Recommended Over the last decade or so, Brooklyn has gone from a byword for gritty urban life – the place where Pete Hamill and Spike Lee told their stories – to a punch line referring to the chic hipsters who have flocked to the borough. Colm Toibin might seem an unlikely candidate to add a fascinating new chapter to Brooklyn’s literary life. After all, his novels, such as … [Read more...] about Review of Books
June July 2009 Issue
Holyoke’s Irish Heart
By Patricia Harty, Editor-in-Chief
Patricia Harty was honored at the St. Patrick’s Day festivities in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and decided that if there is a place called Irish America, this could be it. Its heart, Holyoke, Massachusetts, is still Ireland Parish, which is what it was known as back in the 1800s when immigrants, mainly from the Irish-speaking area of Dingle, Co. Kerry, settled there and found … [Read more...] about Holyoke’s Irish Heart
Oscar Wilde on Show
An exhibition at the Morgan Library attracts Oscar Wilde enthusiasts. Expensively dressed, impeccably mannered and gifted with a voice so beguiling his contemporaries marveled at him, Oscar (Fingal O’Flaherty Wills) Wilde was also one of the wittiest men of his age. Even today, just to hear his name is to anticipate delight. That’s why his cult, which began in his own … [Read more...] about Oscar Wilde on Show
McAllister Tug Boats
When Brian McAllister was coming of age in the 1950s all he cared about was playing basketball and chasing girls. However, over the years, he became the heart and soul of the business his Irish ancestors built and he fought hard to keep it from sinking out of the hands of future generations. Today McAllister Towing and Transportation Co., Inc. is one of the nation’s largest … [Read more...] about McAllister Tug Boats
Sláinte!: Irish Wedding Traditions
Just when I think I have my dad all figured out, a new snippet of info comes to light, and June always finds me thinking more about him than usual. It’s Father’s Day month, his birthday was the 3rd, and my parents were married on June 16th, now celebrated globally as Bloomsday, the day Leopold Bloom wandered through Dublin in Ulysses by James Joyce, Dad’s favorite author. June … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: Irish Wedding Traditions