“Ireland is an island of character and characters, brimming with history and teeming with verve.” – Joe Byrne, Executive Vice President, Tourism Ireland North America. I’m still thinking about the brown bread. One night in the recent past, a wet night, I might add – one that put me in mind of Ireland and warm fires and cozy pubs – I took the subway uptown a couple of stops … [Read more...] about The First Word: A Flavor of Ireland
The First Word
The First Word: Chasing Miracles
“I think your happiness in life is largely dependent on how you deal with adversity....” – John Crowley in Chasing Miracles. In this issue’s cover story, we bring you behind the scenes to the Crowley family home in Princeton, New Jersey. John, one of our Business 100, is the founder of several biotech companies specializing in finding cures for genetic diseases. His … [Read more...] about The First Word: Chasing Miracles
The First Word: A Ribbon of Green
“There’s a huge can-do attitude here in the U.S. that’s very creative, very innovative.” – Liam Casey. “You have to go, and you have to do well,” Molly Fogarty told her grandson. Molly had been left a young widow with four daughters, the oldest of which was 13 years, and a farm to run. Now her grandson, the only male in that family of women, was about … [Read more...] about The First Word: A Ribbon of Green
The First Word: Look to the Rainbow
“I've an an elegant legacy / Waitin’ for ye, / ’Tis a rhyme for your lips / And a song for your heart, / To sing it whenever / The world falls apart! Look, look / Look to the rainbow. / Follow it over the hill / And the stream. Look, look / Look to the rainbow. / Follow the fellow / Who follows a dream.” – “Look to the Rainbow” lyrics from Finian's Rainbow It seems … [Read more...] about The First Word: Look to the Rainbow
The First Word: Finding Strength in Our Ancestors
“There’s no sense of entitlement, no sense of placement, it’s all a sense of you’ve got to go out and work hard to get there. It doesn’t all break your way all the time, so you’ve got to just power through it. I think that’s deeply imbedded in the culture of the Irish.” – Brian Moynihan, whose ancestors left Ireland in 1850. I am remembering a day around this time of year in … [Read more...] about The First Word: Finding Strength in Our Ancestors