March Album Reviews

By Sean Smith
March 4, 2020
Sean Smith

Gatehouse, “Heather Down the Moor” • This quartet’s second album carries the same appeal as its first: masterful technical proficiency among the musicians, but also those indefinable yet invaluable qualities – spirit and temperament – with which they invest the music.

The Saint’s month offers a plethora of delights on the island of Ireland

By Ed Forry
March 4, 2020

By Judy Enright

 

Strike up the band and let the celebration begin! It’s March, that most welcome precursor of spring which, as they say, breaks winter’s back. And along with bidding snow, ice, and cold farewell for another year, comes the pleasure of celebrating St. Patrick with lively songs, stories, and parades here and all over Ireland.

In the harbor, a testament to An Gorta Mór

By John McColgan
March 4, 2020
John McColgan

An Gorta Mór – Ireland’s ‘Great Hunger’ – saw an estimated 1.5 million people die of starvation and disease between 1845 and 1852.  Another 2 million emigrated, and many of them perished from the plagues they fled: thousands during Atlantic crossings, and thousands more on the shores of their destination. This monument commemorates the men, women, and children of the Great Hunger who sought deliverance in the New World only to perish while in quarantine on Deer Island in Boston Harbor.

 

Historical Background

The who, what, and when of the St. Patrick story

By Tourism Ireland
March 4, 2020
Tourism Ireland

When St. Patrick set foot in Ireland in the 5th century AD, he faced an uncertain future in a little-known country. Warring Celts were scattered in tribal groups across the island, ruled with iron might by five provincial kings. Eerie dolmen monuments and ancient ruins dominated the landscape. Even the Roman conquerors of Britain had not ventured this far – apart perhaps from the odd traveler or adventurer.

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