Cullinane touts O’Malley for Democratic nomination

By Ed Forry
July 30, 2015

 John Cullinane, the longtime supporter of successful Democratic candidates, has thrown his support to former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley in next year’s contest for the Democrat nomination for president. The veteran activist and his wife, Diddy, hosted  a reception June 30 at the Dedham Country & Polo Club to introduce O’Malley to potential Massachusetts supporters.

Introducing Éirways, all about things Irish

By Sean Smith
July 30, 2015
Sean Smith

Irish culture has for many years extended its reach well beyond Ireland itself, whether through emigration, various advances in technology, or the enduring popularity of Irish music, dance, and other forms of artistic expression. That’s the concept behind a newly launched magazine, Éirways, which has a Massachusetts/New England connection in the form of its co-founders and publishers, Scituate native Kevin O’Brien and Kieran O’Hare, a Chicago resident now living in Portland, Me.

THE BARD OF FENWAY: Dick Flavin struts his stuff about the Olde Towne Team

Dick Flavin at one of his favorite places: Fenway Park, Boston. Bill Brett photoDick Flavin at one of his favorite places: Fenway Park, Boston. Bill Brett photo
“Like the Olmsted Emerald Necklace and Smuggler’s Notch and the Shelburne Museum, Dick Flavin is one of New England’s great and unique treasures, albeit one of the region’s most animated figures,” writes the legendary Boston sportswriter Peter Gammons. “He has been an Emmy Award–winning television reporter, journalist and satirist, and lo these last few years has become the Fenway Bard because of his poems and lyrics about New England’s Olde Towne Team, the Red Sox.

Many know Dick Flavin from his role as an award-winning political commentator on  WBZ-TV, or from an earlier stint as press secretary for former Boston Mayor Kevin H. White. Born and bred in Quincy, where he lives to this day, Flavin is a graduate of Archbishop Williams High School and Stonehill College, He has also enjoyed a successful run as a playwright (“Tip,” the story of Speaker Thomas O’Neill,) and he remains a raconteur of the highest order.

Consul General Ó Caollaí leaving for Dublin post

By Ed Forry
July 30, 2015
Ed Forry

The Irish government has announced two significant staffing changes at its consulate in Boston. Consul General Breandán Ó Caollaí will leave his post this month to return to Dublin to become a counsellor to the corporate services division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFA). Ó Caollaí has served in Boston since August 2013, and was expected to remain in the post for two more years.

Irish Honors celebratory luncheon set for Fri., Oct. 23

By BIR News Staff
July 30, 2015
BIR News Staff

Boston Irish Reporter publisher Ed Forry has announced the newspaper will observe its 25th anniversary at a Celebratory Luncheon on Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 at the Plaza Ballroom, Boston Seaport Hotel/World Trade Center. With an expected attendance of some 400 Boston business, civic, and political leaders, the luncheon event will present the 2015 Boston Irish Honors to acknowledge exemplary lives among Boston’s Irish community.

Getting to Ireland, good deals abound; low cost WOW Air offers alternate route to Dublin

Ed Forry
By Ed Forry
July 30, 2015

By Ed Forry
Ireland has launched a program of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. “The Centenary Programme” is described as ”a call to action for the people of Ireland, our Diaspora and friends of Ireland all around the world - to remember 1916 and that pivotal period in our history, to reflect on the past 100 years, and to re-imagine our future.”

Peterborough Players present Shanley’s ‘Outside Mullingar’ Showing July 15-26

By R. J. Donovan
July 17, 2015
R. J. Donovan

John Patrick Shanley has written more than 25 plays and screenplays. He is perhaps best known for the film “Moonstruck” and the Broadway play “Doubt: A Parable.” 

The former, the story of a bookkeeper from Brooklyn who falls for the brother of the man she’s supposed to marry, starred Cher and Nicolas Cage and won Shanley an Oscar for Best Screenplay.  “Doubt” is an intense cat-and-mouse drama about a relentless nun who suspects a priest of molesting an altar boy.  For that one, Shanley received the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play along with the Pulitzer Prize.

Born in the Bronx, Shanley was raised in a decidedly Irish culture.  However it wasn’t until 2014, when he was well into his career, that he tried his hand at a story set in Ireland.  “Outside Mullingar” was the result, presented on Broadway by the Manhattan Theater Club and starring Brian F. O’Byrne and Debra Messing.  The piece received Best Play nominations for the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards.

“Outside Mullingar” is being presented from July 15 - 26 by The Peterborough Players in Peterborough, NH.  Set in rural Ireland, the smart, contemporary, romantic comedy focuses on the Muldoon and Reilly families and their rival heirs, Anthony and Rosemary.

Psst! There’s a lot to see and do in Co. Monaghan

By BostonIrish.com... (not verified)
July 1, 2015


By Judy Enright
Special to the BIR

Let’s have a show of hands, please, from all readers who have visited County Monaghan.

Where are all those hands? Hate to admit it, but I wouldn’t have been raising my hand, either – until this spring. Apparently, I’m not alone in overlooking Monaghan’s many charms. The county’s tourist board admits on its website (monaghantourism.com) that “County Monaghan is Ireland’s best-kept secret.” The board adds, “There’s more to Monaghan” and notes that the county is “home to Lough Muckno, a world-class center for angling and wakeboarding; Clones and Carrickmacross lace, an exquisite technique used in royal wedding dresses over many centuries; round towers, historic houses, and the drumlin-dotted landscape that inspired the poems of Patrick Kavanagh.” Who knew?

HIDDEN IRELAND
This spring, I visited a magnificent historic home – Hilton Park in Co. Monaghan - that I found through Hidden Ireland, an accommodation group.

I have long been a fan of Hidden Ireland (hiddenireland.com), which offers exceptional accommodation in country homes around the Republic and the North. All homes are privately owned and visitors are treated as honored guests – often as visiting royalty. There is little that the owners overlook in an effort to make your stay absolutely seamless. As the brochure says, “Hidden Ireland houses offer a hospitality that only a family home can.”

Over the years, I have enjoyed the hospitality of homeowners at Temple House in Co. Sligo, Ashley Park in Co. Tipperary, Bruckless House in Co. Donegal, Clonalis in Co. Roscommon, Delphi Lodge and Quay House, both in Co. Galway.

For Gourley and Feddersen, everything just clicked … now comes their first album

By Sean Smith
July 1, 2015
Sean Smith

The partnership of Boston-area musicians Nathan Gourley and Laura Feddersen is proof that, sometimes, good things happen because they simply should.
To start with, the pair have some significant things in common: Both are from the Midwest, both came from musically nurturing families with a fiddle-playing father, both took up classical violin at age 5 but eventually became immersed in traditional fiddle styles, notably Irish.

They earned their way to the All-Ireland Fleadh … the funding to get to Sligo is the cause now

By Sean Smith
July 1, 2015
Sean Smith

Young local musicians hoping to play at Ireland’s biggest traditional music event are getting a helping hand from one of the Boston area’s most famous Irish pubs – and one of its most celebrated comic personalities.


Realta Geala, whose nearly 20 members range in age from 8 to 15, finished first in the under-15 Grupa Cheol competition at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Fleadh held during May in New Jersey, earning an invitation to the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann – the All-Ireland Fleadh, a week-long festival of competitions and other special events held in August.

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