UNITED IRISH SOCIETIES OF BUTTE TO PICNIC AT GREGSON SPRINGS TODAY

The Butte Miner, Butte, 1912-07-21, p.8

Summary

Sub-head: "GREATEST CROWD OF THE SEASON IS EXPECTED TO ATTEND ANNUAL OUTING OF THREE ORGANIZATIONS. GAELIC FOOTBALL AND OTHER SPORTS, DANCING AND SWIMMING TO BE THE ATTRACTIONS." Annual outing of the United Irish Societies of Silver Bow county (Hibernians + Gaelic League + Robert Emmet Literary Association) at Gregson Springs, Sunday July 21, 1912. Estimated 10,000 attendees. Irish Volunteers under Capt. M. Drohan to march from Hibernia hall Centerville to the BA&P station for an early morning train. Gaelic football: Shamrocks vs. Emmets in the second round for the state championship. Hugh Daly manager of the springs prepared grounds. **Committees:** - **Sports** — Capt. M. Drohan, J. C. Murphy, Jerry Egan, Dan Lynch, M. McCarthy. - **Transportation** — J. H. O'Meara, Con Shea, T. J. McCartny, Dan Leahy, J. J. Crowley. - **Press and Publicity** — **J. J. Murphy**, Jerry Egan, D. P. Kane. - **Soliciting** — John Gribben, J. J. Crowley, James Cummins. - **Dance Hall** — T. J. Moran, T. F. Collins, **J. J. Murphy**, P. J. Hawe, Tom Kenny. - **Starter** — Capt. M. Drohan. - **Judges** — J. C. Murphy, John Gribben, James Cummins, T. F. Collins. - **Official Announcer** — Jerry Egan. - **Referee** — James Cummins. ARCHIVE SIGNIFICANCE. (a) **First clear documentation of the "United Irish Societies of Butte" as an umbrella organisation** combining the Hibernians + the Gaelic League + the Robert Emmet Literary Association into a joint civic body. JJM on TWO of its committees (Press and Publicity, Dance Hall) — this is JJM acting in his quasi-official role as the Centerville-AOH leader running the front-of-house and press-relations work for the larger umbrella body. (b) The 1920-08-01 Washoe Park picnic clipping shows the same United Irish Societies still running annual picnics 8 years later with JJM still on the committee. (c) Held at Gregson Springs — the same hot-springs resort whose 1886 owners included the candidate-Patrick-Murphy (person_patrick_murphy_butte_ gregson_1886). Continuity of Gregson Springs as an Irish- American social-calendar node from 1886 to 1912.

In its time

Key terms in this sourceAll key terms →

United Irish Societies: A joint committee of a city’s Irish organisations, formed to run shared events — St. Patrick’s Day, picnics, receptions for visiting speakers.
Ancient Order of Hiberniansin America from 1836: The largest Irish Catholic fraternal order in America: sick and death benefits for members, St. Patrick’s Day parades, and steady support for Irish nationalism.
Gaelic Leaguefounded 1893: Founded in Dublin by Douglas Hyde and Eoin MacNeill to keep Irish a spoken language. Branches in American cities ran language classes, dances and concerts and raised money for the work in Ireland.
Robert Emmet Literary Association: Butte’s camp of the Clan na Gael — the secret Irish republican brotherhood in America — meeting publicly as a literary society. Its minute books record members by number rather than by name.
Irish Volunteersfounded 1913: The nationalist militia formed in Dublin in November 1913 in answer to the Ulster Volunteers. A minority of it carried out the 1916 Rising; it became the Irish Republican Army.
Hibernia Hall: The meeting hall of Butte’s Hibernians and a venue for other Irish societies; meeting notices name it again and again.
Centerville: The hillside neighbourhood between uptown Butte and Walkerville, built among the mine yards and home to many Irish and Cornish mining families.

Reference notes, not part of the source. A term appears here because the source’s text uses it.

