When Shivaun O'Casey first met Irish-born Nobel Literature Prize winner Samuel Beckett, she was a shy young girl of 16 studying acting in London. In the 32 years that have followed that meeting, she has kept in close contact with Beckett, now recognized as one of the leading 20th century playwrights, whose dark visions of life inspired a revolutionary stage movement called … [Read more...] about “Happy Days” For O’Casey and Beckett
History Archives
“Over There”
By Mary Pat Kelly February 1992
Americans Stationed in N. Ireland During WWII Remember that last scene in Yankee Doodle Dandy? An elderly George M. Cohan, played by an artificially aged Jimmy Cagney comes from an audience with Franklin Roosevelt. The U.S. has just entered World War II. Cohan feels left behind by a generation that doesn't remember the days when he dominated Broadway, first in his family's … [Read more...] about “Over There”
Blazes Boylan
Compiled by Emer Mullins
September October 1993
In the last issue we reported on the 26-year-old Irish American woman from Long Island, Annie McCarrick, who had mysteriously disappeared from her Dublin home on March 26. Although her parents, John and Nancy, spent weeks in Ireland looking for clues, they were unable to find any trace of their daughter despite an enormous countrywide manhunt. Subsequent reports indicate that … [Read more...] about Blazes Boylan
Larry O’Brien: A Perennial NBA Champion
By Ray Cavanaugh
IA Newsletter, Month Day 2026
When someone mentions the NBA Finals, you might think of Jordan or Kobe slashing their way to the rim. Or, more recently, the video game-like exploits of three-point assassin Steph Curry. You're less likely to think of a sub-6-foot, visually-impaired, cigarette-smoking Irish-American political operative. And yet these supreme athletes were indeed pouring their sweat and souls … [Read more...] about Larry O’Brien: A Perennial NBA Champion
A Mission Remembered
By Maureen Murphy
September October 1993
A sentimental nineteenth century novel of virtue rewarded tells the story of an Irish immigrant girl who came to New York in the 1870's. Subtitled "A Tale Founded on Fact," Annie Reilly or the Fortunes of an Irish Girl in New York describes Annie's arrival at Castle Garden: immigrants confused and exhausted, luggage broken or lost, possessions scattered, indifferent officials, … [Read more...] about A Mission Remembered