Irish America
Irish America
Tom Deignan first interviewed Alice McDermott as a young journalist. He looks back now on her literary career over the past 20 years and talks to her about her new non-fiction book What About the Baby? Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction. For four decades now, Alice McDermott has dazzled the literary world in a fashion nearly as subtle and cunning as her fiction. We almost … [Read more...] about Spending Time With Alice
The hugely anticipated Broadway revival of Meredith Willson's The Music Man, stars Tony Award-winner Marie Mullen in character as Mrs. Paroo.
Born in County Sligo, Mullen co-founded the Druid Theatre Company, located in Galway, and appeared in many of its productions. She has also appeared in many Broadway productions, and her performance in the 1998 production of The Beauty … [Read more...] about “But Professor, We are Irish”
Marie Mullen as Mrs. Paroo in The Music Man
If “home” is a special but complicated word for most Irish people, this is doubly true for Des Bishop. Born in New York, Bishop went off to Ireland at the tender of age of 14. But what began as a kind of lark to make sure Bishop stayed focused on school turned into a calling as a popular comedian, performer, and TV personality. For years, Bishop has been doing the thankless … [Read more...] about Des Bishop’s Mia Mamma Hits New York
In just a few weeks, Ireland - and the world - will mark the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.” That was the gruesome, January 1972 day when British soldiers opened fire on civil rights marchers in Derry, killing over a dozen, and sending the Northern Ireland Troubles into a violent new phase. All those bullets and bombs have made it difficult to tell more intimate … [Read more...] about Belfast and Young Plato
For over 30 years, Larry Kirwan’s voice provided the soundtrack for Irish American and Irish immigrant life.
As the frontman for legendary Celtic rockers Black 47, Kirwan went from playing punky jigs and reels in small clubs in the Bronx, to gigs on network TV and packed festivals and stadiums.
The Wexford native rode the wave of 1980s and 1990s immigration from … [Read more...] about Larry Kirwan’s “Paradise Square” is
Broadway-Bound
