McGregor couple hosts happy-go-lucky St. Patrick’s Day bash

MCGREGOR - Irish-American Tim Mason, an avowed fun haver, believes the sociable image of the Irish squares with reality and goes well beyond St. Patrick's Day.

“The whole Irish thing you see on St. Patrick's Day - food, friends, family, fun - all goes back to the belief that laughter, little children, music - things you can't buy - are more important than material things,” said Mason, who with his wife Sara hosted their 13th annual “Gathering of the Clans” on Saturday at their rural McGregor home.

The party - which featured green-garbed guests, authentic Irish food, “some better Irish whiskeys,” a Gaelic band, a bagpiper and the angelic voice of neighbor Kayla Koether - illustrated the Masons' well developed philosophy of fun.

“Life is too short not to enjoy it as you go along. Why put all your money away for retirement when you might not even be around then?” said Sara Mason.

Tim Mason said he subscribes to his parents' belief that “we're not in the world to build an empire to leave behind.” The Masons rent their farmhouse, own a houseboat, a camper and a couple of kayaks and say they decline to participate in the consumer economy in which “people buy junk bound for the landfill.”

They husband their resources and organize their lives to maximize enjoyment of family, friends and day-to-day life, he said.

The Masons, who have vacationed in Ireland three times in the past nine years, say the Irish have a word for the convivial spirit that enlivened their “Gathering of the Clans.”

“They call it ‘the craic,' and it translates as fun or a good time, usually in association with conversation and music,” Tim Mason said.

“The Irish do have a great way of celebrating life,” said Andreas Transon of Boscobel, Wis., lead singer of “Handful of Earth,” the band that entertained at the Masons' party.

The concept of craic remains vibrant in contemporary Irish life, according to Andrew Auge, an English professor and director of the Irish Studies program at Loras College in Dubuque.

“The ability to be entertaining in conversation is very much valued and cultivated,” said Auge, who has visited Ireland more than a dozen times.

Good craic, he said, often involves an element of fun at the expense of the pompous.

“I have been struck by how talkative the Irish are, how they love to discuss ideas. I've had engaging conversations with cabbies on literature and world politics,” said Auge, who claims “a little sliver of Irish” on his mother's side.

The Irish do tend to be more convivial than members of other cultures, and “they are very much a culture that values hospitality,” he said.

Auge said the Irish preference for the spiritual over the material is a vestige of the 19th century, when abject poverty gave the Irish little choice. “You would value the less tangible things if that's all you had,” he said.

Ed Fitzgerald of Rowley, who has attended all 13 of the Masons' clan gatherings, said a history that includes British oppression, widespread famine and discrimination as immigrants has conditioned the Irish toward a cheerful outlook. “What was our option but to look on the bright side?” he said.

The Masons, based on their Ireland vacations, said they believe craic is much more than a clever marketing ploy to lure tourists to the pubs.

“We stayed off the beaten path, hiking and biking the ancient trails, and the guys in the rural pubs were open to long, sincere conversations. ‘I found my tribe' - that's how I felt about it,” said Tim Mason.