Arts and Entertainment

By R. J. Donovan Special to The BIR Award-winning Broadway star Patrick Cassidy represents one branch of a far-reaching family tree of musical performers.  His Mom is Shirley Jones (he was actually conceived during the filming of “The Music Man”).  His... Read more
By Sean Smith Special to the BIR One of Massachusetts’s favorite Irish imports, the rock band The Saw Doctors, returns this month for its annual appearance at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, with performances on Aug. 11 and 12. Formed in Tuam in the... Read more
By Sean Smith Dan Isaacson’s Simple System, “Traditional Irish Music for the Flute”—Isaacson is fondly remembered by many Boston-area Irish musicians and listeners for his playing at local sessions, and in particular with the band The Magic Square, whose... Read more
A column of news and updates of the Boston Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest), which celebrates the Boston area’s rich heritage of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton music and dance with a grassroots, musician-run winter music festival and other events during the year... Read more
By Joe Leary Special to the BIR Filled with deep laughter, happy songs, humorous political history lessons, and Dick Flavin’s magnificent acting, this one-man performance of “According to Tip” holds the audience’s attention riveted to the stage. Flavin... Read more
By R. J. Donovan Special to The BIR Fans of ABC-TV’s “Dancing With The Stars” may have noticed that a good-looking young Irishman joined the show this past season as a member of The Dance Troupe. His name is Tristan MacManus, but what not everyone may... Read more
A column of news and updates of the Boston Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest), which celebrates the Boston area’s rich heritage of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton music and dance with a grassroots, musician-run winter music festival and other events during the year... Read more
New England acts The Makem and Spain Brothers and the Joshua Tree join Derek Warfield & the Young Wolfe Tones, The Screaming Orphans, McPeake, Enter the Haggis, and The Prodigals as headliners for this year’s Boston Irish Festival, which will take... Read more
Veteran Boston broadcaster and politician commentator Dick Flavin is a man with a mission. To keep alive the memory of the life and times of the beloved Massachusetts politician and former Speaker of the U.S. House Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill. A decade ago,... Read more
Triptych, “Triptych” – There is something innately refreshing about Triptych, a trio with strong ties to Boston that has now released its long-awaited first CD. Whereas the trend in performing Irish/Celtic music is often “more is more,” Triptych opts for... Read more
BY R. J. DONOVAN SPECIAL TO THE BIR McCaela Donovan (no relation, by the way) has had a connection to Boston since she was a child and used to come here from upper state New York with her father to soak up local history. Today, the actress has carved out... Read more
BY PATRICK GALLAGHER SPECIAL TO THE BIR For award-winning Irish author Colm Toibin, writing is often about trying to distract readers from a story’s true destination, only to catch them off-guard when it is finally revealed. Toibin did just that last... Read more
‘Lullabies of Love’ CD, a Collaboration of Artists Who Care, Will Support ‘One Home Many Hopes’ BY SEAN SMITH SPECIAL TO THE BIR The biggest ideas often have the simplest beginnings. For Newton resident Lindsay O’Donovan, the inspiration for a major... Read more
BY SEAN SMITH SPECIAL TO THE BIR Is it too soon to call it “The Greenpot”? Irish dance – rather than hockey – was the focus of a recent local showcase for several dozen students representing Boston area colleges. The event, titled “We Got the Beat,” took... Read more
By Sean Smith Special to the BIR It’s arguably the most iconic of Irish musical instruments, depicted in both classical and commercial art – and, yes, it’s even the namesake for a popular beer. So, with another year of St. Patrick’s Day events in Boston... Read more
A column of news and updates of the Boston Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest), which celebrates the Boston area’s rich heritage of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton music and dance with a grassroots, musician-run winter music festival and other events during the year... Read more
In Ireland Unhinged, the Author Searches for Ireland’s Heart and Soul in the Shadow of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ By Peter F. Stevens BIR Staff In 2000, the author David Monagan did something many Irish Americans dream of, but never get around to doing for... Read more
By Thomas O’Grady Special to the BIR “The schoolmen were schoolboys first.” So James Joyce has Stephen Dedalus muse in the “Scylla and Charybdis” episode of Ulysses. These words would have made an apt epigraph for The Boys of St. Columb’s (The Liffey... Read more
By Sean Smith Special to the BIR What can you say about a film in which Liz Carroll -- one of the most influential Irish fiddlers of our time -- appears as an interviewer, rather than a performer? That’s one of the many charms of “Fiddles, Fiddlers and a... Read more
By R. J. Donovan Special to The BIR Take an international step-dancing champion, add a dazzling fiddler from Galway, 19 heavenly harpists, one Broadway star, comedy galore and a 30-member choir and you’ve got “A Little Bit Of Ireland,” the St. Patrick’s... Read more

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