Ghosts
of Irish America’s Past
It is well known that since the 1960s Irish Americans have become
more conservative in their politics, swinging over to the Republican
side with a frequency once thought unimaginable.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 14 December
2005
|
Could Carey
Have Been President?
Back in October a group of Irish activists got together for the
same reason a bunch of grizzled New York political veterans gathered
just last week — to remind everyone that former New York Governor
Hugh L. Carey is not only still alive, but kicking.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 7 December
2005
|
Timmy,
the Kennedys and Me
Two events which seem completely unrelated got me thinking some
deep thoughts recently. Or maybe I was just feeling loopy from a
lack of sleep.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 30 November
2005
|
Frank McCourt’s
Timeless Lessons
“Mr. D. Is there an Irish Mafia?” Wow. I expected a lot of odd questions
when I became a high school teacher, but this is one I never expected.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 28 November
2005
|
Support for Father
Keveny
Former immigrant chaplain in New York, Father Martin Keveny will
return to the city where he was widely popular this Thanks-giving
weekend.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 28 November
2005
|
Abortion
Still Splits Irish
History was made in Nassau County, Long Island this past election.
A legendary Irish politician finally lost at the polls, beaten by
an upstart, much younger Irish Catholic who also happened to become
the first women to hold a key elective post on the Island.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 16 November
2005
|
When
the Irish ‘Burned’ New York
It’s tempting to look around the globe and think we live in an age
of extreme religious conflict. Many have described the war in Iraq
— and the war on terror in general — as a “clash of civilizations,”
and religion is a central aspect of the civilizations which are
clashing.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 09 November
2005
|
When
the Irish ‘Burned’ New York
A new book shows us that religion has always been a violent topic,
even in the U.S. More specifically, the Irish in New York City were
thought to be particularly violent.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 02 November
2005
|
Irish Observers
Tip Caps to Bloomy
Who would have guessed just a few years back that we in the Irish
community would be looking at Mayor Bloomberg and marveling at the
job he has done?
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 02 November
2005
|
Still
Squabbling Over McCarthy
As Sean O’Driscoll reported in last week’s Irish Voice, George Clooney
recently said that John F. Kennedy and witch-hunting senator Joe
McCarthy — the villain in Clooney’s new movie Good Night and Good
Luck — represent the best and worst of Irish America.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 26 October
2005
|
Two
Tough Losses for Irish Fan
Get ready for something unusual — a newspaper columnist preparing
to eat his own words. more... |
(Irish Voice) 19 October
2005
|
An Irish Revolt,
40 Years Later
“I will not go to Irish centres and go dancing,” the mayoral candidate
declared, during a wild race for City Hall 40 years ago.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 12 October
2005
|
Irish Tears for
Brooklyn Coach
Liam McGrath and Lawrence Major lived in two different worlds. McGrath
was an ambitious graduate of Colaiste Dhulaigh College of Further
Education in Dublin.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 5 October 2005
|
When Disaster
Struck Irish America
The horror of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans lasted almost a week,
but the political fallout from the mess will surely last months,
even years. more... |
(Irish Voice) 28 September
2005
|
The
Luck of Jersey’s Irish?
Any story requiring good luck, and which begins at a place called
the Leprechaun newsstand, is worth looking into.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 21 September
2005
|
Fathers, Sons and the
Irish Mob
Joe McBratney has watched the latest Gotti trial unfold in a way
that most other New Yorkers could not understand.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 14 September
2005
|
One Man’s Incredible
9/11 Journey
By the morning of September 11, 2001, Walter Coughlin had already
lived quite a life.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 07 September
2005
|
Labor Key
to Bronx Battle?
The McManus family from the West Side of Manhattan, of course, is
the quintessential New York Irish political dynasty.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 31 August 2005
|
Central
Park’s Irish Mystery
Infamous Tammany Hall power-broker George Washington Plunkitt is
most famous for his philosophy of “honest graft.”
more... |
(Irish Voice) 24 August 2005
|
Scandalous Week
for NY Irish
This is not the first time Monsignor Eugene V. Clark — now embroiled
in the “Beauty and the Priest” tabloid scandal — has made headlines.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 17 August 2005
|
The IRA — Jihad Connection?
If you have ever sympathized with the IRA’s armed struggle in Northern
Ireland, than you are not very different from the extremist Muslims
all over the world who have expressed sympathy for the suicide bombers
who recently terrorized London.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 10 August 2005
|
Bronx
Irish Girl ‘Courts’ Controversy
Back in the early 1970s, when Jane Sullivan was a student at St.
Catherine’s Academy off Pelham Parkway in the Morris Park section
of the Bronx, Irish and Italian names still dominated the attendance
lists. more... |
(Irish Voice) 27 July 2005
|
London Irish
Lead Recovery
When you think of the London Irish you generally think of the children
or grandchildren of immigrants who left Ireland for England’s capital.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 20 July 2005
|
The Dark
Side of Woodside
Next week, Long Islanders will get a cold, hard look at the underbelly
of Irish Catholic life in New York City. Some people may not like
it, but it is a reminder that Irish America is not all about shamrocks
and middle class assimilation.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 13 July 2005
|
Hailing a Quiet
Hero from Offaly
Until all hell broke loose in downtown Manhattan on Sept-ember 11,
2001, the chances of Irish immigrant Jim Guinan and journalist Gwendolyn
“Wendy” Bounds ever crossing paths was very slim. Frankly, about
as slim as you could get.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 6 July 2005
|
O’ Sullivan
Leads Irish Union Rebels
Organised labour in the U.S. has been Irish roughly as long as it
has been organized. more... |
(Irish Voice) 22 June 2005
|
Were The Honeymooners
Irish?
