Irish American April / May 2008

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IRISH AMERICA

April / May 2008

Vol. 23 No. 2

THE TOP 100 30 IRISH-AMERICAN OF THE YEAR

84 SPORTS

Tom Moran has used his quiet style of diplomacy to bring aid to Africa and promote peace in Northern Ireland.

37 ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

From Super Bowl winners to coaches who transform young athletes, our sports pages are full of dedicated professionals.

93 WRITERS AND MEDIA

Entertainers and artists who have made us laugh, cry, and sometimes both.

49 COMMUNITY

The writers and media professionals who bring us the news, views, and stories which shape our lives.

106 THOSE WE LOST

Community workers who make us proud by defending children’s rights and helping wounded veterans.

59 EDUCATION Honoring those who teach and keep Irish culture alive through Irish Studies.

64 THE PEACE MAKERS Celebrating Irish-Americans who helped bring about peace in Northern Ireland.

75 POLITICS & PUBLIC SERVICE Those who strive for a better society through government service.

Cover photo by Kit DeFever. Digital specialist: Norihito Yagi.

From legendary entertainers, sports figures, and a courageous politician, we remember those we lost.

DEPARTMENTS 6 8 12 16 110 112 114 116 118 120 122

First Word Readers Forum News from Ireland Hibernia Music Reviews Ireland Today Roots Books Sláinte Crossword Photo Album

SPECIAL FEATURES

100 THE GREENING OF SILICON VALLEY How the Irish Technology Leadership Group is sowing the seeds for future success.

108 PADDY – THE CHIEF CHIEFTAIN An interview with musical genius Paddy Moloney, founder of The Chieftains.

Photo: Edward Kenney

Tom Moran on a Concern Worldwide trip to Niger.

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THE MODEST MR. HINDS

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IRISH AMERICA

For the next three generations The February/March issue of Irish the Doyles lived there in a small America hit home with me in severIrish community intermarrying al ways: The article on the “U.S.with Delaneys, Dwyers, Laheys Ireland Forum” brought back the and Sullivans, until my father excitement of those two very broke the cycle.

U.S. -IRELAND FORUM rewarding days in New York. (I As a boy I sat at family gathThe Changing Relationship was happy and proud to be quoted erings at the farm where the THE IRISH IN regarding my views on the ongoing news from Ireland was disCALIFORNIA From Gold Rush cultural contributions that Irishcussed, famous people in any to Silicon Valley Americans can make to Ireland.) and all fields with Irish surONE BRIEF SHINING Then there were the articles on names were admired, and a MOMENT From Innocence Alice McDermott, a wonderful determination of what county to Assassination writer, and “The Magic of Yeats they might be from was argued.

THE TROUBLE Country” (one of my favorite I was raised in that family WITH IRISH Can the places in Ireland). with all things Irish being the Language be Saved?

But particularly wonderful was highest form of praise. Being ALICE Patricia Harty’s interview with called a “fine Irish lad” by my MCDERMOTT Writes What Ciarán Hinds. It brought back the father was one of the highest.

She Knows fantastic experience I had directing Although my great-grandfather THE MAGIC OF YEATS Ciarán in the role of Cúchulainn at and grandfather never expressed Lives on in Sligo the first Yeats Festival held in 1989. any desire to visit Ireland, it was Ciarán Hinds He is everything one dreams of in a always on their minds. My own great actor: intelligent, intuitive, father made two trips to Ireland, courageous, committed, physically one on his own and the second at INTERVIEW BY PATRICIA HARTY and emotionally expressive. I just my insistence. I have made 13 sat there in rehearsals and helped visits and spent one summer as a him edit all the incredible choices student at University of Ireland, silence, exile and cunning, we are expehe presented. Without his genius, I don’t Galway. All of this is to suggest that riencing an explosion of togetherness, know what we would have done trying to Ireland has a special hold on my psyche, participation and empathy”) and Niall capture that incredibly demanding role. and the same could be said for my sibO’Dowd (“For too long we have been I saw Ciarán again a few years ago in lings and my children. identified in part by a bogus and trivial Brian Friel’s Yalta Game at the Gate.

I know that I am not eligible for full culture”) followed by Don Keough Another stunning performance. AfterIrish citizenship, but I have always (“Maintaining growth over the coming wards we talked and he told me, to my thought that some form of official recogyears”) and then Dr. Hugh Brady on shock and dismay, that this was the first nition of [people in] the Irish diaspora long-range planning. time he had been invited to act in Dublin could be devised. A diaspora passport After all that Forum news, the intersince the 1989 Yeats Festival. Ireland is that gave discounts at state-owned sites, view with writer Alice McDermott was a not always good at appreciating its artists a simple certificate of acknowledgement delicious dessert. of genius. Michael Macliammoir once from the Irish government, a reduction of Keep up the good work. told me that trying to make a lasting red tape in application for an Irish work Stanley Goldstein impression in Dublin was like trying to permit – these or any number of ideas Chairman punch a hole in a balloon. Pull back the might be discussed at the next conferAmerican Friends of James Joyce fist and the indention is gone. ence in Dublin. If nothing is done, the Harty captured the spirit of Ciarán bond may become so weak in succeeding A DIASPORA PASSPORT brilliantly. His integrity, I mean. And his generations that it will disappear.

With regard to your U.S.-Ireland Forum modesty.

That would certainly be a loss for both James W. Flannery as reported in the Feb./Mar. issue, as a Ireland and the diaspora.

Director of the W. B. Yeats Foundation Larry Doyle fourth-generation Irish-American, I may and the Winship Professor of Arts and St. Paul, Missouri represent the type of diaspora that the Humanities at Emory University conference and Irish America should THE IRISH IN CALIFORNIA have as their focus. My situation is not GOOD WORK Tom Deignan’s feature on “The Irish in typical of the East Coast Irish of the 19th Never have I seen as much valuable conCalifornia” (Feb./Mar.) reminds us that century. My family is famine Irish that tent, seminal thinking and gravitas in one the largest population of American Irish arrived in 1851 and settled in central issue of a magazine. Give the editor a is in California, not New York or Illinois farm country where my greatraise.

Massachusetts, and that the Irish connecgreat-grandfather Daniel Doyle along The quotes on the U.S.-Ireland Forum tion to California dates to the Spanish with his brothers, sister and mother – from Colum McCann (“Instead of period. However, I would like to mention established the family farm of 800 acres.

February/March 2008

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The Reluctant Star

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{readers forum} one minor error and suggest a few additions to Deignan’s fine piece. Cardinal Roger Mahony, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, was adopted and has no Irish blood at all. On the other hand, Spanish California’s second governor was Irishman Philip Barry (Felipe de Barri in Spanish records). Sharing the honor for being California’s first non-Spanish white settler was Irishman John Mulligan, and the first to sail an American ship in her waters was Irishborn Joseph O’Cain. The first two nonSpanish physicians in California were brothers Nicholas and Richard Den of County Kilkenny. The first party of American settlers to trek overland to California was led most of the way by County Cavan-born mountain man Tom Fitzpatrick. The first party of American migrants to reach California with their wagons intact, whose route became most

the son of Irish immigrants. Another son of Irish immigrants was Stephan White who, as a U.S. Senator from California, was instrumental in getting a harbor built for Los Angeles at San Pedro.

There are dozens of others, of course, who made significant contributions, especially in Hollywood. I am heartened to see that Deignan mentions John Wayne. Many don’t seem to know that he was mostly Irish. His mother, Mary “Molly” Brown, was the daughter of Irish parents and his paternal great-greatgrandfather was United Irishman Robert Morrison, who fled to the United States from County Antrim after the Rising of ’98. Wayne’s brother was named Robert Emmett, and Wayne named his own sons Michael and Patrick.

Roger D. McGrath Thousand Oaks, California

Editor’s Note: Thank you for all the additional information on the Irish in California – it’s difficult to cover all the contributions within the confines of a history column.

CROCKETT ANCESTORS

John Wayne was Irish

favored, was led by the Murphy and Miller families of County Wexford. The civil engineer who laid out the city of San Francisco was Irishman Jasper O’Farrell.

One of the principal leaders of the Bear Flag revolt was Patrick McChristian of County Down. Irishman William Shannon was the California Constitutional Convention delegate who saw to it that slavery would be prohibited in the Golden State. The first three police chiefs of San Francisco, Malachi Fallon, Martin Burke, and Patrick Crowley, were Irish born. Three of the four Silver Kings, John Mackay, James Fair, and William O’Brien, were born in Ireland and the fourth, James Flood, was

The Dec./Jan. issue included a history article by Tom Deignan, “Virtue, Liberty, and Independence” which mentioned Donegal immigrant James Crockett. My great-great-grandfather James Crockett O’Neal was born in Warren County, Tennessee in 1827. We cannot find any record of his parents. When I saw the name “James Crockett” a light came on – a dim one perhaps – that, just maybe James Crockett had a daughter who married an O’Neal. In naming conventions, it is plausible that my great-great-grandfather could be a namesake. Yes, odds are slim, but who knows?

Census records do not list household members prior to 1835 (I think). One census record lists a Martha O’Neal as head of household and enumerates the children by certain age ranges. Martha could be widowed and just perhaps Crockett O’Neal’s mother. Alas, county records that may have an answer were destroyed. Some of the earliest roads in America went from New York and Philadelphia south to Virginia and the Carolinas. Later roads went from the Carolinas west into Kentucky and Tennessee.

John O’Neal Received by E-mail

THE TROUBLE WITH IRISH I just finished your article “The Trouble With Irish.” While the article was wonderful, it, like so many other similar articles, leaves the non-citizen Irish with the impression that this is all so sad and that they bear no responsibility for the survival of the [Irish] Language.

While those in the Gaeltacht have done the Herculean task of maintaining it for us all of these years, it is now our turn to assist in making certain that the Language survives. We all share that responsibility.

So all of you who are wringing your hands over the possible loss of the Language – get up off the couch and put in some time. Learn and use the Language regardless of what country you are in.

R. Hogan Received by e-mail

LIFE IN DINGLE/ DAINGEAN UÍ CHÚIS I refer to Sharon Ní Chonchuir’s interesting and reasonably balanced article in your February/March issue regarding the Kerry Gaeltacht of Corca Dhuibhne.

Sharon highlights three local issues that appear to have run into a headlong conflict with the Irish language.

I have lived in Dingle for most of Sharon’s life. I came here in the mideighties. Sharon says that of the 7,440 people living here then, most were Irish speakers or had a good understanding of Irish. My own memory of Dingle in the eighties was of a hemorrhage of young people emigrating to America and England because they could not find work here. The only Irish I heard on the streets of Dingle then was among the old people that came in on the bus from Ballyferriter on a Tuesday and Thursday morning. I also remember the appalling suicide rate of young men living in the Corca Dhuibhne area.

Over the past 15 years however, because of the economic boom, and the growth in tourism, young people are now able to remain on the peninsula. I see and hear far more Irish spoken in Dingle now, than I ever did before. I see young families settling down here and making an effort to raise their children with a fluency in both languages, and a pride in their identity and culture. The Dingle and CONTINUED OVER APRIL / MAY 2008 IRISH AMERICA 7

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{readers forum} Corca Dhuibhne I know is proud of its culture and identity, and the people here make every effort to share and encourage their language and culture in an open and inclusive way.

Over the past couple of years however, the peninsula seems to be heading into conflict. Sharon says the people are dividing into “mutually-miscomprehending factions.” She pinpoints the Placenames Order as the start of the problem. Three years ago the Placenames Order came into effect. 2,300 townlands had their placenames changed to Irish only names, with their English names abolished by the government. The Order had little or no effect on the vast majority of areas. However, there are three towns in the Gaeltacht, and Dingle is the largest and most well known of these. Dingle is

Corca Dhuibhne? Dingle and her Gaeltacht hinterland are mutually interdependent, and to suggest further ghettoizing the Gaeltacht into even smaller pockets is hardly the answer.

The next issue that Sharon raises is Planning. Ten years ago the Irish-speaking village of Ballyferriter was a thriving little village with shops, post office, petrol station and busy pubs and restaurants. Over the past couple of years however, these integral amenities that are necessary to the very fabric of daily village life, have disappeared from Ballyferriter. Kerry County Council recently built 21 houses in the village.

Mr. Mac Amhlaoibh, spokesperson for Todhchaí na Gaeltacht, laments that only seven houses were given to Irish speaking families, and he has a point.

PHOTO: TED CREEDON

exams through Irish. There was no conflict between the languages. Both Irish and English speaking children were accommodated without any hullabaloo.

Now, in the new school, they do their subjects through Irish only. Both girls like Irish, but there are some subjects where they believe that they would do better if they could do them in their first language, which is English. In their old school, Irish was encouraged – now it is imposed. Sharon believes that most Gaeltacht parents support the new Irish only policy of the school, but I know many Gaeltacht parents who are disturbed at the exclusiveness of the Community Schools approach. They wish their children to be educated for the world, not just life in Corca Dhuibhne.

As everywhere, there are children in Corca Dhuibhne with learning difficulties, who, for one reason or another, are unable to learn exclusively through Irish. Tuismitheoirí na Gaeltacht (Parents of the Gaeltacht) say that if a child cannot or will not do their subjects exclusively through Irish, they should be bused out of the area to alternative schools many miles from Dingle. Where before two languages were accommodated, now only Irish is accepted.

So, what is to become of Corca Dhuibhne and the Irish language? Will it surProtesters at the Dingle sign, just outside the County Kerry town, who want to resinstate the town’s bilingual names. vive or will it be gone in one of the oldest Norman towns in However, perhaps it is better to see 21 twenty years’ time? I don’t have the Ireland. An ancient town with an ancient young families come to the village, and answers to the challenges that face the history, where two names stood side by hope that they will embrace the language Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht over the comside without causing offense to anyone, and culture, rather than watch the life ing years. But there is one thing that I do was told to re-brand itself into the Irish seeping out of the place. know. A community that is divided is a far only name – An Daingean. The townsTo be fair to the various organizations weaker community than one united, and a people objected as they believe that their involved in developing and preserving the community that disregards the worth and town’s identity has become interwoven Gaeltacht, they have a difficult task, but a value of all its children to the area is not over the centuries into the town’s bilinlarge part of the problem is that many looking at the bigger picture. The Corca gual names of Dingle and Daingean Uí Gaeltacht organizations have a knee jerk Dhuibhne I knew and loved was always Chúis. They believe they are the people negative reaction to any plans that are put inclusive, welcoming and open. People of Dingle and equally, they are muintir forward to revitalize their villages. shared their language and culture with Daingean Uí Chúis.

Finally we come to the issue that is pride. Both languages accommodated and Mr. Fergal Mac Amhlaoibh, the causing most concern in Corca Dhuibhne were enriched by each other. I believe that spokesperson for Todhchaí na Gaeltacht at the moment – our new community the Irish language will survive here, but (The Future of the Gaeltacht), says that if school. My two daughters have experiI’d like to see the gentler Corca Dhuibhne Dingle doesn’t like the Placenames ence of both the old Convent school and restored.

Kate O’Connor Order, they should be asked to leave the the new Community School in Dingle.

Dingle, County Kerry Gaeltacht. But does Fergal really believe In the Convent they learned through Irish that will help save the Irish language in and English and happily did most of their 8 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

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{ news from ireland}

By Frank Shouldice

Ahern to Address U.S. Congress

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aoiseach (Irish Prime appeal. Mr. Ahern has been unable to Minister) Bertie Ahern will explain to the tribunal’s satisfaction a address a joint session of stream of payments received in his name.

U.S. Congress on April 30. “I In angry exchanges at Dublin Castle, am deeply honored and delighted to he has been criticized for his level of accept the invitation from Speaker Nancy cooperation, and in response the Pelosi,” Ahern said in a prepared stateTaoiseach mounted a High Court chalment. lenge – to be heard April 1 – on whether “This invitation is a singular honor for Ireland and one of great historic significance, reflecting the unique friendship between Ireland and the United States over many centuries and which continues to the present day.

“I also look forward to meeting with the President, the Speaker, Chairman Richie Neal and many other friends of Ireland when we gather to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Washington, Bertie Ahern, who faces D.C.” While the Washington questions about financial speech will represent a high irregularities point for the Taoiseach, pub- in Ireland, will lic reaction at home to his address U.S. on performances at the Mahon Congress April 30.

Tribunal investigating payments-to-politicians is a lot less flattering. The Fianna Fáil leader has been unconvincing when the Mahon Tribunal has exceeded its asked to explain several payments he brief in examining his financial affairs. received, describing them variously as One of many transactions that did the loans or gifts, and on one occasion sayTaoiseach no favor was the tribunal’s ing that an anonymous IR£5,000 check discovery of a IR£30,000 loan made to he received in 1994 was a “political his former girlfriend, Celia Larkin, in donation for personal use.”

1993. The money was used to buy her There is growing disquiet among aunt a house. However, the loan – proFianna Fáil supporters that continuing vided from Fianna Fáil funds in Bertie exposure of the Taoiseach’s muddled Ahern’s Dublin constituency – was only finances has weakened Ahern’s reputarepaid (with interest) several months tion and damaged the party’s electoral ago. Unorthodox financial arrangements

surrounding the loan were never made public prior to the state inquiry in late February. Mr. Ahern told the tribunal he didn’t know anything about the deal prior to its approval by trustees of the constituency account.

The Celia Larkin loan – one of many details raised by the Mahon Tribunal to spark public concern – has embarrassed Ahern’s cabinet colleagues. When asked about revelations at Dublin Castle, Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) Brian Cowan, the man endorsed by Ahern as successor, replied, “I don’t discuss the issue with the Taoiseach. The Taoiseach is handling that in his own way in compliance with the terms of reference [of the tribunal].”

Fianna Fáil’s coalition partners, the Green Party, have also remained silent about the issue. However, party chairman Dan Boyle in a radio interview said that the Taoiseach’s performance at the tribunal and the seemingly endless list of unaccounted-for payments were “not something that is lending towards the proper practice of government.

“He won’t be putting himself forward as Taoiseach at the next general election,” said Boyle. “We’re now in a period of time that we have to find out, discover from the Taoiseach himself, when he feels his time for leaving within this period of government is. We’re probably coming close to a time when his own party colleagues will look for finality on that.”

Irish Peacekeepers Bound for Chad

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eavy fighting in Chad has delayed the deployment of Irish peacekeepers, but Lieutenant General Dermot Earley, chief of staff of the Irish defense forces, declared the mission will go ahead. Clashes in Chad between rebel forces and government troops made conditions unsafe for a European Union force (Eufor) peacekeeping mission drawn from 23 European

12 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

countries.With some 400 troops heading for the West African state, Ireland is the second-largest contributor after France.

“Our main message is that we will be in Chad to look after the refugees and not to take sides with either the Chadian government forces or the rebels,” General Earley told Irish troops placed on stand-by in Paris.

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{news from ireland} O’Loan Launches New Role uala O’Loan, former Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman, is set to take up a new role as Ireland’s first Roving Ambassador. Dermot Ahern, Minister for Foreign Affairs, announced that O’Loan would also become special envoy for conflict resolution in East Timor. Ahern made the announcement on a visit to Dili, capital of the unsettled new island state. “I believe that our assistance in examining how the positive lessons from the Northern Ireland peace process can perhaps be translated into the Nuala O’Loan, on her way to East context of East Timor Timor, will become Ireland’s first will be very valuable,” Roving Ambassador. said the minister.

“Mrs. O’Loan’s appointment is the first under the government’s Conflict Resolution Initiative,” he added.

“Timor-Leste, one of the youngest nations in the world, and one in which Ireland has had a presence since 2000, has suffered from its share of instability in recent years.”

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Donegal Poet Under Fire he works of Donegal poet Cathal Ó Searchaigh may be dropped from the syllabus for the Leaving Certificate examinations in Ireland following a controversial documentary about his personal life in Nepal. The film, Fairytale of Katmandu, raised concerns that Ó Searcaigh’s gay lifestyle involved relationships with young men in the impoverished Asian country. In answer to parliamentary question raised in the Dáil, Minister for Education Mary Hanafin said an advisory body would review whether Ó Searcaigh’s poetry would remain on the syllabus after 2009. “There might be questions about the character of many people whose literature has been on courses for the past one hundred years,” she said. “This is different however because it is a current case involving a person living in this country. Students must answer one question about the poet, which could cause difficulty.”

The documentary was screened to the public at the Dublin Film Festival and is due to be broadcast on RTE (Ireland’s national broadcaster) in the spring. In a statement published following the controversy, Cathal Ó Searcaigh openly acknowledged his sexuality but refuted any suggestion that he preyed on vulnerable young men in Nepal. He expressed extreme disappointment with the film and said that any such interpretation of his lifestyle was “untrue and distasteful.”

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NEWS IN BRIEF •

GARDAI (Irish police) staged the first drinkand-drugs roadside checks in Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal. The garda move is part of a campaign against motorists driving under the influence of drugs and being able to avoid detection on standard alcohol breathalyzer testing . . .

•

IRELAND’s healthier financial position within the European Union is reflected in a steady move from net recipient to net contributor of EU funds. Since joining the EU in 1973 – when the Union was named the European Economic Community (EEC) – Ireland has received some 40 billion euro in development grants. In return, Ireland made concessions on fishing waters and is now scheduled to contribute some 500 million euro per year to EU funds by 2013 . . .

•

FIONA O’Malley and Ciaran Cannon will contest the vacant leadership of the Progressive Democrats (PD) party. O’Malley, daughter of former PD leader Des O’Malley, and Cannon are both senators. The election will be held in April, and Mary Harney will continue to act as interim leader until the ballot takes place . . .

•

BRENDAN Hughes, former Provisional IRA leader and hunger-striker, died at the age of 59.

Hughes took part in the H-block protests in 1980 and went on hunger-strike for 53 days. The protest took its toll on him physically and in later years he remained firmly opposed to IRA ceasefires and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement . . .

•

IRISH President Mary McAleese sent a message of congratulations to Irish winners at Hollywood’s Oscar Award ceremony. Dublin musician Glen Hansard and his Czech partner, Marketa Irglova, won the Oscar for the Best Song from the budget smash hit Once, while Wicklow resident Daniel Day-Lewis fulfilled general expectations by winning the Best Actor award for his role in There Will Be Blood . . .

•

A PUPPET turkey will represent Ireland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade Making a laugh of a widelyderided competition, “Dustin The Turkey” won the national song contest with “Irelande Douze Points” (Ireland Twelve Points – a jibe at Euro-voting in the song) by telephone vote. However, the turkey’s success has not gone down well with serious Eurovision fans. Former Eurovision winner-turned-politician Rosemary Scallon (better known as Dana) described the outcome as “fowl play.”

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Paisley Pressed to Retire

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orthern Ireland First Minister Rev. Ian Paisley is under increasing pressure to stand down as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.

Senior party members reportedly approached Rev. Paisley requesting that he set a date for retirement so that the DUP could stage “a smooth and orderly transition” to new leadership.

Deputy leader Peter Robinson is favorite to take over, and an increasing number of DUP members want Paisley’s successor to be decided well in advance of a possible general election next year.

A by-election in Banbridge sent the alarm bells ringing. In a major turnaround caused by a split in the DUP vote, party candidate Paul Stewart lost heavily to Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) candidate Carol Black. Party activists see that surprise defeat at Banbridge as an ominous sign that the Unionist electorate is losing faith in the party over its Assembly work with Sinn Féin.

The DUP’s internal squeeze on the leadership is at odds with Paisley’s stated intention to stay in office at the Northern Ireland Executive for a full four-year term, which would take him up to 2011. On a recent visit to Scotland, the DUP leader would not be drawn into debate about his tenure. He told a jour-

nalist, “I have a fairly hard rhinoceros skin and I think I will not be skinned by you or the likes of you.”

February has, however, been a difficult month for the Paisley dynasty. His son, Ian Paisley Jr., resigned as junior minister at Stormont following controversy surrounding his business connections and lobbying on behalf of constituents. Had he tried to stay on in the wake of revelations about personal business ventures, it was felt he would have been ousted from the Executive by party colleagues. His position as junior minister was taken by the more hardline Jeffrey Donaldson.

The DUP-Sinn Féin power-sharing arrangement also came under pressure following a heated House of Commons debate on the murder of Paul Quinn.

