Brenda Fricker, Glen Hansard Mourned Irish music and movie fans are mourning two celebrated stars. Singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, who won an Oscar for the 2007 film Once, died in a July motorcycle crash in Dublin. Hansard played a member of the Dublin soul band The Commitments in the 1991 hit of the same name. Almost 20 years later, he starred alongside Markéta Irglová in … [Read more...] about Hibernia | Arts
Roots: Fitzgeralds and other Fitzs
By James G. Ryan November 1991
The names Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick and others with the prefix "Fitz," are numerous in Ireland. The name-form, however, is Norman and most of the families arrived in Ireland during the 12th century. The Normans, who were French in origin, conquered many parts of Ireland but gradually adopted the Gaelic language and customs and to a great extent assimilated with the native … [Read more...] about Roots: Fitzgeralds and other Fitzs
A Rousing Tale
By Mary Pat Kelly November 1991
Forget it. He'll cancel. How could he spare the time with all this going on?" So said our friend, the Hollywood expert, when Irish America arrived in Los Angeles for the interview with Frank Price, head of Columbia Pictures. The article would kick off a series on Irish Americans in Hollywood concentrating on those behind the scenes. Frank Price, who had headed Universal Studios … [Read more...] about A Rousing Tale
Frankly Scarlett . . .
It is likely to become the biggest international bestseller since Gone With the Wind, but Scarlett, the sequel, has been criticized for its stereotypical approach. In Margaret Mitchell's book it was the Blacks who were caricatured, in the sequel by Alexandra Ripley, it's the Irish. The climactic scene in Scarlett, the sequel to Gone with the Wind, occurs when a mob of Irish … [Read more...] about Frankly Scarlett . . .
Brian Friel: A Modest Man
By Frank Shouldice October 1991
It is a measure of Brian Friel's stature or modesty-as a playwright of international acclaim that he is very surprised to hear mention of The Diviner, a collection of ten short stories he first published in 1979. "Oh," he laughs, "I'd forgotten about them." In fact, as the growing success and demands of his stage plays continue to affirm his standing as one of Ireland's … [Read more...] about Brian Friel: A Modest Man