Before the decade was over, America would be a vastly different nation, thanks in no small part to Irish Catholics. Nineteen hundred and twenty-eight was a dark year for Irish Catholics in America. It was, of course, the year Al Smith ran for president and lost. The anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant Ku Klux Klan played a major role in bringing down Smith, who lost “because of … [Read more...] about The 1930s: When Irish Catholics Changed America
Issues
The Pogues: They’re Back! (Almost)
By ian Worpole, Contributor
June / July 2007
June / July 2007
Ian Worpole never managed to be in the right place at the right time to catch The Pogues live, but there’s always next year, and in the meantime there’s the re-release of all of the band’s CDs. Back in the early ’80’s I’d been resident in America for a few years, and, as happens, was starting to lose touch with my old English roots a bit. Sure, I would go back and visit each … [Read more...] about The Pogues: They’re Back! (Almost)
Review of Books
Fiction In books such as The Butcher Boy and Breakfast on Pluto, Patrick McCabe has displayed a great interest in the macabre. McCabe’s latest, Winterwood, could be his darkest work yet, with a strong dose of Stephen King tossed into McCabe’s reliably strange brew. Once happily married, Redmond Hatch can only stand by as his family crumbles before his eyes. So distraught is … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Ardal O’Hanlon: A Comic Worth His Salt
By Lauren Byrne, Contributor
June / July 2007
June / July 2007
Best known to TV audiences from the sitcoms Father Ted and My Hero, Ardal O’Hanlon decided it was time to develop his “own thing.” He talked to Lauren Byrne after a stand-up gig in Boston. Sitting at an out-of-the-way alcove in the Park Plaza Hotel on his first visit to Boston, Ardal O’Hanlon is describing Ireland’s economic doldrums in the 1980s and how they shaped his career. … [Read more...] about Ardal O’Hanlon: A Comic Worth His Salt
John Banville: A Master Stylist Turns to Crime
By Lauren Byrne, Contributor
June / July 2007
June / July 2007
Like James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, the name John Banville is frequently mentioned in the reverent tones reserved for writers more often invoked than read. His prose, lush and hypnotic, is flecked with mordant humor, but even his most ardent fans agree it can be difficult to register a chuckle amid the ruminations in such novels as The Untouchable, Eclipse, and even his Booker … [Read more...] about John Banville: A Master Stylist Turns to Crime