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August / September 2003

In This Issue

Gregory Peck: A Class Act

When Gregory Peck passed away on June 12, the world mourned one of the last icons of Hollywood’s glory years. In all the tributes that were paid to him, few mentioned Peck’s Irish roots,...

“You cannot put a rope around the neck of an idea. … You cannot confine it in the strongest prison cell that your slaves could ever build.” – Sean O’Casey on the death of...

John Walsh, host of America’s Most Wanted and The John Walsh Show, talks about his family, his television shows, his thoughts on Ireland, and his tireless crusading. ℘℘℘ Before he was a...

At the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City in May, two Irish movies quickly sold out: Jim Sheridan’s In America and Aidan Quinn’s Song for a Raggy Boy. Sheridan’s movie, based on...

Tipperary expects over 200,000 for Irish music festival. And Irish musicians and dancers from throughout the U.S. meet in Boston. ℘℘℘ Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2003 will be held in Clonmel,...

“The Irish were part of the problem and part of the solution,” said former New York cop and current college professor Hugh O’Rourke, PhD. O’Rourke spoke at the First Annual...

Irish Singer Shows She Has a Soft Heart. ℘℘℘ The Uniformed Firefighters Association’s Widows’ and Children’s Fund will receive a donation from Enya earmarked for the surviving...

Stepping out in style for the Center. ℘℘℘ The Irish Arts center presented the New York City Irish Dance Festival 2003 at Pier 63 on Sunday, May 4. There were performances, workshops, discussion...

Flynn Boyle and McDermott are gone. ℘℘℘ Budget cuts (ABC offered to pick up the show for an eighth season but only at a lower fee) are said to have forced David E. Kelley, the creator of The...

Jean Butler Goes Back to School. ℘℘℘ Jean Butler, the tall red-haired Irish-American from Long Island, New York who starred with Michael Flatley in the original Riverdance, plans to dance...

Gabriel Opens Baltimore. ℘℘℘ Gabriel Byrne added himself to the list of Hollywood actors to open a restaurant in New York City in May. It’s called Balitore, after a village in Co....

Irish Mickey goes one more round. ℘℘℘ Micky Ward fought a great fight against his longtime boxing rival Arturo Gatti on June 7. Known ringside as “Irish” and “Thunder,”...

James Joyce in the company of Ezra Pound, John Quinn and Ford Madox Ford.

June 16, 2004 is the 100th Anniversary of Leopold Bloom’s Fateful Walk. ℘℘℘ As we go to press and the world is celebrating Bloomsday, plans are already afoot for next year’s...

Irish Comedy Festival. ℘℘℘ “Don’t read Cosmopolitan for the advice. They told me that if I want to meet a man, I should go to the Laundromat. Yeah, like I wanna be 50 and dating a...

Martin Sheen takes time out from a family reunion in Ireland to meet war protesters. ℘℘℘ Martin Sheen was in Ireland for a family reunion in May. His mother, Mary Ann Phelan, was born in 1903...

Irish-born hat maker, Philip Treacy, who has long been turning heads in Europe with his beautiful creations, was the toast of New York in April. Celebrities turned out in force for a bash at...

Aimee Mullins and Matthew Barney in The Cremaster Cycle.

The Matthew Barney Exhibition’s Irish links. ℘℘℘ We are used to Aimee Mullins turning up in unexpected places – striding down a London catwalk wearing a pair of hand-carved wooden...

Cate Blanchett takes the title role in Veronica Guerin.

It’s going to be a hot Irish summer at the movies, from the art houses to the popcorn blockbusters. Furthermore, an exciting fall is looming on the horizon, particularly with the October...

The Irish Repertory Theatre’s Tenth Annual Gala Benefit on Broadway offered a rare concert version of the classic musical Finian’s Rainbow. Hosted by Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall, the...

Left to Right- Ger McDonnell and Mick Murphy.

With a record number of people trying to reach the summit of Mount Everest 50 years after it was first scaled, two Irish climbers, Cork man Mick Murphy and Ger McDonnell from Limerick reached the...

In the last issue we printed the extraordinary speech that Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins of the Royal Irish Regiment gave to his men before they went into battle in Iraq. Since then, the Belfast...

In his new book The Clinton Wars, Sidney Blumenthal, former Clinton aide, takes aim at Chris Matthews, the host of Hardball on MSNBC. Blumenthal writes that Matthews wanted a job in the...

In the last issue we wrote about Kabul’s new Irish pub. Well, it seems that the publicity did not do the pub, frequented by off-duty aid workers and American Embassy personnel, any good. Under...

Women of Concern- Kathleen Naughton and Angela O'Neill.

The inaugural Women of Concern luncheon was held at 200 Fifth Avenue Club, Manhattan on May 15. The purpose of the event was to honor and acknowledge women of accomplishment and to show solidarity...

L to R: Congressman Javier Becerra (D. CA), Trina Vargo, US/Ireland Alliance, Senator Mike Enzi, (R. Wyoming) nd Jack Krumholtz, Microsoft.

The U.S.-Ireland Alliance and Microsoft joined forces in May to bring members of the U.S. Congress not usually associated with Ireland to Dublin. Trina Vargo, President of the U.S.-Ireland Alliance,...

