Many TV critics have argued that since The Sopranos went off the air, HBO has been a bit adrift. Well, now the cable channel is turning to Irish stage and screen veteran Gabriel Byrne for what can only be described as a bold experiment. Having had some success with shows revolving around psychiatrists and their patients (remember Tony Soprano and Dr. Melfi?), Byrne will star in … [Read more...] about Irish Eye on Hollywood
Hibernia
An Evening with Joe O’Connor and Colum McCann
Irish novelists Joseph O’Connor and Colum McCann enthralled an audience at the New York Public Library on November 14. As part of the fall program at the Dorothy and Lewis Cullman Center, O’Connor and McCann, both former Cullman Fellows, were there to discuss Redemption Falls, O’Connor’s novel about the American Civil War, an epic tale he wrote and researched during his … [Read more...] about An Evening with Joe O’Connor and Colum McCann
Omagh Bombing Case Collapses
By Frank Shouldice, Contributor
February / March 2008
February / March 2008
Belfast Crown Court acquitted Sean Hoey of all charges in connection with the 1998 Omagh bombing, which claimed the lives of 29 civilians. Hoey, a 38-year-old electrician from Jonesboro, Co. Armagh, was accused of 56 charges relating to the atrocity but Justice Reg Weir ruled that the forensic evidence gathered by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) was unreliable. … [Read more...] about Omagh Bombing Case Collapses
The French Connection: Cocaine in Ireland
By John Spain, Contributor
February / March 2008
February / March 2008
The death of top model Katy French a few weeks ago from a cocaine overdose has finally woken Ireland up to the fact that we are in the middle of a cocaine epidemic. Cocaine use has now permeated all levels of Irish society, from the boardroom to the bar. So much of it is being used that when RTE (the national television station) did a countrywide investigation a few weeks ago … [Read more...] about The French Connection: Cocaine in Ireland
A Window on the Past
By Katherine Hartnett, Editorial AssistantDecember / January 2008
This book is lovingly dedicated to my son, Max George, whose great-grand-father Edward Conway immigrated to America in 1900 at the age of 18. Arriving at Ellis Island from Ballina, Ireland, he had two dollars in his pocket and listed his occupation as “laborer.” By 1915, he was already living the American dream – he had a family, owned a home, and in one photo, a derby hat sits … [Read more...] about A Window on the Past