Sean Kelly remembers one of Ireland's most significant and revered poets. Ireland, from 1932 until 1973, was ruled by the eminently austere statesman Eamon de Valera, in cahoots with John Charles McQuaid, the outstandingly chaste Archbishop of Dublin. The former dreamed of “athletic youths, sturdy children and happy maidens, living the life that God desires that men should … [Read more...] about Patrick Kavanagh
Irish authors
Book Reviews
A sampling of the latest Irish books on offer. RECOMMENDED Telling an as-yet-untold story about the heroic FDNY mission of September 11, Terry Golway writes: "Lieutenant Bob Bohack faced the dilemma of his career. He had his orders: He was to help extinguish the fire on the 79th floor. But those orders were given before he heard rumors of missiles, of more airplanes heading … [Read more...] about Book Reviews
Book Reviews
A sampling of the latest Irish books on offer. RECOMMENDED Brotherhood, a stunning, 240-page book of photos, captures the heavily-Irish New York Fire Department in all its rugged, poignant suffering and glory. Pity Frank McCourt, who was drafted to write the introduction. His words are somehow supposed to stand alongside these extraordinary images. Somehow, he pulls it … [Read more...] about Book Reviews
Book Reviews
RECOMMENDED For decades, one simple question has split the Irish on both sides of the Atlantic into two warring factions: Do you love or loathe The Quiet Man, that 1952 stage Irish classic starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, and directed by John Ford? Ford himself was often more Irish than the Irish themselves, making up an ultra-Gaelic name for himself, and playing … [Read more...] about Book Reviews
Book Reviews
FICTION For almost five decades now, legendary newspaperman Jimmy Breslin has dispensed wisdom, wit and justice with his hard-hitting columns. But Breslin has also published a dozen books now, and his novels have inspired a generation of Irish American writers. His 1973 novel World Without End, Amen chronicled the civil rights movements in both America and Northern Ireland, … [Read more...] about Book Reviews