After a six-year campaign to secure official recognition for the Irish workers who lost their lives building Canada’s Rideau Canal, author and activist Kevin Dooley was happy to share the news that Canadian Minister for the Environment Peter Kent, whose department oversees Parks Canada, has confirmed that the workers’ legacy will be honored. One hundred and thirty-two miles in … [Read more...] about Recognition for Irish Workers of the Rideau Canal
Issues
Ireland to Get Its Own Cheers
The classic American sitcom about the Boston bar where everybody knows your name is set to be rebooted in Irish. In mid-December, the Dublin-based Sideline Productions announced that CBS had granted them permission to develop an Irish version of Cheers for Irish language network TG4. The beloved series, which aired for eleven seasons from 1982 - 1993, centers on a Boston dive … [Read more...] about Ireland to Get Its Own Cheers
House of Waterford in Times Square
On New Years Eve, close to one million revelers gathered in New York’s Times Square to ring in 2013. The celebration, which was hosted by Allison Hagendorf and featured performances by Taylor Swift, “Gangnam Style” singer Psy, and Train, kicked off at 6:00 p.m., when the House of Waterford Crystal ball rose to the top of the One Times Square building. The crystal ball, which … [Read more...] about House of Waterford in Times Square
Portraits of the Irish: Paddy at the Met
The Ashcan School of artists were a group of realist painters who found inspiration in the seamy side of New York City. Tom Deignan looks at the Irish subjects who provided inspiration to these artists, as the Metropolitan Museum of Art mounts an exhibition of paintings by George Bellows (runs thru Feb. 18), one of the group’s foremost artists. The term Ashcan School was … [Read more...] about Portraits of the Irish: Paddy at the Met
Those We Lost
Recent losses in the Irish and Irish-American community. Charles Durning 1923 – 2012 The man who played the pope, the governor of Texas, Dustin Hoffman’s Tootsie suitor, four different Santa Clauses, and a bumbling Mel Brooks-inspired Nazi colonel has died. Charles Durning, known in the business as the King of Character Actors, died Christmas Eve at his home in Manhattan. He … [Read more...] about Those We Lost