Recent passings in the Irish and Irish-American communities. Maeve Binchy 1940 – 2012 One of Ireland’s most successful and beloved novelists, Maeve Binchy passed away on July 30, following a brief illness. Taoiseach Enda Kenny praised Binchy, author of such bestsellers as Circle of Friends and Tara Road, and mourned Ireland’s loss of “a national treasure.” Binchy was born in … [Read more...] about Those We Lost
Issues
Sláinte! Where’s the Beef?
Bird or game, it’s all about carving against the grain, writes Edythe Preet, Irish Heritage Kitchen chef and Sláinte columnist. An old Irish saying has it that “A dinner is not a dinner at all but only an excuse for one if it does not contain a plate of meat.” And meals starring meat have a long history. From tales of the saints’ lives and heraldic sagas we know that wealth … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Where’s the Beef?
Music Reviews
New releases from your favorite Irish and Irish-American artists. Nuala Kennedy • Noble Stranger Nuala Kennedy’s Noble Stranger, one of the newest releases from Compass Records, fluctuates between your typical trad album and a very new, innovative pop sound. Kennedy is an Irish vocalist and flute player with a voice that hits an intriguingly high pitch. This vocal peculiarity … [Read more...] about Music Reviews
Review of Books
Recently published books of Irish and Irish-American interest. Recommended The Dream of the Celt The idea of Mario Vargas Llosa, one of the star writers of the Latin American Boom and the winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature, writing about Roger Casement, one of the more controversial, and misunderstood figures of Irish history, is initially surprising. There’s … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Roots: Keeping Up With the Joneses
The surname Jones, a holdover from the patronymic naming convention, means “son of John.” Celtic Welsh in origin, it emerged in the years following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, as the practice of using surnames was introduced into society. The first documentation of the name Jones is found in the 1279 Hundred Rolls of Buckinghamshire, which lists a Matilda Jones in … [Read more...] about Roots: Keeping Up With the Joneses