Winners of this year’s Presidential Distinguished Service Awards for the Irish abroad included actress Fionnula Flanagan, humanitarian Dr. Kevin Cahill, and activist and founding publisher of Irish America magazine, Niall O’Dowd. “Recognition from Ireland for the Irish abroad is always very special. I feel I am in very distinguished company,” O’Dowd, who was honored for his … [Read more...] about Distinguished Service Awards
Issues
Trinity Geologists Rewrite
Earth’s Evolutionary History
Geologists from Trinity College Dublin have rewritten evolutionary history by finding that oxygen-producing life forms were present on Earth some three billion years ago – 60 million years earlier than previously thought.
Working with colleagues from the Presidency University in Kolkata, India, the geologists found evidence for chemical weathering of rocks leading to soil … [Read more...] about Trinity Geologists Rewrite
Earth’s Evolutionary History
Unpublished Poet Awarded Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Prize
The literary world welcomed a new talent in September when the prestigious Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award was given to UCC librarian John Fitzgerald. A virtual unknown, having no previous publications, Fitzgerald was quoted in the Irish Times as saying, “I wasn’t into publishing anything, mainly because I did not think it was up to standard.” All that changed when his first … [Read more...] about Unpublished Poet Awarded Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Prize
The Irish 66ers
The spirited “Irish 66ers” recently completed their 7th motorcycle journey on Route 66 in an effort to raise money for the Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin. They were escorted by the Los Angeles police Emerald Society for the last leg of the famous highway to Santa Monica Pier where Councilman Kevin McKeown spoke to the exultant crowd. “Your commitment and dedication … [Read more...] about The Irish 66ers
Irish American Wins Nobel
Prize in Medicine
Irish-American scientist John O’Keefe was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, sharing the award with Norwegian husband-and-wife researchers May Britt-Moser and Edward Moser. O’Keefe’s groundbreaking work on the brain has opened up a new way of viewing how the mind works. He discovered a positioning system of the brain or an “inner GPS” that makes it possible … [Read more...] about Irish American Wins Nobel
Prize in Medicine