Recently-published books of Irish and Irish American interest. ℘℘℘ FICTION Normal People By: Sally Rooney There is something quietly knowing in the title of Sally Rooney’s second novel. Perhaps the reader is lulled into a false sense of security by the reassurance that these are characters just like us. And for the most part, they are. But anyone who read her first book – … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Issues
Sláinte!: New Wave Greens
The therapeutic benefits of seawater and seaweed baths, as well as seaweed as an important food source, is explored by Edythe Preet. I’ve got this thing about immersing myself in water. I like it body temperature or better. Thus, although Ireland has beaches aplenty, plunging into its frigid sea is out of the question, and I usually limit my adventuring to manor houses, … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: New Wave Greens
Murphy’s Saw: Surgery With Irish Flair
The extraordinarily gifted John Benjamin Murphy, who turned surgery into performance art. ℘℘℘ Like other influential doctors, John Benjamin Murphy saved and improved lives with his medical advancements. But he also managed to turn surgery into a performance art. As a maestro with surgical tools, he welcomed – indeed, thrived on – the added pressure of operating before … [Read more...] about Murphy’s Saw: Surgery With Irish Flair
Those We Lost
Recent passings in the Irish and Irish American communities. ℘℘℘ William “Bill” Barry 1927 – 2018 Bill Barry, who grabbed Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin’s gun and prevented many other deaths on that fateful night in 1968, passed away on October 9, at age 91 in his New York suburban home. To the end of his life, Bill unfairly blamed himself for what happened to Robert F. … [Read more...] about Those We Lost
Photo Album: Kilcar, My Donegal Playground
When we were children, my brother and I spent our summers in southwest Donegal in the village of Kilcar, with my mother’s people. Our parents sent us there so they could build their business in Buncrana, a tourist town 100 miles north. For me the journey southwest was an opportunity to switch one thriving location for another that was wild and a bit mysterious. Harry Percival … [Read more...] about Photo Album: Kilcar, My Donegal Playground