An old-time bar in Brooklyn, Farrell’s has served as a community center since the 1930s, and is the last marker of what was once a thriving Irish neighborhood. Farrell’s Bar, on the corner of 16th Street and 9th Avenue in Brooklyn, has been in the same location in Windsor Terrace since 1933. It was the very first bar to open in New York after Prohibition. The writer Pete … [Read more...] about The Last Irish Saloon
Jimmy Breslin
Irish Eye on Hollywood: The Golden Age of New York Journalism
Legendary Irish American newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin (right) is gone but will not be forgotten. Breslin, who died in March at the age of 88, left behind a series of classic columns as well as a handful of brilliant books, including gritty novels like Table Money, and insightful non-fiction like The Short Sweet Dream of Eduardo Gutierrez. But before he died, Breslin also … [Read more...] about Irish Eye on Hollywood: The Golden Age of New York Journalism
Those We Lost
Jimmy Breslin 1928 – 2017 Legendary New York City reporter Jimmy Breslin, who appeared on Irish America’s second ever cover in January of 1986, died March 19 in Manhattan following a bout of pneumonia. Breslin had a knack for finding the overlooked characters on the periphery of major stories. He wrote columns on the gravedigger for John F. Kennedy’s plot at Arlington who … [Read more...] about Those We Lost
Book Reviews
A sampling of the latest Irish books. ℘℘℘ RECOMMENDED Nights of Rain and Stars Maeve Binchy There was a rumor a few years back that the best-selling Irish storyteller Maeve Binchy was going to pack it in and retire. Well, that rumor itself can be retired, because Binchy is back with a new novel entitled Nights of Rain and Stars. Fans of previous Binchy hits such as Circle … [Read more...] about Book Reviews
Leaves of Pain
How too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart. At first, it seemed to be nothing. It was a curled-up dark brown leaf about the size of a good lock of hair and it was preserved in glass in a room in the Fairlow Herbarium in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A typewritten card alongside the leaf said that it was taken from an infected potato plant in Ireland during the … [Read more...] about Leaves of Pain