Not so long ago, when my daughter was a child, life was very different. The world moved at a slower pace and I had time on my hands. It was the era before cable TV and the internet. The phrases "fast lane" and "couch potato" and "net surfer" had yet to be coined. Time stretched like soft taffy, begging to be filled and I industriously did so – especially in the weeks preceding … [Read more...] about Sláinte: Let Them Eat
Irish Christmas Cake
Sláinte: Let Them Eat
The Last Word:
The Priestless Parish
On the surface everything at two County Clare villages in the west of Ireland appears as it's always been. Church bells tolling across Lough Graney call the faithful to Sunday services at Kilanena and Flagmount. The two churches make up one parish either side of the lake, but these days the parish is getting by without a priest of its own.
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By the time Fr. Michael Collins … [Read more...] about The Last Word:
The Priestless Parish
Photo Album:
Home at Last
We lost my mother, Mary Ellen Smith, née O'Connor last April, 2002. She was 86 years old. She emigrated from Ireland in 1929 when she was almost 14 years old from the Derries, Co. Mayo, a small village near Ballinrobe. At that time she came to the States with her older brothers James and Pat, 15 and 16 respectively.
Mom settled in with her mother's sister Aunt Mary Weimer, née … [Read more...] about Photo Album:
Home at Last
September 11: A Year in Pictures
Photographer Peter Foley spent many months documenting the aftermath of September 11. His images, though unobtrusive, capture the emotion of the tragedy and offer a glimpse into the lives of those left behind. View Peter Foley's photographs of Ground Zero. … [Read more...] about September 11: A Year in Pictures
The First Word: What Falls Away
"One hundred and fifty years after the Famine, the spirit of the Irish people was the backbone which America relied upon during the worst attack in our nation's history." – Rudy Giuliani at the Irish Famine memorial dedication in New York. It's hard to believe it's only a year. So much has changed, it seems as if it should have taken several lifetimes. The oddest thing is … [Read more...] about The First Word: What Falls Away