I thought that ours indeed was a land of shame, a land of murder, a land of strange, throttled, sacrificial women," says the narrator of Edna O'Brien's story, "A Scandalous Woman." Of Irish murder and Irish shame we have heard much, but the news has been in the mouths of men. Edna O'Brien tells the Trish woman's inside story. She has — as only the finest writers can created a … [Read more...] about Edna O’Brien: A Fanatic Heart
July/August 1991
Roots: O’Mahoney, McMahon and Vaughan
The families of McMahon and O’Mahoney are related only by the common derivation of their names from the Irish name Mahon (in Gaelic Mathuna) which was a personal name, meaning a bear. The O’Mahoney or Mahony name is derived from Mathuna, a grandson of Brian Boru. The family were the Eoganacht, the regal dynasty of Munster and were one of the most prominent of West Munster. … [Read more...] about Roots: O’Mahoney, McMahon and Vaughan
Sacred Mysteries | The Celtic Way of Sexuality and Love
"Irishmen and Irishwomen regard set instinctively as they regard mud" — Arnold Usher Arnold Usher's comment is sadly all too apt. For many of us Irish, sex is merely an instrument for procreation; with proper tillage the soil can be made fertile. But once the job is done it's best to wash up and get back to serious matters. Business. Sport. Talk. And Drink. Things were not … [Read more...] about Sacred Mysteries | The Celtic Way of Sexuality and Love
July/August 1991
Ireland House
Sometimes it all just works. Or as Shannery O'Connor wrote, quoting Teilhard de Chardin, "Everything that rises must converge." It did— rise and converge that is—at about 1:35 p.m. during the lunch held at New York University on May 20 to announce the establishment of Ireland House, the University's new center for Irish studies, made possible by a grant from Lewis L. Glucksman … [Read more...] about Ireland House





