The Irish writer John B. Keane once said of my home town that "they should build a wall around it and let no man in and let no man out." I don't know why he said that about An tAonach, which means Fair or Market place. (The town was named Nenagh by the English during that great renaming which saw Gaelic names replaced by ones which bore no relationship to the Irish.) … [Read more...] about The First Word: Afraid of the Dark
Patricia Harty
The Brigid Awards
On St. Brigid's Feast Day, February 1, over 400 people gathered in Chicago's Drake Hotel to honor women who have shown Brigid-like qualities of justice, compassion and generosity. The Brigid Awards, now in their third year, are the brainchild of Mary Pat O'Connor, who was featured in Irish America Nov./Dec. article on professionals working overseas with the Irish aid agency, … [Read more...] about The Brigid Awards
The First Word: Carry On, Mr. President
Dear Editor: Re: "Thank You, Mr. President" Just because Ms. Harty got her night in the Lincoln Bedroom, we're all supposed to admire an underachiever, a national embarrassment and a degrader of women. Is it required to be a Democrat to read Irish America? Sincerely, (Mrs.) Josephine K. Maloney Matawan, New Jersey Dear Josephine: Thank you for … [Read more...] about The First Word: Carry On, Mr. President
The First Word: The Wealth of Our Heritage
As I write this, the end of the first year of the new millennium is closing in. It's November 1. Celtic New Year, a day when it was thought by the ancients that the layer between this world and the otherworld diminished and souls passed freely from one to the other. In the Ireland of my childhood on October 31. All Hallow's Eve, the elders left out food for those visiting … [Read more...] about The First Word: The Wealth of Our Heritage
The First Word:
Now and in Time to Be
"I knew that we were Irish and I knew that Irish was the best thing to be."
– Novelist Alice McDermott
℘℘℘
When I immigrated to this country I had no idea of the history of the Irish in America – indeed, I had the idea that only someone born and raised in Ireland could call themselves Irish.
A Greyhound bus ticket at a cheap student rate that lasted three months and … [Read more...] about The First Word:
Now and in Time to Be