"Ireland wasn't as wealthy as it is today. But there was always a culture of giving back, and that’s something that was ingrained in me from the time I was a kid.” - Ronan Ryan Happy Christmas to all our readers receiving this issue in the mail, it should be arriving in your mailboxes just in time. And congratulations to all our Wall Street 50 honorees who we will be … [Read more...] about The First Word: ‘Tis the Season of Giving
Rosemary Rogers
The Star of County Down
‘In Banbridge Town in the County Down One morning last July, From a boreen green came a sweet colleen, And she smiled as she passed me by.' What is absolutely, positively true about Greer Garson is that she was born Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson to George and Nina Garson. From the beginning of her acting career until her death in 1996, she maintained her birthplace was … [Read more...] about The Star of County Down
The Lady From Chicago & The Pound Note
Her likeness appears on a banknote and in portraits by famous artists. Who was Lady Lavery Women rarely have their faces on currency. Except, of course, for the recently departed Queen Elizabeth II who was on the currency of Great Britain and her colonies for over 70 years. In 1928, Ireland, too, cast a woman on the banknotes of a new, free Ireland, Lady Hazel Martyn … [Read more...] about The Lady From Chicago & The Pound Note
Constance Smith: A Hollywood Tragedy
“Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.” Maybe she had too many gifts: she was a great beauty with a quick intellect; she could act, sing and, with little effort, was “discovered” and groomed for Hollywood stardom. In the early 1950s, she was a newcomer at 20th Century Fox, deemed so promising, she landed a plum showcase – a presenter at the 1952 … [Read more...] about Constance Smith: A Hollywood Tragedy
Rockaway 1953: The Irish Riviera
October 2, 2021 Newsletter
The image above was taken at Rockaway Beach on 115th Street, what was then the heart of the Irish Riviera. Irish immigrants flocked to Rockaway for a day at the beach, followed by Playland and an evening on the boardwalk. Lucky Irish families came here to spend their summer vacations, staying in boarding houses, usually in one room sharing a communal kitchen, bathroom and … [Read more...] about Rockaway 1953: The Irish Riviera





