This year Irish America celebrates its tenth year. And it seems somehow fitting that the magazine, whose motto Mortas Cine stands for Pride in our Heritage, should be celebrating such a happy occasion in the same year that marks the 150th anniversary of the Famine. For this magazine, especially this special Top 100 issue, pays tribute to the success of the Irish in America. … [Read more...] about The First Word: Times to Remember
First Word
The First Word: And Now the Good News…
Belfast: "We need a solution the dead can live with," is how one Belfast resident, in a uniquely Irish way, described the prospects for long-term peace after the recent events in Northern Ireland that shook the world. His words were not such a paradox as they may seem. The graves of the over 3,000 dead stand as mute testament to the suffering on all sides that the Long War of … [Read more...] about The First Word: And Now the Good News…
The First Word: No Immigrants Need Apply
Franklin Delano Roosevelt once told an uncomfortable audience of the Daughters of the American Revolution that "we are all immigrants." It is something that we should remember now when the scapegoating of immigrants is reaching a new height in this country. California is leading the way in states that are proposing initatives that would deny public education and medical care to … [Read more...] about The First Word: No Immigrants Need Apply
The First Word: The New Irish Heroes
IN olden times, Ireland's icons were comely maidens strumming harps or perhaps mythical heroic warriors such as Cuchulainn, bravely besting the enemy in his lair. In more recent times, a flame-haired temptress called Maureen O'Hara fit the bill. Not any more. Shortly, the symbol of Ireland to millions worldwide is just as likely to be a Black athlete, speaking with a British … [Read more...] about The First Word: The New Irish Heroes
The First Word: Where’s Our Famine Movie?
There is a curious irony surrounding Schindler's List and the part that the Irish have played in bringing the movie to fruition. Thomas Keneally, an Australian of Irish Catholic background, wrote the book, and Liam Neeson, from the North of Ireland, was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of the man who saved some 1,100 Jews. As Keneally wrote in a recent … [Read more...] about The First Word: Where’s Our Famine Movie?