Ireland offers a warm welcome, even in winter. Dublin: The wind and rain lashed furiously on the tarmac at Dublin Airport, rocking our Aer Lingus Airbus like a gondola exposed to the elements on a mountaintop. We hadn't packed any sun block for this post-Christmas 2000 family trip to Ireland, but no one had told us we'd be landing in the monsoon season. It had proved … [Read more...] about Never Mind the Weather!
Dublin
The Last Word
Why it's hard to be an American in Ireland. Dublin, September 11: Heading home from work, shocked by what I'd seen in the previous few hours, I wondered if people on the train felt the same as I did. Were they horrified? Were they feeling sick? Were they in shock? A group of schoolboys, loud with nervous excitement, talked about what they'd seen. But, for the most part, there … [Read more...] about The Last Word
St. Patrick’s Day in May
The sign in the display in Clery's shop window on Dublin's O'Connell Street said it all: "Strong, bold...and proud to be Irish." The sentiment perfectly captured the spirit of the city's belated St. Patrick's Day festival this past May. St. Patrick's Day celebrations throughout the country were canceled in March due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that paralyzed … [Read more...] about St. Patrick’s Day in May
Irish Theater Loses a Voice
The creative community suffered a grievous loss when actor, drama teacher, artistic director and founder of the Focus Theatre in Dublin, Deirdre O'Connell, died at her home in Dublin on June 9. Born to Irish immigrants – her mother was from Cork, her father from Sligo – in the Bronx, New York in 1939, Deirdre was encouraged by her parents in her desire to act from an early … [Read more...] about Irish Theater Loses a Voice
A Darker Shade of Green
When Bill Clinton took the stage in Dundalk on his final presidential visit to Ireland last December, he could have had no idea how much of a welcome was waiting. In the late 1990s, the border town (population 30,000) had almost shaken off its El Paso image, a legacy from the Troubles, and was working hard at promoting itself as a center for multinational investment. … [Read more...] about A Darker Shade of Green