From space, Earth resembles a big beautiful marble with swirling patterns of blue (oceans), white (clouds), and green (trees). As global warming makes weekly headlines, we are warned of the dire future we face should the delicate balance between the three become irreparably compromised. In a worst case scenario, plants would disappear. In 1657AD, the English scholar William … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Irish Tree Tales
Birth of a Nation
Niall O’Dowd writes on the re-release of Mise Éire, which documents the birth of the Irish Nation. Every schoolchild in Ireland in the 1960's saw Mise Éire (I Am Ireland), the Irish-language film which chronicles, in extraordinary detail, the birth of the Irish Nation. I saw it again recently and realized what an incredible piece of film it is. The good news for the Irish in … [Read more...] about Birth of a Nation
Family Photo Album: Traveling Mary
Mary Dolan was born in Croghan, Roscommon in 1862, the oldest child of Andrew Dolan and Anne Tansey. She had a case of wonderlust and kept on the move over the years of her youth, first to South Africa, next to Australia, then to New Zealand. From there she moved to Fiji, later Samoa, and still later to Hawaii. The last queen of Hawaii, Liliuokalani, asked to meet her, … [Read more...] about Family Photo Album: Traveling Mary
Remembering Bobby Sands and the Nine Other Men Who Died on Hunger Strike
On May 5, 1981, after 66 days on hunger strike, republican prisoner Bobby Sands died in the H-Block prison hospital at Long Kesh. By the time the prison hunger strike ended on October 3, 1981, 10 young men had starved themselves to death. The hunger strike was a last effort by the inmates to be recognized as political prisoners. The protest had started in 1976, when the … [Read more...] about Remembering Bobby Sands and the Nine Other Men Who Died on Hunger Strike
George Carlin is Still Tossing Out the Good Stuff
Once the quintessential seventies hippie comedian, George Carlin continues to evolve and grow. In an intimate interview with T.J. English he shares stories of his upbringing, his Irish ancestors and his view of the world. In the history of American stand-up comedy, there has never been anyone like George Carlin. Controversial, iconoclastic, irreverent, obscene - all of these … [Read more...] about George Carlin is Still Tossing Out the Good Stuff