Narrative

The United Irish societies of Silver Bow county — the Hibernians, the Gaelic league and the Robert Emmet Literary association — hold their annual outing at Gregson springs, with some 10,000 people expected for athletic sports, dancing and swimming. The Irish Volunteers under Capt. M. Drohan are to march from Hibernia hall, Centerville, to the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific station for an early train, and a Gaelic football match between the Shamrocks and the Emmets in the second round for the state championship is among the day's features. Committees named include Capt. M. Drohan, J. C. Murphy, Jerry Egan, Dan Lynch and M. McCarthy on sports, and J. J. Murphy, Jerry Egan and D. P. Kane on press and publicity.

“All that is needed to make the annual outing of the United Irish societies of Silver Bow county a success is fair weather”
“The grounds have been especially prepared by Hugh Daly, manager of the springs, and they will be faster than any similar green in the state”
“The last train for Butte will leave the springs at 1:30 o'clock tomorrow morning”

AI-generated (claude-opus-5). Verify against the transcription before quoting.

People

James Joseph "James J." Murphy (b. 1883 Ardgroom; d. 1938 LA)(as printed: J. J. Murphy)
role: press publicity and dance hall committees · family confidence: 50 candidate
Family confidence aligned with identity confidence 70 on 4 Oct 2026; the reason is in identity_basis.
John Gribben
role: soliciting and judge · family confidence: 0 not family
Not family: recurring Butte AOH figure. Printed-name match to his person record; moved from mentioned in the 2026-10-03 rescan.
James Cummins
role: soliciting judge and referee · family confidence: 0 not family
Not family: recurring Butte AOH figure. Printed-name match to his person record; moved from mentioned in the 2026-10-03 rescan.
T. J. McCarthy (Silver Bow AOH)(as printed: T. J. McCartny)
role: transportation committee · family confidence: 0 not family
John J. Crowley (Butte AOH; president of Division No. 1, 1916)(as printed: J. J. Crowley)
role: transportation committee and soliciting · family confidence: 0 not family
John H. O'Meara (president, Robert Emmet Literary Association, Butte, 1914)(as printed: J. H. O'Meara)
role: transportation committee · family confidence: 0 not family
Thomas J. Moran (financial secretary, Silver Bow county AOH, 1912)(as printed: T. J. Moran)
role: dance hall committee · family confidence: 0 not family
Thomas F. Collins (recording secretary, Silver Bow county AOH, 1912; Division 3)(as printed: T. F. Collins)
role: dance hall and judge · family confidence: 0 not family
Hugh Daly (manager of Gregson Springs; Irish societies, 1911-1920)(as printed: Hugh Daly)
role: gregson springs manager prepared grounds · family confidence: 0 not family
Dan Leahy (Daniel Leahy), Butte Gaelic League dancer and AOH Division 1 member(as printed: Dan Leahy)
role: transportation committee · family confidence: 0 not family
John C. Murphy (Butte Gaelic League president; AOH Division 1 recording secretary, 1913)(as printed: J. C. Murphy)
role: sports committee and judge · family confidence: 0 not family
Jerry Egan (financial secretary, AOH Division 1, Butte, 1913; born in Ireland)(as printed: Jerry Egan)
role: sports committee press publicity official announcer · family confidence: 0 not family
Thomas Kenny (Butte AOH, 1912-1915)(as printed: Tom Kenny)
role: dance hall committee · family confidence: 0 not family
Dan Lynch (Butte AOH, 1910-1920)(as printed: Dan Lynch)
role: sports committee · family confidence: 0 not family
Maurice Drohan (captain, Irish Volunteers, Butte)(as printed: Capt. M. Drohan)
role: sports committee starter irish volunteers captain · family confidence: 0 not family

Also mentioned

M. McCarthy · sports_committee
Con Shea · transportation_committee
D. P. Kane · press_and_publicity
P. J. Hawe · dance_hall_committee

Places

Butte, Montana (primary)
Centerville (district of Butte) (secondary)
Gregson Hot Springs (primary)