During the debate Nigel Dodds, who is likely to become deputy leader of the DUP, told British premier Gordon Brown that “the horrific murder of Paul Quinn” had left “a serious shadow over the stability of devolved institutions in Northern Ireland.”

Quinn, a 21-year-old from the staunchly republican Co. Armagh town

Ian Paisley, 82 on April 6, is under pressure to set a retirement date as leader of the DUP.

of Cullyhanna, was bludgeoned to death in a Co. Monaghan farmyard by a masked gang. The Quinn family suspects that republicans in south Armagh and Monaghan were party to the murder, but Sinn Féin insists that the IRA was not involved.

Editor’s Note: As we go to press, it has been announced that Rev. Ian Paisley is to resign as Northern Ireland First Minister and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in May. He will remain an MP and N. I. Assembly member.

Trapattoni Takes Irish Soccer Job

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he Football Association of Ireland’s (FAI) protracted search for a coach to take over the international soccer team finally ended with the appointment of former Italian national team boss Giovanni Trapattoni.

The FAI had become the butt of many jokes in their meandering search for a successor to Steve Staunton, who they fired four months ago, but after 113 days Trapattoni was unveiled.

The Italian’s credentials are well established. He has managed club sides to domestic honors in Italy, Germany, Portugal and currently in Austria where he manages the Salzburg Red Bull team. He also took charge of the national team in Italy in 2000 but was fired four years later when the team performed poorly.

Yet he is still highly regarded in the game, and while at 68 years of age – he was born on St. Patrick’s Day in 1939 -– he is not in his prime but remains very fit and characteristically passionate about the game.

However, the appointment was shrouded in controversy when it was revealed that businessman Denis O’Brien con-

14 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

tributed half the reported salary of 1.5 million euro in an effort to attract a top soccer manager to the job. O’Brien, a tax exile and a major player across Irish media interests, insists his generosity was simply an effort to land a top-class manager and that his role in the appointment had no strings attached. FAI executives also insist O’Brien had no input on the selection process.

Ireland was rudderless for a prestigious friendly game against Brazil, one of the most glamorous sides in world soccer. The Brazilians came to Croke Park on a dull January night and won 1-0 in a game that caretaker manager Don Givens and the capacity crowd would rather forget.

Trapattoni’s first game in charge will be a friendly in Dublin on May 24 against Serbia.The real action will start in September with visits to Georgia and Montenegro as World Cup 2010 qualifying kicks off. For the new boss the immediate aim will be to qualify for the tournament in South Africa. The Irish team has fallen steadily over the past five years, and with few world-class players at Trapattoni’s disposal, instant success will be a tall order.

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{ hibernia }

PEOPLE

| HERITAGE | EVENTS | ARTS | ENTERTAINMENT

Ireland & the U.S. Presidential Campaign Trail Abdon M. Pallasch reports from the road.

NEW YEAR’S EVE: AMES, IOWA U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Penn., the only Iraq War vet in Congress, is giving the warm-up for Sen. Barack Obama at a New Year’s Eve party at Iowa State University and explaining how he won in a Republican district.

“Well, there’s another reason I won the race. . . .” Murphy said.

“Because you’re Irish!” someone in the crowd shouted.

“Well,” he smiled, “I’m Irish, thank you. So is Obama, O-bama.”

Murphy was actually going to say that the other reason he won is that his wife is a Republican and he attracts cross-over votes as he believes Obama can.

NEW YEAR’S DAY: DUBUQUE, IOWA John Walsh, an administrator at Loras University, a Catholic liberal arts college where he also advises the Loras College Democrats, is introducing Senator Obama at a rally two nights before the Iowa caucuses. It’s about 11 p.m.

“I’m Irish-American and I’m getting sick and tired of going to Ireland and having people say, ‘What in the hell were you thinking of, voting for George W. Bush?’ They think we’re all crazy,” Walsh says to cheers from the crowd.

JAN. 5: DERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE It’s here in this unwalled city that can’t really hold a candle to the original in Northern Ireland that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney got probably the toughest Irelandrelated comment of the campaign:

“I feel, Gov. Romney, that you’ve turned your back on God’s creatures.”

Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform Vice-Chairman Ciarán 16 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

Staunton told Romney on January 5, reminding him that there are about 50,000 Irish undocumented in the U.S.

“When you sit down tonight, Gov. Romney, will you do me a favor, please remember that they are human.”

Romney brought out his stock line: “I love legal immigration, but I want to end illegal immigration. . . . We simply cannot take all the people in the world who want to come to America.”

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{hibernia} JAN. 6: NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE Talking up her foreign policy experience, Senator Hillary Clinton said:

“I went [to Northern Ireland] more than my husband did. I was working to help change the atmosphere among people because leaders alone rarely make peace.They have to bring people along who believe peace is in their interests. I remember a meeting that I pulled together in Belfast, in the town hall there, bringing together for the first time Catholics and Protestants.”

Clinton has used variations of that argument as she campaigns around the country, noting she made six trips to Northern Ireland while her husband made four.

A Boston Globe reporter challenged Clinton on whether she really did bring together people from opposing sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland or if she was giving speeches there. The Washington Post gave Clinton a “Pinocchio” for “exaggeration.” But prominent Northern Ireland activists

rose to Clinton’s defense, saying she did play an active role in her own right.

FEB. 14: MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN Former President Bill Clinton talked up his wife to voters at the Italian Community Center in the days before Wisconsin’s Democratic primary election, saying,

JAN. 15: YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN John McCain is on stage wearing a forest green sweater vest – Michigan State colors, not nearby University of Michigan colors.

“I just want to say my sweater has nothing to do with any allegiance to any particular school or university. It’s because I’m Scotch and Irish and Cindy is pure Irish and we have these superstitions.”

Perhaps sensing the drubbing he was to take from Romney in the Michigan Republican primary election that day, McCain did not even stay in Michigan to watch the returns. He flew from Ypsilanti to South Carolina where he watched the Michigan returns at the Hibernian Society in South Carolina.

“The leaders of Northern Ireland’s new government came to Washington, D.C. the other day to thank the president for his support.You know, we ended the longest conflict in modern European history.There was only one other person they asked to see and that was Hillary. And that was to thank her for the independent role she played in helping to push that agreement.”

He said it again in Waukesha, Madison and LaCrosse, Wisconsin.)

Abdon Moriarty Pallasch covers politics for the Chicago Sun-Times.

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{ irish eye on hollywood}

By Tom Deignan old Liam Aiken (whose mother Moya was born in Ireland) has recently signed on to join the cast of a comedy-drama entitled Will. The film will also star Lisa Kudrow and High School Musical cutie Vanessa Hudgens. Aiken (whose middle name is Padraic) has had a series of increasingly prominent roles in films such as Road to Perdition and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Will began shooting in January.

Saoirse Ronan, seen here in Atonement, is the go-to teenage actress in Hollywood.

Saoirse Ronan (featured in our Top 100, page 44) didn’t

take home an Academy Award at the big show on February 24, but the 13-year-old Hollywood star has a busy 2008 planned. Ronan was nominated as a best supporting actress Oscar for her role in Atonement. Prior to the Oscars, Ronan was happy just to be going to the show, which was nearly canceled because of the prolonged writer’s strike.

“It will be really nice … to go to the big ceremony and get to sit at the fancy table and everything, that would be pretty cool,” she was quoted as saying.

This October, look for Ronan in a starring role alongside Bill Murray, Tim Robbins and Martin Landau in City of Ember. Based on a novel of the same name, the film will also feature a slew of Irish actors and actresses in smaller roles since it was shot in Belfast.

The film is set in a city of dazzling lights called Ember.

As the film begins, Ember’s powerful generator is losing power, threatening to plunge the city into darkness. Ronan and her co-star Harry Treadway scour Ember in search of a way to preserve the city’s light. In the process, they reveal secrets which may expose the mystery of the city’s origins.

All indications suggest that this will be a breakout starring role for Ronan. City of Ember director Gil Kenan has said: “I won the lottery with Saoirse Ronan. She’s about to take over the world. She’s amazing. I don’t know if any of you have seen Atonement yet, but she’s like mind-blowing. She fills the screen with light, which is exactly what she needs to do in every frame.”

Acting is sort of a family business for the Ronans.

Saoirse’s father Paul has appeared in U.K. television shows such as Ballykissangel. Ronan will also appear in the highly anticipated 2009 release The Lovely Bones, based on the best selling Alice Sebold novel.

In keeping with the theme of young Irish talent, 18-year18 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

Now we’ll move on to the veterans of the Irish film scene. Tom Cruise’s next project Valkyrie, about an unsuccessful plot by German generals to murder Adolf Hitler towards the end of World War II, has already generated many headlines.

This even though it is not due out until next year. Filming in Germany was temporarily halted because government officials consider Cruise’s much-discussed religion, Scientology, to be a cult.

Kenneth Branagh will star alongside Tom Cruise in Valkyrie.

Lost amidst all the hoopla was the impressive cast which has signed on to appear in Valkyrie, including Belfast’s own Kenneth Branagh, and X-Men director, Bryan Singer.

Pierce Brosnan is having no problems finding work in his

post-James Bond life. He has two movies coming out this year, with another slated for 2009.

The three films are, to say the least, diverse. They feature cold-blooded killers, Swedish pop tunes and white gorillas. In March, look for Brosnan in the thriller Married Life, about a man torn between a boring marriage and a passionate love affair. Too ashamed to seek divorce, the husband turns to an assassin and tries to have his wife killed.

Married Life also features Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson and Rachel McAdams.

In a slightly more fun film, look for Brosnan in the summer release Mama Mia! That’s right, Brosnan – along with Meryl Streep – will have a role in the film version of the musical comedy based on the sugary songs of Swedish supergroup Abba. The plot revolves around an isolated woman who is about to be married and is seeking the identity of her father. Somehow, this odd combination of story

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{hibernia} and song has captivated audiences all over the world.

Finally, in 2009, Brosnan will team up with Irish director Terry Loane for the film Vanilla Gorilla, about (you guessed it) an albino ape who learns sign language and becomes friends with a little girl.

Meryl Streep will bring her amazing versatility to two more upcoming films. First she will star with Irish actor Brían F. O’Byrne in the political thriller The International. The film also stars Naomi Watts and Clive Owen, who plays an agent seeking to bring down a prestigious financial firm which has stooped to smuggling arms.

Next up for Streep will be the film version of Doubt, the highly acclaimed play by Irish-American John Patrick Shanley (who also wrote the film Moonstruck). Streep plays a nun who suspects a priest of sexually abusing a boy.

Philip Seymour Hoffman takes over the role of the priest from Brían F. O’Byrne, who won rave reviews and a Tony award for playing the role on Broadway. The film, currently shooting in New York City, is slated for release next year.

O’Byrne, along with Albert Finney, appeared in the acclaimed crime drama Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke.

Released last fall, the film is worth picking up on DVD. Pierce Brosnan.

New York City was a crucial character in Irish-American actress Bridget Moynahan’s last film Noise, which should be out on DVD soon. Appearing alongside Tim Robbins, Moynahan stars in this film about a man (Robbins) driven insane by the constant noise in his Manhattan neighborhood. So crazed is Robbins’ character that he becomes a vigilante named “The Rectifier.” He goes out at night silencing the city by any means necessary, including taking a baseball bat to incessant car alarms.

Having recently worked with director Woody Allen (Cassandra’s Dream) as well as director Martin McDonagh

Ciarán Hinds with Frances McDormand in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.

and co-star Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges), Colin Farrell has a particularly Irish-American role in the upcoming Pride and Glory. In the film, which also stars Ed Norton, Farrell is a member of a family of NYPD cops who are actually named Farrell. The Farrell brothers all take pride in their work – that is, until one of them begins uncovering a scandal which may implicate other members of the Farrell clan. Pride and Glory will be directed by Long Island IrishAmerican Gavin O’Connor.

Farrell is also slated to star in a film based on Tim Winton’s novel Dirt Music. Set in Western Australia, Dirt Music is about a disillusioned man who works as a fisherman illegally, trying to forget his past which is haunted by a terrible loss in a fatal accident. Dirt Music also stars Rachel Weisz. In a tragic twist, Heath Ledger was initially slated to take on Farrell’s role but eventually passed on the project. Ledger’s final film – The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – which he was filming when he died, will be completed with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell all stepping into the late actor’s character. The movie was nearly abandoned in the wake of Ledger’s death in January, but now a spokesperson for Jude Law has confirmed that “subject to final negotiations” he, Johnny and Colin will step into the role. The fantasy film, directed by Terry Gilliam, follows a traveling theater group who pass through a magical mirror into alternate dimensions – and the actors will play Heath’s character in each of Brendan Gleeson and the the different dimensions. very busy Colin Farrell in a Ledger’s last complete film, scene from In Bruges.

Batman sequel The Dark Knight, is to be released in July.

Ciarán Hinds (Irish America’s cover story, Feb./Mar. issue) is on Broadway in The Seafarer through the end of March, which is when Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day opens in movie theaters. Hinds plays the love interest of Guinevere Pettigrew (Frances McDormand), a middleaged London governess who finds herself unfairly dismissed from her job. An attempt to gain new employment catapults her into the glamorous world and dizzying social whirl of an American actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse.

Hinds also made an appearance in There Will Be Blood, for which Daniel Day-Lewis on accepting a BAFTA award for the role, thanked Hinds in his remarks.

Finally, May 16 has been established for the release of the next entry in the Narnia series, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, with Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan.

The voice work of Peter Dinklage and Anna Popplewell IA will also be featured.

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The High Kings Are Steppin’ Out

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eltic Woman took the world by storm when they debuted in 2004, topping the charts and touring to standing-room-only audiences. Now it’s the boys’ turn.

Meet the High Kings, a quartet of ultratalented Irish musicians who hope to match the smashing success of their corporate sisters. The group was created last year by Celtic Woman’s producer Dave Kavanagh and composer/musical director David Downes, and a major rollout is already underway in the U.S., with the

Holden, a Co. Kilkenny native well known to Americans, particularly Billy Joel fans, for his years playing the Piano Man in Joel’s stage show Movin’ Out both on Broadway and on national tour, was approached about participating in the group last year and said yes on the spot, even though he and his young family had made plans to move to New York full time so Holden could further pursue his career.

“The Wild Rover” is a long way from Joel classics such as “Big Shot,” but Holden was more than ready to take the

The High Kings: Finbarr Clancy, Darren Holden, Brian Dunphy and Martin Furey.

group’s maiden DVD scheduled for heavy PBS airplay during March, and a national tour to follow in April. (Their self-titled CD was released by EMI, Celtic Woman’s recording home, in February.)

The members of the High Kings – Darren Holden, Brian Dunphy, Martin Furey (a son of the famous Irish singer Finbarr) and Finbarr Clancy (a scion of the renowned Clancy Brothers) – bring a diverse array of musical styles to the table. But the group is going back to basics, as it aims to freshen up the classic Irish standards and introduce them to a new audience.

20 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

leap, especially as he was starting to write his own songs that marked a return to his Irish roots. The opportunity to be part of a group for the first time in his career was also too good to pass up.

“The producers said they were looking to put a new group together based on the Clancys and the Dubliners. They wanted to bring the old Irish songs back into the forefront, making them hip and cool with four young-ish guys who could sing and play and write,” said Holden.

“I could see right away that it wasn’t going to be cheesy, or be like an Irish Il Divo. All of us guys had known of each

other, and when we went into rehearsals we clicked. We knew it was going to work.”

The group spent lots of time together in Ireland the latter half of last year getting to know each other’s styles. They also commenced recording their CD with Downes at the helm. The rollicking DVD was recorded in front of an audience in Dublin.

How have the High Kings made many of Ireland’s most beloved songs newly unique?

“The productions are bigger and more orchestrated,” says Holden. “Certain songs are just as they were, but we’ve reenergized and re-packaged them for a new audience hearing them for the first time.”

The High Kings come complete with a full backing band and a world champion Irish step dancer to boot. The show, Holden says, is incredibly energetic.

“We’ve got lots of audience participation. If you come to a High Kings show you better be ready to stand up and sing and have plenty of fun. We’re there to have a good time – not that we don’t take ourselves seriously, but it’s not about that at all. People are really going to love it.”

The legendary High Kings of Ireland, of course, ruled Ireland for many centuries. Today’s High Kings will also be content to dominate not just their native land, but the world at large.

“We were signed by EMI who did Celtic Woman, and they really wanted us,” Holden says. “So that’s a great start.

We know that we’re going to get out there and they are going to make sure we have lots of promotion behind us.

“In years to come,” he adds, “we want to be remembered as being the band that brought this back to the forefront of popular music both in America and around the world. We want to go down in Irish history as the High Kings who brought it IA all back home.”

– By Debbie McGoldrick (The High Kings’ U.S. tour starts on April 17 at the Palace Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky, with dates scheduled around the country until August. The DVD and CD are now on sale. For more, visit www.thehighkings.com)

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The U.S. Northern Ireland Investment Conference Northern Ireland’s attractiveness as an investment destination continues to grow, and a high-level conference aims to highlight the benefits to U.S. businesses of locating there.

N

orthern Ireland is set Laganside in Belfast. to become the focus of international attention May 7–9 when it hosts the first major U.S. Northern Ireland Investment Conference.

Organized by the region’s economic development organization, Invest Northern Ireland, and supported by the Irish, British and U.S. governments, this landmark event will bring up to 40 high-ranking CEOs from major U.S. corporations to Northern Ireland to experience and explore how the region can provide compelling business solutions to their global operations, while showcasing the area’s hi-tech expertise, strong infrastructure, and great lifestyle that make the region an attractive place to do business.

U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, Tom Foley, spoke to Irish America about the conference saying, “I don’t think there’s any reason to believe that the same benefit that came to the Republic as a result of foreign investment can’t also happen in the North.

All the right things are in place to support rapid economic growth, and all the reasons that people came here [the Republic] fifteen years ago would still attract people to the North and have the same impact, which is first and foremost, creating jobs.”

COURTESY:TOURISM IRELAND Participants in the conference will sample some of Northern Ireland’s and Irish governments and local political famed hospitality at a lunch hosted by parties as part of the peace process. Built Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Dr. Ian in the 1700s, Hillsborough has also Paisley, and Deputy First Minister, played a part on the world’s political Martin McGuinness, and a dinner at stage, as the venue for talks on Iraq Hillsborough Castle. In the last 20 years between President George W. Bush and the castle has become a key venue for Prime Minister Tony Blair. political events in Northern Ireland, Conference attendees will also be including meetings between the British invited to play golf at Royal Portrush.

Located on the Causeway Coast, with panoramic views of Donegal and the Scottish Isles, Royal Portrush is the only golf club in Ireland to have hosted The IA (British) Open Championship.

For more information on the conference, please contact Program Manager Niamh.kingham@investni.com APRIL / MAY 2008 IRISH AMERICA 21

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The Maras and the Rooneys The long and enduring relationship of two Irish-American sporting families. By Tom Deignan hen the New York football Giants capped a spectacular drive in the final two minutes of Super Bowl XLII, to become underdog winners against Tom Brady and the heavily favored New England Patriots, you have to believe Dan Rooney was among those cheering loudly.

True, Rooney is not affiliated with the Giants organization. In fact, he is patriarch of the rival Pittsburgh Steelers.

But Rooney’s Pittsburgh clan and the Giants – long run by the Irish-American Mara family – share a bond that spans nearly a century and transcends their deep Irish roots.

“Two Irish-American families have had their contribution to professional football recognized by having both a father and son enshrined in the Hall of Fame,” Larry McCarthy writes in Making the Irish American (edited by Marion Casey and J.J. Lee).

He is referring to Tim Mara and his son Wellington, as well as Art Rooney and his son Dan. “In their way,” McCarthy continues, “each family has made significant contributions to the creation and development of America’s football league.”

W

Passing the Torch The Steelers were the league’s most dominant franchise in the 1970s, winning four Super Bowls that decade with stars like Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swan and Mean Joe Green. By the mid-1980s, however, the Giants had become big winners, nabbing their own Super Bowl victory under coach Bill Parcells in 1986.

Art Rooney died in 1988, passing the mantle of Pittsburgh leadership onto his son Dan, who then had to watch his friendly rival, the Giants, win another Super Bowl in 1991. As they did in 2008, the Giants beat a heavily favored team in 1991, the Buffalo Bills, led by Irish-American quarterback Jim Kelly.

The Giants again made it to the Super Bowl in 2001, but they lost badly.

22 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

Sadly, it was Wellington Mara’s last chance at another title. In 2006, Mara died at the age of 89.

In one widely reported story, while sitting in a pew at St. Patrick’s Cathedral during Mara’s funeral service, Bill Parcells tapped Dan Rooney on his shoulder and whispered: “The torch has been passed.” Parcells was referring to Rooney’s newfound status as the NFL’s lone elder statesmen. Rooney later was quoted as saying: “Bill has been a friend of mine for a long time and I have great respect for him, both as a person and a coach. What he said meant a lot to me.”

When Mara died, The New York Times Magazine noted: “He had an earthy, pugnosed Irish face and an authentic New York accent, of the kind you hear now only in movies from the 30’s and 40’s.

He was a Catholic who attended Mass daily and fathered 11 children. And as his eulogists kept pointing out, he was the last of the old-school sports-team owners, a throwback to football’s leather-helmet era.” Inheriting the torch from Mara meant a lot to Rooney because the Maras and Rooneys have been friendly rivals since the 1920s. It is an association that shows no signs of ending any time soon.

For proof of that, look at up-and-coming actress Kate Mara. She has appeared in many TV shows as well as movies such as We Are Marshall and Shooter. As you can tell by her name, Mara is a member of the Giants clan, one of Wellington’s 40 grandchildren. Kate’s mother, meanwhile, is Kathleen Rooney.

She is a niece of current Steelers owner Dan Rooney.

The Early Days Timothy J. Mara and Art Rooney had been friends, often frequenting the racetracks together. One possibly apocryphal story has it that the Irish duo’s bets one day were so profitable that Art Rooney promised to name his son Tim. Rooney indeed had a son and named him Tim. Mara – a New York native – pur-

chased the football Giants (not to be confused with the baseball Giants of New York) in 1925. Mara’s nine-year-old son, Wellington, began working for the team as a ball boy.

Dan Rooney, meanwhile, was born in 1932, just before his dad, Art, purchased the Pittsburgh Steelers. At this time, college football was much more popular than the professional game. The Giants, who played their home games in the Polo Grounds in uptown Manhattan, are often credited with increasing the game’s prestige in the public eye. The main reason is a 1930 game against the Fighting Irish powerhouse of Notre Dame, designed as a fundraiser to assist New York’s homeless. The Giants won easily, a surprise in the eyes of many.

The Giants ultimately made it to eight football title games during the 1930s and 40s. In the 1950s they were led by stars Sam Huff, Frank Gifford and Roosevelt Brown.

The Steelers’ history is not quite as storied. As fate would have it, they lost their first game to the Giants and made the football post-season only once prior to the creation of the modern day NFL in the 1960s. However, they dominated the 1970s and have once again become a powerhouse, going 15-1 in 2004 and making it all the way to the Super Bowl winners’ podium the following year.

Creating the Modern NFL It was in the 1960s and 1970s that the Maras and Rooneys each played key roles in creating the modern day NFL. The Maras saw early on that the league would be successful only if teams were given every chance to become competitive.

That meant sharing television revenue equally, rather than allowing big city teams to dominate the market, thus giving them more money to spend on top players.

Meanwhile, two existing football leagues merged in 1970. Now operating as a single league, the NFL nevertheless had two distinct conferences. The

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PHOTO COURTESY NY GIANTS

role in Irish-American affairs, far beyond the mere fact that a 2004 biography of Art Rooney (by Andrew O’Toole) was titled Smiling Irish Eyes. Along with Sir Anthony O’Reilly, Dan Rooney established the American Ireland Fund, which has secured millions of dollars for investment in the Irish economy.

