Irish America

Irish America

March April 1994

A Musical, Magical, Mystical Tour of Ireland

By Nancy Lyon

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Mick Moloney, the folklorist, tenor banjo player, songster, wit, and raconteur offers a tour of Ireland to end all tours. On both sides of the Atlantic, Mick Moloney is known for his expressive traditional singing and tenor banjo playing dexterity, and he performs widely with Derry fiddler Eugene O'Donnell and set dancing champion Regan Wick, and with the touring ensemble The … [Read more...] about A Musical, Magical, Mystical Tour of Ireland

The Origin of “The Fighting Irish” Nickname

By Murray Sperber

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This exchange in a novel about college sports in the 1920s catches the prejudices that many Americans of the time held toward citizens of Irish-Catholic descent. However, unlike other immigrant groups who tried to submerge their ethnicity into the American melting pot and considered such terms as "Polack" and "Bohunk" insults, Irish Catholics gloried in many of their nicknames, … [Read more...] about The Origin of “The Fighting Irish” Nickname

In the Name of the Father

By Jane Campbell

March/April 1994

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Pete Postlethwaite astonished critics and cinemagoers alike with his performance in In the Name of the Father. It came as no surprise when the previously little-known actor won a coveted Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Guiseppe Conlon. Jane Campbell caught up with Postlethwaite in London, where they talked about the movie and the challenges of playing Guiseppe -- … [Read more...] about In the Name of the Father

Irish Roots: Quinn, Quinlan and Quigley

By James G. Ryan

March/April 1994

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Although the Irish language, or Gaelic, does not have a letter "Q," the distinctive sound of the accented "C" in some Gaelic names has caused them to be anglicized phonetically with this sound. Examples include Quinn, Quinlan, and Quigley, none of which are connected other than by their initial letter. Quinn is perhaps the most common of these names. It is derived from the … [Read more...] about Irish Roots: Quinn, Quinlan and Quigley