I have no interest in Ancestry.com or tracing my roots. I know most of my DNA and it’s all Irish on my mom’s side. Her father, the son of a Ballylongford, County Kerry, farmer, was named Tom Keane. He emigrated to America sometime around 1900 – it’s believed he had to hightail it out ofRead more..
There is a thread that links each of Terry George’s films, and it comes directly from his life. “I’m talking about ordinary people struggling against oppression,” he tells Irish America. “That’s always been my kind of guiding light.” Whether it’s the true-to-life tale of the late Gerry Conlon (the Belfast man who spent 15 yearsRead more..
August 31 marked the 20th anniversary of the 1994 IRA ceasefire that paved the way for the ending of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the beginning of the Good Friday Agreement. This historic event is being celebrated all over Ireland and America as the world remembers this historic moment. Niall O’Dowd, co founder ofRead more..
July’s announcement that the IRA was ending its military campaign drew a muted response from political quarters north and south of the Irish border. Although the statement was potentially historic by calling on IRA activists to unconditionally dump arms, unionist politicians again reacted skeptically to how decommissioning would take place and be independently verified. TheRead more..
Joe Cahill, former I.R.A. chief of staff, died on July 23 at his Andersonstown home in Belfast after a short illness. The 84-year-old was buried after a huge funeral cortege carried his remains to the Republican plot at Milltown Cemetery. Cahill was honorary vice-president of Sinn Féin, and the party’s current president Gerry Adams paidRead more..
“This is the first time the inside story of the Irish peace process has been told by so many of the major politicians and paramilitary leaders who helped shape it.” – WGBH executive producer Zvi Dor-Ner ℘℘℘ Endgame in Ireland, a four-hour PBS special documenting the hard-fought road to peace in Northern Ireland from theRead more..
Thank Christ the murdered man was Catholic. No Catholic will say that on the record, but every northern Catholic knows what it means, and no Catholic has to amplify when it is said privately. It means that if Gerard Lawlor, aged 19, shot dead by loyalists last Sunday night [7.21.02] in north Belfast, had beenRead more..
An historic breakthrough was made in the Northern Ireland peace process at the end of October when the first IRA arms were put permanently beyond use in a move monitored by the International Commission on Decommissioning. In the early hours of October 23 General John de Chastelain oversaw the disposal of what was called aRead more..
The evolution of Martin McGuinness – from high school dropout and IRA man to political leader seeking an end to violence and, finally, his emergence as Northern Ireland’s Minister for Education. ℘℘℘ If it’s fair to judge the effectiveness of a politician by the depth of his opponents’ dislike for him, then the Sinn FéinRead more..
“History says, don’t hope on this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime the longed for tidal wave of justice can rise up, and hope and history rhyme.” – Seamus Heaney from The Cure At Troy. ℘℘℘ For a brief time in August, hope and history rhymed in Northern Ireland. The IRARead more..