The actress, producer and humanitarian, Roma Downey. ℘℘℘ Roma Downey received the first ever Irish Diaspora Award from the Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) and the government of Ireland in Dublin on April 9 for her “extraordinary achievements and vision as a producer and an actress alongside her charity and humanitarian work worldwide.” Born in Derry, Northern … [Read more...] about The Derry Girl Makes History
Issues
Beyond the Bog Road
The first new album in 10 years from fiddle virtuoso Eileen Ivers traces traditional Irish music to Canada’s Nova Scotia, and through the Scots/Irish root of Bluegrass and Old-Time music of Appalachia, and on to the Cajun sounds of the South. “The bog roads of Ireland were paths into ancient sod fields, laboriously farmed to provide an essential source of fuel and … [Read more...] about Beyond the Bog Road
“Reach for the Stars”
On March 30 astronaut Eileen Collins, the first of two women Navy test pilots, the first woman to pilot a space shuttle, and the first woman to command a mission, was inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame, at the Metropolitan Club in New York City. Folk legend Judy Collins sang “Beyond the Sky,” the song that NASA had commissioned her to write for Eileen when she … [Read more...] about “Reach for the Stars”
The Mother of Orphans
“She was a mother to the motherless; she was a friend to those who had no friends; she had wisdom greater than schools can teach; we will not let her memory go.” Sara Cone Bryant, from "Margaret of New Orleans," in Stories to Tell Children(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1908) There’s a small park in New Orleans, on the corner of Camp and Prytania Streets, which exists … [Read more...] about The Mother of Orphans
Roots:
The Unrelated Ryan Girls
Whether it’s stomping the boards on Broadway or on Hollywood’s silver screen, these girls all share a love of performance. Perhaps it’s in the DNA?
Thinking about writing an article for Irish America, I recalled the childhood games my mother and I would play on long car rips. We named state capitals, movie titles and how many famous people we could list with the same last … [Read more...] about Roots:
The Unrelated Ryan Girls