A Wedding Day and Bloomsday Coincide Coincidences never cease to amaze me. Once is, well, coincidence. Twice, will earn a ‘hmmm.’ Three times, sends the eyebrows soaring. But when something happens over and over and over again, there are undeniable patterns at work. What, you may well wonder, has this to do with Irish culture and food? Blame my dear Da for the tangent along … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: Comfort & Coincidence
June July 2007 Issue
The Last Word: Freud, The Irish & The Departed
Abdon M. Pallasch ponders the truth of a provocative line from the movie The Departed. “What Freud said about the Irish is: We’re the only people who are impervious to psychoanalysis,” declares Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) in Martin Scorsese’s film The Departed. So what exactly did the father of modern psychiatry, Sigmund Freud, mean by that, anyway? Are we Irish all crazy? Or … [Read more...] about The Last Word: Freud, The Irish & The Departed
Photo Album: From Annestown to Owosso
My grandmother Johannah Phelan was born in Annestown, Tramore, County Waterford, Ireland in 1849. She emigrated to the United States in 1873, her passage paid by her aunt and uncle, Patrick and Catherine Phelan O’Rourke. Johannah married Jeremiah King, a neighbor of the O’Rourke’s, and they had eight children, one of whom died in infancy. They lived in Owosso, Michigan, and … [Read more...] about Photo Album: From Annestown to Owosso
Roots: The Keogh Clan
By Maeve Molloy, Editorial Assistant
June / July 2007
June / July 2007
Keough, Keogh, Kehoe, O’Hoey, Hoy, Haughy, Haugh and MacKeogh are all derivatives of the Irish surname Mac Eochaidh. The clan originated, predominantly, in Leinster, and Kehoe is a common name in County Wexford. Outside of Leinster the Kehoes are most prevalent in Limerick and Tipperary. The Irish spelling of the name Keogh is MacEochaibh, but the Munster spelling is slightly … [Read more...] about Roots: The Keogh Clan
Maeve Binchy: The Queen of Chick Lit
UPDATE: Maeve Binchy, one of Ireland's national treasures, passed away on July 30, 2012, in Dublin. Sharon Ní Chonchúir's 2007 interview with Binchy, below, captures her incredible spirit and down-to-earth philosophy. Maeve Binchy couldn’t be more apologetic. She is sincerely fond of her American fans and is disappointed to have to let them down. “I can’t come to America for … [Read more...] about Maeve Binchy: The Queen of Chick Lit