From Ballyporeen to the White House, Niall O'Dowd looks at President Reagan's Irish background, and recalls an interview with the President's brother, Neil. "Today I come back to you as a descendant of people who were buried here in pauper's graves." Thus did President Ronald Wilson Reagan announce himself when he visited the Irish village of Ballyporeen Co. Tipperary. It was … [Read more...] about President Reagan Remembered
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Tilting Towards Ireland
Tilting, a village on the island of Fogo and about 300 miles from St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland, was recently nominated as an Irish Heritage site. This is largely due to the efforts of a small but determined group of residents who are trying to halt the steady process of decay by restoring old houses and fishing stages before new technologies engulf what’s left of the … [Read more...] about Tilting Towards Ireland
The Not So Great Escape
Ten years after robbers emptied an armored security van of $7.4 million at gunpoint, a former I.R.A. member has admitted in a memoir that he masterminded the heist. ℘℘℘ Sam Millar rues the fact that he is unlikely to set foot in New York ever again. He spent 16 years in the city, saw his four children born there, set up a successful comic book business in Queens and blew it all … [Read more...] about The Not So Great Escape
Solo Tenor
Following on the coattails of the great John McCormack, Ronan Tynan seems destined to be the most popular Irish tenor ever. ℘℘℘ "Let's listen to Ronan Tynan." The CNN commentators on President Ronald Reagan's funeral broadcast are silent as the Irish tenor's voice rises effortlessly in Schubert's "Ave Maria" filling the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. Tynan's face is the … [Read more...] about Solo Tenor
Ireland: Culture and Heritage
When summer comes, Ireland's in her glory. Lazy sunsets linger for hours in a softly glowing night sky. Every nook and cranny of the land turns lush and green. Roses ramble wildly up cottage walls and over stone stiles. Towering hedgerows turn country lanes into fragrant flowering tunnels. Music wafts on breezes everywhere. Fairs and festivals spring up like mushrooms after a … [Read more...] about Ireland: Culture and Heritage