With the summer upon us, TV is a vast wasteland of reruns – except, of course, for Denis Leary’s brilliant Rescue Me on FT, which some critics believe will take over the title of Best Drama on TV now that The Sopranos is over. But what else is Leary working on, aside from his post-9/11 Irish-American firefighter drama? Though he’s appeared in over 30 movies (including The Ref, … [Read more...] about Irish Eye on Hollywood
Tom Deignan
The “Emerald” Pastime
Tom Deignan reflects on a time when many of the Boys of Summer had a touch of the Irish brogue. A recent New York Times article about the consistent success of the Minnesota Twins baseball organization made numerous important points about how teams in smaller cities can compete with financial giants such as the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. But two … [Read more...] about The “Emerald” Pastime
Review of Books
The earlier decades of the 20th century provide the settings for two new works of Irish-American fiction.Dream When You’re Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg explores life on the homefront during World War II, as seen through the eyes of the three Irish-American Heaney sisters from Chicago.Kitty, Louise, and Tish each have differing conflicts, and Berg masterfully divides time … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Irish Eye on Hollywood
The Tribeca Film Festival opened in late April, and Cillian Murphy’s latest effort was among the films featured. Watching the Detectives, which teams the Cork-born Murphy with Lucy Liu, was screened several times during the two-week fest, which closed May 6. Watching the Detectives is a romantic comedy directed by newcomer Paul Soter, who also wrote the script. Murphy – whose … [Read more...] about Irish Eye on Hollywood
The 1930s: When Irish Catholics Changed America
Before the decade was over, America would be a vastly different nation, thanks in no small part to Irish Catholics. Nineteen hundred and twenty-eight was a dark year for Irish Catholics in America. It was, of course, the year Al Smith ran for president and lost. The anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant Ku Klux Klan played a major role in bringing down Smith, who lost “because of … [Read more...] about The 1930s: When Irish Catholics Changed America