The AIF’s achievements would have been “unthinkable twenty-five years ago when Dan Rooney and I staggered through that first dinner in New York,” O’Reilly once said. He added that Dan Rooney “is a symbol of the modern American dream; the poor family that came from Newry in County Down, who

Giants were seen as members of the dominant conference. It is said that Wellington Mara convinced Rooney New York Giants owner John Mara, holding the Super Bowl trophy, is pictured with his mother, Ann and the Steelers to join the suppos- Mara, chairman Steve Tisch, right, and famed footballer Terry Bradshaw, now a sports commentaedly weaker American Football tor for Fox, after the Giants defeated the New England Patriots 17-14 to win Super Bowl XLII. Conference, to achieve a balance of power. The move swiftly made the Modells (Cleveland Browns and made their way through the tough North league more competitive and, hence, Baltimore Ravens) and the HalasSide of Pittsburgh to the pinnacle of more successful.

McCaskeys (Chicago Bears) to a highly American football in their ownership of As Larry McCarthy wrote in Making successful, multi-billion dollar, multinathe Pittsburgh Steelers.” the Irish American, Mara and Rooney tional sports enterprise.” It also led Indeed, the Maras and Rooneys have agreed to do this “so that each (franTimothy and Wellington Mara, and Art achieved so much for so long that there is chise) has a realistic opportunity of comand Dan Rooney, into the Football Hall only one hill left to climb. They have yet peting and winning. This strategy has of Fame. to play against each other in the Super helped transform the league from a colBowl. With both the Giants and Steelers One Hill Left to Climb lection of family run enterprises owned pointed in the right direction, perhaps The Rooney family is not merely dediby the Maras (New York Giants), the Super Bowl XLIII will finally be the IA cated to football. It has played a large Rooneys (Pittsburgh Steelers), the time.

APRIL / MAY 2008 IRISH AMERICA 23

AP PHOTO/CHRIS O’MEARA

TOP LEFT: Father and son: Art and Dan Rooney. TOP RIGHT: Dan Rooney with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL, 2006. ABOVE: Tim Mara, who purchased the New York Giants in 1925 and passed the team on to his son Wellington.

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By Declan O’Kelly

Oscar joy for Once and Day-Lewis

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t was a victorious night for the Irish independent movie Once, as its stars and songwriters Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova picked up an Oscar for best original song for “Falling Slowly” at the ceremony held at the Kodak Theater in Los

Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard in a scene from the award-winning Once.

Angeles on February 24. It was the first nomination and win for both, and Hansard could hardly believe what was happening as he accepted the famous statue.

“What are we doing here? This is mad,” said the 37-year-old Hansard, who is also the lead singer of the Irish band The Frames. “Thanks for taking this movie seriously!”

Just as 20-year-old Irglova was about to start her speech, the orchestra cut her off, and she left the stage with Hansard as the show went to commercial break. In one of the evening’s standout moments, when the telecast returned, host Jon Stewart brought Irglova back out to make her remarks and she took full advantage.

24 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

“This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we’re standing here tonight, the fact that we’re able to hold this, it’s just to prove no matter how far out your dreams are,

set in Dublin. Since the movie was made, Hansard and Irglova have become an item in real life.

“We shot on two Handycams. It took us three weeks to make. We made it for a hundred grand. We never thought we would come into a room like this and be in front of you people,” Hansard told the Oscar audience. Directed

by John Carney, the small-budget film also won the World Cinema Audience Award at last year’s Sundance Festival. s widely expected, Daniel Day-Lewis made a clean sweep of the major best actor awards for the year when he picked up an Academy Award for his portrayal of Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood. DayLewis accepted his award from last year’s best actress winner, Helen Mirren, and the 50-year-old paid special tribute to his wife, grandfather, father and three sons.

It is the second best actor Oscar for Day-Lewis, who won in 1990 for playing Christy Brown in the Jim Sheridan-directed My Left Foot.

The movie Atonement and its two Irish nominees did not fare so well. Thirteenyear-old Saoirse Ronan from it’s possible,” said the Carlow lost out to Tilda Czech with the Irish Swinton as Best Supporting brogue.

Actress, and Armagh’s Ironically, the song almost Seamus McGarvey went didn’t make it into the rundown to Robert Elswit ning as the Academy conof There Will Be Blood for ducted an investigation in best cinematography. IrishJanuary to verify that it was American Kevin O’Connell, written for the movie, since who was nominated for the it had appeared on a Frames 20th time this year in the best album and also on an album sound category with colreleased by Hansard and leagues Peter J Devlin from Irglova. After looking into Belfast and Greg Russell for the matter, the Academy was Rebecca Miller with her Daniel Day-Lewis, their work on Transformers, satisfied “Falling Slowly” husband, on the Oscar red carpet. was the bridesmaid once met all criteria. again after the award went to The Bourne Once is a musical love story about two IA Ultimatum. musicians, whose names we never learn,

A

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By Mary Egan

Emotional Return to Belfast for Liam

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ew York-based movie star Liam Neeson flew home to Northern Ireland in January to take part in the final curtain call at Belfast’s historic Lyric Players Theatre on the banks of the River Lagan which is closing to make way for

and posing for photographs with his young fans.

Liam started his professional acting career at the Lyric Theatre in 1976, learning his craft there before going on to appear in dozens of blockbuster films.

Liam has remained closely involved with

Liam Neeson outside Belfast’s Lyric Players Theatre, where he began his career.

a $30 million redevelopment. Liam’s appearance on stage earned him a standing ovation from a delighted capacity crowd. Afterwards he went backstage to meet over forty young actors, aged between 7 and 12 years, who had taken part in the final production. These Protestant and Catholic children, many from very disadvantaged parts of the city, had performed side by side for over ten weeks, demonstrating the crucial role which arts can play in integrating young people outside of traditional community boundaries. Liam spent several hours answering questions, signing autographs 26 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

the Lyric and has been instrumental in helping the theater to raise millions of dollars to secure its future in a landmark new venue.

“When I started at the Lyric it was a very dangerous time for Northern Ireland, and yet the theater never closed,” said Liam during his visit to Belfast. “There were at least two performances I can think of where there was a bomb scare and we had to wait out on the street dressed in costume, but then we came back in and resumed the show.

This theater has been a beacon of light and hope throughout Northern Ireland’s

darkest days and it has a vital role to play in Belfast’s cultural, social and economic regeneration. In the face of the deep divisions that have traditionally kept communities apart, the Lyric serves as a powerful unifying force, providing a safe and neutral space in which people from different backgrounds can enjoy shared experiences, develop creatively, and explore their rich cultural diversity.”

During his visit to Belfast, Liam hosted a dinner for major benefactors, including Irish businessman Dr Martin Naughton and his wife Carmel who have donated $2 million to the capital campaign. The Northern Ireland Assembly’s Culture Minister, Edwin Poots MLA (DUP) attended the dinner, as did Sinn Féin Councillor Alex Maskey, representing Belfast City Council. Fellow actor and Golden Globe nominee James Nesbitt also attended and joined Liam on stage at the Lyric.

The Lyric’s current venue was built in 1968 and has become extremely dilapidated. Actors and staff work in temporary trailers at the back of the theater building. The new $30 million theater, designed by award-winning Irish architects O’Donnell & Tuomey, promises to transform Belfast’s cultural landscape. The designs include a new flexible studio space which will be used throughout the year to host education, outreach and training programs with a particular focus on increasing creative development opportunities for young people from disadvantaged areas. The Lyric has to raise a final $2 million before construction begins this spring.

IA To find out more about the new Lyric Theatre and its fundraising campaign, log on to www.supportthelyric.com.

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Quote Unquote “If the British Army hadn’t been in Northern Ireland, there never would have been an environment that created a negotiating atmosphere.”

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain on National Public Radio’s Brian Lehrer Show.

“I come from the Lynches of Sligo. You know, I went there, but I looked in the phone book and there are nine million Lynches in Sligo.”

Jack Nicholson told The Irish Times in February.

“I wanted to be a footballer [soccer player]. I played until I was about 15 and I thought it was what I wanted to do. And then I realized I’d do something less meaningful – like acting.”

Colin Farrell talking to David Letterman in February on the late-night chat show.

“In one way, her profession was solemnly centered on the act of listening and trying to bring freshness to lives that are often broken apart by anger, by bitterness, by pain and by suffering.”

Reverend Seamus Finn in his sermon at the funeral of 56-year-old Dr. Kathryn Faughey (whose father left Co. Armagh for America in 1916), who was murdered on the Upper East Side of New York on February 12.

Faughey and Rev. Finn knew one another and had last met at a fundraiser for Northern Ireland at the Waldorf Astoria in November.

– The New York Times

“Both my parents are Irish, and I think I got that instinctive love of the countryside from them. If I

could afford it, I’d move over here in a second.”

Patrick Dempsey of Grey’s Anatomy, who was in Ireland to promote Enchanted.

– The Irish Independent

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IRISH AMERICA

TOP100

Our annual Top 100 list is a virtual “Who’s Who” in Irish America. It encompasses the community and embraces people from all walks of life – from sporting heroes and Academy-Award winning actors, to peacemakers and philanthropists – they all share one thing in common – pride in their Irish heritage.

PROFILE WRITERS: Meagan Drillinger, Bridget English, Katherine Hartnett, Patricia Harty, Maeve Molloy, and Declan O’Kelly.

• • • • • • • •

37 Arts & Entertainment 49 Community 59 Education 64 Peacemakers 75 Politics & Public Service 84 Sports 93 Writers & Media 106 Those We Lost APRIL / MAY 2008 IRISH AMERICA 29

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The Irish have had a long history in the entertainment business, from the days when actors Errol Flynn and James Cagney graced the silver screen, Gene Kelly danced his way into hearts, and crooner Bing Crosby brought joy to millions with his heavenly voice. So too, our Top 100 honorees, dancers, musicians, stars of stage and screen, light up our lives with their particular talent.

They have made us laugh, cry, sit spellbound in our seats, and gasp in awe at their enormous talent.

COURTESY: PARAMOUNT

ncredibly popular in Ireland and with a growing profile stateside, comedian Des Bishop is a man on a mission – to make you laugh. New York-born and reared until he turned 14 and was shipped off to an Irish boarding school by his Irish parents, Bishop has forged a successful comedic career out of being an American transplanted to the auld sod, mining laughs from all the foibles and eccentricities he’s encountered while living there.

Bishop began his career at The International Comedy Club in Dublin where he quickly made a name for himself. The 30-something’s career really took off with the 2004 TV show The Des Bishop Work Experience, where he spent a month working minimum-wage jobs around Ireland.

A regular on Irish chat shows, Bishop’s latest project is called In Name of the Fada – which chronicles the comedian’s year spent living in the Gaeltacht and learning the Irish language. Bishop recently conducted some interviews in Irish in New York, where he did a fundraising gig for the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. Smart, ambitious, and seriously funny, let’s hope this prodigal son will return to these shores soon.

– DOK

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

DANCE • MUSIC • ACTING

Des Bishop

Daniel Day-Lewis aniel Day-Lewis’s intense portrayal of Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood has had critics and fans purring with admiration – and on February 24 brought him an Academy Award for best actor. The level of intensity, talent, and willingness to absorb every fiber of the character he plays sets the English-born Irish citizen apart from any other actor working today.

But this commitment and enormous energy Day-Lewis embodies is of no shock to those who follow his career. (In fact, the all-encompassing passion he brings to his craft may explain why he works so infrequently). From My Beautiful Laundrette to his other Oscar-winning turn as Christy Brown in My Left Foot, the son of Irish-born British Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis has turned in consistently superior performances. And then there is his love affair with Ireland, which far outweighs the several Irish-themed movies he has made. Day-Lewis has held an Irish passport since 1993 and lives in County Wicklow with his wife Rebecca Miller and sons Ronan and Cashel (the actor also has a son, Gabriel, with actress Isabelle Adjani). He was once quoted as saying, “From the day we arrived here, my sense of Ireland’s importance has never diminished. Everything here seemed exotic to us. Just the sound of the west of Ireland in a person’s voice can affect me deeply.” With Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA awards in the bag for his role in There Will Be Blood, another great part surely beckons.

– DOK

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The Downeys, Robert Sr. and Robert Jr.

H

ollywood loves a family act, and the fatherson team of Robert Downey Sr. and Robert Downey Jr. have delivered when it comes to perseverance and creativity in the business.

Robert Downey Sr. was born to an Irish-American mother, famous cover-girl Betty McLoughlin (pictured below), and a Jewish father.

Before becoming a successful filmmaker Downey Sr. served in the army (he changed his name upon enlisting from Robert Elias to Robert Downey after his stepfather.) Once discharged, he joined the minor leagues and pitched against the thenunknown Yogi Berra and struck him out. By 23, he was producing films.

In the 1960s, Downey Sr. released a string of independent low-budget absurdist films that gained an underground following.

38 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

With his 1969 release of Putney Swope, Downey achieved mainstream success – the film was ranked in 1969’s Top 10 films by New York magazine. His 1970 release, Pound, included his son, Robert Downey Jr.’s, first film appearance.

It may seem easy to make it in Hollywood when your father is a filmmaker and you’ve been onscreen since age five. But Robert Downey Jr.’s trip to the top of the Hollywood hill was long and arduous, and he fought for every bit of fame he has won. After his debut as a youngster, Downey Jr. joined the cast of Saturday Night Live for one season in 1985 and then went on to appear in Hollywood films.

He became a break-through star in 1987 with The Pickup Artist in which he played opposite brat-packer Molly Ringwald, and went on to be nominated for an Academy

Award in 1992 for his performance in Chaplin.

He also became a hit on the television show Ally McBeal, for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Today, Downey Jr., who is married to Susan Levin Downey, continues to act, appearing in films such as Gothika and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang; he gave especially memorable performances in Wonder Boys and Good Night, and Good Luck. This May, Iron Man, based on the hit comic book series of the same name, will be Downey Jr.’s biggest budgeted movie to date.

Always looking for new ways to perform, Downey Jr. (whose mother Elsie Ford was a singer and dancer) revealed his singing talent on Ally McBeal and in 2005 released The Futurist which featured eight of his own pop-ballads and “Smile,” a

Charlie Chaplin composition.

Robert Downey Sr., who is married to Irish-American writer Rosemary Rogers, has also continued his film career, with films such as Up the Academy, America, Rented Lips, and Hugo Pool.

He is currently working on a documentary about the music of Kurt Weill, which features Fiona Apple and her sister, Maude Maggart, and is also doing a remake of Putney Swope in which Downey Jr. appears. We can only hope that Jr. will be willing to play a puppy again in a remake of Pound.

– MM

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Suzanne Farrell egendary ballerina Suzanne Farrell retired from the stage in 1989 but her recent work with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet company marks an achievement in the male-dominated world of ballet direction and choreography.

Farrell joined George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet in the fall of 1961. Her grace and flair for drama quickly made her Balanchine's “inspiring angel.” She went on to become an icon for the era and is often proclaimed to be one of the greatest dancers of the century.

In 1990 Farrell wrote an autobiography titled Holding On to Air. She has honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Notre Dame and Georgetown University.

Farrell is also the recipient of a National Medal of the Arts (2003), the Nijinsky Award (Monaco Dance Forum 2004), a 2005 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and the Kennedy Center’s Capezio Dance Award (2005). In 2004 she was featured in the documentary Balanchine.

In July 2007, the Suzanne Farrell Ballet returned to the Kennedy Center, and received rave reviews, with two programs that included Divertimento Brillante (Glinka) and Concierto de Mozart (Balanchine), newly restaged works that had not been seen in 40 years.

– BE

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John Doyle

JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

orn in 1971 in Dublin to a family of musicians and singers, John Doyle was surrounded by traditional music from his earliest years. His father Sean is a remarkable singer and collector of songs, with a vast repertoire of traditional ballads committed to memory. Tommy Doyle, John’s County Sligo grandfather, taught him his first instrumental tunes. Two of his three brothers are musicians, as are various uncles, cousins, and other family members.

John was playing professionally by the age of 16, and soon moved to New York City where he began playing with Eileen Ivers and Seamus Egan. He first rose to international prominence with Solas (Gaelic for “light”), the all-star Irish/American band whose emergence heralded the arrival of a new generation of bold, inventive traditional musicians. The mighty original Solas lineup of Doyle (whose guitar playing was both the harmonic and rhythmic foundation of the band’s relentlessly high-energy sound), John Williams (accordion), Winifred Horan (fiddle), Karan Casey (vocals), and Seamus Egan (banjo, flutes, pipes) recorded four immensely influential albums before Doyle left the group to seek a solo career. His latest album, Wayward Son, Doyle’s second solo release on Compass Records, showcases the guitarist’s genius for arrangement. Now an accomplished producer as well, Doyle has worked with such artists as Liz Carroll and Heidi Talbot.

Doyle, who currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife Cathy Peterson, continues to innovate, finding the seeds of his contemporary approach within the tradition itself.

– PH

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Will Ferrell ot only is Will Ferrell the King of Comedy but he is also a fiercely proud Irishman! The students of University College Dublin (UCD) got a special treat on January 22 when its Literary and Historical Society honored Ferrell with the James Joyce Award for his outstanding contribution to comedic acting. Arriving in full Irish rugby kit and black slip-ons, Ferrell was greeted with overwhelming fanfare and laughter.

Ferrell, famous for his work on Saturday Night Live and in movies such as Elf and Anchorman, spoke for 40 minutes to an audience of 1,200 students. “As I look out at the crowd, I see the future of Ireland, the future of Europe.

And let’s face it – the future looks pretty bleak,” he commented.

Ferrell also mentioned his new devotion to Ireland, telling the audience, “I’m so committed to my Irish roots that I intend to continue wearing this outfit upon my return to the U.S. I will also continue to drive on the left-hand side of the road.”

The actor/comedian had been on vacation in Ireland with his brother, Patrick, and his father, Roylee.

Although they traveled all around the country, the Ferrells spent most of their time in Co. Longford retracing their family roots.

When asked about the experience, Roylee Ferrell said, “We had a great time. You know, when our folks came over [to the U.S.] they didn’t know how to spell so they spelled it F-E-R-R-E-L-L and most everybody there spells it F-A-R-R-E-L-L. So everybody in Longford who had that last name came to see us, I think.”

Ferrell, who is currently on the big screen in Semi-Pro, has another screwball comedy, Stepbrothers, in which he stars with fellow Irish-American John C. Reilly, coming out in the summer.

– KH

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ionnula Flanagan who has given critically acclaimed performances in such movies as Waking Ned Devine, Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, and Transamerica, in which she played the estranged mother of a pre-op transgender man played by Felicity Huffman, has had another busy year on and off the screen. Highlights included a guest starring role in the critically acclaimed ABC series Lost, where she played one of “The Others.” She also reprised her role as Rose, matriarch of the Caffee family, in the second season of Showtime’s IrishAmerican drama Brotherhood.

The actress, who was brought up in Dublin speaking both Irish and English, had her breakthrough in Ireland in 1965 with an Irish-speaking role in An Triail. Not one to let her Irish language skills grow rusty, Flanagan, last year, starred in the Irish language series, Paddywhackery, playing the ghost of Peig Sayers (the iconic Irish-speaking storyteller) who visits a young man trying to open several Gaelic-speaking business ventures to avail of language grants from the government.

Off-screen, Flanagan continues to support the plight of the undocumented Irish in America. So strong is her commitment that Flanagan pulled out of the US-Ireland Alliance pre-Oscar party, due to comments made by the organization’s president, Trina Vargo, who suggested that a special deal for Irish illegals amounted to “putting lipstick on a pig.”

Speaking to Irish America, the actress made it clear that she supports fair and reasonable immigration reform for all immigrants, not just the Irish.

Flanagan, who will receive an honorary degree from University College, Galway later this year, also starred in Some Mother’s Son, a movie about the 1981 Hunger Strike. She has been outspoken about the need for peace with justice in Northern Ireland for many years, and was the first of the Hollywood elite to welcome Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams to Los Angeles. Flanagan is married to Dr. Garrett O’Connor, who is the medical director of the Professional Recovery Program at the Betty Ford Center.

– DOK

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MARK STEDMAN/PHOTOCALL IRELAND

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Fionnula Flanagan

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Brian Mulligan hen Brian Mulligan first started singing in high school musicals in his hometown of Endicott, New York, his Irish parents thought it was just a phase. The high school honor student also saw singing as a hobby but it turned out to be a valuable asset when it came time to earn the money for college.

Now, ten years later, Mulligan is a member of the Metropolitian Opera, where he has received praise from Opera News for his “velvety, evenly and effortly produced baritone and nuance-rich phrasing.” Most recently he appeared as Marcello in the Met’s production of Puccini’s La Boheme.

Brian, whose parents are from County Leitrim, attributes his musical versatility to his growing up in a typical Irish family where music is handed on from generation to generation. In a recent interview he told Cahir O’Doherty of the Irish Voice that he would revel in the opportunity to sing sentimental Irish songs like “Danny Boy.” “I may sing at the Met but I’m an Irish-American.

These songs are my heritage too.”

– BE

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The Dropkick Murphys n 1995 a group of friends in South Boston looking to play music for fun started practicing in the basement of a friend’s barbershop with a goal of combining the punk rock, Irish folk, rock and hardcore influences they had grown up with. From out of these sessions the Dropkick Murphys were formed.

The group has come a long way since then: in 2004 their version of the Boston Red Sox’s anthem became the theme song to the Sox’s World Series run, and in 2006 their music was featured in the Martin Scorsese film The Departed.

Building a name for themselves by touring nonstop around the world, the Dropkick’s sell-out St. Patrick’s Day weekend shows in Boston are now the stuff of legend.

The Dropkick’s first full-length album Do or Die was released in 1998 and the group has had numerous albums since then. 2007 saw the issue of Dropkick Murphy’s sixth album and first major label debut The Meanest of Times.

The band is in the midst of a tour that started on January 31 in Dublin and will play dates all over Europe and the States before culminating with a gig in Perth, Australia on May 31.

In 2008, Marc Orrell announced that he is leaving the band and that Tim Brennan will replace him as full-time guitarist. Despite these changes there are sure to be great things ahead for the Dropkick Murphys and many more IrishAmerican rock anthems to come.

– BE

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Jack O’Brien rom Shakespeare, to musical comedy, to opera – Jack O’Brien is as versatile in his career as he is as a director. But these days, he is known around New York City for directing two trilogies at Lincoln Center, back to back.

O’Brien spent the fall of 2006 and winter and spring of 2007 at Lincoln Center.

First, he directed Tom Stoppard’s trilogy of plays The Coast of Utopia for Lincoln Center Theater, and then Giacomo Puccini’s trilogy of operas Il Trittico for the Metropolitan Opera.

He received a Tony Award for The Coast of Utopia, which he can add to a very long list of awards and nominations including eight Best Direction Tony Awards.

Next on the plate for O’Brien, who recently left his post as Artistic Director of San Diego’s Old Globe Theater after 26 years, is converting the screenplay Catch Me If You Can into a musical comedy with songs by Marc Saiman and Scott Wittman of Hairspray fame.

O’Brien, whose Irish roots lie in County Tipperary, was born in Saginaw, Michigan. – BE

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Rosie O’Donnell osie O’Donnell’s second memoir, Celebrity Detox: The Fame Game was released in 2007. In the book, Rosie equates fame to drug addiction and discusses her departure from The View. The book debuted at #5 on the New York Times bestselling list.

The New Yorker from Bayside, Queens, whose dad was born in Belfast, lost her Irish-American mother to breast cancer when she was 11 years old, after which her father took Rosie and her four siblings to Northern Ireland to live for a time.

Rosie began her career in comedy clubs in New York, and had her first TV break in 1984 on Star Search. From there it was on to movies such as A League of Their Own and Sleepless in Seattle.

In 1996, Rosie landed her own television show, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, which was a huge hit. She left the show in 2002, and after a brief stint in the magazine publishing world, returned to The View in 2006 – where she had a famous run-in with Donald Trump before leaving the show. Rosie, married her partner Kelli Carpenter in San Francisco in 2004, the couple are parents to four children and one foster child.

– BE

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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Kelli O’Hara onsidered one of Broadway’s brightest ingénues, singer and actress Kelli O’Hara has been nominated for two Tony Awards, for her performance as Clara Johnson in The Light in the Piazza and as Babe Williams in The Pajama Game, in which she starred alongside the likes of Harry Connick Jr. and Michael McKean.

