It was a victorious night for the Irish independent movie Once, as its stars and songwriters Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova picked up an Oscar for best original song for “Falling Slowly” at the ceremony held at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles on February 24. It was the first nomination and win for both, and Hansard could hardly believe what was happening as he accepted the … [Read more...] about Oscar joy for Once and Day-Lewis
2008
The Greening of Silicon Valley
By Chris Ryan, Contributor
April / May 2008
April / May 2008
Scan the upper ranks of some of Silicon Valley’s top technology powerhouses and you’ll find them strewn with Irish names like gorse on a Kerry hillside. These executives have helped pick their companies up from the dot-com bust and already are developing the next phase of the Internet era, the socially connective technologies known as Web 2.0. But even as they help to build … [Read more...] about The Greening of Silicon Valley
Please Treasure Our History
By Cormac MacConnell
April / May 2008
April / May 2008
Many of you out there in the diaspora are in possession of treasures of our history which we here at home either carelessly lost or callously threw away into the footprints of the Celtic Tiger. That reality was hammered home to me an hour ago. I was in my neighbor Jimmy’s house and his Limerick mother was there. Her eyes were glowing as she showed me an aerial photo of the … [Read more...] about Please Treasure Our History
The Chieftain of Endurance
By ian Worpole, Contributor
April / May 2008
April / May 2008
With St. Patrick’s season came the mighty Chieftains and their annual tour of the U.S., which began in Albuquerque in February and ended up at Carnegie Hall on March 17. What to say about these titans? This year’s set of gigs, titled “Celtic-Scottish Connections,” marked 34 years of touring in this country alone; they have recorded 44 albums, many in collaboration with the … [Read more...] about The Chieftain of Endurance
Photo Album: The Dreary Sisters
Submitted by: Dr. Daniel Harrop
April / May 2008
April / May 2008
John Deary was the son of Patrick and Beatrice Deary, who emigrated from near Kerry in the 1850’s, eventually settling in Rhode Island. Likewise, Katherine Close was the daughter of James and Katherine Close, from County Down, whose family also settled in Rhode Island. John and Katherine were married at St. Michael Church, Providence, where all their five children were … [Read more...] about Photo Album: The Dreary Sisters