Irish America

Irish America

By Ray Cavanaugh

Arthur O’Shaughnessy: Reluctant Herpetologist, Ardent “Music Maker”

By Ray Cavanaugh

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He is best known for one part of one poem he published in 1873. Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s “Ode” (which is also referred to by its opening line, “We are the music makers”) actually consists of nine stanzas, but the first three stanzas are the ones of enduring popularity; the rest of the poem, in fact, is typically omitted when appearing in anthologies. But the three opening … [Read more...] about Arthur O’Shaughnessy: Reluctant Herpetologist, Ardent “Music Maker”

Walking Into The Marvelous With Declan Kiberd

By Kelly Candaele
Fall 2023

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It is somehow fitting that the Good Friday peace agreement of 1998 has become inseparable from Irish poetry. If, for a moment in Northern Ireland, “hope and history rhymed” or those involved in resolving the conflict “walked on air against their better judgment,” phrases that politicians and other speechifiers ubiquitously quoted, they had poet Seamus Heaney to thank for their … [Read more...] about Walking Into The Marvelous With Declan Kiberd

Trailblazers Past & Present

By Patricia Harty

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"We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of dreams....Yet we are the movers and shakers of the world forever it seems.” –  Ode by Arthur O’Shaughnessy Arthur O’Shaughnessy is known for originating the line “movers and shakers,” and this issue of Irish America is full of both. There is something for everyone. Our genealogical detective Megan Smolenyak tracks “music … [Read more...] about Trailblazers Past & Present

A Portrait of George Moore and Modern Ireland

By Turlough McConnell

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art has recently hosted a remarkable exhibition titled “Manet/Degas.” Among the portraits of the exhibition is Édouard Manet’s portrait of Irish writer George Moore. The “Manet/Degas” exhibition brilliantly showcases the groundbreaking work that significantly influenced the trajectory of modernist painting in France. It is fascinating to note that one … [Read more...] about A Portrait of George Moore and Modern Ireland

The Job of Songs

IA Newsletter, November 11, 2023

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Tourists flock to the west coast of Ireland to take in the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher, but the real treasure lies in the soulful, acoustic sounds wafting out of pubs and living rooms of Doolin, County Clare. The denizens of this unspoiled coastal village of tight-knit neighbors and unlocked doors revel in the passion and history of their traditional folk songs, using music as … [Read more...] about The Job of Songs