Irish America

Irish America

2007

A Rockaway Welcome for Wounded Warriors

By Tara Stackpole
October / November 2007

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It could be a scene unfolding in any small town in America, grateful people welcoming home war heroes.  Not too common anymore, except in Rockaway Beach, New York, where it has become an annual event. We are not talking about ordinary soldiers, although ordinary could not describe any soldier during wartime. The soldiers in this parade have sacrificed much and Rockaway has … [Read more...] about A Rockaway Welcome for Wounded Warriors

Chuck Feeney: The Billionaire Who Wasn’t

October / November 2007

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The Billionaire Who Wasn’t by Conor O’Clery tells the story of Chuck Feeney, a young Irish-American who became rich beyond his dreams, only to give it all away through his fund Atlantic Philanthropies. The following excerpt opens just after Feeney graduated from Cornell College in 1965 with a degree in hotel administration. By mid-summer of 1956, Chuck Feeney still had no idea … [Read more...] about Chuck Feeney: The Billionaire Who Wasn’t

Review of Books

By Tom Deignan, Contributor
October / November 2007

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Fiction A few years back, Irish novelist Joseph O’Connor wrote Star of the Sea, an ambitious, multi-layered novel set mainly during the voyage of an Irish famine coffin ship. The book was a best-seller, despite the fact that it was a demanding read. Using flashbacks, jumbled chronology and other trickery, O’Connor took readers all over the British Isles, and his narrative … [Read more...] about Review of Books

Cathie Ryan: Home is Where the Music Is

By Ian Worpole
October / November 2007

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My mum had a phrase that fascinated me – whenever something like the vacuum cleaner showed signs of failure, she would say, “Oh, it’s going home.” I’ve always had a vision of what a strange and wonderful place that particular Home may be, filled with weary appliances. It’s a powerful phrase, and as I grew older and maybe wiser, I realized it is more usually indicative of the … [Read more...] about Cathie Ryan: Home is Where the Music Is

Remembering Tommy Makem

By Terry Golway
October / November 2007

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When Tommy Makem died on August 1,the worldlost not only a great musician and storyteller but an original thinker, who was passionate about Ireland, and  unfailingly gracious. We'll not see the likes of him again. It was a coincidence, of course, that legendary folk singer Tommy Makem and hotel mogul Leona Helmsley departed this world within two weeks of each other last … [Read more...] about Remembering Tommy Makem