An Irish bicyclist who suffered severed head injuries in a collision with a van on Cape Cod last summer has entered a second year of therapy, and his family is hopeful that he will one day resume a measure of independent life.
There I was, late on a Sunday afternoon in July, making my way in broad and sunny daylight through the beautiful 27-acre park near my home in Lower Mills.
As usual, my thoughts were off in a quiet reverie – as I approach my 70th birthday, I no longer move swiftly, yet I remain committed to regular walks to forestall some of the downside effects of aging.
“Calvary” is a darkly brilliant film that tackles emotional, cultural, and religious, and regional issues on a cinematic canvas both broad and insular. That may read oxymoronic, but writer-director John Michael McDonagh and a splendid cast pull off exactly that. Among that cast, as Sligo priest “Father James,” Brendan Gleeson delivers one of the finest performances of his stellar career. So, too, do Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Dylan Moran, Aidan Gillen, and the rest of the troupe.
Confirming plans first reported last spring, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh says he will make a ten-day visit to his parents’ homeland in September – his first visit to Ireland since his electoral victory last November made him the city’s first Irish-American mayor in two decades. Walsh’s visit will have a heavy Galway accent, including a side trip to Connemara to see cousins, with stops in Donegal, Derry, Belfast, and Dublin also on the schedule. He is tentatively scheduled to leave Boston on Sept. 19.
Mayor Martin Walsh, IFest Boston founder Rachel Kelly and chef Barabara Lynch are key players in bringing September’s three-day festival to the Seaport/World Trade Center on Boston’s waterfront. Photo by Dan Watkins
IFest Boston — a three-day festival that will gather the “Best of Ireland” in the heart of the city’s Seaport district —will take place at Boston’s Seaport World Trade Center from Sept. 26 to Sept. 28. The first-of-its-kind event is expected to draw big crowds to the waterfront venue to showcase the best of Irish food and drink, top musicians, and entertainers— all in an effort to draw more tourists back to Ireland and re-energize cultural and business ties between Boston and Ireland.
By Sophie Gayter, Special to the Reporter July 30, 2014
Sophie Gayter, Special to the Reporter
GAA North American Championships come to Canton this monthBoston’s Northeast Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) has been a focal point for the Irish community in the area for years. Offering locals the opportunity to play a variety of Gaelic sports including Gaelic Football and Hurling, the GAA has numerous teams in the Boston area in addition to teams who come from as far as Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut to participate in the Boston Northeast division.
The Northeast GAA season runs from April to Labor Day weekend, with between 140 to 170 games played each year. All games are played live on the grounds of the Irish Cultural Center in Canton and are very well attended by folks looking to connect with a piece of Ireland here in Massachusetts.
By Matt Murphy and Michael Norton, State House News Service July 29, 2014
Matt Murphy and Michael Norton, State House News Service
Emotions continue to run high over Gov. Deval Patrick’s offer to temporarily house children who illegally crossed the border into the U.S., but Massachusetts is no closer to getting an answer from the Obama administration on whether the federal government plans to take the state up on its offer.
“We don’t have very much information about when, if at all, there will be a shelter for the kids here,” Patrick told reporters on Monday.
Mayor Martin Walsh: Will visit Ireland for 10 days in September.Confirming plans reported on last spring, Mayor Martin Walsh says he will make a ten-day visit to his parents' homeland in September – his first visit to Ireland since his electoral victory last November made him the city's first Irish-American mayor in two decades. Walsh’s visit will have a heavy Galway accent, including a side trip to Connemara to see cousins, with stops in Donegal, Derry, Belfast, and Dublin also on the schedule. He is tentatively scheduled to leave Boston on Sept. 19.
“The overall goal of this trip is to support Boston's economic development through building relationships and strengthening our commercial and cultural link with Ireland,” said Kate Norton, a spokesperson for the mayor.
The visit will certainly come with ceremonial trappings, including meetings with local officials. But Walsh will also schedule "down-time" for private visits with relatives at both the beginning and end of his trip. The journey was initially planned for the spring, but Walsh decided to wait until he was settled into office for a longer period of time.
A 20 year-old University of Cork student who was visiting Boston for a work program this spring was left to die in a Brighton alleyway after bar workers dumped him out the back door of a Cleveland Circle watering hole in May, according to prosecutors. The owner of the bar, 44 year-old John Rogaris, is now under indictment for stonewalling a police investigation into how the young man was hurt in the May 23rd incident.
Ireland has changed a lot in the past 30 years. Much of that change is probably thanks to – or the fault of – the internet, depending on your perspective. But, changes can also be credited to the country’s many visitors who demand the best, to the Irish who travel widely and bring home creative ideas from everywhere, and to the influx of foreigners living in Ireland.
Frequent travelers will note the many changes, subtle and otherwise.