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Archives for December 2019

Meet the Nolans

By Marsha Sorotick, Contributor
December 21, 2019

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Family stories endure. It has been 75 years since the publication of Betty Smith’s best-selling novel A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. Since that time, Tree has been hailed as a modern classic and was cited by the NY Public Library as one of the best books of the 20th century. In a national survey conducted by PBS in 2018, it was chosen as one of America’s 100 best-loved novels. As … [Read more...] about Meet the Nolans

Movers, Shakers,
& Music Makers

By Irish America Staff
December 14, 2019

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On Tuesday, December 10, Irish America magazine hosted its 34th annual Business 100 awards luncheon at the Metropolitan Club in New York City.  The best and brightest Irish-American business leaders, representing some of the nation’s top corporations, were honored.  Mike Clune, founder of Clune Construction and chairman of the board of the Irish American … [Read more...] about Movers, Shakers,
& Music Makers

Paul Boskind: A Man and His Castle

By Patricia Harty, Editor-in-Chief
December / January 2020

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Paul Boskind, Ph.D. is a psychologist, chief executive officer, National LGBTQ activist, philanthropist, and Tony Award-winning producer and owner of a castle in Ireland. Paul Boskind couldn’t have picked a better time to visit Ireland. As he checked into the Fitzwilliam Hotel, the desk clerk warned, “It’s going to be crazy here tomorrow.  It’s the parade.”  It … [Read more...] about Paul Boskind: A Man and His Castle

Those We Lost: Denis Kelleher

By Mary Gallagher, Deputy Editor

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Irish America lost a beloved one of our own in late November with the passing of Denis Kelleher, a Kerry-born powerhouse of a businessman. Over the course of his 80 years, Kelleher built two financial services firms from the ground up, raised a close-knit family of three with his wife Carol, and held fast to his commitment to helping people who needed it. especially immigrants … [Read more...] about Those We Lost: Denis Kelleher

We Banjo 3

By Christine Kinealy, Contributor
December / January 2020

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The band from Galway plays a blend of traditional Irish, old-time, and bluegrass music they call Celtgrass. The banjo has a long, contested and even controversial history. Musicologists now generally agree that an early form of the instrument was first brought to America by enslaved people from West Africa. It was possibly an akonting, a three-stringed instrument with a long … [Read more...] about We Banjo 3