The Quare Fellow
As we commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Irish writer Brendan Behan in 1923 on February 9, Elizabeth Toomey writes...
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February / March 2004
In This Issue
America’s Top Cop
As Police Commissioner Ray Kelly rolls through the streets of Manhattan in the back seat of a black SUV he is fed a steady stream of information by his detail detective who rides shotgun. On this...
MoreFirst Word: Happy and Peaceful New Year
As the year winds down I cannot but reflect not just on the past year but on the past 19 years. It’s hard to believe, but the coming year marks Irish America’s 19th year in existence....
MoreJustice Time for Dublin/Monaghan Families
The bombs went off during the Dublin rush-hour, at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, May 17, 1974. Three car bombs exploded on Parnell Street, Talbot Street and South Leinster Street in the center of Dublin. An...
MoreIrish Troops Land in Liberia
A rapid reaction force of 450 Irish soldiers landed in Liberia as part of the U.N.’s 15,000-strong military intervention in the war-torn West African country. The troops will take part in a...
MoreGilligan Case Adjourns
The Court of Criminal Appeal in Dublin adjourned an application by convicted drug dealer John Gilligan. Three years ago the Special Criminal Court acquitted Gilligan of the charge of murdering...
MoreIrish Family in the U.S. Faces Deportation
The holiday season was a tense one, to say the least, for the McAllister family. Days before Thanksgiving, federal agents raided their New Jersey home in the dead of night. Before Christmas, it...
MoreIn America Premieres in New York
The A-list was in full force for the New York City premiere of Jim Sheridan’s latest film In America. Many fans and friends of Sheridan were out to support the semi-autobio-graphical film for...
MoreYoung Stars on Screen
Two young actors, Dakota Fanning and Spencer Breslin, have burst onto the Hollywood scene with the blockbuster Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat. Fanning plays the bossy, organized Sally, sister to...
MoreNew Host for This Old House
Making his debut this season as host of the Emmy Award-winning series This Old House and Ask This Old House, Kevin O’Connor is the newest member of America’s favorite home improvement...
MoreBuilding a Beautiful Future in Kabul
With her red hair and freckles, Patricia O’Connor certainly stands out from the crowd on the streets of Kabul. But she moves through the streets both in Afghanistan and through her home in the...
MoreJames Kenny Named New Ambassador to Ireland
The new ambassador to Ireland, James Kenny, traces his family’s roots to County Mayo. But the red-haired partner in Chicago’s Kenny Construction Co. is not one to spend time at Mayo...
MoreThe Quare Fellow
As we commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Irish writer Brendan Behan in 1923 on February 9, Elizabeth Toomey writes about his time in New York. ℘℘℘ On September 3, 1960, the New York...
MoreA Tale of Two Henrys & Their Tractors
Henry “Harry” Ferguson was an inventor who was constantly tinkering and trying new things. In the course of his life, he helped to revolutionize the tractor, helped revive the fortunes of...
MoreMacklin’s Cross
It looks like it’s trying to clear this morning, though waves of drizzle betimes pass through. Our friend Thomas says “betimes.” I like it. A little while ago our neighbors Anne and...
MoreSardonic Joe
Joe Queenan’s no-holds-barred satirical writing is not for every palate. He jabs, stabs, pokes, prods, and otherwise mangles various aspects of American culture (not to mention European culture...
MoreA Day in Capitan Sarmiento
The alarm clock rang. My consciousness slowly roused. 5:30, the illuminated digital figures hazily proclaimed. I steadily regained my faculties after what amounted to about four hours sleep. What in...
MoreNorthern Ireland in Crisis?
The more things change, the more they stay the same, was one cynic’s response to the election results in Northern Ireland on November 26, which resulted in overwhelming victories for Ian...
MoreRoots: Cummins (Cummings, Commons, Comyns, Hurley)
The original Irish name is ÓCoimín and its variations are numerous in every part of Ireland. The name lends itself to many interpretations. Some say it comes from the Irish word cam, meaning...
MoreSongs of the Civil War
David Kincaid talks to Jamie Dawson about his albums of Irish songs from the Civil War. ℘℘℘ Irish-American musician and Civil War historian David Kincaid moved from Seattle to New York in 1985,...
MoreKate Rusby and Josh Kelley Out Now
Kate Rusby Underneath the Stars Underneath the Stars is Kate Rusby’s first studio album in three years, and even if it had taken her ten, it would have been worth the wait. From the opening...
MoreThe Night of the Big Portion
In Ireland, the last night of the year was called Oiche na Cada Moire, The Night of the Big Portion. It was common practice to have a big supper that night to ensure a full cupboard and plenty to eat...
MoreIn Canada, the Irish Disappeared
I took a pilgrim’s trip in September to the Irish mass graves at Grosse Íle, the quarantine station in the St. Lawrence River near Quebec City. I stood by a sunken green field where 5,424 were...
MoreThe Irish Shawl
This is a photograph taken of my mother, Elizabeth Schultz Daily, at the age of 16 wearing the shawl that her great-grandmother Jane McDonald McCarthy brought over from Ireland when she and my...
MoreImmigrant Ghosts on the Street of Ships
There’s a row of lead laundry sinks on the third floor of an old building on the Lower Manhattan waterfront where Irish women worked in the 19th century. And beyond the laundry drying racks,...
MoreHibernia
James Kenny Named New Ambassador to Ireland
The new ambassador to Ireland, James Kenny, traces his family’s roots to County Mayo. But the...
Building a Beautiful Future in Kabul
With her red hair and freckles, Patricia O’Connor certainly stands out from the crowd on the...
New Host for This Old House
Making his debut this season as host of the Emmy Award-winning series This Old House and Ask This...
Immigrant Ghosts on the Street of Ships
There’s a row of lead laundry sinks on the third floor of an old building on the Lower...