SALUTING THE IRISH EXPERIENCE

By Bob Donovan, Special to the BIR
January 7, 2013
Bob Donovan, Special to the BIR

Frank McCourt’s ‘The Irish And How They Got That Way’ Opens Jan. 24 at Davis Square
by R J Donovan
Special to the BIR
Frank McCourt, born in Brooklyn and raised in Limerick, will forever be known as the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Angela’s Ashes.” What may not be as well known is that he also wrote the musical revue “The Irish And  How They Got That Way,”  which premiered at the Irish Repertory Theatre in 1997.  Recounting the tumultuous history of the Irish experience, both on the Emerald Isle and here in America, the evening is a colorful tapestry of music and dance with a healthy dose of irreverent humor added.  The musical numbers include:  “Galway Bay,” “The Rose of Tralee,” “Finnegan’s Wake,” “Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?,” “Harrigan,” “No Irish Need Apply,” “Skibbereen,” and others.

Irish treasure: Harry Clarke’s stained-glass windows

By BIR News Room
November 30, 2012

By Judy Enright
Special to the BIR

It’s hard to fully appreciate the amazing colors and complex details in the late artist Harry Clarke’s magnificent stained glass windows The Immaculate Conception window (1925) in St. Mary’s in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo. (Judy Enright photo)It’s hard to fully appreciate the amazing colors and complex details in the late artist Harry Clarke’s magnificent stained glass windows The Immaculate Conception window (1925) in St. Mary’s in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo. (Judy Enright photo)

It seems appropriate in this holiest of seasons to draw special attention to the incredibly detailed and brilliant stained glass windows designed and created by Irish artist Harry Clarke at the beginning of the 20th Century.

Clarke was born on St. Patrick’s Day 1889 on North Frederick Street, Dublin, where his father, Joshua, had a stained glass and ecclesiastical decorating business. The younger of two sons (brother Walter was exactly one year older), Harry left school at 14 to join the family business after his mother, Bridget, died. He took night classes in stained glass and won several scholarships, which ultimately led him to study the art in London and France.

A Q & A with Clannad’s Moya Brennan

By Sean Smith
November 30, 2012
Sean Smith

Forty years ago, a quintet from Gweedore, Donegal – siblings Moya, Pol, and Ciaran Brennan, and their twin uncles, Noel and Padraig Duggan – first made its way into the Irish music scene, joining a generation of influential performers like Christy Moore, Andy Irvine, Paddy Keenan, Triona Ni Dhomhnaill, Michael O Domhnaill, Donal Lunny, Paul Brady, Kevin Burke, Frankie Gavin, Dolores Keane, and many others who helped reshape Irish traditional music.

‘Sojourn’ notes a decade of delights

By Sean Smith
November 30, 2012
Sean Smith

It’s a bona-fide Boston holiday tradition that, 10 years along, has now captured wintertime fancies in other parts of New England.

This month, “A Christmas Celtic Sojourn” celebrates its first decade of bringing to the stage an inimitable blend of Celtic music, song, dance, and storytelling, with a series of performances from December 15-22 at venues in Worcester, Providence, Rockport, and Derry, NH, as well as the Cutler Majestic Theater in Boston.

‘Christmas Revels’ sets sail with Irish bent on a better life

By R.J. Donovan
November 30, 2012
R.J. Donovan

Symbolizing the holiday season as indelibly as the welcoming fragrance of evergreen, “The Christmas Revels” returns to historic Sanders Theatre in Harvard Square from December 14 - 27. This year, the participatory theatrical solstice celebration that is filled with joyful music, dance, comedy and carols will focus on Irish immigration.

Boston Irish sensibilities guide MSNBC’s O’Donnell

By Bill Forry
November 30, 2012
Bill Forry

Lawrence O’Donnell on his MSNBC set. Photo courtesy MSNBCLawrence O’Donnell on his MSNBC set. Photo courtesy MSNBC

When the hour came to name Barack Obama as the winner of Tuesday’s presidential election, Rachel Maddow had the honor of making the announcement for the cable network MSNBC. But it was Lawrence O’Donnell— the accidental news anchor and pundit sitting two chairs away— who was called on to put the finest flourish of a writer’s touch on the moment.

Instead, as cameras panned the crowd of jubilant Obama supporters in Chicago, O’Donnell had a suggestion: Let’s watch this crowd enjoy the moment of victory.

Old Abe and Old Boston: A troubled relationship

By BIR News Room
November 30, 2012

By Peter F. Stevens
BIR Staff

In Boston’s Irish North End during the Civil War,
President Lincoln was not a popular figure for all

In the new film Lincoln, Daniel Day Lewis brings that towering figure into stunning life on every level. Throughout the maelstrom of the Civil War, the Boston Irish had a tenuous relationship when it came to President Abraham Lincoln.

About the importance of circumstances

By James W. Dolan
November 30, 2012
James W. Dolan

As I see it, homicide is always evil; the degree, however, depends upon the context – circumstances and intent. Thus, we determine if the killing of another in self defense or the execution of one convicted of murder is justifiable.

In war, the killing of an enemy is an extension of the self-defense doctrine even when both sides believe they are acting in self defense or to preserve freedom and protect the homeland. One combatant killing another when neither played any role in the causes of the conflict, and when both are innocent victims, is considered justifiable.

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