Irish America

Irish America

Feature

John Steinbeck: Voice of the Dispossessed

By Jim Dwyer

November 1999

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All the great novels and stories of John Steinbeck slice into the American experience, clear to the bone. They are set in California, or along Route 66, where the Joads trekked across the southwest from the Dust Bowls. And Steinbeck himself, born with the century, was raised in Salinas, California, when it was still a small town on the last frontier of America. Yet the voice … [Read more...] about John Steinbeck: Voice of the Dispossessed

The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem

By Tom Dunphy

November 1999

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The Music MakersIt's only in the last number of years that I realize how deep down into the soil of Ireland my roots really go. I had such a tremendous amount to draw on, and didn't realize it."-Tommy MakemThe image is indelible -- five Irishmen, clad in Aran sweaters, chests out, singing songs of Irish humor, history, and freedom. The Clancy Brothers, along with Tommy Makem, … [Read more...] about The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem

Hollywood’s New Golden Boy

By Bryan Rohan

August / September 1999

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He could have been a bartender, instead Dylan McDermott is one of Hollywood's hottest leading men. Coming off the unprecedented hat-trick of being TV's Best Actor (according to the Emmys and the Golden Globes), becoming one of TV's "Ten Sexiest Men" (according to People Magazine), and, most importantly, becoming one of the Top 100 Irish Americans (according to this magazine), … [Read more...] about Hollywood’s New Golden Boy

The British Army in Ireland 30 Years On

By Brian Dooley

August / September 1999

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On the 30th anniversary of the 1969 deployment of British troops in Northern Ireland, Brian Dooley looks back on the response both in Ireland and in Irish America.About 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 14, 1969, British soldiers of the Prince of Wales Own Regiment swung into Derry's William Street and began stretching barbed wire across the road, so ending the Battle of the Bogside. … [Read more...] about The British Army in Ireland 30 Years On

Stairway to Heaven

Story by Jill Fergus, photographs by Peter Matthews

August / September 1999

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When I was a little girl visiting Ireland for the first time, my grandparents' farm in County Mayo was right in the shadow of Croagh Patrick -- in fact, you could see the mountain from the kitchen window. Though just 2,510 feet, it loomed in the fog and mist like Ireland's own Everest. I remember being told that Croagh Patrick, called the "reek" by locals, was a holy mountain … [Read more...] about Stairway to Heaven