By BostonIrish.com... (not verified) September 30, 2016
By Judy Enright
Special to the BIR
There’s a lot to love about Ireland in October – and every other month, too, of course.
By October, most tourists have been and gone, their vacations often dictated by children’s school schedules. But don’t worry: There is still plenty to see and do in Ireland in the autumn and the many attractions open to visitors will not be nearly as crowded as they are in the summer.
FAIRS
October will be busy for The Burren Backroom series, with six events scheduled, including performances by John Doyle, Celtic Fiddle Festival and Boston-area native Katie McNally. Other Irish/Celtic happenings this month include appearances by former Celtic Thunder member Paul Byrom and local fiddler Mari Black.
Conor Lovett in the Gare St Lazare Ireland production of “Here All Night.” Hugo Glendinning photoConor Lovett and Judy Hegarty Lovett share a great deal in life. Aside from being husband and wife, the talented duo are founders and co-artistic directors of the Gare St Lazare Ireland theater company based in Cork. They also rank as the unparalleled interpreters and champions of the Irish playwright, novelist, and poet Samuel Beckett.
From Oct. 5 to Oct. 9, Gare St Lazare will be in Boston to perform “Here All Night,” an immersive blend of spoken word and musical performance based on the writings and compositions of the Nobel Prize-winning Beckett, including “Watt,” “First Love,” “The Unnamable,” “Words and Music” and “Melanie Loves.”
Presented by ArtsEmerson, “Here All Night” will take place at the Emerson Paramount Mainstage. ArtsEmerson previously hosted Gare St Lazare’s compelling productions of “Waiting for Godot” and “Moby Dick.”
“We didn’t want this to be a ‘themed’ record, but we felt ‘Copley Street’ would be a nod to the past generations of musicians,” says Joey Abarta, right, of the album he made with Nathan Gourley. Louise Bichan photo
Copley Street is a little longer than a block, tucked away in Roxbury’s extreme western flank, and dead-ending at the southwest at the Jamaica Plain border on School Street. But whatever it may lack in relative size or scale, Copley Street has some important connections to the past, present and likely the future of Irish music in Boston.
For one thing, the street is all of about a mile from Dudley Square, the storied hub of Irish dance halls that flourished for decades during the 20th century. That era resounds in the very name “Copley” – the Roxbury-based record label that issued recordings of some of Boston’s most prominent Irish musicians.
A new student placement initiative, providing J-1 work visas and support for 40 third-year students seeking quality, relevant, one-year paid internships in the United States was launched last month at Belfast City Hall.
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The program is the result of a partnership between the Irish International Immigrant Center in Boston, Ulster University, and Queen’s University Belfast that was brokered by the Belfast City Council as part of its Sister City Agreement with Boston. The agreement was signed in May 2014 to explore academic, business, and cultural links between the two cities.
Team Ireland Looks At Billions In Tax Dilemma – As everybody surely knows by now a European Union ruling wants Apple Corporation to pay Ireland 13 billion euros in unpaid corporate taxes for the 2004 –2014 decade. Sounds easy enough but the Irish government, which would receive the money, does not want to accept the windfall.
The first 2016 presidential “debate” – more World Wrestling Federation than political discourse – is history. If recent past is prologue, Hillary vs. Trump II and III will decide whether or not a Nativist candidate will take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in January 2017. For any Irish Americans with even a shred of historical memory, the very real prospect of a Trump victory should give pause.
By BostonIrish.com... (not verified) September 30, 2016
Why is it election choices are often so unattractive that voters feel they have to choose between the lesser of two or more flawed candidates? I propose a constitutional amendment that would permit the electorate to express its dissatisfaction with the candidates on the ballot. It would require the addition of another choice, marked simply “Do-Over.”
For almost 30 years, the Irish American Partnership, which was founded in Ireland “to organize Irish American support on behalf of job creation, education, and economic development in Ireland,” has assisted the island’s primary schools, universities, and special programs in meeting their goals.
And now, with the partnership being led by a new team at the top and the naming of three prominent Irish Americans to the board of directors, the organization is fully prepared to build on the strength and reputation that has been created over the last three decades.
Mary WalshThe Irish Pastoral Centre will honor Mary Walsh at its annual fundraising banquet on Sat., Oct. 29 at 6:30 p.m. at Florian Hall in Dorchester. The event will include live music and dancing with a performance by the group Devri.
Tickets and sponsorships can be arranged by visiting ipcboston.org.
Mary (O’Malley) Walsh was born in the small Gaelic speaking village of Rosmuc, Co. Galway. The eldest of seven children of Joe and Mary Anne O’Malley, she moved to Dublin at age 15, where she worked for a year and a half before emigrating to the United States.
It was at the Intercolonial dance hall on Dudley Street in Boston that Mary met her husband to be, John Walsh. John had also come over from his family home in Carna, Ireland only 14 miles from her own, to find work in America. After a two year courtship, they were married in 1965 and made their home on Taft Street in Dorchester. There they raised two sons, Martin and John.