Listen for the touch of Appalachian at 12th part of ‘Celtic Sojourn’ book

By Sean Smith
December 8, 2014

Sean Smith

Back for its 12th year, “A Christmas Celtic Sojourn” will once again turn to new faces and sounds as well as familiar favorites in celebrating the Christmas holiday season through music, song, dance, and storytelling from Irish, Scottish, and other, related Celtic traditions.

For many famine Irish, Deer Island was their first and last stop in America

By Peter F. Stevens
December 8, 2014

Peter F. Stevens

A forward step for Famine-era memorial on Deer Island: MWRA joins plan for marker where 900 Irish pilgrims died

By Ed Forry
December 8, 2014

There has been some progress in developing a plan to establish a memorial in remembrance of the hundreds of Irish Famine-era emigrants who lost their lives before reaching the mainland of Boston.

In 1847, the city of Boston opened a quarantine station on Deer Island in Boston Harbor in 1847 for the treatment and cure of thousands of Irish who had made the long ocean journey to escape the Great Hunger. While many survived, some 900 died and were buried in graves on the island, located just off the town of Winthrop. The island is now accessible by a causeway, and currently houses Boston’s huge wastewater treatment facility.

OF POLICY AND PARODY Irish-American history lessons are ignored; Northern Irishman defends a tarnished Tiger

By Peter Stevens, BIR Staff
December 8, 2014

Peter Stevens, BIR Staff

Political patronage is here to stay; let’s talk about ways to do it right

By James W. Dolan
December 8, 2014

James W. Dolan

The judge got it right in sentencing former Probation Commissioner John O’Brien and two of his top aides. They were instruments for others who formulated a plan to facilitate patronage. Under the circumstances, severe sentences were unwarranted.

Things are looking up for people in the North this holiday season

By Joe Leary, Special to the BIR
December 8, 2014

Joe Leary, Special to the BIR

With a Catholic majority looming in the near future and the British government cutting back on funds to run the Northern Ireland government, rather profound changes are coming to this small province. One change may arrive before Christmas.

For all the attention it gets, Northern Ireland, with its population of 1.8 million, has fewer people than the three medium-size Massachusetts counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Plymouth. In fact the distance between the two largest cities on either side of Northern Ireland is about the same as between Boston and Hyannis.

Yeats2015: Time to honor his life

By Ed Forry
December 4, 2014

When you are old and gray and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true;
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

A new dispute- taxing households for their water- flares up all across Ireland

By Bill O'Donnell
December 4, 2014

Bill O'Donnell

BY BILL O’DONNELL
We Reap What We Sow – In the years since the Irish bailout following the recession that hit Ireland and much of the world a staggering blow, Irish taxpayers have involuntarily contributed over 29 billion euros (roughly $389 billion US dollars) to the Irish exchequer. Given the crowd scenes and protests in the news from Greece, Spain, and other similarly hard-hit EU constituencies, the Irish people have been relative paragons of restraint.

Enjoy Ireland, and a sense of royalty, at its castle hotels

By BostonIrish.com... (not verified)
December 4, 2014

Ashford Castle in Cong, Co Mayo, was acquired in 2013 by the Red Carnation Hotel group and a three-phase project is underway to restore and enhance the property. Ashford Castle in Cong

Holiday Calendar- Boston Irish events this month

By BIR staff report
December 4, 2014

BIR staff report

Thurs., Dec. 4, 6-9 p.m. – Annual Irish Network Boston Chrstmas Party, Faneuil Hall, Complimentary bar and hors d’oeuvres, free for members who have paid $50 annual dues.
Fri., Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m. – Pauline Wells, “Home for Christmas” lineup of talented musicians and singers, including the band Devri. To benefit”Cops for Kids with Cancer,” Norwood Theatre, 109 Central St, Norwood. Tickets $27 for adults and $24 for seniors/students, 781-551-9000. … Tony Kenny’s Christmas Time in Ireland, 7:30 p.m., Rogers Center for the Arts, Merrimack College. 978-837-5355 | merrimack.edu.

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