The evolution of the Irish-American policeman – in real life and on screen. In the classic 1954 Looney Tunes cartoon entitled “Bugs and Thugs,” everybody’s favorite animated rabbit gets himself caught up with Rocky and Mugsy, a couple of bank robbers who flee the scene of the crime and head off to a rural safe house. Soon enough, Bugs Bunny fakes the sound of a police siren … [Read more...] about The Irish Coppers
2012
Here’s Jimmy!
Jimmy Murphy, the Irishman behind the iconic Beverly Hills restaurant Jimmy's, a favorite among Hollywood’s elite for over twenty years, tells his story to Patricia Danaher. For more than 20 years, Jimmy’s was the place in Hollywood where the good and the great, the rich and the very famous came to let their hair down, secure in the attentions of Jimmy Murphy and his … [Read more...] about Here’s Jimmy!
Those We Lost
Recent passings in the Irish and Irish-American communities. Maeve Binchy 1940 – 2012 One of Ireland’s most successful and beloved novelists, Maeve Binchy passed away on July 30, following a brief illness. Taoiseach Enda Kenny praised Binchy, author of such bestsellers as Circle of Friends and Tara Road, and mourned Ireland’s loss of “a national treasure.” Binchy was born in … [Read more...] about Those We Lost
Sláinte! Where’s the Beef?
Bird or game, it’s all about carving against the grain, writes Edythe Preet, Irish Heritage Kitchen chef and Sláinte columnist. An old Irish saying has it that “A dinner is not a dinner at all but only an excuse for one if it does not contain a plate of meat.” And meals starring meat have a long history. From tales of the saints’ lives and heraldic sagas we know that wealth … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Where’s the Beef?
The Great Victor Herbert
The Irish composer of such American favorites as “Naughty Marietta,” and “Sweethearts” is the subject of a five-month-long exhibition at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Jack Callahan tells Herbert's story. Before George M. Cohan was packing the theaters, another Irishman’s star shone bright on Broadway. Victor Herbert, one of the most appreciated composers to ever … [Read more...] about The Great Victor Herbert