Ireland’s ancient Christmas traditions and the magic of Newgrange. The winter holidays are a time to gather with family and friends, to share abundance, to feast, to reflect on joyful memories, and to hope the future will be peaceful and prosperous for all. It seems someone is slicing a fruitcake or pouring a glass of holiday cheer wherever one goes. Bombarded as we are … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Joyous Season
Issues
Playing in the Band
For the perfect pairing of Grateful Dead and traditional Celtic sound, look to Wake the Dead, a California group of experts musicians. For almost 17 years, Wake the Dead has dug deep into the canon of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, releasing their fourth album, Deal, this past fall. Founding member Danny Carnahan, vocalist, fiddler, and Grammy-nominated songwriter, explains. … [Read more...] about Playing in the Band
What Are You Like?
Keith & Kristyn Getty
The Northern Irish duo reinventing the hymn.
Keith and Kristyn Getty have written music together since 2001 (and have been married since 2004). Both born near Belfast, they now live between Nashville and Portstewart, Co. Derry. The transatlantic life is an apt parallel to their musical style, which combines classical, folk, traditional Irish, and contemporary genres to form a … [Read more...] about What Are You Like?
Keith & Kristyn Getty
There’s Something About Morag
Morag Prunty, who writes as Kate Kerrigan, talks about growing up in London with Irish parents. ℘℘℘ There are two ways it can go when you interview a former journalist. Either they are notoriously tight-lipped, all too aware of what their words will look like in print, or they are generously loquacious, probably having been on the business end of an awkward interview often … [Read more...] about There’s Something About Morag
Review of Books
Books of Irish and Irish American interest. ℘℘℘ Dear Mr. Beckett: Letters from the Publisher By Barney Rosset, edited by Lois Oppenheim, and curated by Astrid Myers Rosset More than anything, Dear Mr. Beckett is a scrapbook – a loving collage of memorabilia ranging from letters to contracts to doodles – illustrating the relationship between publisher Barney Rosset and his … [Read more...] about Review of Books