Boston Irish Reporter’s Here & There January 2016

By Bill O’Donnell
December 30, 2015

Bill O’Donnell

There is a purpose for our being here

By James W. Dolan
December 30, 2015

James W. Dolan

Current events don’t seem as interesting after the death of a loved one. Much of the news of the day, viewed in the broader perspective of life’s fragility, seem trivial and inconsequential. The larger issues of the how and why of existence tend to get more attention.

This is the year we’ll remember the principled men and women of 1916

By Joe Leary
December 30, 2015

Joe Leary

Ireland’s long-standing struggle for independence from the British had been going on for hundreds of years when, on April 14, 1916, Easter Monday, an armed rebellion by a few thousand Irish men and women in Dublin began a sequence of seven years of bitter fighting in three separate engagements that led to the eventual creation of the Republic of Ireland we enjoy today.

Banner year for visiting Ireland

By Ed Forry
December 30, 2015

The 100th commemoration of the Easter Rising in April 1916 will dominate the domestic calendar in Ireland this year, and attract visitors aplenty to the island. As always, though, the Irish have sparkling events on tap throughout the year for tourists to consider when making travel plans.

Mayor Walsh plays a prominent role in new photo exhibition at Shannon

By BIR News Room
December 30, 2015

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is featured among some of the world’s noted politicians and stars of stage, screen and sport in a permanent exhibition at historic Shannon Airport that was unveiled last month.

The exhibit celebrates the 70th anniversary of the first commercial transatlantic flight into a land based Irish airport.

Some 64 images drawn from the 1950s to the current day have been assembled from archives and placed in a permanent exhibition on the walls of the airport’s transit lounge.

Master fiddler, engaging teacher, Seamus Connolly signs off at BC

By Sean Smith, Special to the Reporter
December 30, 2015

Sean Smith, Special to the Reporter

Seamus Connolly played “one last tune” during his retirement party last month. Sean Smith photoMusician, teacher, organizer, scholar: Fulfilling these roles for the better part of a quarter-century, Seamus Connolly has helped make Boston College a go-to place for traditional music from Ireland, Scotland, Cape Breton, and other Gaelic cultures.
But the final notes of his tenure at BC have sounded.

Connolly, who has been BC’s Sullivan Family Artist-in-Residence since 2004, retired from the University effective at the end of the fall semester. Appropriately enough, a formal public announcement of his plans came at the Dec. 8 Christmas concert in the Cadigan Alumni Center, held as part of the Gaelic Roots Music, Song, Dance, Workshop and Lecture Series – widely acclaimed as one of his signal achievements.

“There comes a moment in everyone’s life when you look back and then say, ‘It’s time,’” said Connolly in an interview. “I felt that over 25 years, with the help of many good people, we were able to accomplish so much in giving the Irish and other Gaelic music traditions a home at BC. So moving on at this point just seems the right thing to do.

REBELLION ON THE HORIZON: With the dawning of 1916, a Boston couple had already risked all for an Irish ‘rising’

By Peter F. Stevens, BIR Staff
December 30, 2015

Peter F. Stevens, BIR Staff

First in a series commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland.

A century ago, a defining moment – the defining moment for many historians – helped set the stage for the future for Ireland. As January 1916 dawned, the inevitable collision between Irish nationalists and the British government was unfolding en route to the Easter Rising in April. The impact of the coming rebellion would resound not only up and down the island of Ireland but also in the Irish wards of Boston and all of Irish America.

In a galaxy not so far away … Ireland feels ‘The Force’

By BIR News Room
December 30, 2015

The climatic scenes in the new blockbuster movie “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” were filmed in the Skellig Islands, eight miles off the coast of Portmagee in South West Kerry. Rising majestically from the sea, Skellig Michael towers 714 feet (218 metres) above sea level. On the summit is a remarkably well- preserved sixth century monastic settlement. On the spectacular Small Skelligs, some 23,000 pairs of gannet nest on every available ledge, making it the second largest gannet colony in the world.
An island off Ireland’s southwest coast is wowing audiences at screenings of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Unveiled in the film’s closing minutes, this closely guarded secret ending to Episode 7 was filmed in September 2014 on Skellig Michael Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

At Stonehill, a Holocaust lesson from an Irish citizen who was there

By Liam Dacko, Stonehill College
December 2, 2015

Liam Dacko, Stonehill College

Tomi Reichental addresses the students.
Visitors came in droves Stonehill College in late October for a teaching event that explored a concept that is simple in theory, but complex in practice: forgiveness.

Tomi Reichental, a Holocaust survivor and Dublin resident, and the filmmaker Gerry Gregg talked about their experiences in making a documentary called “Close To Evil,” which details Reichental’s attempt to find and meet with former SS officer Hilde Michnia, who served as a guard at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where Reichental was imprisoned as a boy.

Gregg told his audience that he jumped at the chance to make the film with Reichental, as it was believed that no Holocaust survivor had ever met with an SS officer outside of a courtroom since the end of World War II.

American Ireland Fund’s gala raises $2.6m for worldwide aid

By BIR News Room
December 2, 2015

Mayor Marty Walsh; Anne Finucane, Dinner Honoree and Vice Chair of Bank of America; Governor Charlie Baker; US Senator Ed Markey. Bill Brett photo
More than 1,100 guests gathered on Thurs., Nov. 12, for The American Ireland Fund’s 34th Annual Boston Dinner Gala at the Westin Boston Waterfront.

A record-breaking $2.6 million – the largest amount ever achieved at the Boston Gala -was raised for The Worldwide Ireland Funds “Promising Ireland” Campaign to support nonprofit organizations across the island of Ireland and around the world.

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