Irish in L.A. have rallied in a time of tragedy

June was entering its last day, around 12:45am on a Sunday morning. At the intersection of Atlanta Avenue and Delaware Street in Huntington Beach, an Audi RS5 was travelling east when it struck a pedestrian just beyond the Delaware Street junction. The 21-year-old driver remained at the scene, but there was little he could do to help his 35-year-old victim, who now lay unconscious in the road. Paramedics were called, but the local man was later pronounced dead, while the driver was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

News of the tragic death of Damien O’Brien spread quickly through the Los Angeles Irish community. He left behind his heartbroken wife, Michelle, and their two young sons, Oscar and Luke, along with a third boy on the way.

The Wild Geese GAA club immediately cancelled its upcoming football match the following Saturday, following the loss of one of the Southern California GAA community’s most integral members. Damien was a long-time player and committee member of the Wild Geese Gaelic Football Club in Orange County and had played a pivotal role in the founding of the LA Cougars GAA club in 2015. The USGAA (United States Gaelic Athletic Association), responsible for administering Gaelic football and hurling across the country, expressed the pain of the Irish-American GAA family at the loss of one of its cherished sons.

Damien O’Brien’s employers, TM Grady Builders, quickly established a GoFundMe on behalf of the O’Brien family, to help with monthly bills and any unforeseen expenses. Their public statement revealed how genuinely devastated they were at the loss of their chartered surveyor:

“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the sudden passing of our Vice President of Operations, Damien O’Brien, in a tragic accident on Sunday, July 6th. Damien was an extraordinary man, a leader, and a beloved member of our TM Grady Builder family, known for his dedication, warmth, wisdom, and professionalism. His contributions to our projects and his genuine care for our clients left a lasting impact on all who had the privilege of working with him.” 

Offers of support and contributions flooded in as the Irish expat community rallied around the young O’Brien family. Within ten days, $236,126 had been raised... and counting.

It should not take the unfair and criminal loss of a young Irishman in Southern California to reveal the vitality and solidarity of the local Irish community here, but it does. From the community’s busy WhatsApp group, founded during the days of Covid, to the local GAA clubs welcoming both Irish-born and local players, to the CIACLA arts organisation promoting contemporary Irish culture and collaborations in Los Angeles, this is a diverse group proud of its Irish roots and generous to a fault in extending a Céad Míle Fáilte to new arrivals.

Where once the Catholic Church and radical nationalist groups engendered the sense of collective Irishness abroad, now it is found (at least in Los Angeles) in the roles played by the GAA and Irish cultural organisations. Both are vehicles for uniting emigrant communities and providing social cohesion with a strong sense of identity, rarely mentioned back in Ireland. The growing use of the Irish language is a notable, if recent, advancement of this unique sense of community, with the band Kneecap and TikTok or Instagram influencers speaking as Gaeilge, igniting an impulse among young Irish emigrants to bring Irish into their everyday speech abroad.

Sinn Féin has proposed that this coming Irish Presidential election should be the last that “excludes citizens in the North and the diaspora” and I could not agree more. To be Irish is not to be confined to those geographically living in part of the island of Ireland. The presidency of Michael D. Higgins espoused the sense of an Irishness that was both outward-looking and generously inclusive. In an era when the Irish emigrant community moves easily between Ireland and international homes or workplaces, and when the broader diaspora is strengthening its connection to the homeland (as evidenced by the record number of Irish passports issued), I believe we should see how best to represent this sense of Irishness beyond borders in a positive, constructive way, and not just for narrow economic advantage.

In any case, little of this can fix the pain of loss in a Southern California family today, where anguish has turned to anger at the senseless taking of human life. As news of the arrest of Damien’s killer was reported in the local media, the Irish WhatsApp group was filled with posts about how prevalent drink-driving remains here. 

The comments sadly align with my own experience, where the likelihood of being stopped by police appears negligible for many drivers, content to drive to restaurants or bars, have a few drinks, and then drive home... in a city and at a time when it has never been easier to order a taxi from your smartphone and have it pull up within minutes. It feels you are more likely to be pulled-over (and/or have a fear of being pulled-over) by an Irish Garda for driving over the alcohol limit through Ballycroy on a sodden February mid-week evening than be stopped by a United States police officer for the same reason in Los Angeles - whatever the movies tell you.

Whatever the outcome of the legal prosecution of the driver who fatally struck Damien O’Brien, it is too late for the young Donegal native. While no amount of money or punishment will fill the void left by his death, the depth of love, support, and practical generosity shown by his Irish community will salve the pain as best it can.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.