Nearly thirty-eight years ago an exuberant friend named Eddie burst into the office where I was working as assistant to a Hollywood producer commanding, “Come with me right now. I want to introduce you to someone.” Fortunately, I was alone and it was almost five o’clock. As I closed up shop, Eddie paced agitatedly about the room singing the praises of Bill, the stranger he had … [Read more...] about Slainte: The Irish Wake
Issues
A Day to Make St. Patrick Proud
Maeve Binchey, the renowned Irish author, explains how St. Patrick’s Day has changed in Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day used to be the dullest day in the Irish calendar until we got sense and learned to follow our transatlantic brethren and make it into a carnival. When I was young in the 1950s, March 17 was a bit like Tombstone City. For one thing it was in the middle of Lent and … [Read more...] about A Day to Make St. Patrick Proud
Photo Album
In the above photograph, taken in Lockport, New York in 1914, my grandmother Mary Fitzsimons Dowd (front, right) is pictured with four of her children and one grandchild. Mary Fitzsimmons was born in County Roscommon in the town of Elphin, near the River Shannon, in 1848. She and husband John O’Dowd emigrated from Ireland in 1871. They dropped the ‘O’ from O’Dowd when they … [Read more...] about Photo Album
Mother, Life, Landscape, and the Connection
Edna O’Brien returns to world of The Country Girls in The Light of Evening, with the mother-daughter relationship as the main theme. "A writer’s life is like an athlete’s life. You train every day of your life and even then it may not be as good as one had hoped,” says Edna O’Brien, who has written 20 books. Her latest, The Light of Evening, tells the story of Eleanora, a … [Read more...] about Mother, Life, Landscape, and the Connection
The First Word: The Grip of Mother Ireland
“Like Joyce she has lived in exile but never forgotten a single thing.” – Professor Declan Kiberd, UCD School of English and Drama, speaking about Edna O’Brien. UCD awarded O’Brien the Ulysses Medal in 2006. To start the New Year off right, we bring you our “Arts Special” issue, featuring a plethora of interviews (and feathers in the case of hatter Philip Treacy), books, … [Read more...] about The First Word: The Grip of Mother Ireland