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October / November 2003

Cate Blanchett Goes Irish

An acclaimed Australian actress known for tackling tough parts, Cate Blanchett takes on her first Irish role in Veronica Guerin. Smart, provocative and down-to-earth, Blanchett spoke to Louise...

“I vow that the eyes of justice, the eyes of this journalist will not be shut again. No hand can deter me from my battle for the truth.” –Journalist Veronica Guerin ℘℘℘ While...

The cast of Riverdance, the money-making Irish dance show.

Successful Riverdance team takes on Hollywood. ℘℘℘ Moya Doherty and John McColgan, the couple who own Abhann, the company behind Riverdance: The Show, announced at the Cannes Film Festival that...

On January 1, Ireland is expected to become the first European country to ban smoking in pubs. Given that smoking and drinking are cherished traditions in the old sod, pundits are betting that it...

Photograph: Cyril Byrne - Cow at Westmoreland Street.

A collection of life-size cows designed by Irish artists had to be taken off the streets of Dublin in July after vandals destroyed several exhibits. More than 70 cows were placed on the streets of...

Fifteen years after she starred in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with Harrison Ford, Alison Doody has again embraced the screen. The Irish beauty, who is married to...

Robert S. Mueller III arrived in Ireland August 13 for a ten-day “private” visit. Much security and secrecy surrounded the visit, which started off with a round of golf at Lahinch Golf...

After considering withdrawing from the P.G.A. Championship, Irish golfer Padraig Harrington decided to compete, leaving his wife Caroline at home about to go into labor. “The doctor was of the...

The site of the last stand by leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising against British rule, nicknamed Ireland’s Alamo, has won a last-minute reprieve. The house, in a run-down part of Dublin, had...

Schopenhauer’s Telescope, the first novel by Irish Poet Gerard Donovan, has been announced as a selection for the prestigious Booker Prize. Donovan lives in Long Island, New York. His collection of...

Michelle McKeon (28), a Limerick based scientist, hopes to become Ireland’s first astronaut. A lecturer in environmental science at the Limerick Institute of technology McKeon is spending a year at...

Ivan Magill, born in Larne, Co. Antrim in 1888, is acknowledged as a father of modern anesthesia. Magill, who started working with anesthetics at the end of the First World War, invented ingenious...

Dublin, Ireland: Irish actor Pierce Brosnan received an Order of the British Empire [OBE] honor from the British Ambassador to Ireland for his outstanding contribution to drama and the British film...

On Sunday, August 17, the breathtaking sound of 1,000 pipers blanketed the hills at Hunter Mountain Celtic Festival.

The annual Hunter Mountain International Celtic Festival in mid-August brought the melodic sounds of pipes and drums, sweet folk lullabies, and red-hot Irish rock to the Catskills. Live musical...

The Irish American Unity Conference will hold its annual convention in New York, October 17-19. The theme of this year’s convention, which marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the...

Bishop Sean O’Malley blesses a crowd with holy water at his installation ceremony in Boston. O’Malley apologized for the archdiocese’s “inability and unwillingness to deal...

The bicentennial of the execution of famed Irish orator and revolutionary Robert Emmet will be commemorated on September 17 in a ceremony at the Washington D.C. statue erected in his honor. The...

Flamboyant Irish comedian Graham Norton, one of British television’s most well known and in-demand television personalities, is gaining a devoted fan following among American viewers. The...

A film on Ireland’s Jewish community. ℘℘℘ Shalom Ireland, a one-hour documentary about Ireland’s remarkable yet little known Jewish community, had its U.S. premiere at the San...

Frank Silletti from the Buena Vista Cafe, San Francisco, USA who was selected World Irish Coffee champion at the World Irish Coffee Festival - Picture: Kieran Clancy.

The Buena Vista is Best! ℘℘℘ Drinking legend has it that in 1942, when Foynes was the foremost transit point between Europe and America, a flight to New York was returned to Ireland due to bad...

Brendan Gleeson and Cillian Murphy ready themselves for some zombie slaughter in 28 Days Later. Look for Murphy to appear with Colin Farrell in Intermission and Gleeson shows opposite Nicole Kidman in Cold Mountain.

Now that Colin Farrell is a regular in both blockbuster movies and on the gossip pages, the search seems to be on for the next hot young Irish actor. Cillian Murphy certainly seems to be leading the...

But all is not lost for island lovers of the craic. ℘℘℘ HONOLULU, Hi. — It’s been nearly two decades since a major Irish recording artist performed in Hawaii. U2 was here in 1985...

John Kelly, trustee of Uniformed Firefighters Association, at the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance. The wall is engraved with images of the 115 Brooklyn firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11.

The idea for the memorial, an imposing 20-by-12 foot granite wall, was conceived by businessman Sol Molgen who told Bill Farrell of the Daily News, “I spent 50 years of my life in...

