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
In This Issue 1992
Hibernia
By Irish America Staff February 1992
That's the question currently inflaming the intelligentsia of Putnam County, a rocky chunk of exurbia some 60 miles north of New York City, Its 247 square miles are home to 88,971 inhabitants and some 200 mysterious stone chambers that were built either 150 or 3,000 years ago, depending on who you talk to. Some of the best examples are in the woods off Whangtown Hollow Road in … [Read more...] about Hibernia
Doherty’s Supreme Disappointment
By Brian Rohan February 1992
At the end of it all, it was from his fellow inmates at the Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, federal penitentiary that Joe Doherty heard the news. "Hey Joe, you're going to go," shouted an inmate who was tuned in to the radio, which had just announced the U.S. Supreme Court's decision of that day, January 15. The Court decision had effectively paved the way for Doherty's deportation … [Read more...] about Doherty’s Supreme Disappointment
Black ’47: The Clancy Brothers of the 90’s?
By Patrick Farrelly February 1992
As Larry Kirwan, the wiry lead guitarist and singer drags out this melodramatic emigration song, the eyes of the young Irish woman beside me mist over. She silently mouthes the words to herself as Chris Byre's plaintive tin whistle comes in over Kirwan's dirge. Byre, his crew-cut head bowed, dark shades hung low, continues with a slow air on the tin whistle, adding to the … [Read more...] about Black ’47: The Clancy Brothers of the 90’s?
“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”