When we first published the magazine back in 1985, I wasn’t entirely comfortable with our slogan “Mórtas Cine,” which translates from the Irish as “Pride in one’s heritage.” As children we were warned about “pride” and its place at the top of the list of the Seven Deadly Sins. “Pride goes before a fall,” my mother would caution. Growing up in Ireland, surrounded by other … [Read more...] about The First Word: Something to Shout About
Opinion
Move to Restore Quiet Man Cottage
Locals and fans from around the world are rallying on the Facebook social network to renew the dream of seeing “The Quiet Man Cottage” restored to its former cinematic glory as it appeared in the 1951 movie The Quiet Man. Today, the structure is barely recognizable as it lies in shambles. For Paddy McCormick, from Belfast, this dream began in 1998. As an ardent fan of the … [Read more...] about Move to Restore Quiet Man Cottage
The First Word: Imagining America
A letter from our Editor: My image of the South and the Civil War was formed in part by the movie Gone With the Wind. RTÉ, our one channel when I was growing up in Ireland, ran movie classics on Sunday afternoons. It was one of the features I enjoyed watching with my mother. My desire to come to America was fueled by those movies, by the glamour of Fred Astaire … [Read more...] about The First Word: Imagining America
The Last Word:
The Walk of a Queen
Reflections on Queen Elizabeth's historic trip to Ireland.
The recent four-day visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland – the first by a reigning monarch in a hundred years – was a stunning triumph, capped by the five-minute standing ovation she received at a musical performance on her final night in the Irish capital. That performance included excerpts from Riverdance, which … [Read more...] about The Last Word:
The Walk of a Queen
The First Word: Let the Irish Apply
A letter from our Editor... After all these years in America, I still feel like an immigrant. Though I proudly hold American citizenship, it is other immigrants that I most readily identify with. “Where are you from?” I ask waiters and cab drivers, even a woman on the subway (we were so caught up in our chat about how “there is no place in the world like New York … [Read more...] about The First Word: Let the Irish Apply