Matt Loughrey, the man behind Croagh Patrick 365 Matt Loughrey had just finished his 218th consecutive climb of Croagh Patrick, the third-highest mountain in County Mayo, when I spoke to him on a recent Saturday evening. “It’s cold up there now,” he said. “We’ve been getting temperatures of -17˚c, -18˚c up on the top. We’re climbing in ice and snow at the moment, it’s a … [Read more...] about A Year on Croagh Patrick
February March 2011 Issue
Mary Higgins Clark on Leading the St. Patrick’s Day Parade
"My father came here with five pounds in his pocket" “On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2011, as the parade goes up Fifth Avenue I will be thinking of the father who came over with five pounds in his pocket and who died when I was only eleven, the mother who encouraged my dreams of being a writer by treating every word I wrote as though it was scripted by the angels, the … [Read more...] about Mary Higgins Clark on Leading the St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Irish Micky Ward: The Fighter Speaks Out
The real-life boxer behind the Oscar-nominated movie Eight years ago, Irish America magazine honored boxer Micky Ward as one of “The Irish 100.” Ward received his tribute at the annual Irish America awards banquet at the Plaza Hotel in New York. “I don’t know why I’m being honored,” Micky said that night. Then he turned toward fellow honoree, Robert Morris, leader of the New … [Read more...] about Irish Micky Ward: The Fighter Speaks Out
Young Irish Writers Part 1: Kevin Barry
Three emerging Irish writers offer insight into their lives, their work, and what it's like to be a writer in Ireland right now. Limerick native Kevin Barry got his start as a journalist for a local paper. He went on to do freelance work, columns and sketches for Glasgow’s Sunday Herald, The Irish Examiner, The Irish Times and The Guardian. After leaving journalism to write … [Read more...] about Young Irish Writers Part 1: Kevin Barry
Young Irish Writers Part 2: Claire Kilroy
Three emerging Irish writers offer insight into their lives, their work, and what it's like to be a writer in Ireland right now. Born in Dublin in 1973, Claire Kilroy is the author of three novels: All Summer, which won the 2004 Rooney Prize for Literature, Tenderwire, and All Names Have Been Changed. Kilroy studied English at Trinity College Dublin, where she also earned her … [Read more...] about Young Irish Writers Part 2: Claire Kilroy