Robert S. Mullaney an aeronautical engineer who helped oversee the construction of the craft that landed Apollo astronauts on the moon, died at his home in Bellport, New York, on July 6. He was...

Larry Connors, veteran of the 7th Cavalry, and recently retired FDNY chief, brings Irish America to the troops in Baghdad. Connors, who lives in Long Island with his family, was part of a humanitarian aid airlift sponsored by the U.S. State Department and Diageo, an international distributer of beverages that includes Guinness.

Three months after 9/11, New York Fire Department chief Larry Connors flew to Afghanistan with a humanitarian aid airlift sponsored by the Diageo beverage distributing company and the U.S. State...

The Irish have historically been affiliated with professions including construction, fire and police department service and the restaurant and bar business. But in more recent years, the Irish have...

Actor Chris O’Donnell, star of Batman Forever an Batman & Robin, has been signed on for three episodes of The Practice by its producer, fellow Bostonian David Kelley. It’s hoped...

An Irish immigrant family is moving into 97 Orchard Street in the Lower East Side of New York City, but it won’t be having visitors until May 2005. That’s because this is the address of...

On Thursday, August 14th, a massive power blackout paralyzed much of the Northeast. But that didn’t keep hundreds of well-wishers from gathering at the Mohegan Sun Hotel and Casino in...

The U.S.S. Mason’s Irish Connection. ℘℘℘ The story of the U.S.S. Mason, the only WW II warship with an African American crew, is ready for the big screen. Starring Avis David and...

The Jeanie Johnston sails the open seas.

Floating Museum Shows Irish-Americans What Ancestors Encountered. ℘℘℘ In 1848 it would cost you $5.50 to cross the Atlantic from Ireland on the sailing ship Jeanie Johnston. That fare...

Susan Showalter, John Kudlik, Alexander Kudlik.

On their first date ten years ago in a French restaurant in Pittsburgh, John Kudlik and Susan Showalter, both part Irish, discovered they had something in common. John, a historian, is the...

The murder of one of Ireland’s most prominent journalists by crime bosses provoked outrage but has not received justice. ℘℘℘ Although she is virtually unknown to Americans, Irish crime...

Veronica Guerin captivates the viewer largely due to the fantastic performance by Cate Blanchett as Irish crime reporter Veronica Guerin and her intriguing story. It succeeds as a stylish thriller...

During his father’s time, the Dodgers broke the color barrier with Jackie Robinson. Now, Peter O’Malley is helping to internationalize the most American of sports by building baseball...

Better known as Annie Camden on 7th Heaven, Irish-American actress Catherine Hicks talks about the differences between the show she stars in and the bulk of popular television programming. A...

Paddy Moloney, founder of The Chieftains, who has done more than anyone else to launch Irish music onto the world stage, talks to Lauren Byrne. ℘℘℘ In the expensive gloom of Boston’s...

The Irish Kennedys are descended from Dunchaun, the brother of the mighty King Brian Born. The name comes from his father Ceann Eidig, meaning “helmet head.” Appropriately, the arms of...

Once considered the greatest crooner of all, the distortion of Bing Crosby’s accomplishments and reputation has been as remarkable as his career. Bob Lydon debunks many of the myths that have...

Photographs of Albert D.J. Cashier taken in 1864 (left) and in 1913 (right) from They Fought Like Demons: Women soldiers in the American Civil War.

Irish women in the army from the Civil War to today. ℘℘℘ On May 18, 1863, Private Albert D. J. Cashier was among the many Union soldiers under General Ulysses S. Grant who took part in the...

A Sampling of the Latest Irish Books. ℘℘℘ RECOMMENDED The Encyclopedia of Ireland is being dubbed the most comprehensive book to date on Irish life, culture, and history, and leafing through...

Sinéad O’Connor Calls it Quits. ℘℘℘ It’s not over until the bald lady sings, and in this case Ireland’s brilliant vocalist Sinéad O’Connor is not retiring from the...

Blueberry Cobbler is an excellent dish to help celebrate the fertility of Summer. Pictured above is Traditional Top Crust Cobbler.

Remember the scene in The Godfather when Vito bit the dust in the tomato patch? The tall plants stood staked in nice neat rows, full of fruit, and bees were buzzing about all over. Well, I too have a...

It’s easier to accept loss if you get to say goodbye. It doesn’t make it any less painful or tragic, but it’s the finality that’s missing for so many who were impacted by the...

Phillip L. McQuillian at the Memorial Day Parade in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

June 1, 1907: Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. ℘℘℘ My grandfather Phillip L. McQuillan, one of the early plumbing and heating engineers, celebrated his Irish-American patriotism by participating in...

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October / November 2003

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