In my family, our love of University of Notre Dame football runs deep. So does our love for Ireland. Hence, we combined both of these passions on a recent trip to Dublin to cheer on our favorite team as they played Navy in the season opener. We joined 40,000 other Americans and set a world record for most Americans coming to Ireland for a single sporting event.
Conversely, a century ago, the Gills of Kiltimagh Co.Mayo, like so many Irish, came in waves as they emigrated to America. My grandpa, Paddy Gill, adopted the “Fightin’ Irish” as his team when he settled in Chicago and started attending Notre Dame football games in the 1930s. He started taking his young son Patrick, my father, to the games in the 1940s, and they both fell in love with the game, thus starting a lasting bond to both Notre Dame and the Irish. Sixty years ago, Paddy and Patrick, now aged 81, bought season tickets, and our family still has them to this day.
This past weekend, we came full circle and had three generations of Gills arrive from three different countries to attend the game in Ireland. Our family reunion included my parents, Patrick and Patricia Gill (40+-year residents of Park Ridge), their children Kristen Gill, Colleen Gill, and Maureen Gill-Emerson (all Maine South graduates), and my three nephews (the next generation of Fightin’ Irish fans).
The game was full of excitement, with lots of pregame entertainment, including the Notre Dame and Navy marching bands, Irish dancing performances (my sisters and I competed at the World Championships of Irish Dance while attending Maine South), and an impressive Navy flyover with three Ospreys during the National Anthem.
Even though we celebrated a solid 42-3 win, it was less about the game and more about how our family united across oceans and generations through our shared love of Notre Dame.
Kristin Gill
Park Ridge
