Irish America
How Flannery O’Connor’s upbringing and her Irish Catholic heritage impacted her writing.
By Joe Zenter
O’Connor’s great-great-grandfather, Patrick Harty, came to Georgia in 1824 from County Tipperary, settling in Taliafero County. His Irish-born daughter Johannah, who became Flannery O’Connor’s great-grandmother, married Hugh Donnelly Treanor in 1848. Hugh had also emigrated … [Read more...] about Flannery O’Connor’s
Irish Roots
Ireland has a new landmark cultural institution. The Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) on St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin celebrates Ireland’s world-renowned literary heritage. The museum is a major partnership between University College Dublin (UCD) and the National Library of Ireland. It’s located in one of Dublin’s finest historic houses, UCD’s Newman House, which was the … [Read more...] about News: Museum of Literature Opens in Dublin
Dublin’s Dalkey Book Festival is celebrating its second decade by launching two major new annual Irish literary awards worth a total of €30,000. These awards will recognize writers in two categories. One will offer €20,000 for the Novel of the Year, making it the biggest prize that is exclusively available to Irish writers. The other will present €10,000 to the Emerging … [Read more...] about News: New Writing Awards
Family stories endure. It has been 75 years since the publication of Betty Smith’s best-selling novel A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. Since that time, Tree has been hailed as a modern classic and was cited by the NY Public Library as one of the best books of the 20th century. In a national survey conducted by PBS in 2018, it was chosen as one of America’s 100 best-loved novels. As … [Read more...] about Meet the Nolans
On swanky hotels, Gráinne O’Malley’s tailor-made pirate outfits, and her own unusual hidden talent. ℘℘℘ Mary Beth Keane’s novel, Ask Again, Yes, is a lyrical, moving tale spanning 40 years about family, love, alcoholism and mental illness. Told with tenderness and empathy for the human condition, it is juxtaposed with just the right amount of humor to carry the story along. … [Read more...] about What Are You Like? Writer Mary Beth Keane
