An Irish American family go back to 1883 to discover what's most important in the present. What could be more parental than to wish to show your children how good they have it today? To take your family into the past and give them a taste of real life, when necessity stared you straight in the face and your mettle was tested by the sometimes–cruel vicissitudes of nature? For … [Read more...] about The Clunes’ American Adventure
History Archives
Caught in the Crossfire
We're circling Abercorn Street in Derry and Richard Moore, my sunglassed passenger, is pointing out focal points of his native city. He acts as navigator, advising me to turn left at the shop, then right at the gap in the green railings to reach our destination. The remarkable thing is Richard is totally blind. Not that he was born this way. Ever since May 4, 1972 he has … [Read more...] about Caught in the Crossfire
Just Judy
By the time Judy Garland made her first and only concert appearance in Dublin in July 1951, she had been an international star for more than a decade. She had starred in 27 feature length films, performed on more than 200 radio shows, appeared in hundreds of national and international magazines and newspapers, and recorded more than 70 records and albums. The diminutive … [Read more...] about Just Judy
The Mammoth of Ventry
How many men can say they live with four women and the only woolly mammoth in Ireland? Harris Moore can, because his home in Ventry on the western Dingle Peninsula is also the unique Prehistoric Celtic Museum, whose feature attraction is "Millie," a 300,000-year-old woolly mammoth. Moore, 41, divides his time between his chores as the museum's owner/curator/ … [Read more...] about The Mammoth of Ventry
To Hell or Barbados
The ethnic cleansing of Ireland: Emmett O'Connell reviews Sean O'Callaghan's book on the Irish whom Cromwell sent into slavery. "These Irish, anciently called Anthropophagi (maneaters), have a tradition among them, that when the devil showed our Savior all the kingdoms of the earth and their glory he would not show him Ireland, but reserved it for himself...They are the … [Read more...] about To Hell or Barbados