By Mark Q. Rhoads –
My Confirmation name is Patrick to honor my mother's great-grandfather, Francis Patrick Kelly, who came to America from Ireland in 1871. I was always proud of her family's Irish roots until Oct. 10 when I saw that the Irish Post Office issued a commemorative stamp to honor the 50th anniversary of the death of Che Guevara. Many stupid explanations have been offered by the Irish Post Office including the fact that a very distant ancestor of Che Guevara was born in Galway in 1715. I wrote a letter of protest to Mr. Brian O'Brien, the Consul General of Ireland in Chicago, just to point out that a truly great Irish statesman, Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847), once famously said that "Nothing can be politically right that is morally wrong."
To honor Che Guevara with a stamp is clearly morally wrong because it endorses the cold-blooded murders of his life. Whether IR readers have any Irish roots or not, if you wish you can still join others in writing protest letters to Mr. Brian O'Brien, the Irish Consul General in Chicago by using this form:
https://www.dfa.ie/irish-consulate/chicago/contact-us/generalenquiries/
