Irish America

Irish America

By Lauren Byrne, ContributorJune / July 2007

Ardal O’Hanlon: A Comic Worth His Salt

By Lauren Byrne, Contributor
June / July 2007

by Leave a Comment

Best known to TV audiences from the sitcoms Father Ted and My Hero, Ardal O’Hanlon decided it was time to develop his “own thing.” He talked to Lauren Byrne after a stand-up gig in Boston. Sitting at an out-of-the-way alcove in the Park Plaza Hotel on his first visit to Boston, Ardal O’Hanlon is describing Ireland’s economic doldrums in the 1980s and how they shaped his career. … [Read more...] about Ardal O’Hanlon: A Comic Worth His Salt

John Banville: A Master Stylist Turns to Crime

By Lauren Byrne, Contributor
June / July 2007

by Leave a Comment

Like James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, the name John Banville is frequently mentioned in the reverent tones reserved for writers more often invoked than read. His prose, lush and hypnotic, is flecked with mordant humor, but even his most ardent fans agree it can be difficult to register a chuckle amid the ruminations in such novels as The Untouchable, Eclipse, and even his Booker … [Read more...] about John Banville: A Master Stylist Turns to Crime

Sláinte!: Comfort & Coincidence

By Edythe Preet, Contributor
June / July 2007

by Leave a Comment

A Wedding Day and Bloomsday Coincide Coincidences never cease to amaze me. Once is, well, coincidence. Twice, will earn a ‘hmmm.’ Three times, sends the eyebrows soaring. But when something happens over and over and over again, there are undeniable patterns at work. What, you may well wonder, has this to do with Irish culture and food? Blame my dear Da for the tangent along … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: Comfort & Coincidence

The Last Word: Freud, The Irish & The Departed

By Abdon Pallasch
June / July 2007

by 70 Comments

Abdon M. Pallasch ponders the truth of a provocative line from the movie The Departed. “What Freud said about the Irish is: We’re the only people who are impervious to psychoanalysis,” declares Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) in Martin Scorsese’s film The Departed. So what exactly did the father of modern psychiatry, Sigmund Freud, mean by that, anyway? Are we Irish all crazy? Or … [Read more...] about The Last Word: Freud, The Irish & The Departed

Photo Album: From Annestown to Owosso

by 1 Comment

My grandmother Johannah Phelan was born in Annestown, Tramore, County Waterford, Ireland in 1849.  She emigrated to the United States in 1873, her passage paid by her aunt and uncle, Patrick and Catherine Phelan O’Rourke. Johannah married Jeremiah King, a neighbor of the O’Rourke’s, and they had eight children, one of whom died in infancy.  They lived in Owosso, Michigan, and … [Read more...] about Photo Album: From Annestown to Owosso