Irish America

Irish America

By Michael J. Cummings November 1992

Hibernia | The Irish Father of the American Band

By Michael J. Cummings

November 1992

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During 1992, the centennial of Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore's death, many cities across the United States are honoring "The Father of The American Band." However, Ireland is where it all began for the great bandleader. The greatest bandmaster of the last century was a native Irishman named Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore. Born in Galway on December 25, 1829, the third child of Patrick … [Read more...] about Hibernia | The Irish Father of the American Band

Hibernia

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Chicago's Irish Heritage Center As bidding around the table became tense, one Irishman whispered to another, "Raise it two thousand." And that is how for half a million plus two thousand the old Mayfair School at 4626 North Knox Avenue in Chicago's Northwest became the Irish American Heritage Center. It covers an entire city block (3.7 acres) and is located at the exits of … [Read more...] about Hibernia

The Times Man in Dublin: James Clarity

By Frank Shouldice

November 1992

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A year ago, veteran correspondent Jim Clarity arrived in Dublin to work for The New York Times. Previous coverage of Ireland had generally been done by its three-man London bureau, a fact that left many Irish Americans dissatisfied and led to charges of Anglophilia especially when it came to the paper's coverage of Northern Ireland. Frank Shouldice reports. Several months … [Read more...] about The Times Man in Dublin: James Clarity

The Rascal King

By Jack Beatty

November 1992

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Saint and sinner, champion of the people and shameless grafter, James Michael Curley, four times mayor of Boston, helped to transform our governance from the politics of deference to the politics of serving human needs. In this excerpt from Jack Beatty's forthcoming The Rascal King, the people of Boston, more than one million of them, turn out to say farewell to one of the most … [Read more...] about The Rascal King

The Fair of Ballinasloe

By Charlie Piggott

September 1992

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In the vast collection of traditional Irish music, there exists a tune called the Ballinasloe Fair which celebrates what was in its heyday one of the most famous horse fairs in Western Europe and which is still regarded as the biggest and most popular fair in modern Ireland. The week-long fair opens on October 3 each year and follows an old recognized pattern of Irish country … [Read more...] about The Fair of Ballinasloe