In Ireland, the last night of the year was called Oiche na Cada Moire, The Night of the Big Portion. It was common practice to have a big supper that night to ensure a full cupboard and plenty to eat in the twelve months to come. Of course, the custom dated back to a time when crop success meant the difference between feast and famine. Spells and incantations were invoked to … [Read more...] about The Night of the Big Portion
Culture
Bog Treasures
Five thousand years ago, on the windswept edge of Western Europe, near the village of Ballycastle, halfway between Benwee Head and Killala Bay, a community of farmers, cattlemen, crafters of wood and stone, men and women of passionate beliefs were engaged in an organic and spiritual existence alongside the daunting, relentless sea cliffs of North Mayo. The primeval forest of … [Read more...] about Bog Treasures
Consumers Get Their Irish Up Over 7Up Ads
Dr Pepper/Seven Up Inc. recently re-edited its U.S. television commercial when scores of irate Irish-Americans phoned in complaining of what sounded like a leprechaun shouting an ethnic slur. In the commercial, a foul-tempered leprechaun is pulling a wagon through the streets of New York City hawking dnL, Dr Pepper/Seven Up's new caffeinated, carbonated fruit-flavored soda … [Read more...] about Consumers Get Their Irish Up Over 7Up Ads
Pittsburgh Couple Finds Ancestors Are in the Same Boat
On their first date ten years ago in a French restaurant in Pittsburgh, John Kudlik and Susan Showalter, both part Irish, discovered they had something in common. John, a historian, is the great-great-grandson of Daniel Dowd, a farmer who came to America on the Jeanie Johnston in 1849. When he told Susan his family was from a town in Country Kerry called Ballymacelligot, she … [Read more...] about Pittsburgh Couple Finds Ancestors Are in the Same Boat
First Word: Heroes for Our Time
"You cannot put a rope around the neck of an idea. ... You cannot confine it in the strongest prison cell that your slaves could ever build." – Sean O'Casey on the death of Thomas Ashe. ℘℘℘ Just as I was getting annoyed that no one on the Larry King tribute to Gregory Peck mentioned the actor's Irishness, he mentioned it himself. "It must be that Irish stubborn streak in me," … [Read more...] about First Word: Heroes for Our Time