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
Issues
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
Frank & Al
A new book by Terry Golway on the developing Democratic party through the lens of F.D.R. and Al Smith Frank and Al: FDR, Al Smith, and the Unlikely Alliance and Epic Feud that Created the Modern Democratic Party by Terry Golway allows readers to see the massive change to the Democratic party that both Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Al Smith ushered in during the mid- … [Read more...] about Frank & Al
Eileen Murray: An American Success Story
Is the American Dream still attainable? Eileen Murray thinks so. She herself is a prime example that hard work, a sense of humor, and perseverance can get you there. Every inspiring story has a starting point. And Eileen Murray’s story begins in the Dyckman Housing project in Inwood, a neighborhood on the northernmost tip of Manhattan. These were not the projects of … [Read more...] about Eileen Murray: An American Success Story