Franklin Delano Roosevelt once told an uncomfortable audience of the Daughters of the American Revolution that "we are all immigrants." It is something that we should remember now when the scapegoating of immigrants is reaching a new height in this country. California is leading the way in states that are proposing initatives that would deny public education and medical care to … [Read more...] about The First Word: No Immigrants Need Apply
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Roots: O’Byrne and O’Beirne
By James G. Ryan October 1991
The names O'Byrne and O'Beirne (or Byrne and Beire) often regarded as variants of the same root, are, in fact, totally different. O'Byrne is derived from the Gaelic O'Broin meaning "descended from Bran," the 11th century King of Leinster. The O'Byrnes were chieftains of what is now County Kildare until the Norman invasion when they were driven from their lands into the … [Read more...] about Roots: O’Byrne and O’Beirne
First Word | The Irish in America
I remember the day I first learned of the Famine —walking home from school afterwards, through the miles of country roads bordered by the lush green fields of rich Tipperary farmland – looking at the grass and thinking of how many had died with green stains on their mouths from eating it in a last faint effort to survive. I still remember that day so clearly now all those … [Read more...] about First Word | The Irish in America
First Word: Triple Spirals at Least
The ancient Irish gave tribute to the unique nature of woman in that the symbol they gave their goddesses was that of a Triple Spiral, which can still be found on pre-Christian monuments, such as Newgrange in County Louth. The Triple Spiral represented the cycle of birth, life, and death; the Maiden, Mother, and Crone - the never-ending cycle of infinitude. As the Song of … [Read more...] about First Word: Triple Spirals at Least
Blazes Boylan
Compiled by Brian Rohan July/August 1991
Irish Man in Space At 8:24 a.m. on Wednesday, June 5, Bryan Daniel O'Connor, became the first Irish citizen to ever travel in outer space. It was a smooth takeoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. Colonel O'Connor, who was the commander of the 8-member crew on board, had been in space before, as pilot of the Atlantis … [Read more...] about Blazes Boylan