Publisher's Notes
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... Read more
by Ed Forry
BIR Publisher
“We need Congress to act on a comprehensive approach that finally deals with the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are in this country right now.
“The good news is that – for the first time in many years – Republicans and... Read more
The region’s thriving Irish dance community has had four years to prepare, and now the clock is ticking toward a huge event being hosted by Boston in March – the annual World Championship of Irish Dance, an eight-day event that will run from March 24 to... Read more
When Martin Ferris was a young man in Tralee, Co. Kerry, he was a member of the Kerry GAA Under 21 football team that won the 1973 All Ireland championship for his age group.
He had joined the provisional IRA in 1970, and in 1975, he was arrested and... Read more
If only every decision in life were this easy.
President Barack Obama has earned re-election with an impressive first term that will come to be viewed as one of the most productive, progressive, and — ultimately— successful periods in the history of the... Read more
By Ed Forry
A September trip to Ireland brought with it good weather, some surprising motoring, and some great new memories from my ancestral homeland.
The good news for this visitor is how the exchange rate is advantageous against the dollar; in late... Read more
Coming soon: ‘McBlackpac’
BY ED FORRY
Even as the Republican party met in Tampa in late August to nominate Bain Capital’s Willard “Mitt” Romney and his running mate, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, a group of Irish Americans were getting ready to troop... Read more
By Ed Forry
A Boston businessman who is one of our city’s leading philanthropists has announced his plans to retire this fall.
Bob Sheridan, for the past 20 years president and CEO of Savings Bank Life Insurance (SBLI), said he will step down in November... Read more
By Ed Forry
Trina Vargo, president and founder of the US-Ireland Alliance, is on a mission in her role as founder and chief advocate for the Mitchell Scholars program, named for the US Senate leader who was instrumental in forging the Good Friday... Read more
By Ed Forry
“How far we all come. How far we all come away from ourselves,” James Agee wrote in “A Death in the Family.”
“You can never go home again.”
Well home again I did go last month, to a special gathering to observe the 50th anniversary of my... Read more
Boston’s St. Patrick’s events were the occasion of the visit to Boston of Frances Fitzgerald, T.D., the Ireland government minister who is designing new initiatives to protect the country’s children.
Fitzgerald, T.D., who serves in the Dail representing... Read more
By Ed Forry
An Academy Award-winning short film made in Northern Ireland, a new feature film made in County Tip starring American favorite Martin Sheen and supporting actor Stephen Rea, and a documentary about Barack Obama’s Irish cousins and his mother’s... Read more
BY ED FORRY, BIR Publisher
The new year brought sad news for local Hibernians: The death of Damien Brennan, a 24-year-old youth worker who lived and worked in Belfast, N.I. Damien was five years old in 1992 when he became the victim of a vicious crime: he... Read more
Volvo Boat Race Heads for Galway Finish Line in July
By Ed Forry
Almost three years ago, in late May 2009, Boston was a stopover port for the Volvo Ocean Race, an around-the-world, nine-month yacht race. The tenth running of the race that year began in... Read more
by Ed Forry
BIR Publisher
In 1990, when first we began to publish this newspaper, the plan was to tell “the stories of Boston’s Irish.” We noted then that there were scores of stories about the culture of Boston’s broad and diverse Irish culture that were... Read more
The president of Dublin City University, Brian MacCraith, visited Boston on Oct. 17 to develop academic and technology partnerships. The holder of a PhD from NUI Galway, Dr. MacCraith, who began his ten-year presidential term in last year, has been a... Read more
The Coast Road out of Galway city along the northern shores of Galway Bay is always a pleasant drive. The R336 passes through Barna, Furbo, and Killough, and on through Spiddal, gradually pulling away from the edge of the bay, going inland towards... Read more
By Ed Forry
The summer of 2011 is all but history now. The sultry days are mostly behind us, some of the kids are back in school, the tomatoes are at last almost all ripe on the vine. In just the last fortnight, Bostonians have lived through first an... Read more
By Ed Forry
When the Irish government underwent a transfer in power last winter with the removal of Brian Cowen’s Fianna Fáil party and the installation of Fine Gael ‘s Enda Kenny as Taoiseach, there followed, predictably, major changes in policy... Read more
By Ed Forry
The story of the closing of the Irish Social Club (ISC) in West Roxbury apparently has several chapters still to be written.
The facility, located in a converted bowling alley on Park Street, just off busy Centre Street, had for years been a... Read more
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