That’s the beginning of a webpage I published 10 years ago. For the answers to those two questions, see
http://tinyurl.com/58ft2