A selection of recently published books of Irish and Irish-American interest. Recommended Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons: Tales of Redemption from an Irish Mailbox A couple of years ago, comedian Greg Fitzsimmons, known to me as Greg Fitz or Fitz, was honored as one of Irish America’s Top 100 and we roped him in to perform. He brought the house down with his stories of growing … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Issues
Slainte! Alive, Alive-Oh!
Dublin's iconic Molly Malone statue Lately, I’ve been craving oysters, crab, and mussels. I could write it off to the fact that I keep seeing rafts of the succulent treats on shopping forays. Like many things I’ve written of, however, I’m sure the shellfish love affair that began in my childhood with clams, oysters, shrimp and crab, was my father’s doing. During summer … [Read more...] about Slainte! Alive, Alive-Oh!
Roots: The Joyce Family
Though not Gaelic and sometimes found in England of non-Irish origin, Joyce may certainly be regarded as a true Irish name, and more particularly a Connacht one. The first Joyce to come to Ireland of whom there is an authentic record was Thomas de Jorse a Welshman, who in 1283 married the daughter of Turiogh O’Brien, Prince of Thomond and went with her to County Galway; there … [Read more...] about Roots: The Joyce Family
Kelly Green at Notre Dame: Coach Brian Kelly
It is a mid-October Sunday morning at Notre Dame, right after the home victory against Pittsburgh. It was a close-run thing and the sense of relief around the Notre Dame campus is palpable. Nowhere is it more obvious than in Coach Brian Kelly’s headquarters at the Guglielmino complex. It is easy to see what pressure a Notre Dame rookie coach is under just when you wander into … [Read more...] about Kelly Green at Notre Dame: Coach Brian Kelly
The First Word: Putting the Fight Back in the Irish
Niall O’Dowd returned from interviewing Coach Brian Kelly with a story of a cab driver he met – an immigrant from Africa who had seen little of America outside of South Bend, Indiana. When the cabbie learned that Niall was Irish, he exclaimed with admiration, “You Irish, you own everything over here!” Watching the televised game between Notre Dame and Utah and witnessing the … [Read more...] about The First Word: Putting the Fight Back in the Irish