There's a row of lead laundry sinks on the third floor of an old building on the Lower Manhattan waterfront where Irish women worked in the 19th century. And beyond the laundry drying racks, Gaelic graffiti appear in ghostly but bold script on the old brick walls. "Erin Go Bragh" is writ large. So is "Faugh a ballagh" (clear the way), a famous battle cry, perhaps recorded by a … [Read more...] about Immigrant Ghosts on the Street of Ships
One Life to Give
Chuck Feeney has just put into practice something he had been considering for many years. He has decided that all the vast wealth he accumulated in his lifetime should be given away while he is still alive. The graying, well preserved 72-year-old New Jersey native persuaded the board of Atlantic Philanthropies, which he created two decades ago, to convert its $4 billion in … [Read more...] about One Life to Give
First Word: Giving While Living
A friend, a teacher in Northern Ireland, who is forever puzzling over the intricacies of our race, recently asked me what I considered to be the essence of the Irish character. Clarence Darrow, the great American defense attorney, came to mind. Darrow who spent his life defending the poor and the downtrodden, liked to have Irish men on his juries because he believed that they, … [Read more...] about First Word: Giving While Living
Peace Process Put on Hold
The hopes that were raised in the latest advances in the peace process were dashed as Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble criticized the transparency of IRA decommissioning and said he was "putting the process on hold." Trimble demanded a more explicit statement from the IRA on the number and type of arms it put beyond use. But the IRA and Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Féin, … [Read more...] about Peace Process Put on Hold
Bono Portrait Unveiled
Bono looked admiringly at the soft white portrait painted by one of today's greatest Irish painters, Louis le Brocquy, an artist whom Bono has admired since he was 13, at an unveiling at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin. The U2 frontman described le Brocquy as "one of the grandmasters of European painting." The portrait, entitled Image of Bono, is the fifth in a series … [Read more...] about Bono Portrait Unveiled