McFarland Brooks SP '77 Builds Irish Spirit

Her Internationally Renowned Newpaper
Weaves Community Magic


By day, Mary Sue McFarland Brooks SP' 77, MAOL '90, is a mild-mannered public affairs writer for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, but in her off hours, she becomes a passionate promoter of all things Irish – as editor of The Irish Gazette.

She urges everyone, whether of Irish descent or not, to enjoy the many Irish offerings in their area for St. Patrick's Day. For those in the Twin Cities, "I suggest attending the St. Patrick's Mass celebration at the Cathedral in the morning and the Hibernian Association's brunch in the lower level afterwards. Then on to the 44th Annual St. Patrick's Parade, the largest walking parade in the nation . . . The parade ends at Rice Park, conveniently across from the Landmark Center where the Irish Music and Dance Association provides an afternoon of music, dance, and other Irish activities. Any or all of these events will provide a memorable St. Patrick's Day!" As March 17 approaches, McFarland Brooks suggests people check out The Irish Gazette web site (www.theirishgazette.com) for up-to-date information on Irish events in the Twin Cities and Midwest.

McFarland Brooks and her husband, James Brooks, started this midwestern newspaper in 1986. "The idea came out of my involvement with several Irish organizations," Mary Sue explains, "including The Minnesota Irish Festival,  The St. Patrick's Association of St. Paul, and the Irish dance schools our daughter was involved in. I wanted to promote all the good works these organizations did in addition to providing media coverage for the charitable events and contributions the Irish community makes to St. Paul.  We also wanted to tell the current news of Ireland and offer articles concerning Irish genealogy.  The fact that my husband and I are both from Irish tribes contributed to our interest." Of course.



For more than twenty years, The Irish Gazette has fulfilled their dreams of community journalism, becoming a gathering forum and promoter in the region of Irish culture, arts, history, and news. But the positive effects of The Irish Gazetteextend beyond St. Paul and the Midwest. Internationally recognized, The Irish Gazette is a founding member of a consortium of eight Irish-American newspapers called American Irish Media (AIM) published across the United States. Mary Sue reflects, "With the introduction of River Dance and the Celtic Tiger into international consciousness there is an resurgence in all things Irish, which is very exciting. The newspaper has changed dramatically over its 23-year history as has the Irish/American community in Minnesota, the region and the nation."

An Act of Courage and Community Service

Starting The Irish Gazette, however, was a financial and professional risk, as any work of passion and art and community activism is. As a lifelong resident of St. Paul and an English graduate of St. Kate's, McFarland Brooks did not have an automatic niche for her writing and editorial skills. She had to build one. "My career involved advertising sales for Liturgical Publications and Elliott House Publishing, where I worked with colleges and universities regarding in-house marketing." It was while she worked with Elliott House Publishing that she gained the connections and the courage to start this venture, partnering with her husband and Elliott House. Her courage arose in part out of her studies at St. Catherine's.

"My experience at St. Kate's," says Mary Sue, "both as an undergrad in English/Communications and in the MAOL program, provided me with confidence in my abilities and an acute awareness of individual responsibility for community service."

Writing passions, though, can't always pay the bills, so McFarland Brooks professionally progressed into public sector communications. "I began working on the Minnesota Care Project at the Department of Human Services in 1992 and am currently working at the Department of Transportation in public affairs. I also teach as a communications adjunct at the University of Wisconsin River Falls." A busy woman, she is, especially since she and her husband have two children, Brennan and Caitlin, now grown. "We are fortunate to live close to the campus and my husband and I attend many events at the college (soon to be university)."

The Enriching Irish Connections

Though The Irish Gazette was not set up for the purpose of profit, it pays the McFarland Brooks family back in numerous ways by engaging them deeply in a warm, fun-loving, generous, vivid, outspoken, energetic community. For instance, Mary Sue, as a member of Failte Minnesota, offered Richard Pierce the Best Legs in a Kilt Trophy in the August 2008 Irish Fair of Minnesota. As The Irish Gazette reported: "The judging was between, left to right, Pierce, Phil Platt, Art Shackle, and Tom Scanlon. The judges had the contest tied between Pierce and Scanlon. The winner was decided by the crowd cheer for each contestant."

"Because of our work with the newspaper," Mary Sue notes, "my family has visited Ireland numerous times. I remember us asking directions of an older gentleman who had retired as a postman. After telling him where we were going, he replied, 'Well, it would be better if you were not starting from here.' This captures for me the quirky personality of the Irish." This particular quirky personality, both in its American variations and on the home sod, is the energizing and uniting force and purpose for the paper -- to higlight it and pass it on.  Mary Sue reminds us, "Edna O'Brien, the Irish author said, 'Irish? In truth I would not want to be anything else. It is a state of mind as well as a country.'" 

Perhaps only in Ireland would there be ancient tombs (Dolmens) resting in farm fields without any fanfare or care. "The tombs consist of two huge rocks that are vertical with another large flat rock across the top." says Mary Sue. "These are of great interest to tourists who walk through the fields to take photos, etc. The farmers are bemused by all this interest in what they consider commonplace, though no one's been able to figure out how these ancient rocks were placed in these positions without mechanized equipment. This encapsulates for me the timeless quality of Ireland, as there is a sense that the past, present and future are all existing simultaneously."

To join in the timeless quality this March, you can check The Irish Gazette for events. To join the St. Paul parade marchers, please sign up at: http://www.stpatsassoc.org. For more information on the offerings of Minnesota Irish Music and Dance Association visit: http://www.irishmusicanddanceassociation.org/stpatricksday.html

A favorite quotation of McFarland Brooks is this: "Everything will be good in the end; if it is not good, it is not the end." Anonymous




Photo of the Poulneborne Dolmen in County Clare, courtesy Diego Meozzi - Stone Pages (www.stonepages.com)