Listen to Haley Richardson play the fiddle, and you can almost hear the future resound

By Sean Smith
December 1, 2015
Sean Smith

By Sean Smith
Special to the BIR
Here’s a little sampler of what New Jersey fiddler Haley Richardson has done over the past six years or so: Won Junior Fiddler of Dooney honors, plus seven Mid-Atlantic Fleadh and two All-Ireland Fleadh titles; performed on the worldwide FleadhTV webcast; was featured in Fiddler Magazine; and appeared on stage with, among others, The Chieftains, Mick Moloney, the John Whelan Band, and Paddy Keenan.

We have much to be thankful for, so think ‘Irish’ with your gift lists

By Joe Leary
December 1, 2015
Joe Leary

By Joe Leary
Special to the BIR

December is the month of giving. Whether it is to our families under the tree, a few coins in the Salvation Army basket, or the local homeless shelter, most of us are already planning our Christmas gift list.
This column is an attempt to persuade all of its readers to consider placing Ireland on their lists this year.

‘TIS THE SEASON OF TAKING AND GIVING -Of corporate and Christmas battles

By Peter Stevens
December 1, 2015
Peter Stevens

By Peter F. Stevens
BIR Staff

The issue of corporate inversion has erupted again, and again Ireland stands center stage in the controversy. The long-expected news that Pfizer Inc. will swallow Allergan Plc. in a $160-billion “merger” has drawn sharp criticism from both the political right and left – for entirely different reasons.

Hurling match draws 30,000 to Fenway Park

By BIR News Staff
December 1, 2015
BIR News Staff

The event was billed as "the world's fastest field sport" in a return to Boston's Fenway Park as a team from Galway met the lads from Dublin in a "friendly" hurling match Nov. 22 on the field at Boston's own cathedral for sports.
And the game more than lived up to expectations.

Our city’s revered baseball field was transformed into a football gridiron for an American college football game between Boston College and a nationally ranked Notre Dame on Nov. 21. That Saturday night, a sold-out crowd of almost 40,000 filled Fenway for a game that ended in an unexceptedly close 19-16 win for the squad from South Bend.
The next day saw the Irish hurlers take the field for a highly competitive match in which 2015 All-Ireland finalist Galway squeezed out a 50-47 victory over the Dubliners.

A Christmas-time appreciation: Harry Clarke. an Irish stained glass master

By Ed Forry
December 1, 2015

By Judy Enright
Special to the BIR

Christmas seems like a perfect time to remind future visitors to Ireland about the wondrous works of the stained glass artist Harry Clarke. His magnificent windows can be found in numerous places around the country, and you won’t be sorry if you spend time looking for them.

Born on March 17, 1889, he left school at 14 to join his father’s stained glass and ecclesiastical decorating business. He won several scholarships and studied stained glass in London and France.

Bringing "Once" home to Boston

By R.J. Donovan
December 1, 2015
R.J. Donovan

By R. J. Donovan
Special to the BIR

Erica Spyres – actress, singer and classical violinist – has spent her life surrounded by music. Her parents are both music teachers. Her brothers are both singers. And her family was honored as “The Most Musical Family in Missouri.” The Ozarks native relocated to Boston when her composer-husband was accepted to study at Boston Conservatory.

Christmas Celtic Sojourn is a family party; new faces, old faces revel in music-making

By Sean Smith
December 1, 2015
Sean Smith

Christmas Celtic Sojourn is a family party;
new faces, old faces revel in music-making
By Sean Smith
Special to the BIR
“A Christmas Celtic Sojourn,” which opens for its 13th year on Dec. 11 at Boston’s Cutler Majestic Theater, has become as much a family-style tradition for its performers as for the crowds that flock to see the show every year.

A look at Irish-Celtic music events for December:

By Sean Smith
December 1, 2015
Sean Smith

In addition to “A Christmas Celtic Sojourn,” holiday-related happenings in the area include a performance by “The Celtic Kates” – Kate Chadbourne, Katie Mahoney, Katie O’Neill and Cait Sargent Lubelczyk – on December 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester. This will be the debut for this quartet, all with local ties and diverse backgrounds, and an affinity for Celtic music.

Meet Cousin Cian, musical prodigy

Ed Forry
By Ed Forry
December 1, 2015

By Ed Forry

When the American Ireland Fund hosted its annual November Boston Dinner last month, the AIF’s Steve Greeley arranged to present a performance by a young uilleann piper they brought in as a featured guest.
It was a champion piper from Co Waterford, a young fellow named Cian Smith, and he’s just 10 years old.

Turns out, young Cian is a cousin of the Forry clan – we each trace our Irish roots back to the family of my grandmother, Hannah Crotty Forry, who came to Boston in 1890, where she met and married my father's father, Patrick Forry.
Cian Smith, a young musician from Ireland who performed at the dinner. © Michael Casey photoCian Smith, a young musician from Ireland who performed at the dinner. © Michael Casey photo
It was Cian’s first-ever visit to our country, and he traveled here with his parents, Cillian and Nollaig Smith, who live near the land of my grandmother’s home in Ballymacarbry, near the Tipperary border town of Clonmel.

Pages

Subscribe to Boston Irish RSS