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December / January 2016

Moët Hennessy’s Jim Clerkin

From County Down to downtown Manhattan, Jim Clerkin has moved around, and systematically up, in the world. After a career in the alcoholic beverage industry, he’s landed the top position in Moët...

For 30 years, this list has sought to recognize the phenomenal success of the Irish in corporate America. We are proud to have the opportunity to celebrate three decades of executives, managers,...

As we struggle with the magnitude of the recent terror attacks in Paris and live with the renewed fear of attacks here at home, we all find personal ways of coping. Mine is to reflect on the past...

Peter Robinson announced he is to step down as Northern Ireland First Minister and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) just days after a new deal was struck to break a months’ long...

Making history in November, a majority of Northern Ireland’s Assembly members voted in favor of same-sex marriage for the first time. Fifty-three ministers supported the motion, while 52 voted...

The two sponsoring bodies that administer the vast majority of Irish participants in the J-1 Summer visa program have announced a plan to introduce a new requirement for applicants to secure a job...

The Atlantic Philanthropies, created in 1982 by Irish-American businessman Chuck Feeney, is giving €138.4 million [$177 million] to Trinity College Dublin and the University of California, San...

Irish scientist William C. Campbell, a researcher at Drew University in New Jersey, has been awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Satoshi Ōmura and Tu Youyou. Campbell,...

Matthew Gleeson, postgraduate researcher at the University of Limerick (UL), is the winner of Science Foundation Ireland’s Research Image of the Year competition for his picture “Lightning...

Research by NUI Galway and Oxford University has led to a breakthrough in how antibiotics are prescribed. The initiative to improve the prescribing of antibiotics for urinary tract infections...

The new year will kick off with three movies showcasing lots of young Irish acting talent. First up is the highly anticipated new epic from Birdman director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Entitled The...

Finally, in January, there is Risen, a new telling of the Biblical story of Jesus’ resurrection. This version is told through the eyes of a skeptical Roman named Clavius, who sets out to prove that...

Next up is the horror flick The Forest, starring Dublin native Eoin Macken. The 32-year-old Macken, who attended University College, Dublin, is branching out after spending several years as a model...

Meanwhile, in March 2016, two celebrated English actors with strong Irish roots will team up with a trio of Hollywood legends for a movie entitled Money Monster. Directed by Oscar winner Jodie...

Dubliner Sarah Bolger (left) was seen recently in the (American) football film My All American, alongside Aaron Eckhart, Finn Wittrock, and Robin Tunney. Also in late 2015, the actress – best...

Irish actor Glenn Keogh – who has appeared in the cable drama Sons of Anarchy as well as one of the entries in the Transformers film franchise – will star as King Fergus in an upcoming two-hour...

Liam Neeson and Ciaran Hinds have wrapped up their latest prestige project – Martin Scorsese’s new movie. The film’s producer recently said Scorsese is now editing the movie Silence, which is...

Speaking of folks with Irish parents, Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle has made some of the most respected and praised movies in recent years, including Slumdog Millionaire and, more recently,...

Michael Fassbender – whose mother was from Antrim and who was raised in Kerry – has done the serious art film thing, from Shame (which earned him a slew of award nominations) to 12 Years a Slave...

Looking ahead to 2017, the aforementioned Leonardo DiCaprio is reportedly producing a Robin Hood origin movie. The cast has not yet been assembled, but one actress who has apparently landed a role is...

I.M. Maureen FitzSimons Blair August 17, 1920 – October 24, 2015   Maureen O’Hara has died at the age of 95. Born on August 17, 1920 in Dublin, the legend of the silver screen passed away on...

Scott Kelly, 51, an American astronaut and commander of the International Space Station’s Expedition 45 crew, has set the record for the longest time spent in space by an American citizen after...

Music & Literary Honors Joanie Madden (left) and author Mary Pat Kelly. Musician Joanie Madden, founder of Cherish the Ladies, received the 2015 Turlough O’Carolan Award for Musical...

The Flax Trust honored James Nesbitt, actor and chancellor of Ulster University, and John Kelly, a partner at Hanover Stone Partners LLC, at its 21 Club Banquet on October 7. It was the...

Patricia Harty, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Irish America, received the prestigious Eugene O’Neill Lifetime Achievement Award from Irish American Writers and Artists, Inc., on October...

For nine days in October, Cape Breton Island is home to a unique celebration of music and culture, with the finest of storytellers, musicians, and dancers from around the globe taking part in the...

The famous war dog who served in World War II, and Bill Wynne, the U.S. Army Air Force G.I. who adopted her. ℘℘℘ The first time Cpl. William Wynne saw Smoky, he found it hard to believe she...

Were she alive today, the odds are that Kathy Buckley would be as well-known as celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson. Sharon Ní Chonchúir profiles the Irish woman who was head cook for...

Michael Flatley, 57, who has turned traditional Irish dancing into an international phenomenon, is retiring. It’s been his dream since he was a little boy to be on Broadway and that’s where he...

An excerpt from In Search of Our Ancestors: 101 Stories of Serendipity and Connection by Megan Smolenyak. ℘℘℘ Many of us have a particular ancestor who calls to us louder than others, one with...

Dublin breakout writer Colin Barrett talks to Julia Brodsky about his angst- and anguish-ridden debut short story collection, Young Skins. ℘℘℘ Colin Barrett’s debut collection of short...

FICTION The Dunning Man By Kevin Fortuna The characters in The Dunning Man are your friends, your wives and husbands, your acquaintances you see too seldom and when you see them again you remember...

The winner of the 2015 Séan Ó Faoláin short story prize is Evelyn Walsh, a first-generation Irish American living in Atlanta, Georgia. ‘White Rabbit,’ her winning short story, was selected...

A long-lost poetical pamphlet by Percy Bysshe Shelley was unveiled at the Bodleian Library in Oxford on November 10th. Shelley wrote the pamphlet, Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things, in...

Novelist James Patterson, who grew up in a large, working-class Irish family in the Bronx, won the National Book Foundation’s Literarian Award, which honors individuals for a lifetime of...

A forgotten Irish song of emigration tells of a mother’s longing for her children who have gone so far away, is a big hit for Cherish the Ladies. ℘℘℘ Irish music was the soundtrack to life...

In the Brooklyn world of my childhood, Ireland seemed especially close at Christmas. While we kids looked forward to Santa, Mom and Dad were looking back to Ireland. Cards would arrive and Mom would...

Ireland is known for its redheads and also, Edythe Preet discovers, for its ginger lovers. So this Christmas, make some ginger cookies, grab a glass of milk, and settle down with J.P. Donleavy’s...

A widow leaves her children in care of the nuns in Galway and sets out for Boston, where she finds work as a domestic servant. In doing so, she sets the course for future generations. ℘℘℘ This...

Joseph Coffey 1938 – 2015 Sergeant Joseph Coffey, the legendary New York City detective who took on the mob and worked on some of the city’s most high-profile cases, including Son of Sam, died at...

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December / January 2016

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