Elgy Gillespie reports on the month-long San Francisco Irish festival. For four years the Irish Arts Foundation of San Francisco headed by Derryman Peter O'Neill and Clareman Eddie Stack have produced the very successful Celtic Music Festival, which ran over a weekend in March and included the best of Irish music, traditional and otherwise. This year the pair ambitiously … [Read more...] about San Francisco’s Irish Festival
May June 1995 Issue
George Mitchell’s Mandate
President Clinton's Economic Advisor to Ireland When Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell announced he would not seek re-election it came as a surprise to many, not least his Maine constituents who had given him 80 percent of the votes in the 1988 election. When the 61-year-old senator then turned down a Supreme Court nomination to the great disappointment of the President, … [Read more...] about George Mitchell’s Mandate
The New “Special Relationship”
President Clinton's Commitment to Ireland The White House economic conference on Ireland on May 24-26, 1995 will be the latest in a series of Irish initiatives by President Clinton. Niall O'Dowd reports on the making of a new "special relationship." On May 24 President Bill Clinton will become the first U.S. president ever to deliver a major speech on Irish issues when he … [Read more...] about The New “Special Relationship”
Sláinte! The Scottish Connection
Scattered along Northern Ireland's rugged coast, forty thousand hexagonal columns trail from a stretch of cliffs to the sea. The unique rock formation is known worldwide as The Giant's Causeway. It resulted millions of years ago when a volcanic eruption spewed molten basalt into the air. As seawater slowly cooled the red hot lava, it formed into vertical clusters of mostly … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Scottish Connection
Roots: Doherty or O’Doherty
The Doherty or O'Doherty name has many variations, including (O) Dougherty, Daugherty, Docherty and Doharty. The name, derived from the Gaelic O'Dochartaigh, means (descended) from Dochartach. Dochartach was a descendant of the infamous "Niall of the Nine Hostages," who was king of Ireland in the fourth century. Tradition has it that Niall was responsible for bringing Saint … [Read more...] about Roots: Doherty or O’Doherty