Irish America

Irish America

Issues

Hibernia Arts: Will this finally be the year for Kenneth Branagh?

By Tom Deignan

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That’s the big question the Irish – north and south, and on both sides of the Atlantic – will be asking when they tune into the Academy Awards ceremonies on Sunday, March 27th, at The Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. No matter who wins, it’s going to be a big night for the Irish. Van Morrison, Jessie Buckley and Ciarán Hinds join Branagh as Irish-born entertainers looking to grab … [Read more...] about Hibernia Arts: Will this finally be the year for Kenneth Branagh?

Cockles & Mussels, Alive, Alive-o!

By Edythe Preet

March/April 1997

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"She wheeled her wheelbarrow through streets broad and narrow, crying "cockles and mussels, alive alive o." – From the song, "Mussels and Cockles" that remembers the street vendor, Molly Malone. The Irish have been eating shellfish since humans first set foot on the Emerald Isle. Huge shell piles called middens have been found at every seaside archaeological site, … [Read more...] about Cockles & Mussels, Alive, Alive-o!

Spending Time With Alice

By Tom Deignan

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Tom Deignan first interviewed Alice McDermott as a young journalist. He looks back now on her literary career over the past 20 years and talks to her about her new non-fiction book What About the Baby? Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction. For four decades now, Alice McDermott has dazzled the literary world in a fashion nearly as subtle and cunning as her fiction. We almost … [Read more...] about Spending Time With Alice

She Died Of The Fever

By Dr. John Froude

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Dublin as depicted in the song “Molly Malone,” and the fever that took her. Molly Malone “died of the fever” on June 13, 1699, according to the Dublin Millennium Commission, and there’s a statue on Suffolk Street to prove it. "In Dublin's fair city" The city wasn’t so fair in the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th century. In common with other capital cities of … [Read more...] about She Died Of The Fever

Denis O’Brien: Facebook Foe, Philanthropy Friend

By Niall O'Dowd

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Hall of Fame Inductee and 35th Annual Keynote Speaker After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti Denis O’Brien, Digicel’s founder enabled Haitians to make cash transfers to each other via mobile phones. Former president Bill Clinton called it one of the most innovative ways to fight poverty he had seen. The original idea was typical of O’Brien, a simple extension of his … [Read more...] about Denis O’Brien: Facebook Foe, Philanthropy Friend