Gaelic Roots spring schedule is set

By Sean Smith
January 2, 2014
Sean Smith

Change of date: the Keenan/Noonan performance is Thursday, Jan 23.
Uilleann pipes virtuoso Paddy Keenan and Boston College faculty musicians Jimmy Noonan and Sheila Falls will be among the performers featured during the spring 2014 Gaelic Roots series of traditional music that starts this month.
Directed by Sullivan Artist-in-Residence and master fiddler Séamus Connolly and sponsored by the Boston College Center for Irish Programs, the series brings to campus acclaimed musicians and experts in Irish, Scottish, and other related Gaelic music traditions.

The Ireland I know: A list of my favorite things

By BIR News Room
January 2, 2014

Fishing boats docked in colorful Killybegs Harbor in Co. Donegal.Fishing boats docked in colorful Killybegs Harbor in Co. Donegal.BY JUDY ENRIGHT
SPECIAL TO THE BIR
A new year has dawned, bringing with it the potential for many new adventures for us all – hopefully they’ll be pleasant, fun, and memorable adventures. We like to start the year by mentioning some of our favorites with the thought that readers might find them enjoyable, too, when visiting Ireland. FAVORITES
• Ireland has amazing ancient churches, friaries, and ruins where you can spend hours reading inscriptions on tombstones and admiring detailed carving, architecture, and Celtic crosses.
In Co. Offaly, the Clonmacnoise monastic settlement, founded by St. Ciaran in 548, is awe-inspiring and well worth visiting. There, on the eastern bank of the Shannon, you can see the ruins of a cathedral, seven churches (10th-13th century), two round towers, three high crosses, and the largest collection of Early Christian graveslabs in Western Europe.
In 2016, another historic site, Ballintubber Abbey in Co. Mayo, will celebrate the 800th anniversary of its founding by King Cathal O’Conor. Ballintubber is the only church in Ireland founded by an Irish king that is still in daily use. Mass has been said there every day since 1216.
Ross Errilly Friary in Co. Galway, founded in 1351, is said to be the most extensive and best preserved of all the Franciscan friaries in Ireland and, even though it’s a ruin, it is still beautiful and worth a look.
In Co. Clare, the Kilfenora Cathedral sited next to The Burren Centre is another interesting ruin. The cathedral, with five high crosses, was built around 1190 on the site of an earlier monastery, and is dedicated to St. Fachtnan.

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.

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