Frank McCourt has gone from retired New York City high school teacher to 66-year-old international celebrity in a matter of months. Almost a year after the publication of Angela's Ashes, McCourt tells Brian Rohan "it's been lovely, thank you, but I wouldn't mind a bit of peace and quiet, either...." Frank McCourt sits in the back room of the Old Town tavern, acting not at … [Read more...] about The Year of Living Famously
Feature
Young Ladies of the Dance
By Darina Molloy
May/June 1997
While her class-mates in St. Mary's Secondary School in Nenagh, County Tipperary, are busy preparing for end-of-year exams in their last year before Leaving Certificate, 17-year-old Bernadette Flynn is savoring the sweet success of a dream come true as leading lady in the acclaimed show, Lord of the Dance. And Bernadette has absolutely no regrets about leaving her school life … [Read more...] about Young Ladies of the Dance
Beyond the Veil
By Therese Lanigan-Schmidt
May/June 1997
A descendant of Famine immigrants recounts her trip home. It was our first trip to Ireland. And it was a trip my mother, Mary Lanigan Schmidt, always yearned to make, but never did. Now dead these 12 years, she left behind so much, including her First Communion veil from 1926, now yellow with age. I took two snippets of the delicate lace and brought them with me, a part of … [Read more...] about Beyond the Veil
From Ireland to Ellis Island
By Ruth Ford
May/June 1997
In the half-century that New York's Ellis Island served as a receiving station, more than 16 million immigrants passed through its doors. Ruth Ford talks to Irish immigrants about what they experienced. It is September, and cool inside the brick passageway connecting Ellis Island's registration hall with the moldering buildings that ring the island grasses. Outside, tourists … [Read more...] about From Ireland to Ellis Island
Back Home with Pierce Brosnan
By Colin Lacey
May/June 1997
Daylight hasn't quite settled over north Co. Wicklow yet, but even at 8.30 a.m., this Monday is already teetering on the brink of total disaster. For three days now, 70mph winds and vicious rainstorms have bullied the eastern coast of Ireland into a state of rain-saturated submission. Over the weekend, local news bulletins have become little more than official damage reports: … [Read more...] about Back Home with Pierce Brosnan