If flat racing is the "sport of kings," steeplechasing is the "sport of commoners." In Ireland and Britain and as a spectacle, it has few sporting equals. Niall O'Donovan reports. Hanafin, Milligan, Mulligan, McManus, O'Mahoney, O'Mara, O'Rourke. Great Irish writers? No, just the lyrical impression that a line of bookmakers made on a visiting English writer to a little … [Read more...] about The Thrill of the Chase
June 1991
Dear Old Dublin: European City of Culture
It’s a pity that Anon, the author of those words, had nothing to say about culture. Or Dublin and culture. And thus alleviated the predicament of this tortured culchie. (A culchie is one who was born outside the capital city.) The reason for the tortured state? It's the designation of Dublin, capital of the Republic of Ireland, as the European City of Culture for 1991. My … [Read more...] about Dear Old Dublin: European City of Culture
The Irish in Country | From County Clare to Country Nashville
It's been a good year for Maura O'Connell. In addition to releasing her third solo album, "A Real Life Story," her tours are doing well. But significantly for Maura, she was also nominated for a Grammy and whatever you make of the Grammys the Oscars of the music business—her nomination is an accolade she treasures. "When I was nominated, I was just flabbergasted," she recalls. … [Read more...] about The Irish in Country | From County Clare to Country Nashville
Book Review | Poets from the North of Ireland
One hundred years ago this month, Dr. Douglas Hyde [An Craoibhin Aoibhinn] visited the United States for the first time. He was in Boston and New York from June 3 to June 25 on his way home to Ireland from the University of New Brunswick in Canada where he had spent nine months as an interim professor of French, German and English literature. On the night of June 16 in New … [Read more...] about Book Review | Poets from the North of Ireland
An American Boy with a Touch of the Old Country
The stretch limousine pulls up outside the backstage door at the Westbury Music Fair in Long Island, New York on a warm Sunday evening in early April. And Eddie Rabbitt, 6'3," skinny as a rail and clad in tight jeans and cowboy boots emerges. Fans lean over the rail to be kissed and have their hands shaken and Eddie smiles good-naturedly, signing autographs and joking to the … [Read more...] about An American Boy with a Touch of the Old Country





