Recommended Back in the mid-1990s, it seemed like everything Irish was cool. Bono was a global rock star, Riverdance was an international sensation, and Frank McCourt sold millions of books. Then, there was Seamus Heaney. The notion of a popular poet seemed almost quaint in the digital age. Yet when Heaney won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995, he became yet another Irish … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Issues
Obama’s Irish Roots: A House in Black, White & Green
When Barack Obama enters The White House as the 44th U.S. President, he will find that the Irish and African-American strands of his ancestry have been linked in many other ways throughout the history of the most famous building in the world. On the day he assumes the highest office in the land, Barack Hussein Obama, the descendant of Ohio and Indiana immigrants who came from … [Read more...] about Obama’s Irish Roots: A House in Black, White & Green
The First Word: The Comfort of Tradition & Ritual
“The robins came – that’s a sign of luck,” my cousin whispers in my ear as the men start to shovel the clay. Sure enough, I look up and see a pair of robins swoop down over the heads of those gathered and then fly off together. It’s a bright sunny day, but the temperature is below freezing and I worry that the clay will be frozen solid. Perhaps it is. But the men – whom I … [Read more...] about The First Word: The Comfort of Tradition & Ritual
Bobby Kennedy’s Bridge
Senator Robert R. Kennedy represented New York from 1965 until June 1968 when he was fatally shot in Los Angeles while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. On November 19, 2008, forty years after he was assassinated, the Triborough Bridge, which connects Manhattan with the Bronx and Queens, was renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. “It is an honor to join … [Read more...] about Bobby Kennedy’s Bridge
McAleese Honored on West Coast Trip
On a whistle stop tour of the West Coast in early December, which included stops in California, Oregon, and Arizona, President Mary McAleese met representatives of local Irish and Irish-American organizations to strengthen cultural, trade and business links between the two countries. On December 11, The University of San Francisco (USF) awarded President McAleese an honorary … [Read more...] about McAleese Honored on West Coast Trip