Recommended Until releasing his latest novel, Joseph O’Neill was best known for his “family history” Blood-Dark Track (about his grandfather who was an IRA soldier) and his regular, insightful contributions to The Atlantic Monthly magazine. Add two earlier novels into this mix, and this is certainly a fine résumé. But it does not quite strike you as the background of the … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Tom Deignan
Irish Eye on Hollywood
Irish-American hunk George Clooney recently said that he plans to return to his ancestral home for a summer of motorcycling. “I am doing a motorbike ride in Ireland this summer,” he recently told Dublin radio station FM104. “I hear it rains a lot but I’ve got the perfect outfit!” Clooney’s last film Leatherheads was a bit of a dud, but he may soon be back in the Oscar … [Read more...] about Irish Eye on Hollywood
The House That Hoban Built
James Hoban, Architect of the White House. In 1785, a newspaper in Philadelphia carried this advertisement: “ Any gentleman who wishes to build in an elegant style, may hear of a person properly calculated for that purpose who can execute the Joining and Carpenter’s business in the modern taste James Hoban. Hoban was an Irishman, born in Kilkenny. George Washington … [Read more...] about The House That Hoban Built
Review of Books
Mystery Declan Hughes offers another look at modern Dublin’s dark side in his latest suspense novel The Price of Blood. Private eye Ed Loy is down on his luck and broke, so he has no choice but to take what seems to be an unsolvable missing persons case. All he’s got to go on is “Father Vincent Tyrell,” a priest who’s been reported missing by his brother F.X., a prominent … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Irish Eye on Hollywood
Saoirse Ronan (featured in our Top 100, page 44) didn’t take home an Academy Award at the big show on February 24, but the 13-year-old Hollywood star has a busy 2008 planned. Ronan was nominated as a best supporting actress Oscar for her role in Atonement. Prior to the Oscars, Ronan was happy just to be going to the show, which was nearly canceled because of the prolonged … [Read more...] about Irish Eye on Hollywood