Honored by the Comptroller of the City of New York were (back row from left to right): James P. Murphy, Patricia Harty, Kathy E. Ryan, and police officer and Emerald Pipe Band member Andy McEnvoy. Front row left to right: Father Sean McManus, Comptroller William C. Thompson and Mary Nolan.

The Comptroller of the City of New York William C. Thompson, Jr. honored prominent New Yorkers of Irish descent in a celebration of Irish heritage on May 13 at the New York Public Library. “We...

Over 100 friends of the Irish Georgian Society attended a reception at an exhibition of paintings by Lindy Guinness, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, in the Salander-O’Reily Galleries, New York...

Father O'Hare with actor Liam Neeson who received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.

Fordham’s 158th Commencement; Fr. O’Hare retires; The Koppels deliver keynote; Liam Neeson is honored. ℘℘℘ After a historic 19-year tenure May 17 marked the final graduation...

Jack Donohue, the high school coach of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and for years the face of Canadian basketball, died in late April. He was 70. A New Yorker, Donohue moved to Canada in the 1970s and served...

The oldest living Irish person just turned 110. “Maybe I’ve been around a little too long now.” said Catherine Furey, who lives at St. James Plaza nursing home in Long Island, New...

John Kelly, 94 year old University graduate.

John Kelly, 94, a retired postal worker, finally graduated from college 26 years after first enrolling in classes. Kelly, a widower, who earned his bachelor’s degree from the StateUniversity of...

Madonna is developing a movie about an Irish town where locals become sex-crazed after smelling fumes from a Pfizer factory producing Viagra. The script, tentatively titled “Something in the...

Irish writer/producer Steven Benedict shared first place at the Beverly Hills Film Festival for his short film The Last. The movie stars David Kelly, famous for his role in Waking Ned Divine, as a...

The Irish did well at the Tony Awards, sweeping the best actor categories and landing a few prizes for their work in Hairspray, which was the runaway winner of the night. Brian Dennehy pictured left...

Turkish Writer Orhan Pamuk wins IMPAC Award. ℘℘℘ Dublin: The IMPAC Literary Award was presented on June 14 to Orhan Pamuk for his book My Name Is Red. Worth 100,000 euros, the IMPAC award is...

Colin Farrell is escorted by Team Ireland.

Lynn Tierney reports on the Games in Ireland. ℘℘℘ “Let me win but if I cannot win let me be brave in the attempt.” The Special Olympics Oath goes to the heart of the matter: In the...

John Sharkey, Mike Rice, Patricia Daly, and Kathleen and Michael Tuohy at a Special Olympics event Rice hosted at the Prudential Building in May.

“Our business is a business that is based on trust, and trust is the cornerstone of every relationship…. We need to demonstrate corporate responsibility, reach out to the investor and the...

Irish Brigade reenactors retrace the steps of the 69th New York State Volunteers through the Wheatfield at Gettysburg on Remembrance Day, Nov. 2002 - photo by Jim Maher.

Lest we forget: Civil War reenactors provide a living history. ℘℘℘ As Ron McGovern, wearing his Civil War captain’s uniform replete with brass buttons and sword, sat in a pew at St....

For Barney Rosset it was a special sort of homecoming. The inveterate publisher behind Grove Press had been invited as a guest speaker at Trinity College Dublin to mark the 50th anniversary of Samuel...

A collection of quotes in memoriam of the iconic, one and only, Gregory Peck. ℘℘℘ “His own personality, his morality, his strengths all fused effortlessly and honestly into the characters...

Somewhat Removed. ℘℘℘ There was death in Roscommon Town tonight. The street outside Smith’s Funeral Home (which occupies a sad plot opposite the local livestock mart) was packed with...

The O’Carrolls go back to the third century King Oilioll Olum of Munster. Their name derives from Cearbhaill, who was the Brian Boru in 1014 at the battle of Clontarf. Cearbhaill means warlike...

Damien Rice: o If you have lost faith in the possibility for a new singer-songwriter to emerge with a graceful album of dirges and lullabies, it’s time to believe again. Dublin-born Damien...

A Family of His Own- A Life of Edwin O'Connor.

A Sampling of the Latest Irish Books. ℘℘℘ RECOMMENDED Providence College Professor of English Charles F. Duffy was planning to teach some Irish American fiction in one of his Modern Irish...

A simple mixture of potatoes and peas transforms a summer meal.

In the early days of the American Revolution, a number of battles took place in New England eventually causing the British to flee their Boston stronghold. The flight took place on March 17, 1776....

Bernadette (Nora-Jane Noone) whose life is about to change because her good looks are seen.

A disturbing movie by Peter Mullan on what happened to the “wayward” women of Ireland. ℘℘℘ Peter Mullan’s The Magdalene Sisters opens ironically with a wedding scene. But it...

1861: Luke Masterson, 4th Cavalry Mounted Volunteers. ℘℘℘ My great-grandfather Luke Masterson immigrated to the U.S. from County Cavan, Ireland. In 1861, he enlisted in the 4th Cavalry Mounted...

Funny Side takes a shower at Belmont the day before the race.

Many know Funny Cide as the great chestnut gelding who just missed winning the Triple Crown, but few know the Irish people who were instrumental in bringing him to the forefront of racing. Having...

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