Plans to stage a 1997 play based on Oscar Wilde: “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde” were halted after the Russian government barred the company from accepting any foreign funds for “artistic purposes” according to The New York Times. The much lauded New Drama theater in Moscow was attempting to put on Moises Kaufman’s playRead more..
The 40th annual American Ireland Fund’s New York Dinner Gala raised $4.3 million this year, more than any in the Fund’s past. Over 1,000 guests attended the May event in New York City, including Ireland’s Minister for the Diaspora Jimmy Deenihan and Ireland’s Ambassador to the U.S. Anne Anderson. And special guest Senator George MitchellRead more..
Ordering a whiskey or a pint in Ireland may find you with a subtle pain emanating from your wallet. A newly released survey found that tobacco and whiskey costs are 70 percent higher in Ireland than the rest of the countries in the EU. The National Off Licence Association director Evelyn Jones greeted the news with anRead more..
A growing awareness within the medical community of the risks of the auto-degenerative disease Tay-Sachs and its prevalence within the Irish and Irish-American community is on the rise. Before pandemonium spreads, it is important to note that fewer than 30 children in America are afflicted with the disease each year and that one in 300Read more..
For those of you still recovering from the emotional rollercoaster of Sunday’s series finale of Mad Men and are still trying to make sense of what it all means, how you are going to live with yourselves on Sunday’s (or whenever you watch it on Hulu), or are still craving that fitting farewell you thoughtRead more..
A new opera dealing with the trials and imprisonment of the Irish playwright Oscar Wilde made its East Coast debut this past February. It was put on at the charmingly lavish Opera Philadelphia by composer and co-librettist Theodore Morrison and English opera director John Cox, a year following its debut in Sante Fe, New Mexico inRead more..
FICTION Nora Webster By Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín’s latest novel Nora Webster finds the gifted Irish author writing one of his most personal novels since Brooklyn. Throughout Nora Webster, Tóibín taps into his early childhood growing up in Wexford, the death of his father, and the perseverance of his mother. His penchant for character-driven plotRead more..
While rain is free and plentiful and free in Ireland, it appears water is not. Public outrage is sweeping across Ireland over the introduction of mandatory water meters that would raise the cost of living for many in the country. With the introduction of the water meters, Ireland will be paying some of the highestRead more..
The Choctaw Native American tribe and Irish people have a complex and nuanced relationship that has stretched across the centuries. Their histories of displacement and recovery inform and strengthen one another by providing a system of cooperation, generosity, and faith in the resilience of the human spirit. It was this connection that spurred the QueensRead more..
Just around the corner from the Pantheon in Paris’s 5th Arrondissement is the former Collège des Irlandais, now the Irish Cultural Center (Le Centre Culturel Irlandais). Matthew Skwiat explores its storied past and current revival. Henry Miller once said “to know Paris is to know a great deal.” His words seemed to take on aRead more..