The old St. Patrick's Day quip about there being two kinds of people – those who are Irish and those who wish they were – turns out to be not so far from wrong. The research my colleague Michael Hout has carried out shows that there are a lot more Americans claiming to be Irish than one might expect from immigration records, because the children of ethnically mixed marriages … [Read more...] about The Irish as Playful Souls
Issues
Eoin McKiernan
The Educator
Dr. Eoin McKiernan, founder of the Irish American Cultural Institute, is widely acknowledged as one of the foremost authorities in the U.S. on Irish affairs. His resume includes author, lecturer, scriptwriter, TV presenter, columnist, and consultant. From 1987 until earlier this year, he penned the "Last Word" column for Irish America.
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We [the IACI] think that if there … [Read more...] about Eoin McKiernanThe Educator
Lust for Lust
A bawdy romance from the author of Angela's Ashes. When he awoke that morning Mordecai O'Callaghan found himself in such a desperate state of tumescence he immediately thought of Nora Moynihan down the road. Nora Moynihan, down the road, awakening at the same time, found herself in such a desperate state of lubriciousness she thought, "Dear God, I'll have to be put … [Read more...] about Lust for Lust
Rosie O’Donnell
Queen of Comedy
Rosie O'Donnell, the queen of daytime TV, recalls the time she and her family spent in Ireland shortly after the death of her mother.
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I remember eating salt and vinegar potato chips and having sweets, the candy, those Marathon bars, remember those? We used to go to the woods and my cousin would shoot cap guns and we'd hide in the bushes and watch the helicopters come … [Read more...] about Rosie O’DonnellQueen of Comedy
A Gift of Time
Three generations return home. ℘℘℘ A summer journey fills the pockets with scraps of nothing and bits of everything. The boarding coupon for seat 33F. A receipt for two crunchie bars, a ticket from that play in Galway, a few 20-pence pieces, a flat lake stone for skimming. And that slip of paper, scrawled with the name Dad mentioned as we traveled through Ireland in … [Read more...] about A Gift of Time