The Notre Dame connection to an old mill town in Massachusetts

An important part of Notre Dame history and tradition originates in Holyoke, Mass.

An acclaimed Notre Dame professor, Dr. Christopher B. Fox, was given an award in Holyoke, Massachusetts, over the weekend. The award he won is called the Ambassador’s Award, and it’s for, “A person who has worked to promote the relationship between the people of the Republic of Ireland and the people of the United States.”

Past winners include Tommy Makem, and Frank McCourt.

To celebrate the award winners and St. Patrick’s Day in general, Holyoke hosts a parade. That’s not uncommon. What is uncommon, however, is that Holyoke — an old mill town in Western Massachusetts — has the second largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the country. Only New York City’s is bigger.

As you might expect at an event like this, people wear green clothes, whether or not they’re Irish. Around the country, many people wear their Notre Dame clothes — if they have any.

In Holyoke, it seems everyone has Fighting Irish jackets, shirts, hats and so on. They don’t just wear it during March, either. Holyoke, a small city once known for its paper production, has a deep rooted love of Notre Dame football.

Strange for region of the country that — for the most part — doesn’t pay much attention to college football.

So why this deep-rooted love?

The first part is that Holyoke, traditionally, has a hyperbolic love of being Irish. For many residents, they root for the Fighting Irish because of the nickname. When Holyoke was founded, it was not called ‘Holyoke,’ but ‘Ireland Parrish.’ This also comes with deep-rooted Catholicism.

Put the two together, and who else would you root for?

Those thoughts and feelings have been passed down for generations.

The other reason for Holyoke, Massachusetts’ deep love for Notre Dame is more interesting for the average Irish fan. It has less to do with the demographics and history of a random mill town and more to do with one of Notre Dame’s most sacred traditions.

The Victory March was written by two men from Holyoke. Two Notre Dame graduates — Michael J. and John F. Shea — wrote the Notre Dame fight song. Before their time at Notre Dame, before they wrote the most famous fight song in the world, they were born and raised in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

This isn’t a fact any Holyoke townie will let you forget.

From the time the Victory March was first performed in 1909, a small Catholic school in the Midwest became the pride of a small industrial city in the Northeast.

Holyoke takes so much pride in the Notre Dame Victory March that Holyoke High School’s own fight song has the exact same tune. It is often jokingly said around town that Holyoke is the only place outside of Notre Dame allowed to use the tune.

The Victory March is special. It’s more than just a song. It signifies that you’re somewhere special. It signifies that you’re associated with something special.

As Dr. Fox accepted the Ambassador’s Award, he spoke about the time he was offered a job at Notre Dame. When he called his wife to tell her, he just hummed the tune through the phone, and she knew where they were headed. He talked about how they teared up, because they knew they were going somewhere special.

It’s not hard to see why any town would want to be associated with Notre Dame. A proud old town like Holyoke would never let that association end.