The iconic song about Ireland, written by country music legend Johnny Cash in 1969, is still popular today. When Cash visited Ireland in 1959, he was already a successful country musician, his hits including “Folsom Prison Blues” and “I Walk the Line.” He came to Ireland, though, as a tourist. He later explained his inspiration for writing the song as, “I was in a car … [Read more...] about “Forty Shades of Green” at 60
October November 2019 Issue
Woodstock: The Irish Contribution
On the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Music Festival, Christine Kinealy remembers the legendary guitarist from Northern Ireland who gave a celebrated performance. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, The Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, Ten Years After, Joan Baez, Santana, Joe Cocker, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and – Henry McCullough. They … [Read more...] about Woodstock: The Irish Contribution
Sláinte! The Great October Fair
The Ballinasloe October Fair is one of the oldest fairs in Ireland. While now predominantly associated with horses, in its heyday it served as a market for the sale of cattle and sheep by the farmers of the west to their counterparts in the east of Ireland. An Irish adage advises: Go East for a woman; go West for a horse. When I was a girl I had a … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Great October Fair
Photo Album: An Ocean Away
My paternal great-grandmother Violet May Carroll McHale was born in 1906 in Castlebar, Mayo, and raised as a farmer’s daughter. She and her sisters (Delia, Lucy, and Jane) did much of the grunt work that was usually reserved for males, since their father Martin had a bad leg and couldn’t do it on his own. Violet eventually had to leave school completely at about age 10 to help … [Read more...] about Photo Album: An Ocean Away