Irish America

Irish America

February 9, 2012

This Music We Call
Traditional Irish

February 9, 2012

by Leave a Comment

Traditional Irish music has never been so alive. In our cities, towns and villages. From Dublin to New York and across the United States. We are alive to its rhythm and it is thriving, growing, flourishing. It touches so many people and is enjoyed in so many ways. We dance to it, play it, mould it into new forms and take it to Broadway and the West End. We fuse it with other … [Read more...] about This Music We Call
Traditional Irish

The German – Amazing Short Film on Ireland in WWII

by 17 Comments

The German is a stunning Irish short written and directed by Nick Ryan. The film, which was made in 2007 and went up online a few months ago, features a British fighter pilot in pursuit of a German who killed his fellow Allied soldier and friend in mid-air combat. It presents a quiet but insightful snapshot of Ireland's neutrality during WWII. Ryan received a grant from the … [Read more...] about The German – Amazing Short Film on Ireland in WWII

Martin Hayes: Rhythm and Strings

By Tara Dougherty, Music Editor
February / March 2012

by 2 Comments

Whether playing solo or with the newly formed The Gloaming, Martin Hayes, the marvelously gifted fiddler, finds his mesmeric rhythm in the Irish tunes he learned from his father – the leader of the famed Tulla Ceili band – and other master musicians in east County Clare. The first time I heard Martin Hayes it felt like an earthquake. Not ten seconds into his first tune, the … [Read more...] about Martin Hayes: Rhythm and Strings

The First Word: Something to Shout About

By Patricia Harty, Editor-in-Chief
February / March 2012

by 1 Comment

When we first published the magazine back in 1985, I wasn’t entirely comfortable with our slogan “Mórtas Cine,” which translates from the Irish as “Pride in one’s heritage.” As children we were warned about “pride” and its place at the top of the list of the Seven Deadly Sins. “Pride goes before a fall,” my mother would caution. Growing up in Ireland, surrounded by other … [Read more...] about The First Word: Something to Shout About

Irish Army Archives to go Public

By Frank Shouldice, Contributor
February / March 2012

by 3 Comments

The Irish Armed Forces is about to make a huge volume of historical documents available to the public by putting them online for general access. Lieutenant General Sean McCann, Defense Forces’ Chief of Staff, confirmed that an ambitious project will be carried out with the National Archives of Ireland, placing 36,000 pages of material online relating to military matters for the … [Read more...] about Irish Army Archives to go Public