Boston Irish Reporter's Here and There

By Bill O'Donnell
March 1, 2013
Bill O'Donnell

 Cullen & Murphy’s Bulger Book A Winner –I have ordered it,  so I haven’t read it yet, but the true crime story of Whitey Bulger as written by the Globe’s Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy is no doubt the real thing. It has it all, say the early reviews. Cullen and Murphy have decades of experience in covering Whitey and the Boston underworld and as journalists and urban historians they have written what will likely be the definitive account of the Bulger era, warts and all.

IT WASN’T ALWAYS EASY BEING ‘GREEN’ IN BOSTON

By Peter Stevens
March 1, 2013
Peter Stevens

On March 17, Boston will be awash in St. Patrick’s Day revelry. All nonsense such as green beer, green plastic derbies, “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” badges, and faces reflecting various stages of inebriation and emblazoned with painted shamrocks or the Irish tricolor aside, the Saint’s High, Holy Holiday can be celebrated with unabashed abandon. It is worth remembering, however, that what we take for granted in 2013 was not ever so. For the Boston Irish, honoring – let alone celebrating – St. Patrick’s Day proved a long struggle.

West Cork school gets a surprise

By Joe Leary
March 1, 2013
Joe Leary

Every weekday, 24 Irish children, ages 5 to 12, attend a two-room school house in the remote West Cork countryside between the villages of Drinagh and Drimoleague. It is here, under the caring guidance of Principal Teresa Holland, that these children prepare themselves for Irish high school and entrance to the ferociously competitive Irish University system.

The Derryclough National School, however, has barely enough funds to keep operating. Located in the famous West Cork rolling farm country, the school has been seriously limited by constant government budget cutbacks.

Deer Island memorial getting a second look

Ed Forry
By Ed Forry
March 1, 2013

The awful years of An Gorta Mor, the great hunger that ravaged Ireland in the middle of the 19th century, saw thousands of Irish board ships that took them across to America. Between 1847 and 1849 some 25,000 souls arrived in Boston Harbor on the “coffin ships,” which under an edict by the city’s health officials were steered to Deer Island, where the passengers would be examined, and if necessary, quarantined to prevent the spread of any communicable diseases from coming ashore.

Savin Hill’s Tayler stars in Lyric’s Irish-themed comedy

By BIR News Room
March 1, 2013

By Chris Harding
Special to the BIR

Running through March 16, halfway through St. Patrick’s month (as it is known by our neighbors in Southie), the Lyric Stage Company of Boston presents the popular two-man Irish comedy, “Stones in His Pocket.” Savin Hill’s Phil Tayler shares the task of portraying 15 different characters with Daniel Berger-Jones in this piquant, but hardly light-hearted satire about two lads hired as extras when a Hollywood crew takes over a small village in County Kerry.

Gavin Foundation helps those in recovery find a haven

By BIR News Room
March 1, 2013

By Jackie Gentile
Special to the BIR

It can be difficult for those recovering from alcohol or drug abuse to find a place that not only welcomes them, but also helps them navigate their return to their community and their families. The Gavin Foundation in South Boston does just that and has recently expanded to do even more.

Sister Lena Deevy steps down as IIIC head; Millar succeed center’s founder

By BIR News Room
March 1, 2013

The Irish International Immigrant Center (IIIC) announced last month that after 24 years as executive director of the center, Sister Lena Deevy LSA has decided to step down from her day-to-day responsibilities, and to take up the role of executive director emerita, effective April 1. Sister Lena will be succeeded by Ronnie Millar, who has served as deputy director for the past two years.

World Irish Dancing Championships underway in Boston

By Sean Smith
March 1, 2013
Sean Smith

Dancing feet like these will be a familiar sight when the World Irish Dancing Championships come to Boston later this month. Some 7,000 competitors are expected to take part in the event. Sean Smith photoDancing feet like these will be a familiar sight when the World Irish Dancing Championships come to Boston later this month. Some 7,000 competitors are expected to take part in the event. Sean Smith photo

Already known as a hub for education, culture, medical science, and sports, among other things, Boston will claim an additional distinction later this month: For a week, it will be the world’s capital of Irish dancing.

From March 24-31, Boston will serve as host for the 2013 World Irish Dancing Championships — only the second time in the event’s 40-plus years that it has taken place in the US (Philadelphia was the first, in 2009). Some 7,000 dancers, along with family members, friends and spectators, from Ireland, the UK, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere in the US, are expected to hit town for the competition, which will be centered in The Hynes Convention Center and Sheraton Boston Hotel.

Hosting the “Worlds,” as they are popularly known, marks another chapter in a rich history of civic achievement for Boston, which was awarded the event over 20 other cities around the world, and will bring some late-winter/early-spring excitement to the area — along with, of course, a hoped-for economic windfall.

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