On November 17, 2024 a group of runners from the US, Ireland and Ethiopia stepped up to the starting line of the Great Ethiopian Run, in that country’s capital, Addis Ababa, known as Africa’s largest road race and recently named ‘the world’s best 10k’ by Runner’s World Magazine. Led by legendary Irish Olympian and former 5,000-meter world record holder Eamon Coghlan, they were … [Read more...] about Hibernia | The Great Ethiopian Run
Winter 2024
Review of Books | recently published books
Where They Lie By Claire Coughlan This atmospheric thriller is slightly reminiscent of John Banville’s Quirke series, but with a junior reporter at the center of events rather than a pathologist. Nicoletta Sarto might be young, but she’s fiercely ambitious. When she happens to be on duty around Christmas 1968, just as the discovery of bones in a Dublin garden is … [Read more...] about Review of Books | recently published books
Those We Lost
Billy Lawless, champion for immigration reform, passes in Chicago In every march for immigration reform, amid all the Mexican and Central American marchers, you could always depend on one ruddy-faced Irishman leading a multiracial contingent of true believers behind the banner of “Chicago Celts for Immigration Reform.” Billy Lawless became such a dependable voice for … [Read more...] about Those We Lost
Winterval in Waterford: European City of Christmas
Waterford, once called the hidden gem of Ireland, is now a tourist destination known for its extravagant festivities. Its annual harvest festival in September attracted upwards of 40,000 visitors. The Samhain festival in October saw the City’s streets awash with a fusion of spooky, spectral, and fascinating events under the watchful eye of An Dearg Dua, a 2,000-year-old … [Read more...] about Winterval in Waterford: European City of Christmas
Photo Album: “Give Me a Wee Step”
In this photograph taken in 1925, my mother Kathleen (far left), her mother and father Sam and Ellen Bell, and 10 other siblings pose as they leave their home in Crossgar, County Down. They journeyed to the United States and settled in Chicago, where, after only four years, my granddad died, leaving Grandma Ellen to raise a family of 11. Ellen was a woman of tremendous faith … [Read more...] about Photo Album: “Give Me a Wee Step”