Irish America

Irish America

Issues

The Prosecutor Goes to Dublin

By Abdon M. Pallasch, Contributor
June / July 2007

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Fresh from securing a conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff Scooter Libby, Chicago federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald appeared in Dublin the day before St. Patrick’s Day to talk about international prosecution of crime. “We used to think of prosecutions of conduct happening outside the United States as coming once in a blue moon, but I think we’re going … [Read more...] about The Prosecutor Goes to Dublin

The 1930s: When Irish Catholics Changed America

By Tom Deignan, Contributor
June / July 2007

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 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

The Pogues: They’re Back! (Almost)

By ian Worpole, Contributor
June / July 2007

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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

By Tom Deignan, Contributor
June / July 2007

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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

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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