As Northern Ireland's Troubles Continue, Irish Americans Should Remain Attentive

By Joe Leary
August 1, 2009
Joe Leary

Ominous may be the right word to describe Northern Ireland conditions today:

On Saturday evening, March 14 this year, two British soldiers, Mark Quinsey, 23, and Cengiz Patrick Azimkar, 21, were shot and killed by automatic gunfire as a pizza delivery truck pulled up to their barracks in County Antrim.

Two days later, on Sunday evening, March 16, Police Constable Stephen Paul Carroll, 49 and a Catholic, was investigating a call for help in Craigavon, County Armagh when he was shot in the back of the head by a sniper.

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'Tis a Fact That Angela's Son Frank Made a Definite Mark with His Pen

By Peter F. Stevens
August 1, 2009
Peter F. Stevens

He had his devotees and his detractors, but as far as this reviewer is concerned, one thing about Frank McCourt is and remains indisputable. Frank McCourt could flat out write. He had battled hard against melanoma and meningitis in recent months, but his death does not silence him.

Call Me a Square Shooter, Says Frank Brennan; Legendary Banker, 92, Still Gets into the Office

By Greg O'Brien
August 1, 2009
Greg O'Brien

At 92, Francis Patrick Brennan, dean of Boston's banking community, a first-generation Irish American who elbowed his way into the core of the once Yankee-dominated financial world where Irish need not apply, a vigorous, brassy, high-octane individual with a street-smart quotient that would intimidate the best at Harvard, hasn't lost a step.

Don't be fooled by the walker. His intellectual gait is impressive for a man half his age.

Memorial Mass Aug. 23 for David R. Burke

By Ed Forry
August 1, 2009

Cumann na Gaeilge i mBoston (the Irish Language League of Boston)
will host a Memorial Mass for the late David R. Buke of Lawrence on
Sunday, August 23, 2009 at 4 PM at the Heritage State Park Visitors
Center, 1 Jackson Street, Lawrence, Massachusetts.
Burke passed away on May 27, 2009. At the time of his death, Mr.
Burke was Vice President of Division 8 AOH and President and Founder
of the Irish Foundation of Lawrence, Inc. He served in various
capacities on the National, State and County levels of the Ancient

Irish-Language-Only Road Signs in the Gaeltacht Can Be Vexing

By BostonIrish.com... (not verified)
August 1, 2009

As a friend and I drove along a curvy stretch of the Atlantic Drive on Achill Island in Co. Mayo this spring, I spotted a sign on the side of the road that said: Aire Ailtreacha Arda.

Interesting, I thought, since it had no accompanying image and I don't speak Irish. Maybe it means sheep in the road (and there are plenty), or winding road (plenty of those, too) or, well, who really knows?

When I returned to the house I rent, I asked the owners what it meant. They didn't have a clue.

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A Worship Place Rises From Ashes in Montserrat

Ed Forry
By Ed Forry
August 1, 2009

A new St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church has risen from the ashes on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, reader Frank Foley writes. "It was dedicated on June 18 after years of planning and hard work," he reported in an e-mail.

"The church received its pews and other church furnishings as a donation from Cardinal O'Malley's diocese in Boston, as well as a unique cross from the people of Kinsale, Ireland."

His Music Delivers That Special Thing -- 'Pure Radiance'

By Ceol Agus Craic and Susan Gedutis Lindsay
August 1, 2009
Ceol Agus Craic and Susan Gedutis Lindsay

One of these mornings
You're gonna rise up singin'
You're gonna spread your wings
And fly to the sky...

-- From "Summertime," composed by George Gershwin for Porgy and Bess (1935).

Jerry Holland did just that last month: rose up singing, flew to the sky...after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 54.

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On Being an Irish Entertainer: Seamus Kennedy Takes Questions

By Sean Smith
August 1, 2009
Sean Smith
For more than 30 years, Seamus Kennedy has presented his distinctive blend of Irish folk songs and ballads, contemporary and popular songs, and stage patter that invariably elicits belly laughs, chuckles, groans, and the occasional "did-he-really-say-that?" gasp of disbelief from the crowd.

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