Reflecting on the past year, it appears to be a great time to be Irish. And if we Irish are being perceived as "great" at the moment, our creative artists are largely responsible. Time magazine's "Best of 1996" picked Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes as the best nonfiction book of the year, and it's been on the best-seller list for weeks now. Remember that wonderful review that … [Read more...] about The First Word: A Great Deal Left to Do
Patricia Harty
The First Word: Field of Dreams
Looking back over the year there are few images that stand out more in my mind than that of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa hugging after McGwire's record-tying home run. In a year beset with political scandals it was such a relief to watch McGwire and Sosa. You couldn't ask for two guys with more class - one an Irish American, the other an immigrant from the Dominican … [Read more...] about The First Word: Field of Dreams
An End to Shame?
Thomas Keneally's latest book The Great Shame should be in every Irish household, and it should be read, all 700 or so pages of it, by anyone with an interest in the history of Ireland. It is a great book, wonderfully written by the Irish Australian author of Schindler's List. Beginning with the tale of Hugh Larkin, a twenty-four-year old rebel transported for life in 1833, … [Read more...] about An End to Shame?
What Are You Like? Kevin James Doyle
By Patricia Harty
Kevin James Doyle is an actor, stand-up comedian, and writer of the off-broadway show How To Be a New Yorker which ran for 415 performances. His first comedy special, The 30 Year Old Virgin (which won rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is out on Amazon, and he has three comedy specials coming out next year that will air on a bunch of platforms including Amazon … [Read more...] about What Are You Like? Kevin James Doyle
Trailblazers Past & Present
By Patricia Harty
"We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of dreams....Yet we are the movers and shakers of the world forever it seems.” – Ode by Arthur O’Shaughnessy Arthur O’Shaughnessy is known for originating the line “movers and shakers,” and this issue of Irish America is full of both. There is something for everyone. Our genealogical detective Megan Smolenyak tracks “music … [Read more...] about Trailblazers Past & Present