A native of Oklahoma, Kelli graduated from Oklahoma City University with a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance/ opera. After winning the state Metropolitan Opera Competition, O’Hara made the big move to New York City, enrolling in the Lee Strasberg Institute.

An appearance in Jekyll and Hyde marked Kelli’s Broadway debut, quickly followed by roles in Sondheim’s Follies, Sweet Smell of Success and Dracula.

Most recently, Kelli has just finished taping two pilots for NBC’s Blue Blood and All Rise.

She also played Dot/Marie in the Los Angeles reprise of Sunday in the Park with George.

O’Hara will also appear in Industrial for Cava Freixenet directed by Martin Scorsese.

Kelli’s New York fans can look forward to her return to Lincoln Center this spring when she will star as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific.

O’Hara resides in New York with her husband, Greg. – BE

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J.J. Sheridan Sheridan is one of Ireland’s J.J. leading pianists and composers, whose many albums include The Art of Turlough O’Carolan, in which the famous airs and laments of the blind Irish harpist and composer are presented in magnificent new piano arrangements.

The son of professional musicians, J.J. began studying the piano at age 5, and in his late teens was accepted on scholarship to the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin.

At 18 he composed “Saint Canice’s Mass” which brought him national attention. One year later he won the Esposito Medal at Dublin’s Feis Ceoil (Ireland’s premier piano competition).

J.J., whose many albums include Irish Piano Classics, The Andrew Lloyd Webber Piano Album, and An Irish Piano Christmas, has appeared in Carnegie Hall and Boston Symphony Hall. He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and performs his one man show, “The Art of Turlough O’Carolan,” at various venues throughout the world.

– PH

Saoirse Ronan ew York-born Irish teenage actor and Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan is a lady with her head set squarely on her talented shoulders. “Hollywood is okay, but I wouldn’t want to live there. As I said to my Mam, I might buy a house there for my work but that’s it. Maybe it’s because I’m Irish, but I’d much prefer to live in Carlow rather than in Los Angeles. I’m sure it’s a very nice place, but my home’s better,” she recently told Cahir O’Doherty of the Irish Voice. But after an amazingly creepy performance as Briony in Atonement, the Motion Picture Academy has recognized her talent and she is now an actress in demand in Tinseltown.

Currently in New Zealand filming The Lovely Bones with director Peter Jackson, Saoirse is about to wrap her sixth movie in just two years. Her father Paul (pictured above with Saoirse) is a well-known actor in Ireland and the family spent the early part of Saoirse’s life (Saoirse is Gaelic for Freedom) in the Big Apple while Paul pursued his career. Now the family calls Carlow home, not that Saoirse has seen much if it lately!

“Unless something really special like Atonement comes up, I’m going back to school in Carlow for a while now. I mean, I’m after starting high school and I haven’t even been there yet! I can’t wait to get back,” Saoirse revealed. No ordinary schoolgirl.

– DOK

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KT Sullivan amed Kathleen after her father’s favorite Irish tune, “I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen,” the cabaret singer and Broadway star decided to go by “KT” to distinguish herself from countless other Katys.

A winner of an MAC Award for best review, KT has starred in many Broadway and OffBroadway roles. Sullivan’s most recent cabaret show titled Autumn in New York marked her 10th solo appearance at the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan. The show received a rave review in The New York Times which called KT “a sexy, wide-eyed comedian with a semi-operatic voice” who turns the journey from Oklahoma to Broadway into “a thrill ride.”

KT’s great-great-grandfather came over from County Kerry during the famine, emigrating first to Boston, then to Birmingham, Alabama. On her grandmother’s side, the Corbetts hailed from County Cork. KT stays true to her Irish roots not only by performing St. Patrick’s Day shows and including Irish songs in her repertoire but in her personal life as well. The chanteuse is married to former Yeats Society president and prominent Irish-American Stephen Downey.

– BE

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Ciaran Sheehan iaran Sheehan certainly knows how to bring a crowd to their feet. The Broadway actor and singer has headlined sold-out Carnegie Hall shows three times in the last two years.

Born in Dublin, Ciaran moved to New York to study acting with Kathryn Gately and Bobby Lewis. Since then he has appeared on Broadway playing leading roles in Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables, and on television in Law and Order, One Life to Live and Late Night with David Letterman.

Never one to stray too far from his Irish roots, Ciaran has also appeared in two PBS specials, From Galway to Broadway and Frank McCourt’s The Irish and How They Got That Way. He has also starred in shows at the Irish Repertory Theater in New York.

Phantom of the Opera is considered by many Sheeran’s breakthrough role. It garnered him critical acclaim: “Sheehan has the kind of soaring stage voice from which indelible Broadway moments are made,” The New York Times said of his starring role – he made over 1,000 appearances as The Phantom and collected a large fan base along the way. He also graced the New York stage and regional theaters around the country in the musical The Molly Maguires which portrays the plight of the famine Irish who migrated to the coal fields of Pennsylvania.

Ciaran is married to New York City Ballet and Broadway star Alexia Hess. The couple has three children – Kyle, Hennessy and Brendan. – BE

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Molly Shannon olly Shannon’s performance in last year’s Independent movie Year of the Dog showed that the comedian who built a career out of the “crazy” characters she developed during her time on Saturday Night Live has depth and range as an actress. As an unmarried office worker who becomes unhinged when her pet beagle Pencil is poisoned (accidently by J.C. Reilly), she is as touchingly strange and totally believable as her slow dissolve is played out on the big screen Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Molly was raised by an IrishAmerican father who encouraged her comedic leanings.

(Tragically, her mother, younger sister and cousin died in a car accident when Molly was four.)

Following small roles in Twin Peaks and In Living Color, Molly made a breakthrough in 1995, when she landed on Saturday Night Live. She went on to appear in films such as Never Been Kissed, Analyze This, and American Splendor, and on television in series such as Will and Grace, and recently, Pushing Daisies.

Molly, who received her BFA from NYU’s prestigious Tisch School for the Arts, is married to artist Fritz Chesnut. They have two children, Stella and Nolan.

Watch for Molly in the upcoming NBC project Kath and Kim a series that focuses on the relationship between a mother and daughter.

– BE

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Trinity Dance Company ver twenty years ago the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance established itself as the first and only American Irish Dance team ever to bring home a gold medal from the World Championships in Ireland. Though their success at the World’s is still unprecedented, for a while it was beginning to look as if Trinity would never see that kind of glory again, but the 2007 World Championships in Glasgow proved a lucky setting for Trinity and the academy brought home a gold medal in the Junior Girls Figure Dance choreography. Trinity also captured two silver and one bronze medal, upping their world title count to an extraordinary 28 titles. Among the standout solo dancers was Jillian Oury of Downers Grove, Illinois who took home a second place silver medal in the Girls 16-17 category.

The school’s success is thanks in large part to founder and artistic director Mark Howard who formed Trinity when he was only 17. He started out giving lessons in church basements and built the company into the largest Irish dance program in the world with 21 locations throughout Illinois and Wisconsin.

Howard borrows from Irish myth and legend to create intricate choreographies – long before Riverdance, he was choreographing award-winning dances that pushed the boundaries of traditional Irish dance.

In addition to appearing in films and talk shows and performing all over the world, the Trinity dance academy has also been the subject of two national PBS television programs and showcased in the ABC special The Dignity of Children.

– BE

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Pauline Turley s Vice Chairwoman of the Board of the Irish Arts Center in New York City, Pauline Turley heads up a thriving center struggling to meet the demands of its audience due to the lack of space in its current location.

“Besides being on the board, my role is heading up a capital feasibility study for a new facility. It’s been a longtime goal of mine to see an Irish Arts Center that rivals Scandinavia House or the Asian Center or the Alliance Français,” Turley, a Newry native and theater and drama graduate from Trinity College Dublin, told Irish America recently. The Arts Center, founded in 1972 and located in Hell’s Kitchen, is a hive of cultural activity and has acted as a home for many Irish artists to launch successful careers stateside, Terry George and Jim Sheridan among them. Turley first started in the center as an intern, working her way up to Executive Director in 1999, before assuming her current role two years ago.

In 2006, with the help of City Speaker Christine Quinn, the center was able to sign a memorandum of understanding for the sale of a new site in Hell’s Kitchen for a nominal price of $1. Feasibility and sustainability studies are in progress to ensure that a move will be viable.

Meanwhile, the events and exhibits just keep coming. “Masters in Collaboration: Ireland’s Musical Greats in Partnership with a Generation of Artists,” which was opened by singer Paul Brady in February, will continue throughout the year, and the family-oriented Irish Dance Festival will take place in May. – DOK

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Elie Wiesel - Concern’s 2007 Worldwide Seeds of Hope Award Winner

The following pages honor those who have assumed this duty with enthusiasm, vigor and compassion.

COMMUNITY

“This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century – solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others.”

Concern

S

eamus Heaney’s quote “Who is my neighbor?

My neighbor is all mankind” has become something of a motto for the Irish relief organization Concern Worldwide, which has been serving the world’s neediest neighbors for over 40 years.

It was founded in 1968, when, in his first assignment as Diocesan Director of Catholic Action in Nigeria and Parish Priest of Uli, Father Aengus Finucane found himself involved in the bitter civil war between Nigeria and Biafra. An emergency airstrip in the parish of Uli was widened in order to take up to forty flights of relief supplies a night.

Father Finucane and his parishioners unloaded and distributed these essential goods under conditions of extreme danger. “Uli was bombed every day,” Father Finucane recalled, “but the Biafrans were lined up in the forest with truckloads of gravel . . . to fill the holes in the runway.”

From these experiences of hardship, suffering and conflict, Concern was born, with Fr. Aengus and his brother Fr. Jack among the founders.

For years to come, Father Finucane traveled to disaster areas, working with Concern in Bangladesh, Thailand and Uganda, and witnessing the horrors of Rwanda first hand.

Father Aengus in Haiti.

Siobhan Walsh

In 1981, he became Concern’s chief executive, a post he held until 1997, when he became honorary president of Concern Worldwide U.S. The organization, which is headquartered in Dublin, set up its U.S. operation in 1994 when Siobhan Walsh, whose work in devising a unique

campaign for building homes for refugees, brought Concern the Gold Award from Europe’s top marketing competition, transferred to New York to work as part of a small team for Concern in America. In 1996, Walsh became executive director of Concern U.S., with headquarters in New York and an office in Chicago.

Over the past 14 years, Walsh, who like Fr. Aengus is a native of County Limerick, has become the dynamic force behind the organization in the U.S. With the aid of the American Board, chaired

by Irish-American of the Year Tom Moran, the organization’s profile has never been higher. Concern’s 11th annual

“Seeds of Hope” dinner on December 5, 2007 at the Ritz-Carlton Battery Park in New York City, was the best attended dinner to date, with some 520 guests and over $1.5 million raised for the world’s neediest people.

Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor who was the “Seeds of Hope” honoree, paid tribute to Concern, which marks its 40th anniversary in 2008.

“You are there when you are needed,” he said of Ireland’s largest international humanitarian organization.

For all that they do, Irish America is pleased to honor Fr. Finucane, Siobhan Walsh and all the members of the Concern team, who do much for so many. - Patricia Harty

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Dr. Kevin Cahill s a doctor of medicine, Kevin Cahill has offered his vast expertise to a number of national and international organizations including the United Nations and the NYPD, where he is Chief Medical Advisor for Counterterrorism.

Dr. Cahill began his medical career in 1961, studying tropical disease in the slums of Calcutta beside Mother Teresa. His relief efforts have since spanned the globe and include treating refugees in Sudan, and serving concurrently as the Special Assistant to the Governor on Health Affairs, Chairman of Health Planning Commission, and Chairman of the Health Research Council of New York State. He was among the first to predict the famine in Somalia and has been caught behind the lines of armed conflict in Beirut and Managua.

Aside from his work in the field, Dr. Cahill has published several books including To Bear Witness: A Journey of Healing and Solidarity which brings together a selection of his writings including essays, op-ed pieces, speeches and other works.

Dr. Cahill, who is the recipient of numerous awards, including 25 honorary degrees, is a chairman of the Department of International Health at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, director of the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs at Fordham University, president of the Center for International Health and Cooperation, and a clinical professor of tropical medicine and parasitic diseases at New York University Medical School. He has for many years served as the president of the American Irish Historical Society, which is based in New York City.

– BE

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Loretta Brennan Glucksman s National Chairman of The American Ireland Fund and co-founder of Glucksman Ireland House (the Center for Irish Studies at New York University), Loretta Brennan Glucksman has been at the forefront of helping to fund cultural projects in Ireland and keeping Irish-American culture alive in New York, where over 700 students take courses in Irish culture, arts and learning at Glucksman Ireland House.

Founded in 1993 when Loretta and her husband, Lew Glucksman, donated $3 million to New York University, Glucksman Ireland House is reaching out to all in its efforts to spread Irish Studies. As Loretta noted at the U.S.-Ireland Forum held in November: “At Glucksman Ireland House we teach the Irish language and it is not all Irish kids, it’s Asian kids, it’s African-American kids. To walk into that classroom would just lift your heart. The Irish language, which for so long was lying fallow as a dead language, is now hot, and the best fun is talking to the kids and learning their motivation for taking on a pretty tough language. I think that culture and education can cross a whole bunch of boundaries that seem insurmountable.”

The Glucksmans also supported many educational projects in Ireland.

The University of Limerick and University College Cork have particularly benefited from their generosity. Lew Glucksman died in 2006.

Loretta is also fiercely proud of the efforts The American Ireland Fund have made in funding integrated schools for Protestant and Catholic children in Northern Ireland. “When people see children who have never been allowed to be educated together doing just that, they want to be involved. I have every optimistic hope that our efforts will help in a very real way towards peace and opportunity,” she told the Irish Examiner.

The Fund, which encourages peace and reconciliation in Ireland through culture and the arts, education and community development, is committed to helping Northern Ireland prosper economically now that it is at peace.

A third-generation Irish-American whose maternal grandparents, McHugh/Murray, immigrated from Leitrim in Famine times, Loretta grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania in a predominantly Irish community. – DOK

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Kelly Candaele (2nd row, left, with blue shirt) and a group of his students visit with John Hume in Derry.

Kelly Candaele wo summers ago Kelly Candaele took fifteen students from California State University, Chico and traveled to Belfast to shoot a documentary film on the Northern Ireland peace process. By the time they were finished with their three weeks in Ireland, the students had interviewed not only paramilitaries and community leaders on both sides of the divide but Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume, former Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds, George Mitchell (chairman of the peace talks), Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, and the Archbishops of the Anglican and Catholic churches. The resulting film, When Hope and History Rhymed, premiered at Paramount Studios in May, 2007, and is now distributed in college and university classes throughout the country.

Kelly, whose most recent documentary film looks at how former gang members have turned their lives around by joining building trades unions to help rebuild the City of Los Angeles, is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Philosophy at California State University, Chico. His mother, Helen O’Callaghan, who traced her roots to County Cork, played for five years in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League along with her sister Margaret. The sisters were the basis for the documentary film A League of Their Own, which Kelly produced in 1989. The documentary aired on PBS, and was the inspiration for the feature film of the same name that came out in 1992. Helen, who grew up in Vancouver, will be posthumously inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame this May in Vancouver. She passed away in 1992.

– PH

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Sister Patricia Cruise ister Patricia A. Cruise, affectionately known as “Sister Tricia” to her colleagues and the thousands of children she has served, is the President and CEO of Covenant House, the largest privately funded nonprofit agency in North and Central America.

Sister Tricia, who assumed leadership of the organization in September 2003, is responsible for the overall management and longterm strategic planning of Covenant House, which includes 21 sites in six countries as well as the corporate headquarters in New York City.

The Covenant House mission to serve young people is a familiar theme for Sister Tricia, who joined the organization after nearly 25 years in education and academic administration. Prior to her current position at Covenant House, Sister Tricia was the Executive Vice President and CEO at Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Sister Tricia was born in Edenton, North Carolina, to an Irish father and an Italian mother, and raised in Winchester, Massachusetts. The first of four children, she has three brothers and sisters-in-law along with five nieces and one nephew.

She recently celebrated her 25th anniversary as a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati, where her parents now live.

– PH

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n 2007, Susan Davis chaired the historic U.S.-Ireland Business Summit, bringing together senior government, industry and academic executives from Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United States. Her work resulted in the establishment of the groundbreaking U.S.-Ireland R&D Partnership in Information Technology and Biotechnology.

Susan, who is chairman of Susan Davis International, one of the premier communications and public affairs agencies in the U.S., headquartered in Washington, D.C., is also chairman of the Irish Breakfast Club, and president of the National Assembly of Irish American Republicans. She is a board member of many organizations, including the Washington Ireland Program for Service and Leadership; Glanbia North American Advisory Board; Vital Voices Global Partnership; and UCD Smurfit Graduate School of Business, North American Advisory Board. She is a past president of the prestigious International Women’s Forum representing 3,000 women leaders worldwide.

In 2007, her company worked on behalf of Rediscover Northern Ireland, a trade, tourism, cultural and education program designed to reintroduce Northern Ireland to the U.S. Susan’s paternal grandmother, Anne Barry, had roots in Co. Cork, while her paternal grandfather’s family hailed from Northern Ireland.

– PH

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Svein Jorgensen n the 1980s, Svein Jorgensen left Ireland for a life in New York City. Upon arrival Jorgensen’s goal was unclear.

His first position was at the Martha Washington Hotel, a residence for women in distress and need of shelter. As he helped the women reestablish themselves in their communities and rebuild their lives, Jorgensen faced the cold realities of how the homeless live. During this time also, a friend of Jorgensen’s was diagnosed with HIV – and Jorgensen realized where his future lay. In the ensuing years, he has become a savior to many of the city’s homeless and sick population.

In 1996, Jorgensen took a consulting position at Praxis Housing Initiatives, a nonprofit organization that provides transitional housing for New York City’s homeless, many of whom have HIV or AIDS. He has been working with Praxis ever since.

Today, he is the chief operating officer, in charge of quality assurance and day-to-day management for Praxis’ four facilities in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Born in Norway to an Irish mother, Svein moved with his family to County Cork when he was six years old to be closer to his mother’s family.

– MD

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Susan Davis

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Bryan Lonegan ryan Lonegan spent 18 years at the Legal Aid Society in New York City where he was the only pro bono lawyer available to non-citizen New Yorkers who were detained and facing deportation because of their criminal records. He also started a hotline to provide information and advice to the families of people arrested by immigration authorities.

Currently a visiting clinical professor at the Center for Social Justice, Seton Hall University School of Law, where he supervises a Human Rights and Immigrant Workers Clinic that has represented asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey, Bryan is also developing a program to provide legal assistance to day laborers who have been cheated of their wages. The author of Immigration Detention and Removal: A Guide for Detainees and Their Families, Bryan is also active in a program started by Seton Hall Law School dean Patrick Hobbs which supports a struggling Catholic law school in Haiti.

Bryan’s great-grandfather Patrick Lonegan came to the U.S. in the late 1800’s and worked as a horse trainer for the NYPD. Bryan is married to Mary Kuehn and the father of Arthur Lonegan II. – PH

B

Don Keenan n 1993, Don Keenan formed the Keenan’s Kids Foundation, Atlanta, to deal with the needs of children at-risk in the legal system. The program raises community awareness about child issues on everything from playground safety to trigger locks for guns. Keenan is also the driving force behind fundraising efforts to provide a new home for the Murphy family of Atlanta, who have adopted 23 children with special needs.

Raised in Morehead City, North Carolina, Keenan knew from an early age that good things do not come easy to all. After his father died, he was raised by his grandfather who told him stories of “No Irish Need Apply” signs and the travails of his Irish ancestors. Keenan never forgot those stories.

At the age of 34, he was the youngest lawyer ever inducted into the Inner Circle of Advocates, and has received numerous honors, including the Chief Justice Award for Civility and Professionalism (the highest honor possible for a lawyer in Georgia). He was also named one of the best medical negligence lawyers in the United States by the National Law Journal. In a nod to both his Irish and Southern roots, Keenan has also been the driving force behind Irish America’s annual “Stars of the South” gala in Atlanta, which honors Irish-Americans from the Southern U.S. – MD

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Dr. Austin Fragomen, Sergeant John Borders, Flip Mullen and Dr. John Kennedy.

Mission Possible: How Irish-born Dr. John Kennedy and Irish-American former firefighter Flip Mullen have brought a new lease on life to wounded soldiers. Story by April Drew.

W

hile guests and honorees of Irish America’s Top 100 awards evening held on March 11 last year lined up for a photo opportunity with “Person of the Year” and now presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton, two men – both honorees – got talking.

Within minutes a relationship was formed that over the course of the next year would help several wounded war soldiers take back their lives.

Flip Mullen, organizer of a four-day summer sports festival in Rockaway, New York for wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, was one partner in the new venture. The other was Dr. John Kennedy, director of the Running Clinic in the Gait Laboratory at the

56 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

Hospital for Special Surgery, New York.

On the night, Mullen, a retired NYPD and FDNY officer, received an award for his work with the Wounded Warriors Project – an organization set up by John Melia (also an honoree) to provide programs and services for wounded veterans and their families.

Kennedy was honored for his work in Santo Domingo where he performs 15 to 20 orthopedic surgeries free of charge for patients who need it the most.

Fast-forward one year.

Mullen, whose Irish roots lie in western Ireland, and Kennedy, a Dublin native, will share the stage at Irish America’s 2008 Top 100 for their successful and blossoming partnership in saving the limbs of America’s wounded war heroes.

The relationship is simple.

Mullen and other members of the Wounded Warriors Project advise those injured soldiers who may require a second medical opinion to seek the advice of Dr. Kennedy. To date, Kennedy and his associate, Dr. Austin Fragomen have met with several war-wounded soldiers, listened to their stories, looked at their wounds and in some cases performed miraculous surgeries that have saved their legs from amputation.

Kennedy, who is actively involved in the treatment of team members from the New York Giants and the New York Red Bulls, began his new challenge by saving the leg of Army Captain Brian Jantzen. Surgeons told the young captain, whose legs, feet and ankle bones were shattered when his

vehicle was hit while on patrol in Ramadi, Iraq, that amputation was necessary. “I was real close. I even had the appointment scheduled.

It was literally days away,” Jantzen told WCBS recently.

Through Mullen and the Wounded Warriors Project, Jantzen met with Kennedy for a second opinion.

The Dublin doctor saved his legs. “It’s a blessing. It’s a gift. I just feel so lucky, I wonder why it was me that got to be so lucky,” said Jantzen.

Kennedy’s work with the soldiers was making big waves among the wounded so it wasn’t long before Mullen was getting dozens of calls requesting an appointment with the surgeon, who is praised far and wide for his disciplined, diligent and passionate work.

In December, 2007,

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Kennedy operated on Sergeant John Borders.

Borders had crushed both his legs, lost his ring finger, lacerated his liver, damaged his eyes and face in an explosion that happened while he was on patrol in Taji, Iraq in 2006. He had undergone 50 operations, including the amputation of his left leg, and met with Kennedy and his team as a last ditch effort to save his remaining leg.

“I was told I was going to lose my leg,” Guerian told Irish America from his bed in Syracuse, New York. A member of the Wounded Warriors Project heard that Guerian was in dire need of a second opinion so they made the call and spoke with Jeff’s IrishAmerican mother, Colleen.

The Guerians jumped at the chance of hope, and in January, Kennedy and his team operated on the young

the soldiers and their families a home while in New York.

John and Mollie Borders and their two children spent three weeks over the Christmas holidays with the Mullens. “It was wonderful to have John and his family with us, and it was even more fantastic to see John dancing in our house the other night,” said Mullen.

Explaining that the relationship with wound-

Speaking about meeting Kennedy last year, Mullen said it was destiny that brought them together “Thanks to fate and Irish America magazine, we are able to help a whole lot of fellas. . . . Kennedy is not just a second opinion. He is a wonderful top-notch surgeon.

There is normally a two-year waiting list for patients to have a consultation with the doctor, but he makes huge exceptions for our soldiers.”

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“It’s a blessing. It’s a gift. I just feel so lucky, I wonder why it was me that got to be so lucky,” said Jantzen.

John and Mollie Borders with Brittany and Xander.

July, 2007: Borders (center) with fellow Wounded Warriors and volunteers in Rockaway, New York.

