Boston Irish Commentary
Former Vice-President Joe Biden is shown at the second inauguration of Boston Mayor Martin Walsh in Jan. 2018. Chris Lovett photo
The choice could not be clearer: I’ll cast my vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris next Tuesday. A lopsided proportion of my... Read more
My father was a carpenter and my mother a secretary. Neither had any experience of university other than they believed in higher education and encouraged me to grab the opportunity. And so, I did, starting in 1974 upon entering University College Dublin... Read more
We have not wasted much ink in this space detailing the day-to-day outrages, depravities, and lies of the Trump administration over the last 44 months. Such an exercise would leave precious little room for the steady diet of local coverage to which our... Read more
Irish Americans: Follow the light of Biden’s lantern out of the darkness
By Tim Kirk
Special to Boston Irish
History says, Don’t hope
On this side of the grave,
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up
And hope... Read more
Massachusetts voters have a lot on our minds as we approach the Sept. 1 primary and November’s general election: a pandemic, a struggling economy, and racial tension, among other things. But if we are going to take the long view, we should keep one issue... Read more
DUBLIN – A waiter at an outdoor coffee place that I frequent in the city asked me a couple of days ago: "Do people freak out when they hear your accent?" Later that day, we were in line at the General Post Office to send a package to our niece and the... Read more
Statement by UMass President Marty Meehan regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) guidance on international students
The guidance released Monday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) creates immense confusion and instability for... Read more
Poetry fans in Ireland and the world over continue to mourn the death of Eavan Boland, one of her country’s leading poets and a champion of women in the arts who died in late April at age 76. Ms. Boland first published her poetry when she was a first-year... Read more
WICKLOW, Ireland – In many ways, everything has changed utterly since I wrote about February’s general election here in Ireland in the inaugural edition of Boston Irish. A global pandemic, the likes of which have not been seen in a century, struck – and... Read more
DUBLIN – A march in the Irish capital on June 1 in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and the oppressed in America included a journey past Dublin monuments and landmarks that evoked history and the connection between Ireland and America. As I joined the... Read more
With the easing of some COVID restrictions this week, I'be felt a new sense of freedom and relief. The lockdown here in Ireland started shortly after an unusual St Patrick's Day – no celebrations, churches closed, no sports, and over 70s could not leave... Read more
Tim Kirk, a software professional, and his wife, Raphaelle, a nurse, left Needham, Massachusetts, last December and settled permanently in Dublin. He has sent along his impressions of his first few months of residence there as the viral pandemic spread... Read more
Do you know what I’m really missing about baseball these days?
The voices.
The voices of those who in normal times would be bringing us the
play-by-play action and color commentary of the games on television and
radio. I miss the professionalism of... Read more
This is a newsletter featuring whatever thoughts I might have at any particular time about any particular subject. Some entries, but not all, might be on the Red Sox and baseball, and some, but not all, might contain verse.
As I sit in semi-splendid... Read more
The idiom “Whistling past the graveyard” is defined as the attempt to stay cheerful in a dire situation. Well, I’m all puckered up and ready to blow. Are you ready?
The Red Sox loss of Mookie Betts might not the mean end of the world.
There. I’ve said it... Read more
As Ireland entered Europe in 1973 and the “troubles” raged in the North, I was lost in teenage heartache. So much so that I took refuge in my grandparents’ house one night to watch a BBC2 documentary about Joseph Stalin.
Distracted by the footage of... Read more
By James T. Brett Compassionate medical care and end of life considerations are some of the most complex and difficult issues facing families, and society in general. It is a reality that may only intensify against a backdrop of an aging population. In... Read more
We make deposits of ourselves for our time,
notes in an endless rhythm
By James W. Dolan
Reporter Columnist
I can see the glow in my late wife’s eyes and the smile on her face as she sat with our children and grandchildren at family events. She was... Read more
BY JOE LEARY
There is no doubt that the Boston Irish Reporter has been a most important force in strengthening and build-ing the Irish American community here in the Boston area. Since Ed and Mary Forry began publishing this extraordinary newspaper 30... Read more
As the calendar turns toward Thanksgiving, several prominent Irish Americans are doing their level best to turn the conversation away from platters of holiday “gobbler” to the spewing of lies, and, in one case, an ill-advised confession to several of... Read more
