Irish America

Irish America

By Patrick Farrelly October 1991

Mickey Rourke: Going Nowhere Special

By Patrick Farrelly

October 1991

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Mickey Rourke's latest movie, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, seems like yet another low point in his faltering career. We first see Mickey Rourke in a darkened bedroom pulling a tight tee-shirt down over his muscular chest. Then the leather biker jacket. As he opens the door of the room to leave, he turns to look back and we see a naked woman turning in the bed to … [Read more...] about Mickey Rourke: Going Nowhere Special

The Flight of the Wild Geese

By Irish America Staff

October 1991

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Was it for this the wild geese spread The gray wing upon every tide? -William Butler Yeats, September 1913 October 1991, marks the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Limerick, which formally ended hostilities between the forces of King James II and those of King William of Orange. The exodus, which followed, of thousands of Irish soldiers and their families who would not … [Read more...] about The Flight of the Wild Geese

Roots: O’Byrne and O’Beirne

By James G. Ryan

October 1991

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The names O'Byrne and O'Beirne (or Byrne and Beire) often regarded as variants of the same root, are, in fact, totally different. O'Byrne is derived from the Gaelic O'Broin meaning "descended from Bran," the 11th century King of Leinster. The O'Byrnes were chieftains of what is now County Kildare until the Norman invasion when they were driven from their lands into the … [Read more...] about Roots: O’Byrne and O’Beirne

Hibernia

By Irish America Staff

October 1991

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Celebrating the Celtic New Year The eve of November 1, the most important feast in the Celtic year, marks both the beginning of the New Year and the beginning of winter. According to ancient Celtic thought, all existence arises out of the interplay between darkness and light, night and day, cold and heat, death and life, and the unfolding of the years is seen as an … [Read more...] about Hibernia

Window on the Past | Mathew B. Brady, Photographer

By Raymond Schuessler

October 1991

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Mathew B. Brady captured the intrigue and frustration, the sorrow and bitterness of "the war that had to be fought." In a traveling darkroom wagon, nicknamed the "What's It" by the troops, Brady followed the terrible onslaught of the Civil War, recording for history scenes that otherwise would have been lost forever. In effect, Brady became a pictorial war correspondent, though … [Read more...] about Window on the Past | Mathew B. Brady, Photographer