Playwright Walsh hails the magic of ‘Once’

By R. J. Donovan
January 2, 2014
R. J. Donovan

BY R. J. DONOVAN
SPECIAL TO THE BIR
“Once” first sparked to life as a tiny, 2007 independent Irish film about the power of music to draw people together. The two main characters are simply called Guy and Girl. Guy is a struggling Dublin street musician who has lost faith in his talent and his life. He crosses paths with Girl, a Czech immigrant who shows him his work is not yet done. Over the course of one fateful week, they diligently collaborate on music and an unlikely love emerges. However, complications follow.

Tom Courtney’s first CD is a thank you to those who helped his music take off

By Sean Smith
January 2, 2014
Sean Smith

BY SEAN SMITH
SPECIAL TO THE BIR
Dublin native Tom Courtney regards his debut CD as a tribute album of sorts: an expression of gratitude to songwriters and singers who have inspired him the most since he started performing seriously more than two decades ago. “I’ve played these songs for quite a while,” says Courtney, a Boston resident since 1991, who released the 10-track “Guysborough Train” this past year. “I wanted to record them with the sense that I’m giving something back, and saying ‘Thank you for writing these great songs.’”

Thoughts on our arrival at Remission Junction

By BostonIrish.com... (not verified)
January 2, 2014

\BY JAMES W. DOLAN
SPECIAL TO THE REPORTER
We recently got off the train after 18 chemo treatments, pulling into Remission Junction with the hope it will be a long stay. Many got off in good spirits as an unfortunate few were boarding the train, desperately hoping to return.
It was like a graduation ceremony as care providers greeted and congratulated those disembarking. A few tears were shed, testimony to the warm bond that develops between the sick and the dedicated group that looked after them on the journey.

From O’Brien to Walsh: ‘A Long Green Line’

By Peter Stevens
January 2, 2014
Peter Stevens

As Boston’s mayor-elect to succeed Thomas Menino, Dorchester’s Marty Walsh follows in the “green” footsteps of the likes of Patrick Collins, John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, James Michael Curley, Maurice Tobin, John Hynes, John Collins, Kevin White, and Ray Flynn. Walsh captured the office at a time when the city’s changing demographics will in the not-so-distant future make the Boston Irish mayoral choke-hold of the past increasingly unlikely.

For Walsh, Boston College makes perfect sense as inaugural venue

By Bill Forry
January 2, 2014
Bill Forry

On January 6, Marty Walsh will be sworn in as Boston’s 54th mayor — and the first from Dorchester in more than a half-century. He’ll take the oath and give his first mayoral address in front of a few thousand of his closest friends and admirers — including Irish tenor Ronan Tynan, who’ll perform at the 10 a.m. ceremony.

Marty Walsh, a Boston College grad, will be sworn-in as Boston's Mayor at BC's Conte Forum

By Bill Forry
December 18, 2013
Bill Forry

By Bill Forry
Contributing Editor
On Jan. 6, Marty Walsh will be sworn in as Boston’s 54th mayor — and the first from Dorchester in more than a half-century. He’ll take the oath and give his first mayoral address in front of a few thousand of his closest friends and admirers — including Irish tenor Ronan Tynan, who’ll perform at the 10 a.m. ceremony.

Destiny has meaning on the Stonehill campus: Father John Denning is now holding the reins

By By Greg O’Brien
December 2, 2013
By Greg O’Brien

By Greg O’Brien
Special to the BIR

President Denning takes a stroll on campus with Danielle Berkman ’16. Photo by Kathy TarantolaPresident Denning takes a stroll on campus with Danielle Berkman ’16. Photo by Kathy Tarantola

Rev. John Denning, of the Congregation of Holy Cross, the newly inaugurated head of Stonehill, the college his order founded in North Easton in 1948, hardly needed an introduction to the campus when he took office two months ago as the institution’s 10th president. Friends say his appointment was the completion of divine order for a priest who had spent the previous 13 years at Stonehill building spiritual and cultural bridges in positions ranging from Director of Campus Ministry, to Vice President for Mission, to Vice President of Student Affairs.

A second-generation Irish American with paternal and maternal family roots in Cos. Louth and Westmeath, respectively, Fr. Denning has come full circle at the distinguished Catholic liberal arts college where he has come to be widely known as “the students’ president.” Reports Pauline Dobrowski, Stonehill’s vice president for student affairs, on the new president’s welcome: “People were just elated. “There was a celebratory feeling.”

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