Irish America
Irish America
This month we are featuring the families of our new Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Albert Reynolds, and our previous Taoiseach Charles Haughey. Both names are Gaelic in origin and both exemplify the interesting variation in name-forms which can occur in the change of Gaelic names to an anglicized form. Although Reynolds is also an English name of Norman origin, almost all of the … [Read more...] about Roots: Reynolds and Haughey
So far 1992 has been a deadly time in Northern Ireland. In fact the first two months of the year were deemed to be the most violent ones since 1976, as scores of people, Catholic, Protestant, Republican, and Loyalist, were killed. The British government's answer to the sharp escalation in the fighting was to import almost 1000 additional troops to the North, while the British … [Read more...] about Blazes Boylan
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
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
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