Themes

Story threads

Source type

news_item, public_meeting_report, list_of_officers

Related sources

Transcription

transcription: complete · confidence high

# UNITED IRISH SOCIETIESIrish societiesUnited Irish SocietiesA joint committee of a city’s Irish organisations, formed to run shared events — St. Patrick’s Day, picnics, receptions for visiting speakers.More in Key terms → OF BUTTE TO PICNIC AT GREGSON SPRINGS TODAY ## GREATEST CROWD OF THE SEASON IS EXPECTED TO ATTEND ANNUAL OUTING OF THREE ORGANIZATIONS. GAELIC FOOTBALL AND OTHER SPORTS, DANCING AND SWIMMING TO BE THE ATTRACTIONS. *The Butte Miner, Sunday morning, July 21, 1912, p. 8.* All that is needed to make the annual outing of the United Irish societies of Silver Bow county a success is fair weather, for the different committees have made arrangements for a monster picnic to be held at Gregson springs today. It is estimated that at least 10,000 persons will journey to the pleasure resort during the morning and afternoon to enjoy the program of athletic sports and other pastimes prepared for their amusement. The HiberniansIrish societiesAncient Order of Hiberniansin America from 1836The largest Irish Catholic fraternal order in America: sick and death benefits for members, St. Patrick’s Day parades, and steady support for Irish nationalism.More in Key terms →, Gaelic leagueIrish societiesGaelic Leaguefounded 1893Founded in Dublin by Douglas Hyde and Eoin MacNeill to keep Irish a spoken language. Branches in American cities ran language classes, dances and concerts and raised money for the work in Ireland.More in Key terms → and Robert Emmet Literary associationIrish societiesRobert Emmet Literary AssociationButte’s camp of the Clan na Gael — the secret Irish republican brotherhood in America — meeting publicly as a literary society. Its minute books record members by number rather than by name.More in Key terms → have co-operated in the outing. The Irish VolunteersIreland: movements, law & landIrish Volunteersfounded 1913The nationalist militia formed in Dublin in November 1913 in answer to the Ulster Volunteers. A minority of it carried out the 1916 Rising; it became the Irish Republican Army.More in Key terms →, under the leadership of Capt. M. Drohan, will march from Hibernia hallIrish societiesHibernia HallThe meeting hall of Butte’s Hibernians and a venue for other Irish societies; meeting notices name it again and again.More in Key terms →, CentervilleButte: companies, unions & placesCentervilleThe hillside neighbourhood between uptown Butte and Walkerville, built among the mine yards and home to many Irish and Cornish mining families.More in Key terms →, to the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific station, where they will board an early morning train for the springs. One of the features of the day's events will be a Gaelic football game between the Shamrocks and the Emmets in the second round for the championship of the state. The grounds have been especially prepared by Hugh Daly, manager of the springs, and they will be faster than any similar green in the state. The plunge and dance hall will be open all day. The last train for Butte will leave the springs at 1:30 o'clock tomorrow morning. A band will be at Gregson all day to enliven the sport. The following committees have charge of the affairs: **Sports** — Capt. M. Drohan, J. C. Murphy, Jerry Egan, Dan Lynch and M. McCarthy. **Transportation** — J. H. O'Meara, Con Shea, T. J. McCartny, Dan Leahy and J. J. Crowley. **Press and Publicity** — J. J. Murphy, Jerry Egan and D. P. Kane. **Soliciting** — John Gribben, J. J. Crowley and James Cummins. **Dance Hall** — T. J. Moran, T. F. Collins, J. J. Murphy, P. J. Hawe, Tom Kenny. **Starter** — Capt. M. Drohan. **Judges** — J. C. Murphy, John Gribben, James Cummins and T. F. Collins. **Official Announcer** — Jerry Egan. **Referee** — James Cummins.

Dotted underlines mark key terms on first mention — hover or tab to one for a reference note. The wording is the source’s own.

Open questions

The Robert Emmet Literary Association (referenced as one of the three United Irish Societies) — worth a back-pass person/organisation record. John H. O'Meara is its president per the 1914 Brennan-reply clipping.
Hugh Daly as manager of Gregson Springs in 1912 — same Hugh Daly on the 1920 Washoe Park picnic committee? Plausibly so.