“Dr. Kennedy is a life saver. We really think it will work out,” Borders’ wife Mollie told Irish America recently, explaining that while her husband will have to go through seven intense weeks of physical therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center before he will know the full accomplishment of his operation, for the first time since his injury he is without constant pain.

Dr. Kennedy’s most recent success story lies with Jeffrey Guerian, a 25-year-old marine who was wounded in Afghanistan in 2004.

soldier’s leg, giving him the optimism of one day walking on his own again. Guerian, who also lost sight in his eyes, explained, “I have to wear a brace for ten weeks before I will know the full extent of the success of the operation.” Although Guerian admits his pain is still at an all-time high, Dr. Kennedy has promised to get it down to a manageable level. “I look forward to that day,” Guerian said eagerly.

Not only does Mullen put the recovering soldiers in contact with the Irish doctor, he and his wife Rita also give

ed warriors and Dr. Kennedy is only at the early stages, Mullen said that three more patients are in the process of having consultations with the doctor. “We have another three guys that will be seeing Dr. Kennedy soon. One has a problem with his ankle, the other with his leg and the third, would you believe is Brian Jantzen’s roommate, Jim Ollinger, another captain in the Army, whom I originally met with Brian a few months ago. This guy is currently in law school so we are trying to coordinate their schedules.”

Flip Mullen with Captain Brian Jantzen following his operation.

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Caroline Kennedy

THE JOHN F. KENNEDY LIBRARY FOUNDATION.

The following pages honor those who have inspired and nurtured others by bestowing the gift of education.

EDUCATION

“To the extent that we are all educated and informed, we will be more equipped to deal with gut issues that divide us.”

Rev. Joseph McShane everend Joseph McShane, President of Fordham University, has devoted his life to education. He has served in numerous high-level positions at universities around the country, including president of the University of Scranton. In 2003, he returned to Fordham as its 32nd president, having previously served as dean. Fordham is now ranked in the top 23 schools in the country, and McShane’s long-term goal for the university is to make Fordham the country’s preeminent Catholic institution of higher learning.

Reverend McShane grew up in New York City and graduated from Regis High School. In 1977, McShane was ordained as a Jesuit priest. He received his M.Div. and S.T.M. degrees from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and his Ph.D. in the history of Christianity from the University of Chicago. He traces his Irish ancestry to Co. Louth on his grandfather’s side and Co. Armagh on his grandmother’s.

– MD

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Caroline Kennedy aroline Kennedy has not relied on her name alone. With a BA from Radcliffe and a Juris Doctrate from Columbia Law School, she set her own course as a writer and a lawyer. In 1991 she co-wrote the New York Times bestseller In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action, which presents the Bill of Rights in a manner accessible to the general public. Other published works include The Right to Privacy and The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Meanwhile her current book, A Family Christmas, published in 2007, contains excerpts from her favorite writers as well as personal pieces written about her childhood.

Kennedy inherited her mother’s love of New York, and her name has long been linked with the city’s cultural and community causes, particularly education. She is the vice chair of The Fund for Public Schools and a member of the national board of directors for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. She helped raise over $65 million for the city’s public schools during her tenure (2002-2004) as the chief executive for the Office of Strategic Partnership for the New York City Department of Education.

Kennedy also serves as the President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and is honorary chairman of the American Ballet Theater. In 1989, she helped establish the Profile in Courage Awards, which are given annually to those (often elected officials) who have made decisions of conscience over career. Kennedy lives in New York City with her husband, Edwin Arthur Schlossberg, and their three children.

– MD

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James J. Murphy im Murphy teaches courses in Modern Irish Literature and Culture at Villanova University. Since its founding in 1842, Villanova has had a rich connection to Ireland. With a nod to that history and to his own personal background, Murphy initiated the university’s Irish Studies program in 1979. Since that time he has nurtured and developed the program, which is now one of the oldest and largest undergraduate programs of its kind in the U.S. Students study Ireland and Irish America from the interlocking perspectives of traditional academic disciplines and through courses taught by a visiting distinguished Irish writer-in-residence. In Ireland, the Villanova Center for Irish Studies is based at The National University, Galway, where students now study throughout the year.

The first of his family to receive a college education, Murphy went from St. Augustine’s HS in Brooklyn to Manhattan College (BA ’62), Niagara University (MA ’63) and then on to Temple University (Ph.D. ’71).

Both of his parents emigrated in the 1920s – his mother Kathleen Sloyan from Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo, and his father Patrick Murphy from Cloone, Co. Leitrim. Jim says, “My work is a way to thank them and to reach back to the world that they left behind. Growing up in an Irish world in Brooklyn has been one of the great shaping experiences of my life.” He is working on a memoir based on his parents’ experiences.

“For me, being Irish-American has given me two rich and complex worlds to explore.”

– PH

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Maureen Murphy s director of the Great Irish Famine Curriculum, former chair of the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures and past president of the American Conference for Irish Studies, Professor Maureen Murphy, pictured above (right) with students from the Yeats Summer School, has done an impressive job of advancing Irish studies. Aside from her teaching duties she is an interim dean of the School of Education and Allied Human Services and equal opportunity advisor at Hofstra University.

Murphy also serves as the assistant director of the Yeats Summer School in Sligo, and is the director of the Great Irish Famine curriculum, funded by the New York State Education Department.

A highly-regarded writer, Murphy has written over one hundred articles and book chapters.

She is the lone American senior editor of the Dictionary of Irish Biography, which will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2009. A University College, Dublin Fulbright Fellow, she has particularly enjoyed her place on the interview board for the Senator George Mitchell Fellowships in 2004 and 2006.

Murphy traces her Irish roots to Ballinamuck, Co. Longford on her grandmother’s side and Mohill, Co. Leitrim on her grandfather’s. She lived in Inverin, Co. Galway for a time in 1965 to learn Irish and is an annual visitor.

– BE

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Sister Peggy McEntee

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Sister Peggy with her former student, playwright John Patrick Shanley.

play in Broadway history).

Sister James, now called Sister Peggy, was born Margaret McEntee but took the name Sister James, following the then Catholic rule of giving nuns men’s names. Sister Peggy now teaches at a school in New York’s West Village and lives in St. Vincent’s College.

Speaking with Irish America on the phone, Sister Peggy describes her Irish heritage.

“My paternal grandparents, Kitty Clark and James McEntee, came from County Cavan. They relocated to New York as did my maternal grandparents, Mary

Freeman and James Ware, who also came over from Ireland, from Roscommon.

My parents were Peggy Ware and James McEntee. I have one brother, also called James.”

Asked what had inspired her to become a teacher, Sister Peggy replied without hesitation, “My own teachers. I dearly loved the Sisters of Charity. From grades 1 to 12, I was taught at St. Margaret’s in Riverdale [Bronx].”

Discussing the first time she saw Doubt, Sister Peggy enthuses, “I was mesmerized by the play. It pulled me back in time. It was so real to

me. It made me feel as though I was back there teaching.” She explains, “We did not have a pedophile priest, but how clever of John Patrick to have used this plot with its much publicized contemporary overtones to demonstrate how important doubt can be.

“Doubt has a real value unto itself.”

And did she remember John Patrick?

“It took me a little bit of time and then I did remember a little boy called Johnny Shanley. He was a very shy child and rather quiet.

“I saw him as a boy with a keen mind – he was only six

PHOTO: ANNIE SCHWARTZ

f playwright John Patrick Shanley suffered first night nerves at the opening of Doubt at the Manhattan Theater in 2004, they paled by comparison to those he experienced at another performance when, at his invitation, his toughest critic of all was present.

“I felt great trepidation knowing that Sister James, my first grade teacher at St. Anthony’s, was sitting in the same row – just seats away,” laughs John Patrick.

Not only had Shanley based the character of the young nun in the play on his first grade teacher, but he had also used her real name.

The play is set in a Catholic school in the Bronx 1964, where the principal nun becomes suspicious when a priest takes an interest in one of the boy pupils, “I had received an e-mail saying, ‘I understand you are doing a play about the nuns and a character called Sister James. Well, Sister James is a friend of mine and she has heard about it and would love to come to see it,’ ” explains John Patrick, taking a break from directing the movie of Doubt, starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams, who plays Sister James.

“I was terrified,” recalls Shanley. “I thought ‘lawsuit!’

– I hadn’t even changed her name.

“Fortunately, she liked the play so much she went back four times including the time she was my guest at the opening night on Broadway and at the party with all the razzmatazz after.” (Doubt transferred to the Walter Kerr Theater where it became the largest-grossing non-musical

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– of Meryl Streep."

Getting back to your ‘day job,’ what is the most rewarding thing about teaching?

“The relational aspect that I have with young children. I love working with youth – it keeps me young.

“I’m very caught up in the Holocaust – I teach religion and the culture of peace.”

They say that to be a great teacher you have to be a good actor.

“I do feel as though I’m on stage in the classroom and I think I have to play a role sometimes to first just catch their eyes and then to get absolute attention,” laughs Sister Peggy. “It gets harder because these days the kids are so ‘techy’ – they have access to so much information from computers and such. In fact I have a couple of students who are so good I use them as my private secretaries to help me with my charity work.”

Asked about the lasting impact Sister James had on him, John Patrick recalls, “We were her first class, which

I did not know at the time.

I was six and she was twenty.

She was very tall and thin, very nice, and somehow I knew that she had red hair.

The principal was an older nun named Sister Aloysuis Marietta who was very strict.

And at the other end of the spectrum there was Sister James, the youngest nun, who was very nice.

Asked what impressed her about her former pupil as a writer, Sister Peggy responded: “His openness to seeking the truth. He is a seeker and searcher – he doesn’t proclaim things, he invites you, the audience, to join him in the experience of searching.” She continued, “I really got into that play. I nearly cried when, at the end, Cherry Jones as Sister Aloysius finally admitted her own doubts.

“No one has complete certitude, but most people won’t admit it, they pretend they know exactly what’s going on.”

Sister Peggy describes another hero of hers. “I read

Elie Weisel’s book Night [about the Holocaust] and saw him on Oprah, when he spoke about how questions unite us but answers divide us. Note that the word ‘question’ has ‘quest’ in it. As long as we are on this journey or quest, it’s a good thing. Somehow that hit me when I was watching Doubt; that I was getting the same feelings. John Patrick Shanley is a genius.”

Asked if he feels he has changed Sister Peggy’s life with Doubt, John Patrick says, “The fates change our lives. In fact, now she is helping as a technical advisor on the film.

She will have a credit in the film and of course be paid – but she took the vow of poverty so she will turn her earnings over to the church.”

Shanley concludes, “I dedicated Doubt to all the nuns, and I know she saw that in the program.

“That woman has done nothing but help children all her life, and I’m proud to say I was one of them.”

– Marilyn Cole Lownes

EDUCATION

years old – but I had no idea how very bright he was!”

How does it feel knowing that you taught him to read and write and are therefore part of it all?

“It’s beautiful to think about it in that way but it also scares me a bit,” Sister Peggy laughs, then more serious, she continues, “A teacher’s job is to educate – to lead the pupil into the land of knowledge. A good teacher does her job, then lets the pupil pass on. So I had my time, my time with John Patrick as a pupil and now it’s his time. And he seems to have done very well with it.”

Tell us about your other job as a technical advisor on the film.

“It’s been nothing but a joy.

And quite humbling at the same time. Life brings you surprises. I had no idea that I would, at my age, be roaming around with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. I’m having a ball!

“The other day I even ended up adjusting the ‘cat bows’– the ones that tie under the chin

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Pádraig Ó Cearúill native Irish speaker from the Gaeltacht area of Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal, Pádraig Ó Cearúill is the Language Lecturer of Irish Studies at New York University.

As a professor of Irish, Ó Cearúill inspires interest in the difficult language that, despite its lack of practical application, is increasing in popularity.

For Irish studies students at NYU’s Glucksman Ireland House, Pádraig’s classes have an almost cult-like following.

Incorporating various aspects of Irish culture with a strong emphasis on learning through songs and music, Ó Cearúill‘s classes spark an interest not just in the language but in all Irish cultural traditions. The classes not only attract IrishAmericans but students from many other cultural backgrounds.

Pádraig’s connection to his students has not gone unnoticed and in 2002 he was awarded the Golden Dozen Teaching Award based on students’ response to the NYU College of Arts and Science Student Council Evaluation forms. He holds degrees not only in Irish but in History and Education. Ó Cearúill came to NYU in 1995 as the Irish Language Lecturer and soon earned a second master’s degree in Communication and Culture.

A

Aside from his busy teaching schedule Ó Cearúill finds time to work as an occasional correspondent for Irish media including RTE, Telefís na Gaeltachta and BBC Northern Ireland. Pádraig is also active in the traditional Irish folk music community as a singer and consultant for artists translating lyrics or struggling with pronunciation.

– BE

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THE PEACEMAKERS

THE PEACEMAKERS Nowhere has the contribution of the Irish in America been more crucial than in Northern Ireland, where, at last, an atmosphere of peace and reconciliation reigns. It would not have happened were it not for the efforts of the dedicated IrishAmericans profiled in the following pages.They come from all corners of the community – corporate chieftain, politician, building contractor, pub owner, union representative – united in their desire for peace, they represent the many who, all across America, raised their voices and moved mountains.

Bill and Hillary Clinton As major supporters of the Irish peace process, Bill and Hillary Clinton moved mountains. The 42nd President of the United States took the strongest position on Irish issues ever taken by an American president. In 1994 he granted a visa to Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, fulfilling a campaign promise and stating “the U.S. cannot miss this rare opportunity for our country to participate in the peace process.”

Then in November, 1995, President Clinton became the first sitting American president to visit Northern Ireland. He and Hillary were greeted by tens of thousands of people lining the streets in Derry and Belfast. It was the first of several visits that the Clintons made to Ireland. The First Lady would also play a leading role in moving the peace process along.

She helped create links between the White House and leaders on the ground, and worked closely with women on both sides of the divide at a time in the conflict when women’s voices were hardly heard.

President Clinton’s Irish roots are traced through his mother, Virginia Cassidy Kelley, who was the granddaughter of Irish immigrants, “poor Irish farmers,” as she called them.

The Cassidys are believed to have emigrated from Ballycassidy, County Fermanagh.

In March, 1996, President Clinton was Irish America’s Irish-American of the Year.

In March, 2007, Hillary Clinton was named Irish America’s Person of the Year.

Derry: November, 1995: President and Hillary Clinton

A Timeline Towards Peace

A look back at the history of Northern Ireland – the low points and the high

1921

1967

DECEMBER 6, 1921 Agreement for a Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland signed; Ireland receives dominion status; partition creates Northern Ireland.

1948 DECEMBER 21, 1948

The Irish Free State is granted full independence from Britain under the Republic of Ireland Act. However, six northern counties, Derry, Antrim, Down, Armagh, Fermanagh, and Tyrone, remain part of the United Kingdom.

The Northern government is dominated by the Unionist Party and antiCatholic laws are still in force.

Michael Collins, who negotiated the Treaty.

64 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

JANUARY, 1967

Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) formed. Based on the U.S. civil rights movement, it sought equality for Catholics.

1968 AUGUST 1968 The first civil rights protest march, between Coalisland and Dungannon, takes place on August 24, 1968. The second march takes place in Derry in October despite being banned by the Minister for Home Affairs, William Craig. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) use excessive force to break up the march.

1969 AUGUST 12 – 15, 1969 Tensions rise with the approach

of the Orangemen (Unionist) march on July 12, and on August 12 clashes occurred as the Orangemen march past the Bogside, Derry. The Battle of the Bogside marked a turning point in Northern Ireland. The riots lasted for three days and flared up in Belfast and across the North. On August 15, the British Army arrived to quell the riot.

AUGUST 14, 1969 Operation Banner: The British Army are deployed to Northern Ireland to quell the riots.

Initially welcomed by the Catholics as a peacekeeping force, they soon came to be regarded as an occupying force. The Army would remain deeply entrenched for the next three decades, until 1997 when some demilitarization started to take place as part of the 8/15/69: peace process.

British Operation Banner troops ended on August 1, arrive in 2007 after 38 years, Derry. making it the longest military operation in the history of the British Army.

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William Barry

Susan Brophy

John Connorton

Joe Crowley

Susan Brophy joined the White House staff in 1993, serving as Deputy Assistant to President Clinton and Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs until 1998. She proved a key player in the peace process in terms of keeping the president up to speed on matters concerning Northern Ireland. In 1998, Brophy moved to Lisbon, with her husband, Gerald McGowan, the U.S. Ambassador to Portugal. While in Lisbon, she oversaw the coordination of the visits of President Clinton, several bipartisan Congressional delegations, Cabinet officers and other dignitaries. During this period, she also served as a board member of the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations.

A Massachusetts native, Brophy graduated from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She recently joined the Washington, D.C. firm Glover Park Group as a partner in the legislative affairs practice.

A prominent New York lawyer, John Connorton worked to bring together politicians from different traditions in Northern Ireland, and as head of the New York chapter of the Friends of Belfast, he continues to encourage investment, innovation and enterprise as a way to support the peace process.

An influential Democratic Party strategist, Connorton, who served as a naval officer in Vietnam, was the New York State director of presidential campaigns for Gary Hart (the first presidential candidate to have an opinion paper on Northern Ireland), Al Gore and John Kerry.

Connorton, who is on the board of the Flax Trust, Belfast, went to Holly Cross College and Fordham Law School. He was awarded an honorary CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for his N.I. efforts. His grandparents came from Counties Roscommon, Mayo, Kerry and Cork.

Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY), co-chair of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs, was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 1986.

He served as the treasurer of the American-Irish Legislators Society of New York State which was instrumental in obtaining a visa for Gerry Adams, and as a member of the Americans for a New Irish Agenda group.

In 1994, Crowley sponsored a legislative resolution urging President Clinton to implement five recommendations on Irish issues which would set in motion a constructive U.S. policy with regard to the North of Ireland, and in the following years his dedication to the peace process has not waned.

Congressman Crowley’s mother was born in Killeen, County Armagh. On his father’s side, his grandfather was from Stabbanon, County Louth. His grandmother was from Mullaghorn, County Cavan.

and the contributions of Irish-Americans who lobbied for peace throughout the years.

1971

1972

1973

1974

By Patricia Harty 1976

AUGUST 9, 1971

JANUARY 30, 1972 Bloody Sunday:

SEPTEMBER 10, 1973

APRIL 24, 1974

MARCH, 1976 The British govern-

Internment is introduced. 350 Catholics are rounded up and interred without trial. Protests leave 17 dead including 10 civilians. Protests continue throughout the year.

A civil rights march against internment takes place in Derry. British paratroopers open fire killing 14 and injuring 13. After the British Government’s Bloody Sunday report excuses the Army, there is a rise in support for the IRA.

The IRA becomes increasingly active in Northern Ireland and mainland Britain. On September 10 a bomb blast rocks Central London.

ment rescinds Special Category Status for paramilitary prisoners in Northern Ireland. Special Category Status, which classified paramilitaries as “prisoners of war,” had been introduced in 1972 after a hunger strike by 40 IRA prisoners.

Interment:

The British Embassy in Dublin is burnt in February, 1972.

The Northern Ireland government is suspended and direct rule from Britain is imposed in March 1972.

The death toll hits 1,000 as Loyalist bombings in Dublin and Monaghan kill 23.

June 17: IRA bombs British Parliament.

July 17: Bomb blast at Tower of London.

October 5: Guildford bomb kills four.

October 22: Bomb blast in London club.

November 21: Birmingham pub blast kills 19.

November 27: The Prevention of Terrorism Act is introduced, which allows suspects to be held without charge for seven days.

Bobby Sands is pictured far right.

Gerry Adams is front row, right.

Section 31 introduced by the Dublin government bans members of Sinn Féin from expressing their views on the airwaves.

March 20, 1972: Aftermath of a bomb explosion in Belfast.

THE PEACEMAKERS

Bill Barry’s involvement with Ireland is simply the natural progression of his life. As a young FBI agent he was assigned to Attorney General Robert Kennedy and became a close friend of the Kennedy family.

In 1993, Barry met up with Bill Flynn, Chairman of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. It didn’t take long for Barry and Flynn to recognize their common interest in the land of their ancestors and become great friends. Together, they made incredible things possible.

Working with Flynn, Barry was among the first to welcome Gerry Adams to the United States. He continued his work alongside Flynn in engaging the political leadership of the Loyalists.

It is with great pride that Barry, who grew up in Brooklyn, with roots going back to County Cork, surrounds himself with his family of five sons and two daughters.

He and his wife, Mary, live in Rockland County.

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SEPTEMBER 14, 1976: The Blanket Protest. IRA prisoners refuse to wear prison uniforms and are confined to cells with just blankets and mattresses. The Blanket Protest escalated to the Dirty Protest when prisoners unable to “slop out” had to resort to smearing excrement on their cell walls.

School children watch a reenactment of the ‘Dirty Protest.’

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THE PEACEMAKERS

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John Dearie

Fay Devlin

Chris Dodd

Pat Doherty

As a Bronx Assemblyman from 1973 to 2002, John Dearie secured passage of the MacBride Principles through the New York State Legislature in 1986, in the teeth of a well organized opposition campaign.

Dearie’s tactic of targeting key members of the State Senate paid off, as did the considerable personal effort he put in. He organized “Irish-American Presidential Forums” in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000.

Candidate Clinton’s strong commitments made during the 1992 forum concerning Northern Ireland, are viewed as significant contributions to the peace process.

Dearie was born and raised in the East Bronx. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame having received a full basketball scholarship. He went on to earn an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate Business School at Northwestern University, and graduated from New York University School of Law. He and his wife, Kitty, have two sons, John, 6 years old, and Michael, 4.

Anyone dealing with Northern Ireland for the past 20 years will have come across the name Fay Devlin, the cofounder and CEO of Eurotech, a multi-million-dollar New York firm specializing in high end interior construction. A strong supporter of the Gerry Adams and Sinn Féin strategy as the way forward in Northern Ireland, the County Tyrone-born businessman has helped raise millions of dollars in funds to support the party’s efforts.

In May, 1995, Devlin was one of the key people behind setting up Friends of Sinn Féin U.S. The organization came into being when President Clinton decreed that Sinn Féin was a legitimate political party and as such should be allowed to raise funds in the U.S. The Friends of Sinn Féin U.S., who in addition to fundraising, have become the voice of the party in the U.S., are dedicated to helping Sinn Féin achieve peace, justice and the aims of the Good Friday Agreement. Fay is married to Rosemary, who is also from County Tyrone, and they have five sons.

As a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chris Dodd, who is in his fifth term as Connecticut’s senior senator, has played a central role in nearly every foreign policy debate over the past 25 years.

Working with six presidents he has fostered relationships with many of today’s most important world figures.

Dodd’s involvement in Northern Ireland dates to the 1980s when he championed the cause of IRA prisoner Joe Doherty. His lobbying efforts helped secure a visa for Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams in 1994. And in 1995, he was a member of the delegation that accompanied President Clinton to Ireland.

Dodd continues to take an active interest in the peace process today, meeting with Northern Ireland’s leaders whenever possible.

Chris Dodd was born in Willimantic, Connecticut, the fifth of six children to the late Senator Thomas J. Dodd and Grace Murphy Dodd.

In 1984, Pat Doherty, then a newcomer to the New York City comptroller’s office, took on the MacBride Principles as his first major assignment. Armed with a master’s degree in international relations from Columbia and a law degree from Hofstra, Doherty, the son of an Irish immigrant from Derry, began the long, often tedious task of contacting the various organizations with a stake in the Irish question and gathering all relevant information on employment discrimination in Northern Ireland. The MacBride Principles, named for the late Irish statesman and Nobel Peace laureate Sean MacBride, were a set of fair employment guidelines for firms operating in Northern Ireland, focused on U.S. firms doing business there. They were passed by the New York State Legislature in 1986, and finally passed by the House and by the Senate in March 1996.

They were signed into law by President Clinton in October, 1998.

Doherty continues to work for the office of the New York City comptroller.

1977

1978

1980

1981

1984

MARCH 17, 1977

DECEMBER 10, 1978 The Irish

MARCH 1, 1981

1984 New York City Comptroller Harrison

The Four Horsemen, New York Governor Hugh Carey, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-NY, and House Speaker Tip O’Neill issue the St. Patrick’s Day Declaration denouncing violence in Northern Ireland.

