Tom Dunphy talks to Chris Byrne of Unity Squad. Chris Byrne is an unrepentant Fenian bastard. That's not a smear by this writer, mind you: the Brooklyn-born uillean piper, who recently departed the Irish agit-rock band Black 47 after a decade in that group, will freely tell you that – and rap you that – himself. That's clear on "Fenians," a track from Seanchai … [Read more...] about Who’s Rappin’ Now?
December January 2001 Issue
Book Reviews: The Latest Irish Books
NON-FICTION The Irish cop is no stereotype. As authors Thomas Reppetto and James Lardner show, in their informative new history NYPD: A City and Its Police, the Irish have played an integral role on New York City's police force since its creation in 1844. By the mid- 1880s, the authors write, one survey "found that out of approximately three thousand police officers of … [Read more...] about Book Reviews: The Latest Irish Books
Slainte! The History of Soup
Come fall, the days grow shorter, temperatures drop, and trees shed their leaves. Just as certainly, as soon as there's a chill in the air and a hint of winter weather creeps onto the scene, we all begin longing for what cookbook authors are fond of calling `comfort food.' For some folk, that's a hearty scoop of macaroni and cheese. Others pine for a plate of meatloaf and gravy … [Read more...] about Slainte! The History of Soup
Photo Album: Happy Holidays!
The celebration of Christmas at Rockefeller Center started informally in 1931 when workmen involved in the construction of the Center placed a small tree on the Fifth Avenue site of the British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise (the two buildings which today separate The Channel Gardens). The tree was decorated with tinsel and gaily colored ornaments. In this photo, … [Read more...] about Photo Album: Happy Holidays!