The early 20th century finds Nora Kelly fleeing her native Chicago from a love affair gone wrong. Landing in Paris, she meets up with Irish revolutionaries – Peter, the librarian at the College des Irlandais who instructs her in ancient Irish history, and Fr. Kevin who introduces her to Maud Gonne. Meanwhile, through her job sketching designs for dressmaker Madame Simone, she … [Read more...] about Of Irish Blood
(Excerpt)
Mary Pat Kelly
Of Irish Blood
What Are You Like? Mary Pat Kelly
Author Mary Pat Kelly weaves historical characters such as Maud Gonne, William Butler Yeats, Countess Markievicz, Michael Collins, and Eamon de Valera, as well as Gabrielle Chanel, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, and Nora Barnacle, into her new novel Of Irish Blood, a vivid and compelling story inspired by the life of her great-aunt, and the sequel to her best-selling and … [Read more...] about What Are You Like? Mary Pat Kelly
Kylemore Abbey: Arais Aris
Kylemore Abbey was founded in 1920 by Irish Benedictine nuns on the grounds of Kylemore Castle in Connemara after the nuns fled Belgium where they found refuge during penal times in Ireland during World War I. The nuns ran an international boarding school and established a day school for local girls, until they were forced to close the school in June 2010. In 2012, the … [Read more...] about Kylemore Abbey: Arais Aris
Songs for the Ancestors
Judy Collins on finding inspiration in the experience of her antecedents. Shortly before Judy Collins was inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame in New Ross, County Wexford, this magazine interviewed her. In the article entitled El Troubadour she cited her father as her inspiration. She said that Charles Thomas Collins was a great singer and musician who graduated summa … [Read more...] about Songs for the Ancestors
The Big Thrill
Anne Rice and Michael Connelly spoke to Mary Pat Kelly at the Ninth Annual Thriller Fest a gathering of writers, editors, publishers, literary agents and fans held this summer in New York. Anne O’Brien Rice, the mega-bestselling (a hundred million books) author who created a genre with her Interview with a Vampire has never been to Ireland but wants to go. Michael Connelly, … [Read more...] about The Big Thrill