They lobby for the $250 million Irish aid package, which is put into effect upon the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985.

National Caucus Office opens on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. by Fr. Sean McManus. One of its first objectives is to “stop U.S. dollars subsidizing anti-Catholic discrimination in Northern Ireland.” New York Republican Congressman Ben Gilman commissions the Caucus to conduct an investigation of U.S. companies in N.I. McManus meets with Sean MacBride, the Nobel Peace Prize and Lenin Peace Prize winner, pictured below, who agrees to act as chairman of the U.S. group in the Republic of Ireland.

IRA prisoner Bobby Sands (mural, left) refuses food. By the time the hunger strike ends on October 3, ten men, including Sands, had starved themselves to death. Two days later, the Northern Ireland Secretary, James Prior, announced that all paramilitary prisoners would be allowed to wear their own clothes, among a number of other prison changes. During his fast, Sands had been elected to the British Parliament.

Golden and his assistant Pat Doherty draft The MacBride Principles which consist of nine fair employment principles – a corporate code of conduct for companies doing business in Northern Ireland. Millions of dollars in New York state and city pension funds are

66 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

OCTOBER 27, 1980

The Hunger Strikes: Five IRA prisoners and one INLA prisoner begin a hunger strike aimed at restoring political status. After 53 days the strike ends. It would begin again in March 1981.

invested in American corporations doing business in Northern Ireland. The MacBride Campaign lobbies to have legislation passed to direct these funds to be invested only in companies that endorse the Principles.

Pictured above: Union leader Teddy Gleason, Sean MacBride, Comptroller Harrison Golden, and lawyer Paul O’Dwyer, with a copy of The MacBride Principles.

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PHOTO: PETER FOLEY

THE PEACEMAKERS

Pat Donaghy Pat Donaghy emigrated from Carrickmore, County Tyrone to New York City in 1959. Eleven years later he co-founded Structure Tone, a general contracting and construction management firm that went on to become one of the most successful in the country.

Donaghy, who says that it was an accident of birth that he was born in a country where nationalists like him had no say in the government and many had no option but to leave, saw Sinn Féin’s strategy as the way forward, and his dedicated support was vital in establishing the peace process in the early 1990s.

He was one of the key players lobbying for a U.S. visa for Gerry Adams, and further lent his support to the establishment of Friends of Sinn Féin U.S., an organization supporting the party and its policies. When asked at a fundraising dinner why he supported Friends of Sinn Féin, Donaghy replied: “Because I am a peace hound – I believe in peace. A lot of people have been trying for years to support something, but this is the first time ever we could do it legitimately.”

1985

1986

Larry Downes

Chuck Feeney

William Flynn

President of Friends of Sinn Féin U.S., Larry Downes, a New York lawyer, has for many years focused his energies on improving the situation in the North of Ireland. Raised in Queens, New York, one of seven children, Downes became interested in politics in 1977 when he worked on the gubernatorial campaign of Mario Cuomo, and went on to serve on his staff at the New York Sate Department. When Downes entered the field of law, he worked for O’Dwyer and Bernstein, founded by Paul O’Dwyer, the New York lawyer who was a legend in championing civil rights at home and abroad. Downes said the Hunger Strike in 1981 educated people around the world about the Republican cause. “It was the springboard for the current peace process,” he said.

When asked about Friends of Sinn Féin U.S., Downes said, “We started the project in 1995 when President Clinton permitted Mr. Adams to come into the U.S. and raise funds. So far, we’ve raised over $5 million.

That money didn’t buy arms, but office space, computers and cars.”

The name Charles “Chuck” Feeney has become known worldwide since it emerged that the New Jersey-born businessman had given away his entire personal fortune of almost $4 billion and in the process created one of the world’s largest philanthropic organizations. Feeney’s interest in Ireland has also included a strong desire to help with the situation in the North, and he became involved in the peace process as early as 1987 when he met with Gordon Wilson, whose daughter Marie died in the IRA bombing in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh that year.

Feeney, who traces his roots to Fermanagh, decided he wanted to help end the conflict and made contact with Sinn Féin and the other major political parties in the North. He was a member of the Irish-American delegation that traveled to Ireland in 1993 and 1994 to negotiate for a ceasefire, and with the IRA ceasefire, Feeney agreed to fund a Washington office for Sinn Féin. The Friends of Sinn Féin still have an office in Washington, D.C.

William “Bill” Flynn was a crucial figure in the Northern Ireland peace process, chairing the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) and helping to broker the IRA ceasefire. The then chairman of Mutual of America put his career and his reputation on the line by traveling to the North and speaking out for justice and Sinn Féin’s right to participate in all-party talks. The NCAFP, under Flynn’s guidance, helped procure a U.S. visa for Gerry Adams by inviting him to speak in New York, and further moved the peace process along by hosting speakers from all sides at forums at the Mutual of America building in New York.

Flynn, now chairman emeritus of Mutual, continues his work with the NCAFP, which is dedicated to the resolution of world conflicts that threaten the security of the U.S., and has contributed to the debates on the Middle East, Russia and Central Asia. Flynn, who was Irish-American of the Year in 1995, served as Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 1999. He is a firstgeneration Irish-American with roots in Mayo and Down.

1987

1991

OCTOBER, 1985

JUNE, 1986

AUGUST, 1987

MARCH, 1991 Irish

The first issue of Irish America hits the newsstands promising that Irish-American opinion on the North of Ireland will be put across in a reasoned, intelligently argued fashion.

The U.S. Senate approves a new U.S./British extradition treaty making it easier for Britain to seek extradition of IRA suspects from the U.S. The passage of the Treaty allows for the release of a $30 million U.S. aid package to Ireland.

Representative Peter King (R-NY), pictured below with Gerry Adams, joins 52 Americans on a “fact-finding” tour of the North of Ireland.

America editor Patricia Harty interviews Gerry Adams (prior to that, Playboy was the only magazine to carry a full-length interview with Adams). During the interview carried out in the Sinn Féin office in Belfast, Adams talks about the need for a political solution. “I’m interested in trying to move the whole thing forward. I think the 1990s should be a period when we get peace and we should have talks. . . . The past and the future have to be settled and it can only be settled when people start talking.”

NOVEMBER 15

Anglo-Irish Agreement is signed giving Dublin limited control over affairs in the North.

Unionists protest and agreement is never fully implemented.

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1992 SEPTEMBER, 1992

At an IrishAmerican Forum organized by Assemblyman John Dearie and held in New York City, Governor William Clinton of Arkansas (pictured above) promises that if he is elected president of the U.S., he will send a peace envoy to Northern Ireland and grant a visa to Gerry Adams.

1993 SEPTEMBER, 1993 An Irish-American dele-

gation that includes former Congressman Bruce Morrison, Irish America publisher Niall O’Dowd, Bill Flynn of Mutual of America (pictured below meeting Gerry Adams), and Chuck Feeney of General Atlantic, meet with people from all sides of the political divide in Northern Ireland in an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of their viewpoints and problems. The IRA responds with a 7-day ceasefire.

DECEMBER 15, 1993 Following talks

between British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds the Downing Street Declaration is issued. It states the people of Northern Ireland should decide their own future and that all sides would meet for talks.

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Jean Kennedy Smith Edward Kennedy

Edward Kenney

In 1958, Denis Kelleher emigrated from County Kerry and landed a job as a messenger at Merrill Lynch. Acutely talented in matters of finance, Kelleher quickly rose through the company ranks. Today, he is CEO and founder of Wall Street Access, a diversified financial services organization with expertise in money management and trading for institution and hedge funds.

Despite his extraordinary success, Kelleher has never lost sight of his humble roots. He has been a major contributor to Sinn Féin and hosted the first ever lunch for Gerry Adams in New York. Kelleher also supports The American Ireland Fund, which promotes peace in Northern Ireland. He set up his own special scholarship fund in his native Kerry to help promising students. In 2007, Kelleher served as the Grand Marshal for the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade. He is a graduate of St. John’s University, and serves as its chairman of the board.

Kelleher is married with three children and was proud to be recognized with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1995.

As Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith played a leading role in the peace process.

Convinced that a U.S. visa for Gerry Adams was a key component in the peace framework, she risked her diplomatic reputation by clearing the way for the U.S. visit. The Kennedy Smith move was a bombshell forcing a major debate within the upper echelons of the State Department on the Irish issue. The ambassador’s brother Senator Edward Kennedy and the Irish-American lobby began a concerted effort to win the visa, which they did, and on February, 1, 1994, Adams was allowed in the U.S. Kennedy Smith had seen an opportunity for peace and she grabbed it. It was the culmination of a long-time desire to help bring peace to Northern Ireland.

In 1974, she had stayed with John and Pat Hume in Derry, and upon witnessing the depressing sight of streets full of bombed-out buildings as the violence reached its zenith, she vowed to help if the opportunity presented itself.

Ed Kenney’s diplomacy skills proved a valuable tool throughout the peace process. When Kenney joined Mutual of America in 1994, he brought with him the knowledge honed in a 25-year career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and a background as a liaison with other law enforcement and government agencies. Kenny joined Mutual just as chairman Bill Flynn’s invitation to Gerry Adams won the Sinn Féin leader a visa to the U.S. Flynn and Tom Moran, who succeeded Flynn as Mutual’s chairman, president and CEO, continued to extend hospitality to loyalist and nationalist politicians at the New York offices of Mutual of America, and it was Kenney’s job as executive vice president of external affairs to facilitate those visits and the many visits that Flynn and Moran made to the North in the ensuing years.

Born in Queens, New York to parents of Roscommon and Tipperary heritage, Kenney graduated from St. Joseph’s Seminary with a degree in philosophy. He and his wife Brigid live in Ossining, New York. They have five children and one grandchild.

As one of the original Four Horsemen who formed the Friends of Ireland group, along with Tip O’Neill, Patrick Moynihan and Governor Hugh Carey of New York, Senator Kennedy championed the cause of the International Fund for Ireland, an annual appropriation of U.S. funds to benefit disadvantaged areas. In more recent years, he has spearheaded the push for immigration reform.

Kennedy’s support for constitutional nationalism in Ireland has long been evident through his friendship with the legendary John Hume, former leader of the SDLP party. He played a vital role in bringing American influence to bear on both the British and Irish governments at key moments in the peace process, and had a hand in convincing President Clinton to remain strongly involved. And while many politicians who espoused Irish causes ran for the hills when Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams came to the U.S., Senator Kennedy was there to greet him.

In fact, he was instrumental in persuading President Clinton to grant Adams a visa in February of 1992.

1994

1995

AUGUST, 31, 1994 The IRA declares a

FEBRUARY 1, 1994 Gerry Adams visits the U.S.

MARCH, 1995 Jean Kennedy Smith is Irish America’s “Irish-

ceasefire. A month later, the majority of Loyalist groups declare ceasefires. Six weeks later, Sinn Féin is offered a seat at the talks.

President Clinton grants Adams a U.S. visa, angering the British and his own State Department. Adams (pictured below with elder statesman Paul O’Dwyer at the Waldorf Hotel, New York City on that visit) is invited to speak

by Bill Flynn, Chairman of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy.

American of the Year.” Gerry Adams, Prime Minister John Bruton, Senator Ted Kennedy are among the honored guests.

Sinn Féin office Belfast: U.S. delegation await the announcement of the IRA ceasefire

SEPTEMBER 15, 1994 U.S. Ambassador to

Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith pays a secret visit to Northern Ireland to attend a trial in a Belfast diplock (no jury) court. The diplock courts, created in 1973 to try cases connected with the Irish Troubles, operated with a single judge and no jury. The vast majority of convictions result from confessions (the right to remain silent has also been abolished) and from uncorroborated testimony by government informants, or “supergrasses.”

THE PEACEMAKERS

Denis Kelleher

DECEMBER, 1994 George Mitchell is appointed as economic envoy. Coupled with the new U.S. Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, the two appointments begin a process that would strengthen the U.S. involvement in the emerging peace process.

DECEMBER 6, 1994

Gerry Adams makes a historic visit to the White House, the first ever by a president of Sinn Féin, to meet with National Security Advisor Tony Lake.

MAY 24-26, 1995 The White House economic conference on Ireland draws people from all sides of the divide in Northern Ireland and marks a new special relationship between N.I. and the U.S. 1995 Friends of Sinn Féin

USA set up to aid the peace process.

NOVEMBER, 1995

President Clinton visits Northern Ireland and is greeted by tens of thousands of people lining the streets in Derry and Belfast. It is one of three visits that he would make as President.

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Donald Keough

Peter King

Gerald Lynch

Seán Mackin

Donald Keough’s pride in his Irish heritage remains constant.

After a career in corporate America he turned to a venture of a different kind – investing in Irish Studies. When he retired as President & CEO of Coca-Cola in 1993, he established the Keough Institute of Irish Studies at Notre Dame, and the Keough Notre Dame Centre in Dublin, Ireland with an endowment of $2.5 million.

Keough, whose ancestors immigrated from County Wexford shortly after the Irish famine, grew up in Sioux City, Iowa, and has been involved in the peace process, setting up American political and business contacts for many leading Northern Irish politicians. He accompanied President Clinton to Belfast in 1999 and met with Northern Ireland leaders there.

Keough is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Horatio Alger Award and the Notre Dame Laetare Medal. In June, 2007, he was granted Irish citizenship, something he celebrated by taking his wife Mickie, his children and grandchildren on a trip to Ireland.

Congressman Peter King (RNY) has long been recognized as an outspoken advocate for human rights and justice in Northern Ireland. He visited the six counties on many occasions and was supportive of Irish Republicans in the days when it was extremely unfashionable to do so. A staunch friend of Ireland in Congress, he was first elected to represent New York’s Third District in Nassau County on Long Island in 1992. King served on the Committee on International Relations and cochaired the Congressional Ad Hoc Committee for Irish Affairs.

In 1985, King was elected the Grand Marshal of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade and has been honored by organizations such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and The Irish National Caucus. A graduate of St. Francis College in Brooklyn, the former attorney earned his law degree at Notre Dame. He traces his Irish ancestors to counties Limerick and Galway. He and his wife, Rosemary, have two grown children, Sean and Erin.

In 1998, Gerald Lynch was one of two U.S. delegates named to the Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland, a group charged with examining and recommending future change in the police force there.

At the time, Lynch was president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and respected internationally as a foremost authority on and advocate of criminal justice.

In 2003, Lynch stepped down as president of John Jay after serving for 28 years. During his time there he oversaw regular exchanges between the Irish police and John Jay College and established The Jerry McCabe Fellowship program in memory of an Irish detective killed during an attempted robbery.

He continues to speak on police corruption, ethical behavior and other subjects related to criminal justice and policing.

Lynch, who graduated from Fordham Preparatory School and received his B.S. from Fordham University and his Ph.D. from New York University, is a second-generation Irish-American with roots in counties Limerick, Louth, Meath and Tipperary.

Seán Mackin has been very visible and proactive in the Irish peace process. As a boy and young man growing up in West Belfast he was consistently harassed, beaten and seriously injured by the RUC and British Army.

He and his wife Philomena and their Irish-born daughter, Jennifer, moved to New York, where they lived for many years before they were placed in deportation proceedings by the U.S. government. In a historic ruling, Philomena and Jennifer were granted political asylum in 1991 and Seán was granted a “suspension of deportation.”

The entire family have since become United States citizens.

(The Mackins also have a younger child, Seán Óg, who is a U.S. citizen by birth.)

Mackin has used his high profile in the Irish community to promote the strategy of Sinn Féin on its pathway to peace and is an active fundraiser and member of the Friends of Sinn Féin.

1996 MARCH, 1996 President William Jefferson Clinton is Irish America’s Irish-American of the Year, and attends a dinner in his honor at the New York Plaza Hotel.

JUNE 10, 1996 Multi-party talks

begin, chaired by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell. IRA ceasefire broken and talks stalled over disarmament issues.

1997 MARCH, 1997 Senator Edward

MAY 22, 1998 A referendum shows that a majority of people in Ireland, North and South support the Good Friday Agreement, which allows for the establishment of a Northern Ireland Assembly and a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive. The agreement also provides for cross-border cooperation in policy and programs, the abolition of the Irish Republic’s territorial claim to Northern Ireland, and the principle that the future of Northern Ireland should be determined by the majority vote of its citizens.

Kennedy is honored as Irish-American of the Year MAY, 1997 Mo Mowlan is appointed Northern Ireland Secretary. She would come to be respected by all sides and play a major role in the peace process, saying, “Civil rights abuses helped start the current troubles, and I hope guaranteeing basic human rights will help end them.”

SEPTEMBER 15, 1997 Peace talks resume. The IRA announces a ceasefire in July, and Sinn Féin are invited back to the table on September 15 for interparty talks at Castle Buildings, Belfast.

70 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

1998

APRIL 10, 1998 The Good Friday

Agreement is signed by British and Irish governments and the majority of Northern Ireland’s political parties.

“This agreement is good for all the people, North and South, and while many will try to defeat it, I believe it will pass. Ordinary people North and South will finally get a chance to prove that they want a just and lasting peace,” said George Mitchell, pictured above.

AUGUST 15, 1998 29 dead and 200 injured by bomb explosion in Omagh, Co. Tyrone. “Real IRA” take responsibility.

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Bill McGimpsey Far fewer Irish-Americans support the Unionist cause in the Northern Ireland peace process than the Nationalists. But from 1994 onwards, mainly in response to the expanding involvement of the Clinton administration in the peace process, a small but determined Unionist support network was put forth by Putnam County resident Bill McGimpsey, a native of County Down. His relatives in Northern Ireland are members of the Ulster Unionist Party (his cousins Chris and Michael McGimpsey came to prominence when they challenged the AngloIrish Agreement by bringing a suit against the Irish government, arguing that the Agreement was invalid because it contradicted Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland).

A supporter of David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist Party leader who made a considerable contribution to the peace process by signing the Good Friday Agreement, Bill McGimpsey also contributed, particularly in conveying Unionist perspectives to White House policymakers.

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Fr. Sean McManus & Rita Mullan The Irish National Caucus, founded by Fr. Sean McManus, opened its office on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. on December 10, 1978 to lobby for Irish justice and peace. One of its first objectives was to “stop U.S. dollars subsidizing anti-Catholic discrimination in Northern Ireland.”

McManus and his Executive Director Rita Mullan met with Sean MacBride (pictured above), the Nobel Peace Prize and Lenin Peace Prize winner, who agreed to act as chairman of the U.S. group in the Republic of Ireland.

Thus, the foundation was laid for the MacBride Principles, a set of fair-hiring practices for N.I. McManus, a Redemptorist priest from County Fermanagh, was arrested in 1971 because he helped a stone thrower escape the police. He moved to the U.S. shortly after.

Mullan, who lost her father and mother to the “troubles,” grew up in Belfast. She qualified as a nurse and for a time worked in Little Rock, Arkansas, before moving to Washington, D.C. to open the national office of the Caucus.

1998

George Mitchell

Bruce Morrison

The name George Mitchell is synonymous with the Irish peace process. The former senator from Maine was tapped as President Clinton’s economic advisor on Ireland and headed up the first ever White Housesponsored Economic Conference on Ireland in May 1995. In June 1995, Mitchell took on the monumental task of co-chairing, and later chairing, the all-party talks which ultimately led to the Good Friday Agreement. “Senator Mitchell’s role was indispensable to the success of the negotiation process and to the securing of the Good Friday Agreement.

There can be no doubt that without his patience and stamina the outcome could have been very different,” said Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. On the Unionist side, David Kerr, press secretary to David Trimble, said, “I don’t think anybody else could have done what he did, it was a remarkable political balancing act.”

Mitchell, whose grandparents emigrated from Ireland in the 1800s, was first elected to the Senate in 1980.

Former Congressman Bruce Morrison is known for his dedication to the peace process in Northern Ireland: In 1994, he was part of a delegation of IrishAmerican business leaders who toured the troubled province in a trip organized by Irish America publisher Niall O’Dowd, which helped secure the first IRA ceasefire.

Morrison began working on Irish issues in 1983 and won his place in the annals of Irish history when as a member of the House of Representatives he authored and helped enact the Immigration Act of 1990, which provided nearly 50,000 Irish citizens with green cards.

Morrison has served as cochair of the Congressional Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs, and, in 1992, as chairman of Irish-American for Clintons, helping to develop the campaign’s Irish agenda.

A 1973 graduate of Yale Law School, Morrison lives with his wife Nancy in Bethesda, Maryland.

1999

2000

SEPTEMBER 3, 1998

DECEMBER 8, 1998 Over 1,000

MARCH, 1999 George

FEBRUARY 11, 2000

President Clinton visits Omagh, greatly helping the cause of peace in the aftermath of the bombing. “We came here knowing that words are not very good at a time like this, simply to express our sympathy and to support your determined refusal to let a cowardly crime rob you of the future,” he advised.

people crowd the Washington Omni Shoreham Hotel to see President Clinton and the leaders of the eight Northern Ireland parties who negotiated the Good Friday Agreement receive the National Democratic Institute of International Affairs W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award.

Mitchell is Irish America’s Irish-American of the Year, in recognition of his efforts to bring peace to Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Assembly is suspended as no agreement is reached on decommissioning. UUP leader David Trimble, N.I. Secretary Peter Mandelson, and Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness all head to the U.S. to speak to White House “opinion makers.”

DECEMBER 11, 1998 Ulster

Unionist Party First Minister David Trimble and Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Leader John Hume (pictured below) awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

OCTOBER, 1998 The MacBride Principles, passed by the House and Senate in March 1996, are signed into law by President Clinton.

72 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

MAY 15, 1999

Disarmament talks between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the IRA end without agreement.

NOVEMBER 18, 1999

The Ulster Unionist Council backs a plan by George Mitchell to set up a power-sharing government.

DECEMBER 2, 1999

The British government transfers power back to Northern Ireland.

MARCH 2000 A new

inquiry into Bloody Sunday gets under way.

MAY 6, 2000 The IRA agrees to “put its weapons beyond use.”

MAY 30, 2000 British government lifts its suspension of the N.I. Assembly.

NOVEMBER, 2000 The Northern Ireland Police Bill passes into law endorsed by Chris Patten, chair of the Patten Commission, even though all the recommendations in the Patten Report are not adopted.

DECEMBER, 2000 President Clinton makes farewell visit to Ireland.

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Terry O’Sullivan

Nancy Soderberg

Ciaran Staunton

Rep. Richie Neal (D-MA), chairman of the Friends of Ireland group in Congress, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1988. Since then, Neal has maintained his dedication to concerns of IrishAmericans and fostering peace in Northern Ireland.

Shortly after joining the Friends of Ireland in 1993, Neal was appointed co-chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs. He worked diligently towards a peace treaty in Northern Ireland and was considered an important figure in the 2005 disarmament of the IRA. Neal, who described the agreement between Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley to work together as one of the most significant developments on the island of Ireland in more than a century, garnered several awards for his Irish efforts including the International Leadership Award

by The American Ireland Fund as well as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Medal in 2006 by the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

A devoted family man, Neal resides in Springfield with his wife Maureen and four children.

Terence M. O’Sullivan, general president of the 800,000 member-strong Laborers’ International Union, the largest immigrant union in the United States, has also put the union on the forefront of the fight for true immigration reform that would include a legalization component for undocumented immigrants. O’Sullivan throughout his career as a union organizer has also been a strong supporter of peace and justice in Northern Ireland, a tradition that goes back to the early days of the American labor movement’s support for a free Ireland.

The San Francisco-born O’Sullivan was an early support of Sinn Féin and the path to peace as envisioned by its leadership. He has traveled to Ireland and Northern Ireland, and spoke at the Sinn Féin Ard Feis (the party’s annual meeting).

O’Sullivan’s grandfather was born in Glencar, County Kerry, and moved to the U.S. in the 1920s. His maternal great grandfather was from Roscrea, County Tipperary, and he immigrated at the turn of the century.

A key White House official with responsibility for Ireland during the early days of the peace process, Nancy Soderberg, played an important role in delivering on Clinton’s preelection promises on Irish issues.

