George Mitchell, the former senate majority leader (D – Maine) and Northern Ireland peace broker, has accepted the invitation to be the Grand Marshal of New York’s 5th Avenue St. Patrick’s Day parade. Mitchell was appointed United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland by president Bill Clinton, and was a chief architect of the Mitchell Principles and the Good Friday … [Read more...] about St. Patrick's Day Parades 2016
Issues
Those We Lost
Rick Cluchey 1933 – 2015 On February 2, 1955, the man who would become one of Samuel Beckett’s greatest protegés, got into a car in Los Angeles with a loaded gun. Rick Cluchey robbed and accidentally shot the driver, was caught, and subsequently sentenced to life in San Quentin Prison without the possibility of parole. It was through this violent episode that he was to find his … [Read more...] about Those We Lost
1916 Events:
A Transcontinental Commemoration
The program for the 2016 U.S. commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising launched in January with members of the Irish and American governments and Irish celebrities in New York City. On hand to mark the occasion was Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan, Irish Ambassador Anne Anderson, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, chair of Culture … [Read more...] about 1916 Events:
A Transcontinental Commemoration
1916 Memorials in the U.S.
Though the majority of memorials to the Easter Rising are on the East Coast, the influence of the revolution are spread from Golden Gate Park to Long Island Sound. Springfield, MA Construction began on a new remembrance garden in Springfield’s Forest Park in January, the first of its kind in America to pay homage to the centenary of the 1916 Rising. It will feature seven oak … [Read more...] about 1916 Memorials in the U.S.
Robert Emmet: A Symbol for Independence
Within sight of the Irish Embassy is Kerry-born sculptor Jerome Connor’s famous memorial to Irish patriot Robert Emmet, commissioned in 1916 by a group of Irish Americans (including the singer John McCormack) to commemorate Irish independence. Connor chose to render Emmet delivering his famous speech from the dock, an enduring symbol of the struggle for freedom, because without … [Read more...] about Robert Emmet: A Symbol for Independence