Yeats’s Sligo
On the anniversary of W.B. Yeats’s birth (June 13, 1865), we look at some of the places in Sligo that inspired his...
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In This Issue
Des Bishop Is Seriously Funny
He grew up in Queens, went to high school in Ireland, spent a year in the Gaeltacht, two years in China, and just bought an apartment back in New York. And here is an incomplete list of things he has...
MoreFirst Word: High Notes
One of the many highlights of our recent Hall of Fame lunch was Notre Dame’s president Rev. John Jenkins’s tribute to Don Keough, the late great Irish American who contributed so much to Ireland...
MoreWorld Irish Dance-Off
Hairspray, fake wigs, and oodles of bling were on full display in front of 20,000 spectators for the 45th installment of the Irish World Dance Championships which took place in Montreal at the Palais...
MoreIreland’s Action Plan for Jobs
Brings Results
In his April 28th Spring Economic Statement speech, Finance Minister Michael Noonan T.D. announced that Ireland currently has the fastest growing economy in Europe. He said that 95,000 new jobs have...
MoreNews From Our Honorees
Irish businessman and 2012 Irish America Business 100 Keynote Speaker Denis O’Brien has created a fellowship that will, on an annual basis, offer two Irish students a fully-funded...
MoreDublin Mural to Gay Marriage
A touchingly brave four-story mural of two men embracing was recently plastered on the side of a Dublin building on George Street. The black and white image is meant to be a “poignant...
MoreMichael Longley Given
Freedom of the City in Belfast
Michael Longley, poet, educator, and promoter of the arts, received the highest honor that one can receive from the Belfast City Council on March 23, 2015. The Freedom of the City title, much like...
MoreNLI to Make 400,000 Parish
Records Digitally Available
The National Library of Ireland recently announced that it will be digitizing their parish records and providing free online access starting on July 8th. These records are considered the most...
MoreThe Grey Nuns at Quinnipiac
A new exhibit on the Grey Nuns hosted by Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University opened April 1. A private event launching the exhibit took place on March 31 with the Canadian...
MoreGallipoli Remembered
Consul General Barbara Jones laid a traditional Irish green laurel wreath to commemorate the more than 3,000 Irish serving with Allied forces who lost their lives during the WWI Gallipoli campaign....
More“Lone Survivor”
Navy SEAL Honored
On April 18 in Kinsale, County Cork, Lt. Michael Murphy was honored at a commemoration of the Irish Veterans Association’s and a plaque was dedicated to his memory. The Navy SEAL, a Long Island...
MoreA Challenging Response:
Concern in Nepal
Concern Worldwide has been responding to emergencies around the world since it was born amid the chaos of the Biafran war in Nigeria 47 years ago. Floods, famines, wars, and earthquakes all provide...
MoreIrish Eye on Hollywood
O’Dowd. Irish talent meets American controversy in the upcoming film Icon. Icon is a biopic about American cyclist Lance Armstrong, who won seven consecutive Tour de France races and survived...
MoreThousands Mourn
a Fallen Officer in Queens
Family members, friends, neighbors, and thousands of police officers from across the country, gathered at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Seaford, New York, on Friday, May 8, to pay their last...
MoreEdward M. Kennedy Institute
Opens in Boston
A new institute honoring the life and legacy of Senator Ted Kennedy opened in Boston with a historic ceremony featuring President Obama, Vice President Biden and other dignitaries. Chilly weather...
More“Irish Dave” and the Yanks
Who Liberated Normandy
Belfast native David Ashe “Irish Dave” retired to Normandy, France, and became a champion for visiting GIs who had liberated his adopted homeland during World War II. (See end note for a...
MoreMama Tina:
The Story of Christina Noble
The story of Christina Noble, whose memories of her poverty-ridden childhood in Dublin inspired her to help thousands of children in Vietnam, is now the subject of a major movie. Christina Noble...
MoreYeats’s Sligo
On the anniversary of W.B. Yeats’s birth (June 13, 1865), we look at some of the places in Sligo that inspired his best-loved poems. 1. BENBULBEN and DRUMCLIFFE CHURCHYARD: At his request,...
MoreThe Rebel Countess
Rosemary Rogers, continuing her series on Irish women of note, profiles Constance Georgine Gore-Booth, the social agitator and revolutionary who took part in the Easter Rising of...
