On January 26 the sports and television world lost one of its true champions. Known as "the James Joyce of the airwaves," sportscaster Al McGuire passed away in his Milwaukee home surrounded by his loved ones. McGuire's renown as former coach of the Marquette Warriors basketball team, and later NBC then CBS commentator for the NCAA basketball tournament, was matched only by … [Read more...] about Those We Lost: Al McGuire
Those We Lost
Steve Allen (1921 – 2000)
If the stars are twinkling a bit more lately, it's because one of Earth's brightest has taken his place in their midst. On November 1, Steve Allen passed away in his sleep and into the realm of legend. His wife, actress Jayne Meadows, once described him as "a good Irish Catholic boy. One of the true, clean wits around." He was that, and much more -- a comic genius, musician, … [Read more...] about Steve Allen (1921 – 2000)
News from Ireland: Ulster Unionists Lose Party Leader
Pro-Agreement and anti-Agreement Unionists were united recently at the funeral of Sir Josias Cunningham, a leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, the largest Unionist party in Northern Ireland. Cunningham was killed on August 9 in a two-car collision in Belfast. He was 66. Cunningham was elected president of the Ulster Unionist Council in 1991. The Council is the governing … [Read more...] about News from Ireland: Ulster Unionists Lose Party Leader
Music: Rockin’ 15
The musicians who made being Irish "cool." The year was 1985. At roughly about the same time that U2's Bono was stage-diving into the massive crowd gathered for Live Aid, the charity concert organized by former Boomtown Rat Bob Geldof to help eradicate world hunger, the first issue of Irish America was being prepped to roll off the presses. It's been a wild 15 years for … [Read more...] about Music: Rockin’ 15
A Fond Farewell to Irish Writer Sean O’Faolain
By Antionette O'Ceallaigh June 1991
On April 20, Sean O'Faolain, one of Ireland's finest writers, died in a Dublin nursing home after a long illness. Bom in Cork in 1900, he left unfinished the second part of his autobiography, Vive Moi. But he also left behind a golden store of novels, plays, biographies and literary criticism, as well as several collections of short stories, of which he was a true master. In … [Read more...] about A Fond Farewell to Irish Writer Sean O’Faolain