Irish dancing is a very important part of the heritage and culture of Ireland and the Irish-American community, and no one knows that better than Patsy McLoughlin. Patsy Early McLoughlin founded her school of Irish dance in 1968 in Inwood, New York, and now, 50 years later, she still teaches her students that Irish dance is as much about family and friendship as it is about … [Read more...] about Decades of Irish Dance: Celebrating Patsy McLoughlin
Archive
Your Summer Reading List
By Irish America Staff
MILKMAN Anna Burns I didn't know much about Northern Ireland before I left home in 1972. There was one shopping trip to Belfast on the train. I bought a purple and black maxi coat that looked like a woolen dressing gown. I had it for years and I can't think why I gave it away. I don't remember much about Belfast, or much else about the trip, except that on the return … [Read more...] about Your Summer Reading List
Sláinte!: The Lace Place
Imagine Ireland. What do you see? Patchwork green fields, stone walls, crystal streams, ancient ruins, horses...and lace. From manor house to country cottage, windows are draped with the delicate webwork. Sofas, tabletops, dressers, beds, and tea trays hold lacy runners, scarves, and antimacassars. Brides seem like angels haloed in billowing veils. Casual observers see only … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: The Lace Place
Photo Album: Tales of New York
I have no interest in Ancestry.com or tracing my roots. I know most of my DNA and it’s all Irish on my mom’s side. Her father, the son of a Ballylongford, County Kerry, farmer, was named Tom Keane. He emigrated to America sometime around 1900 – it’s believed he had to hightail it out of Ireland because of his IRA affiliation, and that doesn’t surprise me at all. Tom had crossed … [Read more...] about Photo Album: Tales of New York
Hall of Fame: NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill
“Jimmy’s not just a cop’s cop. He’s a New Yorker’s New Yorker.” When it comes to James O’Neill, New York City’s 43rd and current police commissioner, those words by Chirlane McCray, the wife of N.Y.C. Mayor Bill de Blasio, could not be more spot-on. A more fitting NYPD commissioner couldn’t be found in Central Casting. He is a steadfast New Yorker who started his career … [Read more...] about Hall of Fame: NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill