Champion wheelchair racer Amanda McGrory tells Molly Ferns about her record-setting year and her plans for the 2012 London Paralympics. Few people begin a career at five years old. But Amanda McGrory, 25, the women’s winner of the wheelchair circuit in the New York City Marathon, can make that very claim. “I was five. I knew nothing, so my dad told me to go to the finish line … [Read more...] about Pushing Through to Victory Amanda McGrory
Sports
Olympic Torch to Pass Through Northern Ireland
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog) has confirmed that over 60 towns and villages in Northern Ireland will be included on the route for torchbearers carrying the 2012 Olympic flame. The flame will be lit in Olympia, Greece, in May, and will then be flown by way of British Airways to the UK. The torch is scheduled to arrive in Belfast on … [Read more...] about Olympic Torch to Pass Through Northern Ireland
Those We Lost: Recent Passings in the Irish-American Community
Hugh Carey 1919-2011 Former New York Governor Hugh Carey, who famously saved the state from the brink of financial ruin, passed away at his home on Shelter Island on August 7. He was 92. Carey, New York’s 51st governor, served for two terms from 1975-1982. During his first year in office, he immediately inherited the debt incurred during Governor Rockefeller’s four terms and … [Read more...] about Those We Lost: Recent Passings in the Irish-American Community
The Jig is Up!
A new documentary dubbed as "Spellbound meets Mad Hot Ballroom, with a touch of Riverdance" As an Irish American who had a very culturally rich childhood, I may be something of an anomaly in that I never once tried Irish step dancing. I never raised a foot to a jig or a reel, never donned a massive curly wig, never learned how to jump two feet in the air while keeping my arms … [Read more...] about The Jig is Up!
Irish Dance Nationals
A look at the 2011 North American Irish Dance Competition in Nashville, Tennessee On the July 4th weekend, the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center in Nashville, just a stone’s throw from the Grand Ole Opry, was descended upon by a mad rush of curly wigs, spray tans, accordions and fiddles. The North American Dance Competition ran for 4 days and over 3,000 dancers came, not … [Read more...] about Irish Dance Nationals