Jack Donovan Foley, the American grandson of Irish immigrants, invented “foley art,” a sound-effects technique still used in films today – so subtle and perfect that viewers don’t notice anything has been added.Something was not quite right on the stage of Alice Tully Hall at New York City’s Lincoln Center one night last September. It was the U.S. premiere of the recently … [Read more...] about Jack Foley and the Art of Sound
History Archives
An Irish Vintage: The Concannon Vineyard
James and John Concannon uphold tradition at a winery founded by their Irish immigrant ancestor.The Concannon family has spent more than 128 years growing grapes and making wine in California, 42 miles east of San Francisco, debunking the notion that the Irish know their whiskey but not their wine. “I never knew my grandfather James, the founder of Concannon Vineyard,” said Jim … [Read more...] about An Irish Vintage: The Concannon Vineyard
Civil War Memorials
Irish Sculptors Led the Way in Celebrating Civil War HeroesMagnificent in bearing, you find our nation’s unabashed heroes in Central Park and Lincoln Park, Boston Common and the National Mall. Still others stand like sedentary sentinels in village greens, public buildings and parks from Maine to Louisiana. Civil War monuments dot the American landscape, bronzed warriors turned … [Read more...] about Civil War Memorials
The Civil War Experience on Show
Current exhibitions celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The Return of the 69th On July 27, 1861, crowds massed along New York Harbor to welcome home New York’s 69th (Irish) Regiment returned from the First Battle of Bull Run. Though the battle was lost on the Union side, the regiment served with valor, despite the capture of Col. Michael Corcoran by the … [Read more...] about The Civil War Experience on Show
Blazing the Trail to Ireland: The Kalem Film Company
At the dawn of American cinema, when most film companies were already heading west to Hollywood, one company traveled east – to Ireland. The little-known story of the Kalem Company, or “The O’Kalems,” as they were fondly called, is the subject of a new collection from the Irish Film Archive.A steam engine chugs into a small railway station in Ireland and a handsome, … [Read more...] about Blazing the Trail to Ireland: The Kalem Film Company