Tom Moran, chairman of Mutual of America, is also chairman of the Irish relief organization Concern Worldwide U.S. which has been working in Haiti since 1994. He recently returned from Haiti, where he witnessed Concern’s efforts on behalf of the survivors of the earthquake. This is his report. Fr. Aengus Finucane, a founder of Concern Worldwide and the honorary president of … [Read more...] about We Can’t Give Up on Haiti
The Last Word
The Last Word: Restituta Hiberniae
August / September 2007
Four hundred years ago in 1607, the Prince of Ulster, Hugh O’Neil the Great, and Rory O’Donnell, Earl of Tir Connell, set sail from Ireland to Spain and the Continent. Their exile marked the end of a momentous clash of civilizations that spanned the second half of the 16th century. From the mid-1500s to the Battle of Kinsale in 1601, a cataclysmic struggle was waged between two … [Read more...] about The Last Word: Restituta Hiberniae
When Latvian Eyes Are Smiling
Last year they opened a new Irish pub on Main Street here [Milford, Michigan]. O’Callaghan’s they call it, and it’s owned by two Palestinians who did it up in high Paddy style, with snugs and dark hardwoods, Guinness and designer lagers and a couple of imported boyos behind the bar. The décor came from Dublin in a kit. The lads came on their own from Wexford to pull pints, pour … [Read more...] about When Latvian Eyes Are Smiling
Jack From the Block
Kennedy was a rich man's son, a Harvard man. But when he campaigned in the Bronx, all they saw was one of their own. Back in 1960, when it seemed that the cute Irish guy might actually make it to the White House, my Irish immigrant parents were almost too superstitious to talk about the idea. Never big on assimilation, they still referred to Ireland as home, even though they … [Read more...] about Jack From the Block
The Reagan Democrats
Say what you will about Ronald Reagan, but it can't be denied that he changed the face not of just American politics, but Irish-American politics. Since the time of the Famine, when shrewd political bosses such as New York's Boss Tweed saw votes in the desperate millions as they stepped off of coffin ships, Irish-Americans were loyally tied to the Democratic party in the … [Read more...] about The Reagan Democrats