As a former staffer for Senator Edward Kennedy, the Massachusetts native became the Foreign Policy Advisor for the Clinton Administration (19931997) and brought her knowledge on Irish issues to bear with both the president and National Security Advisor Tony Lake.

Soderberg wrote the position papers on Ireland during Clinton’s presidential campaign, and she played a vital role on the Gerry Adams visa issue. For her proactive role she was vilified in the British media.

Soderberg, who has Irish and Scottish roots through her McGillvarry and Mullin ancestors, served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1997-2001. From 2001-2005, she served as vice president for Multilateral Affairs of the International Crisis Group in New York, before moving to Florida with her husband, Richard Bistrong.

Ciaran Staunton, who emigrated from Westport, County Mayo in 1982, is renowned for his support of Irish Republican causes.

Whether organizing protests outside the British Consulate or holding fundraisers to support the families of those affected by the Troubles, his voice has long been vocal on the need for justice in Northern Ireland. At the onset of the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement, he played a major part in the American role and worked closely with the Sinn Féin leadership and Irish American leaders to bring about the Adams visa and the IRA ceasefire.

Ciaran, who owns O’Neill’s Bar and Restaurant, one of the most popular Irish spots in Manhattan, is the Vice Chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) and has been described as “one of the most dynamic personalities involved in ILIR” and as “the man that won’t take no for an answer.” He also helped cofound the Irish Immigration Reform Movement in the late 1980s, which lobbied successfully for the Donnelly and Morrison visa programs.

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

JULY 1, 2001

JULY 22, 2002 A series

APRIL 28, 2003

FEBRUARY 3, 2004

David Trimble resigns as First Minister. In January a judge had ruled that Trimble’s ban on Sinn Féin ministers serving in the Assembly is illegal.

of gun attacks in Belfast leave a Catholic teenager dead. P.M. Blair vows to crack down on paramilitary groups and says both sides must prove they are “not engaged in any preparations for terrorism.”

The N.I. Assembly is dissolved.

All political parties begin meetings in Stormont, Northern Ireland, to review the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

JULY 28, 2005

OCTOBER 15, 2002 NOVEMBER 6, 2001 Trimble

is re-elected First Minister of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government.

Mark Durkan of the SDLP is elected Deputy First Minister.

Britain suspends Northern Ireland Assembly saying it would resume administrative responsibility in an effort to preserve peace. Both sides denounce Britain’s move. This is the fourth time Britain has suspended the coalition in less than three years.

MAY 1, 2003

Plan to restore the N.I. government is released but Assembly elections are postponed until the fall.

NOVEMBER 26, 2003 The elec-

tion for the Assembly takes place, with the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin forming the two largest parties.

The IRA announces an end to its armed struggle.

2007 MARCH 7, 2007

DUP and Sinn Féin triumph in Assembly elections.

MARCH 26, 2007

Talks aimed at restoring the Assembly fail.

Ian Paisley of the DUP and Gerry Adams (pictured above) announce agreement to share power. Paisley is to be First Minister and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin will be Deputy First Minister.

NOVEMBER 26, 2004

DECEMBER 3, 2007 Ian Paisley and Martin

U.S. President George W. Bush telephones the leaders of the DUP and Sinn Féin to urge them to compromise on an agreement to enable powersharing.

McGuinness, Northern Ireland’s First and Deputy First Ministers make a historic trip to the U.S. where they meet President George Bush, lunch on Capitol Hill, meet congressmen and senators, switch on the Nasdaq electronic stock market in New York’s Times Square (pictured left) as they continue their investment drive ahead of a U.S.-backed investment conference set for Belfast in May.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2004

THE PEACEMAKERS

Richard Neal

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“You go out there and ask them what their future is today. If we don’t build that today, there’s nothing” – Richard M. Daley, Mayor of Chicago.”

In the following pages we honor those who spend their lives serving their country through politics and public service and see it as a duty to help ensure that the American dream is within reach of all those who live in this great land.

O

n election night 2007, Richard M. Daley took the stage at Chicago’s Hilton & Towers holding the hand of his cancer-surviving wife, Maggie, and ready to eclipse his father as the city’s longest-serving mayor. What would his father, Richard J. Daley, who served 21 years, think about Daley winning a term that will take him to 22 years in office by 2011?

“I think my dad would be very proud of me,” Daley said in an interview at the party. “So would my mom. And Kevin.”

Daley often mentions his son Kevin, who died of Spina Bifida at age 2 in 1981.

Daley’s family has been through a lot during this term, with Maggie surviving breast cancer, Daley himself coming down with heart problems, his son Patrick joining the army to fight in Iraq, and his daughter Nora giving him two grandchildren.

Elected mayor of Chicago in 1989 to complete the term of Harold Washington, Daley stepped into his job with a name that carried high expectations. During his almost 20 years as mayor he has exceeded those expectations. He has earned a national reputation for his innovative, community-based programs to address education, public safety, neighborhood development and other challenges facing American cities. In fact, Daley “is widely viewed as the nation’s top urban executive” (Time magazine, 2005). The former state senator and county prosecutor who has been re-elected five times by overwhelming margins, continues to improve the city, investing more than $3 billion toward more than 125,000 affordable housing units and establishing aggressive plans to rebuild public housing, extend affordability and end homelessness in Chicago.

He is also supporting the plan by Dublin-born Garrett Kelleher to build a 2,000-foot-high skyscraper in Chicago. The building, known as the Chicago Spire, with 150 floors, will stand taller than Chicago's Sears Tower as well as New York's upcoming Freedom Tower, to become North America's tallest free-standing structure and the world's tallest all-residential building. The Spire, which if completed as scheduled in 2011, will mark Daley’s 22nd year in office.

His efforts to improve the city have most certainly paid off as the city of Chicago is currently favored by the U.S. Olympic Committee to host the 2016 Olympic

Games. Still, all is not completely rosy for the mayor, and as the City undergoes an investigation into an allegedly fraudulent hiring system, Daley’s office is coming under increased scrutiny.

Daley grew up on the South Side of Chicago, the fourth of seven children of the late Richard J. and his wife Eleanor. He holds a law degree from DePaul University and began his public service career in 1969 when he was elected to the Illinois Constitutional Convention. Mayor Daley lives in the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago with his wife. They have three children, Nora Daley Conroy, Patrick Daley and Elizabeth Daley.

POLITICS & PUBLIC SERVICE

Mayor Richard M. Daley

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Ambassador Tom Foley

POLITICS & PUBLIC SERVICE

W

ith the emphasis shifting from political stability to the economy in Northern Ireland, and the Celtic Tiger cooling down in the Irish Republic, U.S. Ambassador Tom Foley, a graduate of Harvard Business School, with 25 years of management and investment experience, is the right man for the job. On the phone from Dublin with Irish America in February, Foley talked about Northern Ireland and the idea that political stability is enhanced when the economy is good and unemployment rates are low. “We have moved into that mode and we had an investment mission that Ambassador Tuttle [U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. ] and I sponsored up there in October. And now we’re preparing for the larger U.S. Northern Ireland investment conference in Belfast on May 8 and 9,” he said.

Having a business background, Foley has more understanding than your average diplomat about foreign investment, and he also has contacts. “I just happen to know people from my business days who are now on Wall Street or running companies, so I’ve had contacts that I’ve been able to use to recruit people to come to the conference.”

Rita O’Hare, Sinn Féin’s person in America and not someone who is easily impressed, said of Foley, “He’s accessible, and very down to earth. The first time I met him I was struck by the fact that he was clearly listening and watching.

He doesn’t jump in. He’s practical and pragmatic, and very interested.”

With regard to the slow-

76 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

ing down of the Celtic Tiger in the Republic, Foley believes that while there may be a period of adjustment following the very strong period of growth, “all the fundamentals are still in pretty good shape and Ireland is strong relative to other economies in Europe.”

Foley had been to Ireland several times before becoming Ambassador but he admits that living there is different from visiting.

“When you come as a tourist you have a sense that the people here are very nice and accommodating and that it’s beautiful and all that, but you often don’t pick up the subtleties of the culture, but in my role you do pick that up and I’ve been surprised by how different the culture in Ireland really is from the States,” he says.

When asked to elaborate he explains: “The language has some subtle differences in the choice of words and means of expression, and one thing I noticed that’s different in the States is that people are more open about celebrating other people’s success. It’s not just Ireland but in Europe, I think there’s less willing acceptance of people standing out.”

Another thing that has struck Foley is the Irish interest in politics. “I’ve been on the radio four times in the last three days talking about the U.S. elections.

There’s a tremendous level of interest here. I think there’s something in the blood that makes the Irish interested and good in politics. Also, the world’s becoming a smaller place. It matters in Europe who

becomes president of the United States,” he says.

Public diplomacy has been a challenge in all of Europe in explaining what the U.S. has been up to in Iraq. Foley, who served as the Director of Private Sector Development for the Coalition Provisional Authority and oversaw most of Iraq’s 192 state-owned enterprises, from August 2003 to March 2004, is up to the challenge. “I think it helps a lot with the dialogue when people realize that I actually am familiar with the situation on the ground, so when I say something I can say it with more authority than someone who hadn’t been there. So that’s been helpful. Also, I think that attitudes are swinging back, and are a little less intemperate here and on the continent with regard to U.S. foreign policy. I think part of the reason for that is because things seem to be going better in Iraq,” he says.

Foley grew up in

Chicago, the fourth in a family of six (he has one brother and four sisters). His Irish ancestors immigrated to the United States during or just after the famine. “My father’s family came into New York. And my mother’s part of the family ended up pretty quickly out in Wisconsin. The Foleys were from the Waterford area.

And my mother’s family – their surname was Coleman – were from around Dundalk, Co. Louth. My father’s mother’s surname was Loughran and they were from Tyrone.”

Foley, whose 16-year-old son, Thomas, Jr., loves to visit Ireland, is finding that Irish blood is hard to water down. “When I came here and started getting to know people, I could see resemblances to my brothers and sisters and parents – I don’t see that when I’m in France or even in England. There’s definitely something in the DNA.” – Patricia Harty

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Edward Gillespie rom Senate parking lot attendant to Counselor to the President, Ed Gillespie has just about seen and done it all in Washington. Before his current role, to which he was appointed after the resignation of Dan Bartlett, he served as Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia.

Gillespie’s father came to the United States from Donegal as a child in 1933 and went on to win a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star, a Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and a Silver Star during World War II. In an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal on how the Republican Party cannot become perceived as anti-immigrant, Gillespie wrote, “I am proud to be the son of an immigrant. Like many first-generation Americans, I feel it has made me treasure the benefits of citizenship even more. I appreciate the opportunities that have been provided to my father – and by extension to me and my three children – by the greatest country ever to grace the face of the earth.”

A graduate of the Catholic University of America in Washington, Gillespie had worked as a White House Advisor in the process of confirming Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito. He was the Chairman of the Republican National Committee for the 2004 election cycle, and was the first chairman in 80 years to oversee the re-election of a Republican president while holding Republican majorities in both the House and Senate.

Ed is married to Cathy and the couple have three children, John Patrick, Carrie and Mollie Brigid.

– DOK

F

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Ray Kelly or Police Commissioner Ray Kelly the big question remains: If Mayor Bloomberg does not run for a second term, will the city’s head cop throw his hat in the ring in 2009? When asked by Irish America two years ago about the possibility of a mayoral run, Kelly, a registered Independent, answered: “This is the job [Police Commissioner] I want and this is the job I am focusing all my energies on.” Spoken like a true politician.

Kelly’s actions have always been louder than his words. Born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he attended Catholic schools before entering the Marine Corps and serving in the Vietnam War. He retired as a colonel from the Marine Corps Reserves after 30 years of service in 1993. Policing, however, has played the biggest role in Kelly’s professional life. With over thirty years experience on the force, Kelly was the first person to hold the position of Police Commissioner for two nonconsecutive tenures, from 1992-1994 under Mayor Dinkins and from 2002 to the present under Mayor Bloomberg.

From 1996 to 1998, Kelly was Under Secretary for Enforcement at the U.S. Treasury Department. He served as Vice President for the Americas of Interpol, the international police organization, from 19962000, and as Director of the International Police Monitors in Haiti, the U.S.-led force charged with ending human rights abuses and establishing a police force in that war-torn nation.

Kelly holds degrees from Manhattan College, St. John’s University School of Law, New York University Graduate School of Law and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. A second-generation Irish-American whose four grandparents were all born in Ireland, Kelly is married to Veronica and has two grown-up sons.

– DOK

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Seamus McCaffery rish-born, military veteran (U.S. Marine Corps) former Philadelphia police officer, judge in the Court of Common Pleas, now a judge for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court – it’s a classic American Dream story of achievement through hard work.

Judge Seamus McCaffery was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1950, to Seamus and Rita McCaffery.

When he was five, Seamus immigrated to America with his parents and siblings. The family settled in Philadelphia and grew to include Seamus’ three brothers and three sisters, all of whom remain in Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery counties.

Seamus’ formative years were heavily influenced by the values of his ethnic, working-class parents, who stressed a strong work ethic, giving back to the community, loyalty to family and to America. As an immigrant, Seamus took these values to heart, and after graduating from Cardinal Dougherty High School in 1968 he joined the United States Marine Corps. After leaving active duty, he joined the Philadelphia Police Department, where he spent 20 years. During this time, Seamus raised three sons: Sean, Jim and Brian. Sean is a member of the Philadelphia Police SWAT unit, Jim is an FBI agent, and Brian is a recent graduate of Temple University School of Law. All three of Seamus’ sons are married to schoolteachers, and Seamus is the proud and devoted grandfather of two beautiful granddaughters. Seamus and his wife, Lise Rapaport, live in Northeast Philadelphia.

– PH

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Patricia Ann McDonald hen Patricia Ann McDonald was elected mayor of Malverne, New York, beating incumbent Anthony Panzarella, who had been mayor for eight years, her success came as no surprise to her husband, Steven McDonald, a former New York City police officer paralyzed from the neck down after being shot by a teenager while on patrol in Central Park in 1986. He told The New York Times that his wife has “a life experience of service that has prepared her for this job,” adding, “what she’s been through with me for the past 21 years, she’s the most selfless person I’ve ever met.” Indeed, the couple have overcome tragedy to launch a worldwide crusade for peace and forgiveness, meeting presidents and popes along the way.

After she abandoned a career in publishing to care for her husband and raise her son Conor, Patricia’s work in community service has made her a public figure for decades. Politics runs in McDonald’s blood: her father was a Malverne village trustee for 17 years, and when he was taken ill in 1996, Patti stepped in and filled his role for a year.

Patti’s Irish roots can be traced on her father’s side to Waterford and Sligo. Her mother’s family came from Sligo and Cork. While raising her son, Patti included two children from Project Children of North Ireland in her home during the summers. She also helped found the Challenged Irish American Youth Team and has worked to encourage peace in Ireland, participating in peace delegations to Belfast in support of the Good Friday Agreement.

– BE

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John McCain ix months ago Arizona Senior Senator John McCain’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination was looking shaky. After a remarkable comeback McCain stands a very good chance of becoming America’s next president. Since his recent endorsement by former President George H.W. Bush, McCain’s grip on the Republican nomination is tightening.

The son and grandson of distinguished Navy admirals, John McCain was himself a Vietnam war veteran and was tortured for five years by North Vietnamese captors as a prisoner of war. Despite the atrocities he suffered, McCain kept a positive attitude and faith in America. To this day his mantra still remains, “Duty, Honor, Country.”

On his mother’s side, McCain traces his Irish roots to the Hugh family who came over from County Antrim in the early 18th century. It has recently been confirmed by DNA testing that on his father’s side as well, the McCain family came from north County Antrim, not far from Dunluce.

They settled in Mississippi. Several of the Mississippi McCains are quite interested in their Irish heritage, learning Gaelic and spending time in Ireland, and one of them is pursuing a Ph.D. in Irish history. Senator McCain himself is an avid reader of contemporary Irish literature, citing Roddy Doyle and William Trevor as favorites.

McCain remains a strong advocate for new immigration laws and campaign finance reform. His life experience as well as his veteran status makes him a popular choice, and he will prove a worthy adversary to whomever wins the Democratic nomination.

John McCain lives in Phoenix with his wife Cindy and their four children Jimmy, Bridget, Jack and Meghan.

– BE

Barack Obama s a leading Democratic candidate for the presidential election in November, Illinois Senator Barack Obama has built his campaign platform on hope and change. If successful, Obama will be the first man of African descent to inhabit the White House. He will not, however, be the first man of Irish ancestry to occupy the position.

Though it may come as a surprise to many, Obama can trace Irish ancestry on his mother’s side back to one Falmouth Kearney from Monegall, County Offaly, whose father was a shoemaker. According to Church of Ireland rector Canon Stephen Neill whose investigation into Obama’s Irish roots was prompted by a request from an Americans for Obama group based in Dublin, Falmouth emigrated to New York in the 1850s at the age of 19.

Falmouth’s daughter Mary Ann Kearney, born in Tipton County, Indiana in 1869, married Jacob William Dunham, of Kempton, Indiana. The couple moved to Wichita, Kansas, where their great-granddaughter, Barack Obama’s mother Ann Dunham, was born in 1942.

Barack Obama himself was born in Hawaii, where his mother’s parents had moved and where she attended college and met Obama’s father, Barack Hussein Obama from Kenya. The couple divorced when Obama was two.

Obama was educated at Columbia University. In 1991 he graduated from Harvard Law School where he was the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. In January of 2005 he was sworn into office as state senator in Illinois.

Obama’s campaign remains strong in America, but the senator also has the support of the tiny Irish town of Offaly where locals celebrated the senator’s victory in the Iowa caucus. Standing outside of Ollie Hayes’s pub, American Democratic activists led locals in the signature Obama cheer, “Fired Up! Ready to Go!” Barack Obama lives on the South Side of Chicago with his wife Michelle and their two daughters Malia and Sasha.

– BE

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Patrick Murphy atrick J. Murphy (D-PA) is the first veteran of the Iraq war to serve in Congress. He has been representing Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District since November 2006. Murphy joined the Army in 1993 and became a West Point professor, a JAG Corps attorney, and served in both Bosnia (2002) and Iraq (2003-2004) post 9/11. In Iraq he served as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division. During his service he earned a Bronze Star and his unit was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation.

Murphy sits on both the House Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He opposed a troop increase in Iraq in 2007, and with fellow Democrats Senator Barack Obama and Congressman Mike Thompson, cosponsored the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007.

This year, after the New York Giants’ surprise win in the Super Bowl, Murphy showed his hometown loyalty when he was the only congressman to vote against a resolution congratulating the Big Blue saying, “As a former 700-level security guard and lifelong Eagles fan, I couldn’t, in good conscience, vote for the New York Giants. The only thing worse would have been a resolution honoring the Dallas Cowboys.”

Murphy is married to Jennifer and has a daughter Maggie, born in 2006. His father is a Philadelphia police office and his mother is a career legal secretary.

– DOK

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80 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

TIm Murphy with Bertie Ahern.

Tim Murphy im Murphy (R-PA), U.S. Congressman for the 18th District of Pennsylvania since 2002, is one of the few health care professionals in Congress. A psychologist by trade, he served at a number of hospitals in the Pittsburgh area, including Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital, before his election to the state senate in 1997.

One of 11 children, born to a Polish mother and an IrishAmerican father, Murphy grew up in a rural area of Ohio. “There was not much money, but we never knew we didn’t have it,” says Murphy, who worked his way through college. Upon leaving school, he became a practicing psychologist and a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He also made regular appearances on KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh from 1979 to 1995 as a health care expert.

The only child psychologist in federal government, Murphy explained to Irish America why he took up politics. “I worked so long for so many groups going back and forth and talking to elected officials about health issues, and all the time I wished elected officials knew more.” The catalyst came one night when he was visiting a new-born intensive care unit. “I remember looking at this tiny baby addicted to crack cocaine, and saying to a nurse, ‘I have seen enough and I’m not going to take it any more.’ She said, ‘What are you going to do about it – run for office?’ So I did. A state senate seat opened up and I ran and then in 2002 I was elected to Congress.”

In Congress, Murphy puts his background in health care to good use. He co-chairs the Health Care and Mental Health Care Caucuses.

Murphy, whose ancestors immigrated from County Cork many generations ago, is also involved with the Irish Caucus and has been to Ireland several times, meeting with Northern Ireland leaders Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley. He is excited to “finally see peace there after the longest standing conflict in Western civilization emerges now into issues of Irish economic partnership.”

Congressman Murphy lives in Upper St. Clair, Allegheny County, with his wife, Nan, and daughter, Bevin.

– PH

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Scott O'Grady had this sense that people all over the world were praying for my well-being,” Scott O’Grady, the former Air Force F-16 pilot, says of the six days in June 1995 he spent eluding paramilitaries in Bosnia who were determined to kill him after shooting him down. His dramatic daylight rescue by the U.S. Marine Corps galvanized the country. “I’d made it to the ground alive, which was miraculous considering I took a direct hit from the missile and the airplane blew up around me and I was on fire.”

Miracle is also the word used by Marines – seven miracles, in fact, they say. The final and most dramatic one happened when the helicopter carrying O’Grady to safety took fire and a bullet hit the canteen of Sgt. Major Angel Castro, who was sitting directly in front of Scott O’Grady. “I was in the line of fire,” O’Grady remembers. “I don’t take things for granted in life now.”

After completing his Air Force commitment, Scott O’Grady returned to school and recently completed his Master’s in Divinity. “My faith in God, the love of my family whom I wanted to see again, and my patriotism were what really carried me through the ordeal,” he says.

“A lot of my patriotism was spawned by my understanding of my ancestry and my heritage. The sacrifices of my ancestors have always inspired me. My O’Grady grandparents came from Sligo and my grandmother Rose Briarty was born in County Longford, Ireland. She married William O’Grady, a Brooklyn police officer, and the two of them worked to put their three children through college. My dad and uncle both graduated from the University of Notre Dame and my dad went on to medical school and became a heart surgeon. And that’s the American Dream.” O’Grady says his mother’s father, an Italian immigrant who became the main breadwinner of his family at fourteen, also was able to put himself through medical school and became a pediatric heart surgeon.

– Mary Pat Kelly

POLITICS & PUBLIC SERVICE

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Rear Admiral Timothy S. Sullivan ince 2006, Rear Admiral Timothy S. Sullivan has been Commander, First Coast Guard District and Commander, Maritime Defense Command One. In this role he is responsible for all Coast Guard missions across eight Northeast states and 2000 miles of coastline from Maine to northern New Jersey. Prior to this position Rear Admiral Sullivan was Senior Military Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security, where he was the primary coordinator between the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. He also acted as operational advisor to the secretary during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

During 9/11 he was Commanding Officer, Group San Francisco before transferring to the Department of Homeland Security.

A 1975 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, he has a master’s degree in Communication Arts / Public Affairs from Cornell University and graduated from the Kennedy School of Government Senior Executive National and International Security Program at Harvard University.

Sullivan is the recipient of numerous accolades, including the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Coast Guard Commendation Medal, the 9-11 Medal and the Coast Guard Achievement Medal. Rear Admiral Sullivan, who traces his heritage to Cork, is married to Teresa and the couple have four children, Maureen, Conor, Rory and Patrick.

– DOK

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“What we talk about is great effort, outstanding preparation, and being the very best that you can be. If you are as good as you can possibly be, the rest of that stuff will take care of itself.”

Tom Coughlin, New York Giants coach.

In the following pages we salute all those sporting heroes who are “the best they can be.”

Tom Brady hough the 2007 Patriots will be remembered for the perfect team that wasn’t, their quarterback still had an incredible season. Not only did Tom Brady win NFL MVP, but the three-time Super Bowl champion threw 50 touchdown passes in an unbeaten 16-0 regular season. In fact his numbers were so ridiculously high all season that it seemed a glorious coronation was inevitable. However, Tom Coughlin, the man on the opposite side of this page, and his team of Giants did not read the script and put an end to such perfect ambitions.

Brady, though, put a brave face on the loss immediately after the Super Bowl, saying, “We had a great year. It’s just unfortunate that tonight turned out the way it did.”

Though this defeat will take some time to recover from, Brady (whose family traces its Irish roots to counties Cork and Cavan) is only 30, so it is surely only a matter of when, rather than if, he gets his fourth ring.

