For nine days in October, Cape Breton Island is home to a unique celebration of music and culture, with the finest of storytellers, musicians, and dancers from around the globe taking part in the festivities. John Kernaghan was there, awash in nostalgia.
The estrangement ran for more than 45 years, but when a vagrant Irish heart landed on the shores of Cape Breton, love was … [Read more...] about The Celtic Heart
of North America
Music
The Celtic Heart
Joanie Madden: The Christmas Letter
A forgotten Irish song of emigration tells of a mother’s longing for her children who have gone so far away, is a big hit for Cherish the Ladies. Irish music was the soundtrack to life for Joanie Madden growing up in the Bronx, N.Y. back in the 1970s. Her father, Joe Madden, from Portumna in East Galway, was an All-Ireland accordion champion, who headed a popular … [Read more...] about Joanie Madden: The Christmas Letter
Kennedy Center Announces
2016 Irish Festival
Irish writers, musicians, singers, playwrights, actors, and dancers will converge in Washington, D.C.’s Foggy Bottom for a three-week Irish festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts next spring.
“Ireland 100: Celebrating a Century of Irish Arts and Culture” will take place May 17 through June 5, coinciding with the centenary of the Easter Rising of 1916, … [Read more...] about Kennedy Center Announces
2016 Irish Festival
The Irish of Barbados (Photos)
The descendants of Irish people sold into slavery in the 1600s live in a close-knit community beset by poverty and ill health. During the winter of 1636, a ship bearing a consignment of 61 men and women destined to be slaves on the plantations of Barbados slipped quietly out of Kinsale Harbor on Ireland’s rugged southern coast. By the time Captain Joseph West’s ship arrived in … [Read more...] about The Irish of Barbados (Photos)
The Girsa Girls of Irish Trad
With their melodious voices, masterful musicianship and enthusiasm, the Irish American women’s group Girsa has captured the hearts of audiences everywhere by bringing a creative mix of vocals, fiddle, accordion, banjo, tin whistle, bodhran, guitar, and piano to their shows. Kristin Cotter McGowan stops by a Girsa rehearsal. ℘℘℘ “Cup of tea? Of course you’ll have one!” My … [Read more...] about The Girsa Girls of Irish Trad