Bear in mind these dead: I can find no plainer words. - John Hewitt, "Neither an Elegy nor a Manifesto" The New Year brings good tidings to a young couple I know, the birth of a baby boy, a welcome addition to their ever expanding family. Unlike his mother, a Belfast native, this boy will grow up outside the danger zone of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. Other children … [Read more...] about What the Future Holds
The Irish in Texas
By Harry Dunleavy
January / February 1998
Irish settlers and their contribution in the formation and development of the Lone Star State.Irish immigration to Texas is so old that it has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and the marriage of Isabella I of Castile to Ferdinand II of Aragon. The union of the two Spanish Provinces, and the subsequent expulsion of the Moors after the Battle of Granada, paved the way for the … [Read more...] about The Irish in Texas
Man of Aran
By Diana Barth
January / February 1998
Playwright Martin McDonagh, all the rage in London, comes stateside. Only Shakespeare has matched Martin McDonagh's record: to have four shows running concurrently on London's West End. This past summer McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan opened at The Royal National Theatre, while his Leenane Trilogy -The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Skull in Connemara, and The Lonesome West - … [Read more...] about Man of Aran
Master of the House
By Roger Doughty
January / February 1998
You wouldn't expect the artistic director of one of the country's most celebrated repertory theaters to make house calls, but if Dublin-born Joe Dowling, creative wizard in residence at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, thought his presence at a barbecue or bar mitzvah would put some people in his theater's seats, the folks throwing the party would be well advised to set … [Read more...] about Master of the House
A Visit Home
By Betty O'Connor Wald
January / February 1998
Betty Wald visits Ireland for the first time in search of her grandmother's home in Kilmacillogue, County KerryIn all the long years of Sunday visits to my grandmother's apartment in the Bronx, she never talked about Ireland. There were no tales of a far-off land for a child's imagination to grab hold of, to elaborate over the years, making family myths to pass on to future … [Read more...] about A Visit Home