Irish America
Irish America
Writing this column usually sends me on a trip down memory lane reliving scenes from my childhood and moments with my father, a meat-and-potatoes man if there ever was one. It never occurred to me while growing up that there might be reasons for Dad's menu preferences, but investigating Ireland's culinary history continues to reveal that his food choices were a much as part of … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Dun Cow
Neil Jordan's newest film, The Butcher Boy, is perhaps the most stunningly original. Darkly hilarious, and set in what Jordan calls the "disappearing" world of isolated, rural Ireland, The Butcher Boy looks set to earn a place among the most important Irish films of all time. Brian Rohan spoke to Jordan, The Butcher Boy author, and Pat McCabe and County Cavan schoolboy Eamonn … [Read more...] about Coming of Age with Neil Jordan
At first glance, the Irish Brigade in Elko seemed a bit out of place amid the sea of ten-gallon hats, blue jeans, and high-heeled cowboy boots. Elko, after all, is the home of the Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the premier celebration of the folk traditions of the American West. So this Nevada gold-mining, high desert town is used to playing host to buckaroo bards, rappin' ropers, … [Read more...] about Celtic Cowboys, Poets and Musicians
The Irish composer of such American favorites as “Naughty Marietta,” and “Sweethearts” is the subject of a five-month-long exhibition at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Jack Callahan tells Herbert's story. Before George M. Cohan was packing the theaters, another Irishman’s star shone bright on Broadway. Victor Herbert, one of the most appreciated composers to ever … [Read more...] about The Great Victor Herbert
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
