Singer, showgirl, and queen of the speakeasy during Prohibition, Mary Guinan was a genuine Irish American wild woman. Larger (and louder) than life, she had an even bigger heart. During the wild and jazzy New York of the 1920s, Texas Guinan was the wildest and jazziest dame in town. Born Mary Louise Cecilia Guinan in 1884, her parents were immigrants from Ireland who settled … [Read more...] about Wild Irish Woman: “Hello, Suckers!”
Issues
The Life of Brian
Known for his roles in the Academy Award-winning film The Hurt Locker and the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, Brian Geraghty stars in TNT’s new drama The Alienist, which premiered on January 22, and credits his success to his dad. ℘℘℘ From an early age, actor Brian Geraghty, who has appeared in two dozen movies, including The Hurt Locker and Jarhead, as well as acclaimed TV shows … [Read more...] about The Life of Brian
What Are You Like? Loretta Brennan Glucksman
The Grand Marshal of the 2018 New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade takes our questionnaire. When Loretta Brennan Glucksman’s grandparents immigrated to Pennsylvania coal-mining country, the last thing on their minds was making the trek to New York City for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. “That was outside the realm of possibility,” she says. Her father’s family, the … [Read more...] about What Are You Like? Loretta Brennan Glucksman
The World Is Just A Book Away
Actor Aidan Quinn on how Dostoyevsky changed his life and made him a better performer. ℘℘℘ My father was an English teacher, and my family moved back and forth between Ireland and the United States. In my house, you couldn’t go anywhere without tripping over books by Beckett, O’Casey, Yeats, and all the other great Irish writers. When I was young, however, I was more focused … [Read more...] about The World Is Just A Book Away
Review of Books
Recently-published books of Irish and Irish American interest. ℘℘℘ MEMOIR Box of Butterflies: Discovering the Unexpected Blessings All Around Us By Roma Downey A 10-year-old Roma Downey, mourning the sudden, unexpected death of her vibrant mother, goes to Maureen O’Reilly Downey’s grave to plant her favorite flower – pansies. “She used to say she thought they looked like … [Read more...] about Review of Books