A letter from our Editor... After all these years in America, I still feel like an immigrant. Though I proudly hold American citizenship, it is other immigrants that I most readily identify with. “Where are you from?” I ask waiters and cab drivers, even a woman on the subway (we were so caught up in our chat about how “there is no place in the world like New York … [Read more...] about The First Word: Let the Irish Apply
Patricia Harty
Ireland’s New Prime Minister on the Way Forward
On his recent trip to New York, between visiting Ground Zero and being welcomed at an Irish American community reception, Ireland's new Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, spoke with Patricia Harty about the changes taking place in the Irish government. Until the recent election one party, Fianna Fáil, had been in power for fourteen years. What’s it like to lead a party change … [Read more...] about Ireland’s New Prime Minister on the Way Forward
Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann Celebrates 60 Years
Held in San Antonio, TX for the first time, CCE's annual celebration marked the organization's 60th anniversary. Hundreds of devoted Irish music and dance fans descended upon San Antonio for the annual Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann North American Convention on the weekend of March 25th. The annual event, held in different cities around the U.S., was extra special this year, as … [Read more...] about Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann Celebrates 60 Years
Mary Higgins Clark: Irish America Hall of Fame
A bestselling author who is proud to call herself "an Irish girl from the Bronx." The oldest living resident of New York died recently at age 111 and in a New York Times article only months earlier, she told the reporter that she had kept her mind alert by reading Agatha Christie and Mary Higgins Clark. A Higgins Clark novel keeping someone alive? Usually someone dies in the … [Read more...] about Mary Higgins Clark: Irish America Hall of Fame
The First Word: Imagine Ireland
By Patricia Harty, Editor-In-Chief
“An Irishman’s heart is nothing but his imagination.” – George Bernard Shaw (John Bull’s Other Island) Gabriel Byrne says that the line between reality and imagination is very thin. I concur. Perhaps it’s because my father filled my head with stories of banshees and haunted fields with gates that never stayed shut. Perhaps it’s simply the beauty of the Irish countryside – … [Read more...] about The First Word: Imagine Ireland