Irish America
Irish America
Irish novelist Elizabeth Bowen who penned such wonderful novels as The Death of the Heart and Demon Lover, and helped establish the 'Big House' in Irish literature, failed in her own efforts to save Bowen's Court, the family home in County Cork. The N73 between Mallow and Mitchelstown in County Cork is a sharply twisting two-lane road, shadowed by high hedges and unforgiving … [Read more...] about Death of the Heart
In pre-Christian Ireland, the spring celebration on May 1 was called Bealtaine. Household fires were extinguished several days before the feast and people were forbidden to rekindle them until Druid priests lit a ceremonial bonfire on the Hill of Tara, stronghold of the High King. When Christianity supplanted pagan customs a new spring celebration was introduced: Easter, … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Lent and Easter: The Fast and the Feast
The name Kennedy or O'Kennedy is derived from the Gaelic O'Cinneide, which is itself derived from the original Gaelic form Cean Eidig meaning "rough head." This was the name by which the father of Brian Boru was known, and the name refers specifically to the line of Dunchad, who was one of the sons of Cean Eidig and a brother of Brian Boru. Brian Boru was perhaps the most … [Read more...] about Irish Roots: The Kennedys
Most Irish and Irish-Americans are aware of the private generosity of Americans during the Famine years in Ireland. The role of the American government is another story. "Indeed, no imagination can conceive, no tongue express, no brush paint the horror of the scenes which are daily exhibited in Ireland," observed senator Henry Clay in 1847. Calling upon the support of his … [Read more...] about American Relief Efforts and the Irish Famine
A behind the scenes take on Translations, the Brien Friel play, ahead of its 1995 Broadway opening, and a trip to the Boston preview. In the bare rehearsal room a few chairs and a desk represented the hedge school of Brian Friel's Translations. Brian Dennehy as Master Hugh O'Donnell entered not from the wings but from a card table where he had been drinking coffee and … [Read more...] about Translations