The classic 1950s television show The Honeymooners was recently
made into a Hollywood movie. While the film is set on the gritty
streets of New York, it was actually shot in Ireland last year.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 15 June 2005
|
Deep Throat’s Irish
Connection
As the entire world knows, Richard Nixon’s long-time nemesis — Deep
Throat — has presented himself to the public.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 8 June 2005
|
Pricey Potty
Problems in the Pub?
Now that the New York City mayoral race is heating up it looks like
Brooklyn-Queens Congressman Anthony Weiner is fishing for the Irish
vote. more...
|
(Irish Voice) 1 June 2005
|
Simpsons
Get Their Irish Up
A few seasons back, an episode of the animated Fox TV series The
Simpsons was set during a St. Patrick’s Day parade.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 25 May 2005
|
Firefighter
Is a True Survivor
The rest of America now knows just what it takes to be a New York
City firefighter. Earlier this week, Queens native Tom Westman,
a lieutenant with Ladder Co. 108 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, became
a million dollar man by winning the latest Survivor challenge on
CBS. more...
|
(Irish Voice) 18 May 2005
|
Troubling News from Catholic Magazine
In 1997, when I was a mere graduate student stuck in the barren
flatlands of Ohio, I read a wonderful novel about the joys of reading
amidst a hard life in Belfast.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 11 May 2005
|
Bloomberg’s
Right Hand Irishman
The Irish in New York City have had a rocky relationship with Mayor
Mike Bloomberg. But when it comes to the mayor’s reelection campaign
the Irish influence could not be stronger.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 4 May 2005
|
Recalling Two Extraordinary Mayors
Sometimes there are just coincidences in life. This past week, for
example, offered a special opportunity to remember two Irish sons
of U.S. cities who rose up the political ranks to become mayor.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 27 April 2005
|
Hell’s Kitchen
Meets the Village
Bobby Spillane grew up in the West Side Manhattan neighborhood of
Hell’s Kitchen, once one of the most heavily Irish districts in
all of New York. more...
|
(Irish Voice) 20 April 2005
|
They March,
They Plow, They Sweep
Whenever I tell people that my father was a san man — that is, a
worker for New York City’s Department of Sanitation — I usually
add that he got on the job thanks to a little known affirmative
action program which sought to diversify the heavily-Italian department.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 13 April 2005
|
How
We Changed Papal Succession
For the last week or so, the media has been busy explaining the
intricate and, of course, highly secretive process by which the
next pope will be selected.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 6 April 2005
|
Colorful,
Controversial Holiday
Sure, you heard all about the dispute over at the Fire Department
of New York. You know, the one in which the bosses wouldn’t let
a group of Bronx firefighters wear their famous green berets as
they marched. more...
|
(Irish Voice) 23 March 2005
|
Kelly Clan
to Honor Heroes
On St. Patrick’s night, when the New York Kelly Gang of high profile
Irish American movers and shakers takes over Michael’s on West 55th
Street, a good time will surely be had by all.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 17 March 2005
|
Where Have You
Gone, Fr. McGivney?
Next Wednesday at Saint John the Evangelist Church in Stamford,
Connecticut, acclaimed historian and author Douglas Brinkley will
be giving an address on the topic of “Father Michael J. McGivney
and Catholicism in America.”
more... |
(Irish Voice) 2 March 2005
|
Is the FDNY Racist?
Driving along Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn the other day, a fire
truck passed me by. The rig had the words “Flatbush Trucking Company”
emblazoned upon it, and was festooned with bright green shamrocks.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 24 February
2005
|
The Catholic
School Problem
The recent announcement that over two dozen Catholic schools in
Brooklyn and Queens will be closed or consolidated raises many profound
historical, cultural and economic questions.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 17 February
2005
|
The Man to See
in Jersey City
Jersey City mayor Jerramiah T. Healy knows all too well that his
first name is spelled in an, um, interesting way.
more... |
(Irish Voice) 10 February
2005
|
Brooklyn Brawl
Rages On
It sounds like a story right out of the days of Tammany Hall. A
political brawl involving lads with names like O’Hara and Brennan
and Keefe, and even a district attorney named Hynes.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 3 February
2005
|
A City Poet’s Long
Road Home
It didn’t seem to surprise anyone who knew Eamon J. McEneaney that
when he was in the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993, he was
among those who emerged from the frightening conflagration as a
hero.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 26 January
2005
|
A Queens Irish
‘Survivor’
Westman, who was born in Queens and is a member of the FDNY’s Emerald
Society, will be one of the contestants in the next entry of the
Survivor saga, which begins airing on CBS on February 17.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 19 January
2005
|
Quiet End
to ‘Special’ Story
Something strange happened last week. The national media showed
some good taste when it came to a tragic story about the Kennedy
family.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 13 January
2005
|
Keep the Irish in
New York
ONE evening I was seated in a pub outside of Dublin with a friend.
We were doing what many Irish Americans do when they are chatting
with Irish-born folks — comparing and contrasting Ireland and America.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 5 January 2005
|
