William J. Flynn presented the following remarks at the First Liberty Forum in New York on November 15, 1988. ℘℘℘ On June 25, 1998, leaders in government, religion and business signed the Williamsburg Charter in Colonial Williamsburg. I felt privileged to be one of them. The Williamsburg Charter is an historic document that reaffirms the first sixteen words of the Bill of … [Read more...] about The Williamsburg Charter: A Golden Rule for Preserving Religious Freedom
Culture
At the Crossroads of Dance
August / September 2007
Drawing on the patterns and movements of Irish step dancing, choreographer and dancer Darrah Carr has created a new form of dance that she calls ModErin, a fusion of modern and Irish. Fascinated with the idea of dissolving the boundaries between the strict forms of Irish dance and the freedom of movement of modern, Carr founded Darrah Carr Dance Company in 1998. Recently the … [Read more...] about At the Crossroads of Dance
Sláinte!: Go, Big Fan, Go
I don’t watch much television. Mainly because, despite the hundreds of channels, the menu is mostly repeats. Every so often, however, something extraordinary airs and I become (dare I admit it?) a Fan. So it was with the now defunct HBO series Deadwood, which depicted the wild and wooly 19th-century Gold Rush days of the Montana Territory. The show regularly drew harsh … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: Go, Big Fan, Go
The Old Sod Blooms at Philly Flower Show
June / July 2007
It wasn’t merely the classic ‘bit of the auld sod’ when the Legends of Ireland commanded center stage at the Philadelphia Flower Show in early March. It was an attempt by North America’s largest garden showcase (and at 178 years, the world’s longest running) to mirror the Irish landscape as well as polished gardens in an indoor setting. Some 258,000 visitors (up 18,000 from … [Read more...] about The Old Sod Blooms at Philly Flower Show
While Mem’ry Brings Us Back Again
Memory is the bond that ties us to home, even when we are far away. And now a stirring book produced by The Aisling Irish Community Center in Yonkers explores the connections Irish immigrants to New York have with their native land. While Mem’ry Brings Us Back Again spans the era from 1927 to 1964, and consists of heartfelt narratives by immigrants describing their … [Read more...] about While Mem’ry Brings Us Back Again