There are so many things that I love about being Irish. I love the language. When I hear it spoken it touches the very essence of my being, reinforcing my connection to that ancient place called Gaeldom. I will never forget how once on holiday in Kerry, I woke to the sounds of the bean an tí (woman of the house) having an early morning chat with her son. After years abroad the … [Read more...] about The First Word: An Chead Fhocal
First Word
First Word: Another Year, Another Scandal
DUBLIN: Now comes Sean Doherty, former Minister for Justice in the Irish government, the point man in a major scandal in the early 1980s involving the illegal tapping of phones of leading journalists. Doherty recently declared that he tapped the phones with the full knowledge of party leader Charles Haughcy, and that he personally handed over transcripts of the tapes to … [Read more...] about First Word: Another Year, Another Scandal
First Word: All in the Family
The 1993 Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans also carries a section on "Great Family Fortunes." Unlike a similar list of the European great family fortunes, which would be top heavy with royalty and titled nobility, the American experience shows the true strength of a "bottoms up" society where, in the first instance, wealth was earned rather than bestowed. Put … [Read more...] about First Word: All in the Family
“Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor…”
"Gunmen Kill Irish Aid Worker in Somalia." The story made the headlines on Monday February 22, 1993. The worker was Valerie Place, 23, of the Irish charity Concern. For months the media had been bringing us the latest on famine-ravaged, war-torn Somalia, and it seemed that in almost every story an Irish volunteer was quoted. Now one had been killed. Relief workers have no … [Read more...] about “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor…”
A Time for Courage and Reconciliation
June 6, 1993. The faces in the crowd reflect the divides that Robert F. Kennedy managed to cross in his short life, as black and white, rich and poor, government officials and civil rights leaders stand together to pay homage and join together in a "Mass for Courage and Reconciliation," on this the 25th anniversary of his death. There are many Irish faces, of course, among the … [Read more...] about A Time for Courage and Reconciliation