Don't Let it Be Forgot: The Fighting Irish

The Fighting Irish

Watching Celtic defeat Chelsea in the magnificent Notre Dame Stadium last night reminded me of the commonalities that the Irish in America and their cousins here in Scotland faced in the 19^th and early 20^th century. Prejudice against Irish people and in the USA was widespread at one time and the foundation of Notre Dame du Luc (our Lady of the Lake) University offered the chance to educate many of Irish descent and set them on the road to a better life. The establishment was founded by French Priests to offer a primary and secondary education to Catholics in the area but in time grew into a prestigious and highly regarded place of higher education. Being just 95 miles from Chicago, a city with 2 million Catholics, it would not lack for prospective students.

The university’s sporting teams were noted for their pugnacious ‘never say die’ spirit and were a source of pride to the Irish and wider Catholic community of the USA. Indeed, the university’s football team, under legendary coach Knute Rockne swept all before it in a golden era between 1918 and 1931, winning 105 games, drawing 5 and losing just 12. Huge crowds attended their games and millions tuned in on the radio when Notre Dame played. It gave great pleasure to many when the ‘fighting Irish’ defeated those bastions of the American WASP establishment, Yale, Harvard and Princeton. The success of the university’s sporting teams helped it grow into one of the biggest and best Universities in the United States.

One hundred years ago, as the university was still fighting to establish its reputation, the Ku Klux Klan decided they would gather in South Bend, Indianna for what it termed a three day ‘picnic and parade.’ It was in reality a show of strength in a predominantly Catholic town. The Klan was a powerful organisation then and their decision to hold a rally in the most Catholic part of the state was no coincidence. They were there to intimidate and demonstrate their power to the ‘papists’ of South Bend. It should be remembered that the white robed bigots disliked Catholics and Jews as well as African Americans. On that day in May in 1924, the Klan, so used to dominating wherever they went were in for a shock.

In those days, most students of Notre Dame lived off campus and in the town itself. Contemporary newspaper reports speak of them clashing with the arriving Klansmen and refusing to play the victim. They chased the Klansmen and engaged in mass fistfights with them. Klan robes and hoods were ripped from them and kept as battle trophies. The Klan headquarters in the town and an illuminated ‘fiery cross’ above the door and this symbol of intolerance was destroyed by students throwing potatoes at it.

US Senator Todd Young said in a speech to mark the centenary of the Klan being routed by the Notre Dame ‘fighting Irish’ in May 2024…

‘Mr. President, one hundred years ago this week, a legend was born. One hundred years ago, the champions of religious freedom refused to back down in the face of intolerance and hate. One hundred years ago today, the University of Notre Dame earned the moniker “the Fighting Irish.” On May 17, 1924, thousands of members of the Indiana Chapter of the Ku Klux Klan gathered in South Bend, Indiana for a rally called by their infamous leader, D.C. Stephenson. The target that day for their despicable and misguided message of “true Americanism” was the Catholic institution of the University of Notre Dame, the young men who attended the university, and the Holy Cross priests who taught at it.

In the years that immediately preceded that fateful day, the KKK had watched with despair as Coach Knute Rockne and his football “Ramblers” had barnstormed across the country, winning praise for their fighting spirit and the University. Mr. President, we can’t forget that, at the time, Catholics were a major target for the KKK in the Midwest. And Notre Dame’s success on and off the field was an affront to the Klan’s false message of superiority.

And so, the KKK gathered outside the Golden Dome for what was to be a three-day rally, complete with a parade, speeches, dances…and no small amount of overtly violent intimidation. They weren’t used to anyone standing up to them. They weren’t expecting anyone to stand up to them. Little did they know that the mostly Irish Catholic student body across the street had no intention of being intimidated. Little did they know that the students were so animated that the university president, Father Matthew Walsh, a World War I veteran, had been trying in vain to tell his students to stay safe and shelter in the school.

Little did the KKK know that on that day, the intended aspersion that the student body had co-opted as their preferred nickname – the Fighting Irish – was about to reach a national audience.

At first, the students almost playfully offered to assist the Klansmen in finding lodging and food, sometimes leading them down alleys; other times leading them back out of town. However, when one KKK leader evidently became wise to the ruse and pointed a pistol at a student who had intended to pull down the unsacred cross of lights hung in a downtown third floor window, well, as they say, all hell broke loose. Klansmen that chose to fight quickly met their match and scrambled out of town.

Students grabbed produce – yes, even potatoes – from a local vegetable stand and hurled them at the cross, taking out all but the uppermost bulb. At that moment, legendary “Four Horsemen” quarterback Harry Stuhldreher launched an impossible shot – He threw a potato 40 feet in the air at the bulb, successfully darkening the last unholy light. Moments later, the rest of the Klansmen were run out of town, tails between their legs. A subsequent exchange the next day led to another route by Notre Dame, running their record to 2-0 against the Klansmen that weekend.’

Watching Celtic play so well on the hallowed turf of Notre Dame stadium was pleasing on many levels. The Irish, in both the USA and Scotland, have come a long way since the students of Notre Dame stood up to the haters of the Klan. Notre Dame’s ‘fighting Irish’ American football team was an inspiration to many on that journey. So too with Celtic here in Glasgow, who gave pride, identity and a focus in the lives of many since 1888.

We've come a long way since the students of Notre Dame stood up to hate. There's no going back.