Judy Collins on finding inspiration in the experience of her antecedents. Shortly before Judy Collins was inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame in New Ross, County Wexford, this magazine interviewed her. In the article entitled El Troubadour she cited her father as her inspiration. She said that Charles Thomas Collins was a great singer and musician who graduated summa … [Read more...] about Songs for the Ancestors
2015
Carna Emigrants Centre
A village in County Galway uses DNA testing to connect with people whose ancestors immigrated to Portland, Maine and other places in the U.S. Maybe I am so excited about the partnership between the Carna Emigrants Centre and the Maine Irish Gaeltacht Project because I spent almost 40 years searching for my Irish ancestors. I spooled through miles of microfilm, asked vague … [Read more...] about Carna Emigrants Centre
What Are You Like?
Maureen O’Hara
Maureen O’Hara lit up the silver screen in 60 movies over a lifetime. We all have our favorites, How Green Was My Valley, which won five Academy Awards including Best Picture; The Long Gray Line, as Mary O’Donnell to Tyrone Power’s Marty Maher; Miracle on 34th Street; The Hunchback of Notre Dame, on and on, and of course, The Quiet Man, John Ford’s “irresistible valentine to … [Read more...] about What Are You Like?
Maureen O’Hara
Hollywood’s Irish Trinity
For all of the bluster surrounding the John Ford and John Wayne relationship, and the sizzling chemistry of Maureen O’Hara and Wayne, Scott Eyman’s book, John Wayne: The Life and Legend, is particularly insightful about how this magical trio managed to make such enduring films. While there’s plenty of gossipy sections about Wayne’s marriages and Ford’s tantrums, its great … [Read more...] about Hollywood’s Irish Trinity
Review of Books
SHORT FICTION Belfast Noir Edited by Adrian McKinty & Stuart Neville Belfast, a city of conflicting allegiances and a dark and turbulent past, seems a perfect setting for Akashic’s latest “noir” anthology. Belfast Noir is presented as “an important snapshot” of the city’s burgeoning crime-writing community featuring stories from some of Ireland’s best-known crime writers … [Read more...] about Review of Books