A tribute to some of the fine Irish-Americans who touched our lives Of the thousands of men and women who have given their lives in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the deaths of three young Irish-Americans from the New York area brought home the terrible price of war. The funeral of Captain John F. McKenna took place on August 25 at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church … [Read more...] about Those We Lost
Book Corner
Tom Deignan reviews the latest Irish and Irish-American books Recommended: Nothing But an Unfinished Song: Bobby Sands, The Irish Hunger Striker Who Ignited a Generation It’s been 25 years since Bobby Sands and his fellow Irish nationalists launched their hunger strikes in 1981, which resulted in Sands’s death after 66 days. That may seem like a long time ago, but as … [Read more...] about Book Corner
New York City Redux
Music Columnist Ian Worpole chronicles his return to the Big Apple Having spent a rowdy ten years in a cheap loft in Tribeca, New York City (Cheap! It wasn’t quite yet an oxymoron twenty years ago), with two small children and an irate landlord, it was time to move north to Woodstock, a quaint hamlet known for its arts colony and a certain concert that took place in 1964. We … [Read more...] about New York City Redux
Slainte: The Irish Wake
Nearly thirty-eight years ago an exuberant friend named Eddie burst into the office where I was working as assistant to a Hollywood producer commanding, “Come with me right now. I want to introduce you to someone.” Fortunately, I was alone and it was almost five o’clock. As I closed up shop, Eddie paced agitatedly about the room singing the praises of Bill, the stranger he had … [Read more...] about Slainte: The Irish Wake
A Day to Make St. Patrick Proud
Maeve Binchey, the renowned Irish author, explains how St. Patrick’s Day has changed in Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day used to be the dullest day in the Irish calendar until we got sense and learned to follow our transatlantic brethren and make it into a carnival. When I was young in the 1950s, March 17 was a bit like Tombstone City. For one thing it was in the middle of Lent and … [Read more...] about A Day to Make St. Patrick Proud