It's with a heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of our organization's founder. Please take a moment to read the family-approved obituary below and reflect on his achievements. He was truly an inspirational man and his passion for the Celtic culture lives on in all that he created.
Brian o h-Eachtuigheirn died of cancer in the care of his loving family in San Francisco, California at 11:30pm on March 10, 2011.
Brian, 70, was the charismatic visionary and founder of An Claidheamh Soluis / The Celtic Arts Center in Los Angeles; An Claidheamh Soluis the Irish Arts Center in New York City; the Brave Hearted Woman Theatre Company in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and An Claidheamh Soluis / Gaelic Adventure, all of which were created to preserve the Irish language, music and theatre.
Born Brian Samuel Connolly Heron in Dublin, Ireland on January 24, 1941, Brian was the grandson of James Connolly, the General, Commander in Chief and martyred hero of the historic Easter Rising in Ireland in 1916. Like his famed grandfather, Brian, a true champion of workers' rights, first came to America with the assistance of Mike Quill of the Transport Workers Union. He subsequently worked as a union organizer, risking his life, he organized the exploited Chinese sweat shop workers of S.F. Along side Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta he was an instrumental leader of the United Farm Workers. He also worked with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, was nominated as Vice President of the Peace and Freedom party, and helped organize the anti-war protest in Chicago in 1968 during the infamous Democratic National Convention. Brian was a founding member of the National Association for Irish Justice as well as the National Association for Irish Freedom serving as their keynote speaker and fundraiser. Both of these organizations were committed to Ireland's complete freedom from British colonial rule. Brian, who was also a lifetime supporter of Native American rights, language and cultural preservation, took his entire family and traveled across the United States, Canada and Central America visiting Indian reservations and forming alliances with Native American tribes.
Above all, he was devoted to the preservation of traditional Irish language, Celtic arts and culture. At the time of his death, Brian was working on the creation of "An Claidheamh Soluis / Gaelic Adventure," a multi-media/living-theatre piece. Much like his grandfather James Connolly, Brian never shied away from posing challenging concepts, striking up unpopular dialogue or asking the difficult questions. The most common of his controversial questions were regarding the Irish language: "Can a person of Irish descent really call themselves Irish when they cannot even speak their own language?"
Locally, the Celtic Arts Center has carried out its founder's vision, training countless artists, musicians and dancers and continuing to produce plays, weekly Irish jam sessions of Celtic music, teaching Celtic dance and the Gaelic language, and operating a daily 24-hour online radio broadcast.
Brian returned to school in his fifties and receive a P.h.D. in theatre from U.C.L.A. and then went to Nova University Law School and passed the Bar on his first test at age fifty-seven. In spite of his achievements he said, "I didn't do enough!"
His love of the Uillean pipes was immense. Our image of him playing the pipes and his twinkling gaze with the shake of his head would pierce anyone's heart. And furthermore if you had no place to stay and were a stranger, he'd put you up and you would now become part of Heron's extended family. No matter how little he had, he didn't have it in him to turn a person in need away.
From the days of supporting his young family as a fisherman Brian loved the sea and his last project was to row a curragh that he and others had hand built across the Atlantic ocean with the assistance of a large sailboat to relieve the rowers on the expedition. The purpose, to connect one's Irish identity with those in America through language and to come full circle to connect with the Native speakers of Ireland. His dying wish was to return to Ireland and become politically active, but his cancer prevented this from happening. In one last memorable dying breath he seemed to grab two oars and set off once again, always keeping true to his visions even when others didn't believe they were ever possible.
Brian o h-Eachtuigheirn is survived by Belinda, his wife; three sons, Che, Morghean, and Yury Heron; his grandchildren Hayim, Larissa, Fionn and Iona; and his first wife, Aine, as well as nearly 80 million Irish people around the globe destined to learn their own language. A memorial celebration of Brian o h-Eachtuigheirn's life will be announced at a future date on the An Claidheamh Soluis / The Celtic Arts Center website www.celticartscenter.com
As Brian often said, "Tír gan Teangan - Tír gan Anam" - "A land (or people) without its own language is a land without its soul."
Brian provided his services free of charge, and like most visionaries and leaders in the not-for-profit arena he relied heavily on his family for his health care for the last few years. During this difficult time for the family, donations of any amount will be greatly appreciated; contributions in his memory can be sent to the Brian Heron Family Relief Fund, S.F. Police Credit Union, 2550 Irving St., San Francisco, CA 94122.
