Mayo Alive - 16 July 199

 

Mayo in Mississippi

by
Michael J Tracey

 

It's a long way from Killawalla to Mississippi. Why Mississippi? I often wonder. You might have to ask the good Lord. The only thing I knew about Mississippi, prior to arriving here twenty-four years ago, was how to spell it, providing you put enough "s's" and "P's" in the right places.

Mississippi is about two and a half times the size of Ireland, a state in the southern part of the United States, bordered on the south by the Gulf of Mexico. It has the lowest per capita income in the United States; 25% of the people live below the poverty level; 4% of the population are Catholic and the remainer are mostly Baptist.

You don't need to pray for fine weather to save the hay or the turf. The average temperature in summer is 95 degrees with 100% humidity. It is impossible to exist without air conditioning. Heating is seldom used even in the winter. Snow is a rarity. The hurricane season begins in May and ends in October. A hurricane is a severe tropical cyclone, originating in the tropical regions of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea, traveling north, northwest or northeast from its point of origin. They generate torrential rains, winds over 100 m.p.h. and tornados, funnel clouds that dip down and simply suck up everything in its path. In Mississippi, time is measured in terms of BC or AC meaning Before Camille or After Camille. Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast on August 18, 1969. The hurricane packed winds of 180 m.p.h

Mississippi is basically a rural state. The main farm crop in the north is cotton and soya beans. Some light industries permeate the south, mainly ship building. Gambling was introduced to the areas some years ago and provides a good tax base. 40% of the state is black and the rest white.

Several of the priests in Mississippi are from Ireland. Mayo natives include Fr. Frank Farrell, Lecanvey, Fr. Tommy McGing, Kinuary, Killawalla and Fr. Michael Tracey, Killawalla.

Thanks to modern technology, we are constantly updated on happenings at home. We receive RTE's main news bulletins daily on the Galexy Satelite system and we receive the Irish Times newspaper through the World Wide Web and of course, the Connacht Telegraph from the Mayo on the Move web page.

We hope to make a trip to Mayo and the Killawalla area during the month of August.



E-mail Michael J Tracey mtracey@www-at.st.usm.edu

The Nallys of Rockstown in County Mayo, Ireland