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The Greatest Irish Rock Albums of the Last Millennium!!!

 By Tom Dunphy

April / May 2000

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Gotcha. There was a craze afoot at the end of the last century -- gosh, doesn't that sound strange, especially since it was a mere couple of months ago -- to list things. It seemed like everything -- books, films, plays, albums, inventions, historical events -- got categorized, ranked, compared, collated, crunched, and spat out... The very notion of a "greatest Irish rock … [Read more...] about The Greatest Irish Rock Albums of the Last Millennium!!!

Who’s Rappin’ Now?

By Tom Dunphy, Contributor
December / January 2001

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Tom Dunphy talks to Chris Byrne of Unity Squad. Chris Byrne is an unrepentant Fenian bastard. That's not a smear by this writer, mind you: the Brooklyn-born uillean piper, who recently departed the Irish agit-rock band Black 47 after a decade in that group, will freely tell you that – and rap you that – himself. That's clear on "Fenians," a track from Seanchai … [Read more...] about Who’s Rappin’ Now?

Hibernia: Cape Breton Festival Builds on Tradition

By Irish America Staff
October / November 2000

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Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, is once again preparing for its annual world-class Celtic entertainment and cultural extravaganza this October. Over the past four years, the Celtic Colours International Festival has established a reputation as one of the foremost Celtic music events in the world. This year's performers include Tommy Makem, Sean McGuire, the Barra MacNeils, Dougie … [Read more...] about Hibernia: Cape Breton Festival Builds on Tradition

The Blue Ribbon

By Jill Fergus, Contributor
October / November 2000

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When I was 13 years old, my mother took my siblings and me to Rockaway Beach in New York City for the day. After we romped in the ocean and were sufficiently sunburned, we ended up at a rather run-down Irish tavern that was hosting a singing contest. Since I can carry a tune, my mother made me enter. All the entrants, adults and kids alike, sang well-known Irish songs. I … [Read more...] about The Blue Ribbon

The Bearing of the Green

By Pete Hamill, Contributor
October / November 2000

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Some thoughts on being Irish-American. As a proud Irish-American, I begin with a simple assumption: there is no way to precisely define that elusive, complex human category called the Irish-American. The tools of sociology are as inadequate to the task as the forms of the Census Bureau, and the jeweler's art of the lexicographer can't come close to an answer. This should … [Read more...] about The Bearing of the Green