With the Irish language under threat of extinction, you would think the Gaeltacht, small pockets of Ireland where Irish is still spoken, would be a safe haven for our native tongue. Not so. The day is drawing to a close and the sun is setting in the sky. In the dusky light, a farmer strides purposefully home, his feet heavy in earth-covered boots and a shovel slung over his … [Read more...] about The Trouble with Irish Language
February March 2008 Issue
The Magic of Yeats Country Lives On
Ed: This post originally appeared in the February / March issue of Irish America after Bridget English was sent on assignment to attend the Yeats International Summer School the previous summer. The Yeats summer school is now in its 56th year and still accepting applications. Click here for more information or apply. For almost fifty years now, Sligo has played host to the … [Read more...] about The Magic of Yeats Country Lives On
Innocence Shattered By Kennedy’s Assassination
By Michael C. Finnegan
February / March 2008
February / March 2008
“Wish I’d been a kid back then.” That’s my children’s usual reaction after listening to story swapping at family gatherings. “Then” was the 1960s. While they think of tie-dyed shirts, rock-’n’-roll and sit-ins, I remember before all that – to a time some people called Camelot – a brief shining moment when America charged headlong into the future but also firmly … [Read more...] about Innocence Shattered By Kennedy’s Assassination
She Writes What She Knows: Alice McDermott
More than any other writer over the past quarter century, Alice McDermott has chronicled the joys and tragedies of Irish-American families. Alice McDermott’s novels explore love, loss, faith and family in the world of Irish Catholics living in post-World War II suburban Long Island, New York, where the author grew up. Charming Billy tells the story of Billy Lynch, his lost … [Read more...] about She Writes What She Knows: Alice McDermott
Review of Books
Irish Century Series One of the most ambitious projects in recent Irish fiction will be completed when Morgan Llywelyn’s 1999: A Novel of the Celtic Tiger and the Search for Peace is published in February. ($24.95 / 400 pages / Forge). This is the fifth and final entry in Llywelyn’s Irish Century series, in which the prolific author traces the history of 20th-century Ireland … [Read more...] about Review of Books