2. Dermot Kinlen, 1930 - 2007

The ICCS suffered a heavy blow with the death, on 18th July 2007, of Dermot Kinlen. Associated with the Society from as early as 1978, he was President from 1982 to 1985; and subsequently he was one of its most valued members and a true friend, unfailingly generous with his help and influence.

Dermot Kinlen was born in Dublin on April 24th 1930. After kindergarten in Loreto Beaufort, he attended St. Mary's Rathmines, Clongowes and St Conleth's schools, ill health being a factor in some of the moves. He then went to UCD, where he became prominent in the DramSoc en route to getting a First Class Honours degree in History. He became a barrister in 1952 and practised on the southwestern circuit, which included Kerry. He took silk in 1971, and in 1993 he was made a Judge of the High Court. He retired from the bench in 2002, and was then appointed as the first Inspector of Prisons in the state, a post which he held up to his death.

Much has been written about his work as a jurist and as a crusader for a humane and effective prison system. Here it is appropriate to concentrate on his links with China: but first a few personal details. His mother came from Kerry, where her father, Tom O'Donnell, had been a Nationalist M.P. and later a Circuit Court judge: and Kerry was his favourite place. Dermot bought a piece of land on the coast outside Sneem, and on it he built, not just a main house, but two other houses as well, for guests. A gregarious bachelor, he was a byword for hospitality, and Sneem was the seasonal centre of it. His circle of friends was astonishingly wide, and Presidents, Ministers and Ambassadors shared with countless others the pleasures of a stay there.

It was said at his funeral Mass that whenever he came into the family home, the house was always lit up by the warmth of his good humour. Indeed, it is hard to find a photograph of him in which he is not smiling - in spite of many years of ill health. He had, of course, a great sense of humour. As a tiny example, when a big rock, with a medallion and inscription, was erected in Sneem to commemorate President De Gaulle's sojourn there, Dermot was delighted when the local wags called it "de Gaulle stone".

How did his interest in China start? In a memorable talk which he gave to the ICCS in 2002, he told us that it all began in 1976 one day in Kerry, when his friend Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, then President of Ireland, suddenly suggested that Dermot and a small party should go to China. At that time, the Beijing government was still not officially recognised, and President Ó Dálaigh wanted this situation changed. The following year, the party duly went to Beijing (in the event, it included Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh himself, because he had meantime resigned from the Presidency). From then on, Dermot's constructive interest in China was a major factor in his life. Were there any previous influences? One possibility concerns a Jesuit missionary, Fr. Joy, a family friend of the O'Donnells, who, around 1950, spent Christmas with the Kinlens after his expulsion from China by the new regime. Dermot was deeply affected at the time by the desolation of Fr. Joy at having to abandon his work and his congregation. Perhaps also in Clongowes he had learned about Matteo Ricci and the other early Jesuit missionaries to China. But he showed no outward special interest in China before this first visit.

The 1977 trip was a step in the process leading to the establishing of diplomatic relations between China and Ireland in 1979. Among his subsequent visits to China, one was in 1980 with retired Taoiseach Jack Lynch, and in 1998 he led a delegation of Irish High Court Judges to China as part of a European Union programme. He received a return delegation of senior Chinese Judges to Dublin in the following year.

Dermot also gave valuable practical help in the setting up of the new Chinese Embassy in Dublin, and had close and friendly ties over the years with the Embassy staff, as well as many Chinese visitors: in fact, he liked to call his home in Sneem "the Chinese Embassy to the Kingdom of Kerry". (It may be coincidence, but in a standard travel map of the British Isles produced in China, Sneem is given equal prominence, typographically, with Dingle and Kenmare.) He continued to be supportive of all links between Ireland and China, and recently became Patron of the Irish Chinese Centre for Social Services, which provides information and support to the Chinese community in Ireland.

Dermot Kinlen and John de Courcy Ireland,
Ireland's two Ambassadors Of Friendship,
Chinese Embassy, 30th October 2002.

In 2002 he was given a rare award, the title of "Ambassador of Friendship", at a ceremony in the Chinese Embassy. He greatly valued this honour from the Government of China, as well as another, Knight Commander of the Equestrian Order of St Gregory, from the Vatican. Dermot, devout Catholic, was probably unique in having both.

He will be sorely missed. To his sister Aideen and his brother Kevin and family we express our deep sympathy.

3. Ambassador Liu Biwei

On behalf of the committee and members of the IrishChinese Cultural Society, we would like to express a warm welcome to His Excellency Liu Biwei as the new Chinese Ambassador to Ireland. We wish him céad míle fáilte (one hundred thousand welcomes), and we hope he that he will enjoy his posting to Ireland. The Irish-Chinese Cultural Society has always worked closely with the Chinese Embassy to promote Chinese Culture in Ireland. In this regard, Ambassador Liu Biwei has a hard act to follow, as his predecessors had developed excellent ties with our Society and with the many other societies and associations promoting trade, education and cultural links between our two countries. Ambassador Liu Biwei was born in Hunan Province. His last posting was as Chinese Consul General in New York.

4. The March 2007 Talk: “Family Celebrations in China” by Victor Huang, M.Comm.

5. The April 2007 Talk: "Five Key Words for Unlocking Chinese Culture" by Professor Jerusha McCormack

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6. The September 2007 Talk: "Paper,Ink,Brush: the Life and Work of artist Ch'i Pai-shih", by Jane Almquist

	This long-lived (1863-1957) and much admired artist (Pinyin name Qi Baishi) was born in Hunan into a farming family. He was expected to work in the fields but ill health made this impossible. Still at home, he trained himself to cut seals in stone used for stamping documents and paintings, even collecting the stone for this work. With the discovery of a 17th century book called "The Mustard Seed Garden Manual," which he avidly studied, he at last found his métier, for this book instructed, not in gardening, but painting. Painting on paper in ink and colour washes, his paintings of flowers, vegetables and insects are delightfully sensitive, almost abstract. In his paintings during times of war, China's enemies are often depicted as fighting insects or crabs. The observer is left in no doubt as to Chi's political views.
	Chi's final years were spent as professor of art at Peking University. During his lifetime, he is thought to have painted 30,000 "ink on paper" pictures. Whereas many museums have works by Chi, it is not so easy to see them except in books, unless one is fortunate. For this talk, we resorted to the non-tech method of handing around mounted prints for members to examine.
	As well as Chi's work, Jane,amateur art historian and watercolorist, touched on the importance of the inked brush-work calligraphy on Chinese paintings, which can be as expressive as the painting and enhances it. The talk ended with suggestions as to where one might find museum collections of Chinese art.

7. The October 2007 Talk: "Our Chinese Community" by Summy K. Sing Wong

Receiving an Irish Times Living Dublin Award, 2007
(Summy in red)

8. Visit to Marsh's Library

9. "A Tree In Blossom"

A Tree In Blossom Xi Murong A way to let you meet me At my most beautiful moment - For this I have begged Buddha for five hundred years, Begged him to link us at some destined place on earth. So Buddha made me a tree Growing at the side of a road you will certainly take. Cautiously, under the sunshine, my flowers opened to the full; Each bloom the longing of a previous life. As you draw near, please listen closely: The leaf's trembling is the fever of my waiting... But as in the end you passed by unregarding, What fell behind you to the ground, Oh friend, that is not a petal; It is my withered heart.

10. The Year of the Rat

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