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
Feature
A Visit Home
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
Ireland’s Banished Children
Many of the thousands of Irish babies adopted in the U.S. in the '40s, '50s, and '60s are reclaiming their roots. Emer Mullins reports. ℘℘℘ In a quiet convent outside Dublin, an elderly nun is in possession of a veritable Pandora's Box relating to one of the most controversial periods in Irish social history. Sr. Patricia Quinn used to work at St. Patrick's Guild in Dublin, a … [Read more...] about Ireland’s Banished Children
Fionnoula Flanagan: Up Close and Personal
Actress Fionnula Flanagan is a beautiful woman who is not afraid to ditch the glamour if the role demands it Audiences who remember her as the green-eyed, sultry redhead in the TV series Rich Man Poor Man for which she won an Emmy, and How the West Was Won, might have a hard time recognizing her in Some Mother's Son. Flanagan's opening shot shows her wearing no makeup, her hair … [Read more...] about Fionnoula Flanagan: Up Close and Personal
Of Women and War
Terry George's latest movie, Some Mother's Son, is a universal story which will haunt long after the final credits run, writes Laoise MacReamoinn.There's a savage irony in the opening sequence of Some Mother's Son. In newsreel footage from 1979, Margaret Thatcher, British prime minister-elect, greets the press, and with a sweet, thin smile claims to see herself as continuing … [Read more...] about Of Women and War