Grand marshal's roots are an Irish blessing

By Jonathan Potts
TRIBUNE-REVIEW

It's been said that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day.

But for Terry Griffith, being Irish is a year-round delight.

"Things about Ireland interest me. Things with Irish people interest me," said Griffith, 51, an Irish-American singer from Beechview.

The St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee has selected Griffith as the grand marshal of Pittsburgh's St. Patrick's Day Parade, which will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Civic Arena.

The Allegheny County commissioners honored Griffith at a ceremony Thursday morning at the Allegheny County Courthouse.

"He's not only one of our better Irish musicians in the community, but he's been active in the cause of freedom for Northern Ireland," Kevin Donahue, chairman of the parade committee, said of Griffith.

Griffith, who sings traditional and contemporary Irish ballads, performs about three nights a week.

"The music appeals to me from an aesthetic viewpoint, and it's because I would be interested in these things if my great-grandparents hadn't left Ireland," Griffith said. "I would be over there appreciating these things."

Griffith's ancestors came from near Cork and Dublin, and came to the United States in the midst of Ireland's Potato Famine, which began with the failure of the crop in 1845. Nearly 1 million people died during the time of starvation, and more than 1 million emigrated.

Because many of those immigrants settled in western Pennsylvania, Irish culture is thriving in Pittsburgh, Griffith said.

"I think it's partly because what drew the Irish to this particular area was the work in the steel mills and the mining towns in the area, and that the landscape was very reminiscent of parts of Ireland," Griffith said.

"When we have visitors from Ireland, they are amazed at what goes on here and at how much it is like what goes on at home," he added.

Pittsburgh's St. Patrick's Day Parade, first held in 1869, is among the five largest in the country, Griffith said.

Griffith was born and raised in Wheeling, W.Va., and moved to Pittsburgh 27 years ago. He works at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in South Park.

Griffith lives with his wife, Jan, 51. The couple has one son, Damon, 29, who lives on the South Side.

Griffith has been singing for 30 years. He started singing "because I could. And I found there was money in it, and it's always been an additional profession," Griffith said.

Griffith, who is a Protestant, sees no contradiction in his support for Sinn Fein, the largely Catholic Irish nationalist party led by Gerry Adams.

"It's a misconception that all Protestants are unionists and all Catholics are republicans or nationalists," Griffith said.

Sinn Fein has led the movement to rid Northern Ireland - which has a predominately Protestant population - of British control and unite it with the independent Republic of Ireland.

Griffith promoted Adams' first visit to Pittsburgh in 1996.

Griffith is a member of Clan na Gael, Irish Northern Aid, the Greater Pittsburgh Irish Coalition and the South Park Irish Day Committee.

Irish culture has undergone a renaissance in the United States during the past several years, Griffith said.

"There was a time in this country when it was not to your advantage to be Irish because of the influx of immigrants after the Potato Famine," Griffith said. "There were too many of them putting out of work those already here.

"As a result, many parts of the culture weren't passed along, and it's only been within the last two generations that people have been interested in finding out about their culture."

Grand Marshall,

Terry Griffith and Finbar