There is a thread that links each of Terry George’s films, and it comes directly from his life. “I’m talking about ordinary people struggling against oppression,” he tells Irish America. “That’s always been my kind of guiding light.” Whether it’s the true-to-life tale of the late Gerry Conlon (the Belfast man who spent 15 years in an English prison having been wrongly accused) … [Read more...] about Hall of Fame: Academy Award-Winning Director Terry George
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame: Irish Repertory Theatre Founders Charlotte Moore & Ciarán O’Reilly
The year is 1980. A former movie actor, Ronald Reagan, whose great-grandfather was an emigrant from the village of Ballyporeen in County Tipperary, is the newly-elected, 40th president of the United States. That same year another emigrant, Ciarán O’Reilly from County Cavan, was performing in an off-Broadway play called Summer by the Irish writer Hugh Leonard, where he met an … [Read more...] about Hall of Fame: Irish Repertory Theatre Founders Charlotte Moore & Ciarán O’Reilly
Hall of Fame: Grammy Award-Winning Musician Arturo O’Farrill
At first the names Arturo and O’Farrill don’t seem to belong together. But, in the long, romantic history of the Hibernia-Hispania connection, they do: Bernardo O’Higgins liberated Chile; the San Patricios Brigade fought for Mexico in its War of Independence; the Milesians, settlers of ancient Ireland, sailed from Spain to “the Promised Isle.” Then there were those lucky … [Read more...] about Hall of Fame: Grammy Award-Winning Musician Arturo O’Farrill
First Word: Trailblazers Past & Present
It was the first time that I knew the full weight of Irish America. Coming from a small country with few people, it’s difficult for an immigrant to grasp that in a place as big as America, the Irish could wield such power. I’m talking about the first Irish-American Presidential Forum in 1992. It was arranged by then-assemblyman John C. Dearie. I don’t remember the venue, but I … [Read more...] about First Word: Trailblazers Past & Present
A Visit to the Hall of Fame
Kevin M. White, Duke University’s vice president and director of athletics, who was inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame in 2017, paid a visit to the Hall of Fame in New Ross, Co. Wexford, in October. He described the visit as “an amazing, actually spectacular, experience.” ♦ … [Read more...] about A Visit to the Hall of Fame