Arts and Entertainment

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
By Sean Smith Special to the BIR Second of two parts Wexford native Larry Kirwan — co-founder and guiding spirit of seminal Irish rock band Black 47, playwright, memoirist, novelist, columnist, radio show producer and host — has been one of the most... 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
New Ensemble to Perform in Cambridge Jan. 20 By BIR Staff Boston-based Irish dancer and choreographer Kieran Jordan will present her new collaboration, “The Sole Mates,” for one night only this month before the group hits the road in March for an 11-gig... Read more
By Sean Smith Special to the BIR The Lindsays: “From the Green to the Blue” -- If you got the Boston Irish Reporter September 2010 edition, you might have read Susan Lindsay’s candid, enjoyable account of how she and husband Stephen put together this CD:... Read more
By Sean Smith Special to the BIR How’s this for a resume? Graduated from a prestigious Boston-area university. Trekked around the world as a travel writer and video maker (experiences included finagling a prime location at the annual solstice celebration... Read more
by Sean Smith Pre-teens Dylan and Kylie escape from their bleak, lifeless Dublin neighborhood to search for the boy’s older brother, who fled home two years earlier after being overwhelmed by the chaotic, miserable family life that has now pushed Dylan to... 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 Sean Smith Imagine if you had a one-time-only 30-minute lesson with one of the most eminent Irish fiddlers of the past two decades. Surely it would be like departing a banquet after eating a few hors d'oeuvres, or leaving an Oscar-winning movie once... Read more

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