Boston Irish Commentary
WICKLOW, Ireland – One of the things that American visitors to Ireland are commonly confounded by is the extent to which people here are steeped in and informed about politics 3,000 miles away. The transatlantic ties sewn by emigration, family and,... Read more
“So, I'll sing farewell to Carlingford
And farewell to Greenore
And I'll think of you both day and night
Until I return once more
Until I return once more”
–Tommy Makem
Every nation has a stake in US presidential elections and no country had more at... Read more
Sedition. That is the legal word for the crime against democracy that Donald Trump and his knock-kneed co-conspirators in Congress appear willing to stage in a desperate grasp at keeping control of the White House.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were duly... Read more
Sedition. That is the legal word for the crime against democracy that Donald Trump and his knock-kneed co-conspirators in Congress appear to be staging in a desperate grasp at control of the White House.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were duly elected last... Read more
Nov 4, 2020
The agonizing wait for resolution in the presidential contest dragged on as the Reporter went to press on Wednesday morning. As of this hour, it remains unclear if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will prevail over Donald Trump and Mike Pence.... Read more
Nov 4, 2020
The agonizing wait for resolution in the presidential contest dragged on as the Reporter went to press on Wednesday morning. As of this hour, it remains unclear if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will prevail over Donald Trump and Mike Pence.... Read more
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
