Several years ago after a rigorous day of exploring County Laois, I pulled into a pub for a well-deserved pick-me-up pint. It was a wee bit early for the local drinking crowd and the long bar held only one customer, a young man who looked more like a fellow whose regular haunt would be a Dublin watering hole rather than a remote country pub. His tweed jacket hugged the … [Read more...] about Sláinte! When an Apple is Ripe, it Will Fall
Endgame: The Road to Peace in Northern Ireland
"This is the first time the inside story of the Irish peace process has been told by so many of the major politicians and paramilitary leaders who helped shape it." – WGBH executive producer Zvi Dor-Ner ℘℘℘ Endgame in Ireland, a four-hour PBS special documenting the hard-fought road to peace in Northern Ireland from the onset of The Troubles in the late 1960s to the IRA … [Read more...] about Endgame: The Road to Peace in Northern Ireland
Inside The Maze
The Maze is a one-hour program that explores life inside the notorious Maze Prison (also known as H-Block) in Northern Ireland, as former inmates from both communities, as well as former prison officers tell their stories. The opening sequences are of rare early footage of life inside the original Long Kesh prison in which a prison camp atmosphere existed, and Republicans and … [Read more...] about Inside The Maze
Sins of the Fathers: On the Road to Perdition
The legendary B-movie writer-director Samuel Fuller once told me about a script he had written called The Bag Man. The title character is a bag man for the mob, a functionary whose job is to deliver packages but never to look inside them. One day he makes the fatal mistake of looking inside. He takes the money and runs. Explaining the real novelty of his story, Fuller said … [Read more...] about Sins of the Fathers: On the Road to Perdition
Roots: The Keane / Kane Family
Keane and Kane are anglicizations of Ó Catháin from cath, meaning battle. There were two great septs of Ó Catháin in Co. Derry but in modern times, Keane, Kane and sometimes O'Kane are more common, Keane in Munster and Connaught and Kane in Ulster. Traditionally the two septs were quite distinct and it was believed that the prominent Clare Keanes were an offshoot of the Ulster … [Read more...] about Roots: The Keane / Kane Family