The haunting Irish Hunger Memorial, unveiled on July 16 in downtown Manhattan, offers visitors a stunning view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. This is fitting, given that these landmarks have greeted generations of Irish immigrants to New York City. Sadly, however, as visitors will learn, your eyes cannot avoid another site -- Ground Zero, just footsteps from the … [Read more...] about NYC’s Famine Memorial
Those we Lost
Street Renamed for 9/11 Hero
Fallen September 11 hero firefighter Michael Brennan had a rare posthumous bestowed on him recently when a street (at 41st and 50th Avenue) in Queens, New York, was renamed "Michael Brennan Way". Michael grew up on the street and his mother, Eileen Walsh still lives there. The ceremony to unveil the new street sign was held on Friday, July 19, and was attended by family, … [Read more...] about Street Renamed for 9/11 Hero
John B. Keane Remembered
On May 30, 2002, John B. Keane, author, raconteur, and much-loved Kerryman, passed away. Keane, at 73, had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1994. The author of 18 plays and 32 works of prose and poetry, including Big Maggie, which played on Broadway in 1982, and The Field, which was made into an award-winning movie starring Richard Harris Keane captured the soul of rural … [Read more...] about John B. Keane Remembered
Chris Duffy
A young financial worker lost on Sept. 11, was most of all a brother. ℘℘℘ Hey Bunkster, ...how was the weekend? don't worry, you've only been at school a week...it'll get better. you gotta meet some people...you're a Duffy. there's bound to be someone you'll run into who knows one of us somehow, between your parents and your brothers, there's a very good chance... Opening … [Read more...] about Chris Duffy
Thomas Flanagan (1923-2003) Earned His Place in Irish Literature
By Seamus Heaney
On March 16, 2002, Thomas Flanagan reviewed a history of St. Patrick's day for The Irish Times and was identified by the paper's literary editor as "a novelist and scholar...currently working on a book about Irish-American writers." When he died in Berkeley from a heart attack five days later, he had submitted to The New York Book Review of Books his piece on William Kennedy … [Read more...] about Thomas Flanagan (1923-2003) Earned His Place in Irish Literature