Irish America

Irish America

Mary Pat Kelly

Brigid Day Celebrations Rekindle the Flame

By Mary Pat Kelly
IA Newsletter, February 8, 2025

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Brigid’s Day – February 1 couldn’t come soon enough to Ireland after an especially tough winter. The Red Warning storm EOWYN landed a final blow, sending force 12 hurricane winds ripping across the island on January 24, leaving hundreds of thousands without power. Although Derry, where I was, had avoided the worst effects of this weather, I still was greatly relieved to see the … [Read more...] about Brigid Day Celebrations Rekindle the Flame

Film Review: Kneecap

By Mary Pat Kelly

Fall 2024

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The Irish language film Kneecap is about the rise of a Belfast-based hip-hop trio. We come from a very very serious place,” Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh or “Mo Chara” from Kneecap, the Irish Language Hip-Hop Trio from West Belfast, told Rolling Stone Magazine. “If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.” His sidekick, Naoise Ó Cairealláin (“Moglaí Bap”) agreed. “Sometimes when you’re left with … [Read more...] about Film Review: Kneecap

Mayor Lilian Seenoi-Barr of Derry and Strabane Makes History

By Mary Pay Kelly
IA Newsletter, June 8, 2024

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“I am proud to be a Maasai woman and a Derry girl,“ Mayor Lilian Seenoi-Barr, the first black person to be mayor anywhere in Northern Ireland, told a cheering crowd in the Guildhall on June 3. Colum Eastwood, MP, leader of her party, the SDLP (Social Democratic and Labour Party), stood with her on what he called “a fantastic night in the City of Civil Rights.” Born in Narok … [Read more...] about

Mayor Lilian Seenoi-Barr of Derry and Strabane Makes History

The Good Friday Agreement and Beyond

By Mary Pat Kelly
Irish America Newsletter June 17, 2023

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“I was worried about my cousins getting killed,” Kevin Sullivan, Project Director for the Ad Hoc Committee to Protect the Good Friday Agreement said. “My mother was born in Sixmilecross, County Tyrone. My father was a career Army officer, and we lived abroad quite a bit. I often went back to my mother’s home place. I saw when the violence began and felt my own family was at … [Read more...] about The Good Friday Agreement and Beyond

Honoring the Trailblazing Journalist Mary Maher

Mary Pat Kelly
IA Newsletter December 4, 2021

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1940 - 2021 “Mary Maher of Chicago,” said Maeve Binchy, fellow Irish Times journalist and life-long friend, “had the great advantage of not knowing the sacred cows, and by the time she did know, she had enough courage not to care about them.” This quote is part of an obituary that tells an incredible story. It’s the mid-60s and a young woman with roots in Killenaule, County … [Read more...] about Honoring the Trailblazing Journalist Mary Maher