The English Catholic martyr, St. Edmund Campion, lived in Dublin for a while in 1569 and here is what he wrote about the Irish: "The people are thus inclined: religious, franke, amorous, irefull, sufferable of paines infinite, very glorious, many sorcerers, excellent horsemen, delighted with warres, great almes-givers, passing in hospitalitie: the lewder sort both clarkes and … [Read more...] about Puddle Jumping
Irish Catholicism
Nora, an Excerpt
Even now, here 30 years since, when I turn to the southwest in Ennis from Shannon, and head out on the peninsula that ends at Loop Head, and somewhere on that road get my first wind of turfsmoke, I remember the first time and the sense that I had then of coming home."The name's good," the man in the customs hall had said, letting my bags pass without a look. I had a hundred … [Read more...] about Nora, an Excerpt
Confessions of a
Bronx Irish Catholic
Over the years, I've spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about what it means to be Irish. Occasionally, my public writings and ruminations on the subject have led to me being described (and dismissed) as a "professional Irishman." If only it were true! Unfortunately, I'm still a semi-pro, forced to make a living at activities unrelated to my ethnic investigations.A … [Read more...] about Confessions of a
Bronx Irish Catholic
Rosie O’Donnell
Queen of Comedy
Rosie O'Donnell, the queen of daytime TV, recalls the time she and her family spent in Ireland shortly after the death of her mother.℘℘℘I remember eating salt and vinegar potato chips and having sweets, the candy, those Marathon bars, remember those? We used to go to the woods and my cousin would shoot cap guns and we'd hide in the bushes and watch the helicopters come because … [Read more...] about Rosie O’Donnell