It was a social network phenomenon before Facebook, blogging and Twitter came along, and Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann is still going strong. For sixty years, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann – Irish Musicians Association – has been spreading the gospel of traditional Irish music all over the world, setting up over 400 community-based branches, including 44 in North America. Today … [Read more...] about Comhaltas: Making Music for Sixty Years
Issues
Bare-Faced and Bare-Knuckled: Fighting Traveller Families
Filmed carefully over a period of twelve years, the documentary Knuckle sheds light on the inner workings and on-going feuds of three Irish Traveller clans. Up next for the film: a New York premiere and an HBO spin-off series. Don’t let the bandaged fist in the photo fool you. Knuckle, Ian Palmer’s documentary about the bare-fisted boxing tradition of the Irish Travellers, … [Read more...] about Bare-Faced and Bare-Knuckled: Fighting Traveller Families
The Irish Repertory Theater: A Class Act
Showcasing the Irish and Irish-American experience on stage for 23 years. Let us now praise the Irish Repertory Theater, New York, and congratulate founders Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director, and Ciarán O’Reilly, Producing Director, as they receive the 2011 Eugene O’Neill Lifetime Achievement Award from the Irish American Writers and Artists. The award is given annually to … [Read more...] about The Irish Repertory Theater: A Class Act
Poem: The Stones of Culdalee
By Timothy Walsh
Culdalee We took the winding road west from Aclair, arrived at where we thought the turnoff should be, the boreen so overgrown you’d hardly know it had ever been the way. We waded down through the uncut field, down the steep hillside to the wild valley below. Thankfully, the cottage still stood, looking much as it did when I saw it last, forty years ago. “Culdalee,” my cousin … [Read more...] about Poem: The Stones of Culdalee
Banville on Black
"Sometimes, in the middle of the afternoon if I’m feeling a little bit sleepy, Black will sort of lean in over Banville’s shoulder and start writing. Or Banville will lean over Black’s shoulder and say ‘Oh that’s an interesting sentence, let’s play with that.’ I can see sometimes, revising the work, the points at which one crept in or the two sides seeped into each other.” If … [Read more...] about Banville on Black