MoreThe Willis Family
The Willis Clan have carved out quite the reputation for their musical skills and now have a new reality TV show on TLC. There is a moment during a Willis Clan performance when the stage lights seem...
MoreA Challenging Woman:
Remembering Inez McCormack
Inez McCormack, the late labor leader and human rights activist from Northern Ireland, once said that her greatest achievement was “seeing the glint in the eye of the woman who thought she was...
MoreWhat Would Jimmy Do?
“Jimmy’s Hall” at Tribeca
In August 1933, James Gralton became the only Irish citizen to have been deported from Ireland. Despite having no evidence to substantiate their charge that he was a subversive communist, de...
MoreFoot Tapping…
Modern Trad in New York
There is always a welcoming buzz of familiarity at the Irish Arts Center. On a night in late April, This Is How We Fly made their New York City debut. The quartet of fiddle, clarinet, drums, and...
MoreWhat Are You Like?
Actor Barry Ward
Actor Barry Ward, 32, plays the lead role in Jimmy’s Hall, directed by Ken Loach with a screenplay by Paul Laverty, the movie is based on the life of Leitrim man James “Jimmy” Gralton, who...
MoreRoots: Is Oscar Irish?
Oscar Wilde, the playwright, novelist, poet, and critic of world renown, has long been labeled Anglo-Irish, but an examination of his roots puts the question of Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills...
MoreAll Too Human: An Interview
with Author Rob Doyle
Breakout novelist Rob Doyle discusses the existential strands of isolation that run through his debut, as well as the processes of writing, his relationship with Ireland, his views on Irish and...
MoreReview of Books
Recently-published books of Irish-American interest. NON-FICTION Poets and the Peacock Dinner By Lucy McDiarmid Virginia Woolf wrote, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not...
MoreSláinte! Flower Power
The long days of summer are upon us, and gardens everywhere are in bloom. Admiring the pretty flowers will satisfy some, but Sláinte columnist, Edythe Preet, likes to eat her plants. Freshly picked...
MoreThose We Lost
Cardinal Edward M. Egan 1932 – 2015 Cardinal Edward M. Egan, the former archbishop of New York, died in March of cardiac arrest at the age of 82. He led the Archdiocese of New York from 2000 to...
MoreLast Word:
Great Hunger in the North
A Window on the Past: Historian Christine Kinealy debunks the myth that Ulster was untouched by the Great Hunger. The myth of Ulster exceptionalism and affluence has roots in the Great Hunger itself....
MorePhoto Album:
The Road to the Bright City
My grandfather John Bernard “Barney” Hynes and his brother Thomas J. Hynes emigrated from Loughrea, Galway, Ireland to Boston, Massachusetts in 1875. They were in their early teens. Barney got a...
MoreHibernia
News From Our Honorees
Irish businessman and 2012 Irish America Business 100 Keynote Speaker Denis...
“Lone Survivor”
Navy SEAL Honored
On April 18 in Kinsale, County Cork, Lt. Michael Murphy was honored at a commemoration of the...
Ireland’s Action Plan for Jobs
Brings Results
In his April 28th Spring Economic Statement speech, Finance Minister Michael Noonan T.D. announced...
NLI to Make 400,000 Parish
Records Digitally Available
The National Library of Ireland recently announced that it will be digitizing their parish records...
Dublin Mural to Gay Marriage
A touchingly brave four-story mural of two men embracing was recently plastered on the side of a...
World Irish Dance-Off
Hairspray, fake wigs, and oodles of bling were on full display in front of 20,000 spectators for...
Michael Longley Given
Freedom of the City in Belfast
Michael Longley, poet, educator, and promoter of the arts, received the highest honor that one can...
Edward M. Kennedy Institute
Opens in Boston
A new institute honoring the life and legacy of Senator Ted Kennedy opened in Boston with a...
The Grey Nuns at Quinnipiac
A new exhibit on the Grey Nuns hosted by Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac...
Gallipoli Remembered
Consul General Barbara Jones laid a traditional Irish green laurel wreath to commemorate the more...
Thousands Mourn
a Fallen Officer in Queens
Family members, friends, neighbors, and thousands of police officers from across the country,...