The year is 1980. A former movie actor, Ronald Reagan, whose great-grandfather was an emigrant from the village of Ballyporeen in County Tipperary, is the newly-elected, 40th president of the United States. That same year another emigrant, Ciarán O’Reilly from County Cavan, was performing in an off-Broadway play called Summer by the Irish writer Hugh Leonard, where he met an … [Read more...] about Hall of Fame: Irish Repertory Theatre Founders Charlotte Moore & Ciarán O’Reilly
Issues
Hall of Fame: Grammy Award-Winning Musician Arturo O’Farrill
At first the names Arturo and O’Farrill don’t seem to belong together. But, in the long, romantic history of the Hibernia-Hispania connection, they do: Bernardo O’Higgins liberated Chile; the San Patricios Brigade fought for Mexico in its War of Independence; the Milesians, settlers of ancient Ireland, sailed from Spain to “the Promised Isle.” Then there were those lucky … [Read more...] about Hall of Fame: Grammy Award-Winning Musician Arturo O’Farrill
First Word: Trailblazers Past & Present
It was the first time that I knew the full weight of Irish America. Coming from a small country with few people, it’s difficult for an immigrant to grasp that in a place as big as America, the Irish could wield such power. I’m talking about the first Irish-American Presidential Forum in 1992. It was arranged by then-assemblyman John C. Dearie. I don’t remember the venue, but I … [Read more...] about First Word: Trailblazers Past & Present
Dublin Apocalypse Manuscript Now Online
Trinity College Dublin (TCD) celebrated the digitization of the Dublin Apocalypse manuscript, one of great medieval treasures of TCD’s library, on February 1. The 14th-century Latin manuscript of the Book of Revelation is accompanied by exquisite illustrations in gold and other vivid colors depicting scenes of the horsemen of the Apocalypse, battles with many-headed beasts, and … [Read more...] about Dublin Apocalypse Manuscript Now Online
Long-Lost James Connolly Play May Be Found
In Nora Connolly’s 1935 memoir of her father, James Connolly, she mentions a play of his entitled The Agitator’s Wife, which scholars have never been able to find. A short story of the same name was recently discovered in an obscure journal in Warwick University’s library, leading University of Glasgow academics to believe it could be the long-lost work. The short story, which … [Read more...] about Long-Lost James Connolly Play May Be Found