Two successful Irish Americans share an experience of giving...more than money. ℘℘℘ Mary Pat Lyons O'Connor listened to the old woman, her grandfather's sister, Margaret, as she spun her narratives of the Irish Famine and the small fenced hillocks, famine graves, where hundreds of the nameless lie buried. The two women were in the sitting room of a three-room farm … [Read more...] about Ties That Bind
December January 2001 Issue
Film Forum: No Non-Irish Need Apply?
Ethnic casting issues in movies. Our moviegoing experience would be much diminished if we had never had the chance to see Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, Peter O'Toole as Lawrence of Arabia, Greer Garson as Mrs. Miniver, Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, or Kenneth Branagh as Henry V. We would have been equally impoverished if we had not seen Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara … [Read more...] about Film Forum: No Non-Irish Need Apply?
Film Reviews: Tigerland
Starring Colin Farrell. Directed by Joel Schumacher. 20th Century Fox. ℘℘℘ Faster than a speeding bullet, it seems, onetime Ballykissangel actor Colin Farrell has shot to fame as the next "it" Irish actor. When you see his Vietnam war flick Tigerland, you'll see it's not just his good looks that got the young Dubliner all this attention. Swapping his Dublin accent for … [Read more...] about Film Reviews: Tigerland
Film Review: Two Family House
Starring Michael Rispoli, Kelly MacDonald, and Kevin Conway. Written and directed by Raymond De Felitta. Lion's Gate Films. ℘℘℘ In the tradition of films as diverse as Saturday Night Fever and Working Girl comes Two Family House, a charming movie about a blue collar guy who wants a little bit more than his drab background offers. Just don't go to this movie expecting … [Read more...] about Film Review: Two Family House
Roots: Using Church Records
To do successful family history research you must know where to look. Knowing the sources and what they can tell you is vital to success. Irish church records are probably the best place to start. They are among the earliest and undoubtedly the most comprehensive sources of personal information available to family researchers. They are often the only evidence of the … [Read more...] about Roots: Using Church Records