In the meantime, Brady’s popularity has transcended his sport and now he is beginning to rival the likes of David Beckham and Tiger Woods as global sporting icons.

The New England Patriots quarterback is now as popular for his actions off the field as he is on the gridiron.

– DOK

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Tom Coughlin t the end of the 2006 season, Tom Coughlin was being run out of New York by media and fans alike. Twelve months later and the man can almost walk on water. That’s what a Super Bowl win will do for a coach, but it was his own transformation as well as how he changed the mindset of his team that was most impressive.

Defensive linchpin Michael Strahan said it best when he remarked, “From more rules and less suggestions to more suggestions and less rules.” Once Coughlin relented a little on the rigid discipline that is his trademark, the Giants responded by warming to the man and buying into his plan.

Team that up with a quarterback who discovered himself, add a mean defense, and the man born in Waterloo, New York, was the rock upon which the Patriots floundered.

To the victor come the spoils, they say, and going from a one-year last-chance-saloon contract signed at the start of the season, Coughlin can expect a multi-year contract with a serious pay hike when the celebrations die down.

“Every team is beatable, you never know,” said Coughlin after his team’s improbable win. “The right moment, the right time, every team is beatable.” What he failed to mention was that to accomplish that, you need the the right mentality and the right coach. Way to go, Tom. – DOK

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Jack Curran or fifty years Jack Curran has coached basketball and baseball at Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, New York. In that time he has coached and mentored thousands of kids in the local community. And not without success either. Curran and Archbishop Molloy have won the double – the New York City basketball and baseball title in the same year – four times. No other school has even done it once. In fact, with five basketball titles and 17 baseball titles, the Molloy trophy cabinet is pretty full. In terms of wins, in basketball Curran is around the 900 mark and in baseball he is hovering around 1,600.

But coaching was not his first calling. Curran was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as a pitcher and ended up in the Philadelphia Phillies farm system in the early 50s before a back injury put an end to his playing career. After working as a recreations director, Spalding rep and building material salesman, Curran came across a newspaper ad for a coaching position at Archbishop Molloy. The rest, as they say. . .

During his time, six former Stanners (as the basketball players are named) have gone on to the NBA, but as Curran told The New York Times in an interview recently, “I’ve been told that the true measure of a coach is the quality of the people he has turned out long after they have left him. In that regard, I think I measure up pretty good.”

– DOK

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Matt Cullen arolina Hurricanes center Matt Cullen comes from a family with ice hockey in its blood. Cullen’s father was the hockey coach at Moorhead Senior High School (the Minnesota town where Matt grew up and the school he graduated from in 1995). One of his younger brothers, Mark, plays for the Detroit Red Wings and another, Joe, played for the Toronto RoadRunners.

After two years at St. Cloud State University, Cullen was drafted in 1996 to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. After five and a half years with the Ducks, it was on to Florida and then to the Carolina Hurricanes, where he won the Stanley Cup in 2005. He was then traded to the New York Rangers but returned to Carolina after one season. As we go to press on Feb. 23, Cullen scored twice to help the Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals, helping Carolina maintain its hold on the Southeast Division lead.

Outside the rink, Cullen is very active in the community.

He and his wife set up the Cullen’s Children Foundation in 2004, to help fund children’s healthcare, especially those affected by cancer.

The couple have a son, Brooks.

– DOK

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Feb. 8, 2008: Jack Curran is honored by students of Archbishop Molloy High School.

TOM HARRISON

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Tom Glavine

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PHOTO: AP

here’s no avoiding the obvious.

Baseball pitching great Tom Glavine did not leave the New York Mets on the best of terms. He pitched poorly in the last game of the 2007 season, a game which happened to decide whether or not the Mets were going to make the playoffs.

But another fact is just as obvious. There was plenty of blame to go around when it came to the Mets’ 2007 collapse. And in terms of Glavine’s entire stellar career, the final Mets game, while unfortunate, does not change the fact that he will one day be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame.

Glavine, an IrishAmerican who was born in Massachusetts, won his 300th baseball game last August. When he reached this milestone, he joined an exclusive club whose first three members were IrishAmericans: Pud Galvin, Tim Keefe and Mickey Welch were the first three major league pitchers to win 300 games.

Glavine attributes his success to the work ethic instilled by his family. “My parents were all about hard work and doing things right,” Glavine was quoted as saying after winning his 300th game.

“If you are going to do something, do it right. Put all of your effort into it, not to where you are just satisfied to get it done. Never do something half-ass.”

Glavine’s dad, Fred (a construction worker), added: “Tommy probably gets a lot

Pitcher Tom Glavine hugs his son Peyton after winning his 300th game.

of that [toughness] from me.

I’m very determined and, like me, he isn’t a rah-rah guy. It’s all business. His trademark is to be tough, no matter what. He might have trouble in the first inning, but he makes adjustments, and finds a way.”

For all of his success on the baseball diamond, a very different sport was nearly Glavine’s professional calling. He was such a standout hockey player that

the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League drafted him after high school.

Following his 300th win this year, admirers could not help but note the dignified manner in which he plays the game.

“To watch Tom Glavine pitch a game is to watch a professional athlete who has mastered the art of pitching.

No doubt in my mind you'll be a first-round inductee into

the Hall of Fame,” fellow 300-game- winner Tom Seaver told a roaring crowd at Shea Stadium.

For better or worse, Glavine has moved away from New York and returned to the city where he made a name for himself, Atlanta.

He may be 42, but the Braves will still be expecting big things from Thomas Michael Glavine in 2008.

– Tom Deignan

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SPORTS

Bob Hurley in the huddle with his St. Anthony Friars high school basketball team.

JOE WHALEN

Hurley and O’Brien Guide Young Athletes

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three decades of coaching, and has nabbed over 20 state titles. Hurley, who grew up in Jersey City, is sometimes said to be responsible for “the Miracle of St. Anthony’s.”

Serving largely poor and working class students, the school has fewer than 250 students, and only about 130 are boys. And yet, from that humble pool, Hurley has created a dynasty.

As a profile in the New York Daily News put it: “The training and discipline of [Hurley’s] team carry over into academics. The coach can be proud not only of the five NBA players and firstround draft picks whose careers he nurtured, but also of the 200 who played college hoops. … In Hurley’s 33 years at St. Anthony’s, all but one of his players went on to higher education.”

Meanwhile, former Salem High School coach Jack O’Brien has left an indelible mark on the lives of many basketball players both in Salem in the mid-1980s and more recently at Charlestown High,when he led his allblack basketball team to many state championships.

Off the court, O’Brien, a Medford, Massachusetts native, who has also been involved with the Plummer Home, a residential home in Salem for boys from troubled homes, inspires his players to work hard not just in sports but in the classroom.

“He has an incredible record of getting guys into college,” says Neil Swidey, author of The Assist: Hoops, Hope and the Game of their Lives (Public Affairs).

The Assist is the result of a

COURTESY: NEIL SWIDEY

n extraordinary meeting of Irish-American minds took place in Springfield, Massachusetts this past January, on Martin Luther King Day. True, this is not a day people associate with the Irish. But Jack O’Brien and Bob Hurley have spent so much time trying to guide young African-Americans in the right direction that it was only fitting they add their voices to the chorus of Americans discussing race and class – not to mention sports – at Martin Luther King Day events.

O’Brien and Hurley are two of the most dedicated and successful high school basketball coaches in the U.S. Hurley’s achievements at St. Anthony’s in Jersey City are, by now, well known. He has won over 90 percent of his games over

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Jack O’Brien

three-part series Swidey did on Coach O’Brien and the Charlestown High team for the Globe Magazine in 2004.

He went on to spend three years documenting the lives of O’Brien and his players.

Swidey’s roots are Irish as well. His maternal grandfather, Patrick Ridge, was born in Galway, while Patrick’s wife Nora O’Brien was born in Clare.

– Tom Deignan

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Shaun O'Hara

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Justin McBride ustin McBride rides bulls for a living. On the Professional Bull Riders Build Ford Tough Series since 1999, McBride has had his ribs broken, his lung punctured and his ankle shattered in a sport where making mistakes means a lot more than being told off by your coach.

But such an unforgiving sport produces hardy men, and McBride is one of the hardiest. The two-time world champion (2005 and 2007) had an amazing season last year when he not only clinched his second world title, but also recorded the most tour victories in one season (eight) and the most career wins (30) to date. The 28-year-old also broke the one-season earnings record with his 2007 haul of $835,321. McBride had surgery to reconstruct his left shoulder (he rode while injured in the 2007 World Championships) last November and is currently working hard on his rehabilitation.

Away from the rodeo, Justin is married to Jill. The couple have one daughter, Addison Claire and live in Oklahoma. Just before he won the 2007 title he released his first country album, Don't Let Go. No guessing as to where he got his inspiration for that title!

– DOK

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ithout protection from the offensive linemen, often the forgotten men of football, the quarterback is a sitting duck.

Shaun O’Hara, New York Giants’ 303-pound 6-foot-3-inch center, is a Giant in every sense of the word. It was a typical gracious gesture when O’Hara turned the spotlight on quarterback Eli Manning as the Super Bowl hero. “He’s always being compared to somebody, whether it’s his dad or his brother or Phil Simms. Tonight, I think Eli built himself a platform for others to be compared to him,” O’Hara told The New York Times.

The Chicago-born 30-year-old has always been a team man.

Able to play at both guard and center, O’Hara has been an important cog in the Giants’ offensive line since he joined the team in March 2003 from Cleveland.

Not only does he give of himself on the field, in 2005 he was named the Giants’ Man of the Year in recognition for his contribution to the community. That same year he was honored by the United Way as its Hometown Hero. – DOK

Patrick McEnroe 008 has already proved that there’s no rest for the weary, at least not for Davis Cup winners. U.S. team captain Patrick McEnroe is already preparing his team for the Summer Olympics as well as the defense of their Davis Cup crown.

AP PHOTO McEnroe, luckily, is familiar with pressure. A world-class tennis player, he had his greatest success as a doubles player, winning 17 professional titles in his career, including the 1989 French Open with Jim Grabb. His career-high doubles ranking was # 3. As a singles player McEnroe won one title, in 1995 in Sydney.

McEnroe took over as Davis Cup team captain in 2000 after his brother, tennis legend John McEnroe, retired. It was the Davis Cup that brought the McEnroe men back to Ireland in 1983, where the McEnroe patriarch, JP, traces his ancestry to Belfast.

When not training for the Davis Cup, McEnroe works as a sports analyst and commentator for ESPN. He is married to actress Melissa Errico, who is from his hometown of Manhasset, New York. – DOK

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Photo: Mike Bryan, Team USA captain Patrick McEnroe, James Blake, Bob Bryan and Andy Roddick holding the Davis Cup following their victory over Russia at the Davis Cup tennis finals Sunday, Dec. 2 in Portland Oregon.

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Debbie Ryan n her 31st season at the helm of The University of Virginia’s (UVA) women’s basketball team, Coach Debbie Ryan’s stellar career will see her inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame with the class of 2008. A Naismith Coach of the Year in 1991 and a seven-time Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year, Ryan had her 600th victory in 2004.

In 2000 Ryan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is now in remission.

Ryan told UVA about her brush with the disease and how it affected her. “I’ve learned to reach out to other people in this same position, and to families who have loved ones in this position. It’s been a friend to me because I think that as much as an enemy it is, it’s made me a better person, a better coach and a better mentor.”

As well as continuing her quest for her first NCAA title, in 2004 Ryan coached the women’s basketball team at the Pan-American Games, where they won the silver medal.

– DOK

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or the past 58 years, Vin Scully has been known as the “Voice of the Dodgers.”

Following the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, Scully has witnessed and broadcast the triumphs of the greats, from Jackie Robinson to Sandy Koufax. His recent sign-on to his 58th season with the Dodgers makes this the longest time any sportscaster has spent with one team.

Inducted into the American Sportscasters Association’s Hall of Fame in 1992, Scully was also elected to the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. The 2005 book Voices of Summer by Curt Smith names Scully “Baseball’s All Time Best Broadcaster.” That year Scully was also named the California Sportscaster of the Year.

In addition to 25 World Series and 12 All-Star game broadcasts.

Scully has worked for the NFL and PGA. A graduate of Fordham University, Vin Scully was born in the Bronx to Irish immigrant parents. Today he lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Sandra.

– MD

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Vin Scully

Alan Webb t only 25, Alan Webb holds the American record for the mile at three minutes and 46.91 seconds, and ended the 2007 season as the fastest miler in the world. In September he won the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York over the defending champion, Kevin Sullivan.

Webb is one of several American runners represented by former Irish mile great Ray Flynn (89 sub-4:00 miles) who now owns and operates Flynn Sports Management.

Webb’s mile record makes him the eighth fastest man in history. In addition to his mile triumph, he is also the world record holder for the 1500-meter run, at three minutes and thirty seconds.

Coached by Scott Raczko, Webb gained valuable experience competing at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Ever improving, if he stays injury free and maintains this form, he will be a big threat at the Olympics in Beijing later this summer.

Alan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, today he resides in Reston, Virginia.

He is continuing his college education at George Mason University. His Irish roots are from Co. Antrim where his ancestors lived in the early 1800s. His relative Joseph Antrim Webb immigrated to Philadelphia in the 19th century.

– MD

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WRITERS & MEDIA Jimmy Breslin R

WRITERS & MEDIA

age is the only quality which has kept me, or anybody I have ever studied, writing columns for newspapers,” says Jimmy Breslin. A New Yorker to his core, Breslin has chronicled the lives and injustices of his fellow city folk for over 40 years now, and he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary in 1986. Like many newspapermen of his generation, Breslin is also the author of several novels and nonfiction books, including the recently published The Good Rat: A True Story. In this latest work, which is non-fiction, Breslin revisits the terrain of his unforgettable novel The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, weaving together stories of crooked cops and Mafia guys, and the perhaps not so bad rat who delivers the bad cops to prison.

Breslin, whose immigrant grandparents hailed from Counties Clare and Donegal, got his start in journalism at the now defunct Long Island Press, and has worked for such publications as the New York Herald Tribune, the Daily News and his current position at the Long Islandbased Newsday.

– PH “

In the long tradition of Irish America, the “word” written and spoken has shown itself to be one of our greatest talents. And as the following list of extraordinary writers, broadcasters, newspaper men and women, television producers, and documentary-makers reveals, the tradition continues. From 9/11 to baseball, from soldiers wounded in the war in Iraq to sex slavery, the range of subjects covered is extraordinary, and the art of storytelling is flourishing.

Dr. Jerrold Casway or thirty-five years, Jerrold Casway, a professor of History and Social Science/Teacher Education Division Chair at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland, has been actively researching and writing about Irish history and culture. His major areas of interest are early modern Irish history and the sporting culture of nineteenth-century Irish America.

Casway has written two acclaimed books, Owen Roe O’Neill and the Struggle for Catholic Ireland and Ed Delahanty in the Emerald Age of Baseball. He has presented many papers on a variety of topics at ACIS National Conferences and has participated in commemorative symposiums on seventeenth-century topics in Dublin, Belfast, Derry, Letterkenny and Chicago. He is also a frequent presenter at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. A sought-after reviewer of Irish texts, Casway has published close to 50 articles on topics ranging from post-Flight exiled women, Irish and black relations in nineteenth-century America, the Irish in baseball, post-Ulster plantation settlements and the “Wild Geese” communities in Catholic Europe. He has also written about the O’Cahan, O’Dogarty, O’Neill, O’Donnell and O’Rourke families and their struggles for survival in the turbulent seventeenth century. Casway’s next book will be a study of the ethnicity and culture of nineteenth-century baseball, concentrating on IrishAmerican ballplayers.

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Phil Donahue hil Donahue, whose pioneering role in television journalism has gained him many awards and accolades, feels particularly proud of the recognition given to the documentary Body of War, which he co-directed with Ellen Spiro and for which he served as executive producer. It was named Best Documentary of 2007 by the National Board of Review and selected for many film festivals.

The film tells the transformational story of Army veteran Tomas Young, 25, who was paralyzed by the bullet wound to the spine he received during his first week in Iraq.

“I discovered a great American in Tomas Young, a warrior turned anti-warrior, a voice of courage rising above the war drums, a voice to ‘be heard behind the White House gate’ in the words of the song Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder wrote for this film,” Donahue says.

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Donahue has had a profound effect on television and American culture.

As host of Donahue, he presided over nearly 7,000 one-hour daily shows, many on-location broadcasts and several historic broadcasts from Russia, and used the television talk show format he pioneered in 1967 to interview world leaders, celebrities, newsmakers and people from all walks of life for over 29 years.

Donahue, pictured below with Eddie Vedder and Tomas Young, was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame on November 20, 1993. He grew up in Cleveland and is Irish on both sides. His mother was a McClory.

– Mary Pat Kelly

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Jim Dwyer eteran newspaper reporter and author Jim Dwyer, who now writes for The New York Times, is known in the Irish community for his compelling reports on Northern Ireland. It was O’Dwyer who broke the news in 1997 that a new IRA ceasefire was soon to be declared. That same year he presented a moving account of the life and death of Bernadette Martin, an 18-year-old Catholic girl who was murdered in her sleep for dating a Protestant boy.

A first-generation Irish-American – his mother Mary and father Phil are from Counties Galway and Kerry respectively – Dwyer attended Fordham College and Columbia University.

He joined the Daily News in 1995, having worked for more than 11 years at Newsday. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1995 for commentary and shared the prize in 1992 for metropolitan reporting.

Dwyer is also the author of three acclaimed books, Subway Lives, Two Seconds Under the Worlds, an account of the World Trade Center bombing, and 102 Minutes (which he coauthored with Kevin Flynn), a dramatic and moving account of the struggle for life inside the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, when every minute counted.

A native New Yorker, Dwyer and his wife, Cathy, have two daughters, Maura and Catherine.

– PH

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Michael Garland oon after graduating from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, Michael Garland sold his first illustration to True Confessions magazine. It was the beginning of a 34-year career. Along the way, Michael decided he wanted to write as well as illustrate, and to date he has produced 21 books. He has also illustrated books for others, including singer Gloria Estefan and writer James Patterson. In fact, his illustrations for Patterson’s story Santakid inspired Saks Fifth Avenue’s Christmas windows.

Michael, who grew up in New York City and later Staten Island, cleaned floors in a nursing home and drove a cab nights and weekends to put himself through school.

He always wanted to be an artist.

“Drawing was the thing I did best. In school when they passed out the paper and crayons, it was my day to shine. My teachers would never hold up my math test, but everything I drew would be shown to the class and given a place of honor on the bulletin board. I started to think I might become an artist,” he told Irish America.

In a tribute to his Irish roots, Michael based one of his recent books, King Puck, a kid-appealing tale, on an Irish festival. His father, whose parents were from Cavan, served in WWII before joining the NYPD. His maternal grandparents, Margaret and Michael Carney (who helped build the Empire State Building), immigrated to the U.S. from Mayo.

Garland is married to Peggy and they have three kids in college, Katie, Alice and Kevin. – PH

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Adrian Flannelly s the Founder, Chairman & CEO of Irish Radio Network USA, Adrian Flannelly has for over 38 years dedicated his career as a journalist, entertainer and promoter to illuminating issues of concern to the American Irish community. And in all of his endeavors he is ably assisted by his wife and executive vice president, Aine Sheridan (pictured above with Adrian).

Described as “the dean of Irish Radio in the U.S.” by the New York Daily News, “A promoter of incredible charm and energy” by New York Newsday, and “An entertainer, a lobbyist and an entrepreneur – a jack of all trades” by the Irish Times, Adrian has been a major force on the Irish cultural and political scene since 1970.

Using his popular radio shows as a conduit for change, Flannelly helped reform visa lotteries and immigration laws.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Flannelly, whom he refers to as his “good friend” as “Irish Cultural Advisor” to City Hall in January, 2007.

That same year, Flannelly accompanied the mayor to Ballymote, Co. Sligo, where he dedicated a statue to General Michael Corcoran of the Fighting 69th.

The recipient of numerous awards, Adrian has been involved in many projects. He is co-founder of Project Irish Outreach Catholic Charities (Archdiocese of New York) and the Emerald Isle Immigration Center. In 2000, the Irish government appointed Flannelly as its U.S. Representative on its Task Force on “Policy Towards Emigrants.” He also serves as the Irish Cultural Liaison for the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park City, adjacent to the World Trade Center and World Financial Center – a major attraction for millions of visitors.

(The recreated famine cottage on the site was transported from Flannelly’s home parish of Attymass. Co. Mayo).

The Adrian Flannelly Show – now in its 38th year, airs every Saturday from 10 a.m-1 p.m. from midtown Manhattan.

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Morgan Llywelyn ecognized in Ireland and America as an expert on early Irish history and folklore, Morgan Llywelyn, who has thrilled millions of readers of such books as Brian Boru, Red Branch, Lion of Ireland, and Grania, has just completed one of the most ambitious projects in recent Irish fiction with 1999: A Novel of the Celtic Tiger and the Search for Peace, which was published in February (Forge).

This is the fifth and final entry in Llywelyn’s Irish Century series, in which the prolific author traces the history of 20th-century Ireland through a single family.

Llywelyn’s accomplishment is all the more impressive because while she worked on the Irish Century series, she continued to publish other books in a variety of genres. Her book Grania was the source material for the Broadway musical The Pirate Queen.

Llywelyn makes history come alive, dramatizing events of Irish history through real life figures as well as her own sharply drawn fictional characters.

Particularly striking in 1999 is Llywelyn’s handling of the 1981 Irish hunger strike, the culmination of a prison protest during the Troubles, which left ten men, including Bobby Sands, dead.

American-born of Irish and Welsh ancestry, Llywelyn now lives in Dublin.

She was born in New York City, but after the death of her husband and parents in 1985 she returned to Ireland to take up citizenship in the land of her grandparents and make her permanent home there.

R

ne of the great stylists who embodies New York, Pete Hamill has a similar feel for his city that Studs Terkel had for Chicago. He is also an outstanding and perceptive commentator on the Irish-American identity.

Throughout his lengthy career he has been, at various times, a journalist, essayist, columnist, short story writer, novelist, commentator and editor, but there is one very simple word that perfectly describes Hamill – writer. In his 1995 introduction to a collection of his journalism, he said writing was “so entwined with my being that I can’t imagine a life without it.”

As a journalist, Hamill has covered wars in Vietnam, Nicaragua, Lebanon and Northern Ireland, and has lived for extended periods in Mexico City, Dublin, Barcelona, San Juan and Rome.

Born in Brooklyn in 1935, the eldest of seven children, to immigrants from Belfast, Hamill has written extensively on art, jazz, immigration and politics. He has also written much fiction including movie and TV scripts and published several novels including Snow in August, Loving Women, and his most recent North River. His memoir A Drinking Life was on the New York Times best-seller list for 13 weeks.

Hamill lives in New York with his wife, Japanese journalist Fukiko Aoki. The couple also spend long periods of time in Mexico. He is the father of two daughters, Adriene and Deirdre.

– PH

WRITERS & MEDIA

Pete Hamill O

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Cait Murphy Patricia McCormick atricia McCormick, whose three books My Brother’s Keeper, Cut and Sold deal with drug addiction, self-injury and sex slavery, is not afraid to write about characters on the periphery of society. As she says herself, “I like writing from the point of view of the outsider. This perspective is the most interesting because it’s usually tinged with longing, or confusion, or with a slightly off-kilter sense of humor.

To me, that’s much more interesting than a mainstream point of view.”

WRITERS & MEDIA

P

ait Murphy is an assistant managing editor at Fortune magazine in New York, and the author of Crazy ’08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History. A former Little League infielder, Murphy played softball at Amherst College, where she received her degree in American Studies.

Of Irish descent on both sides, Murphy says, “although our Irish roots are distant, my parents always took a keen interest in things Irish and from 1964-66, packed the whole family off (7 children at the time, 7 2/3 when we returned) to live in Dublin for two years. (My father, an artist who illustrated Prince Valiant from 1970-2004, was able to work from Dublin). This was a wonderful experience that we all remember with vividness and affection. I also |studied in Dublin my junior year, taking courses in Irish history and literature.

My parents were also founding members of The Wild Geese, an Irish cultural organization based in Fairfield County, Connecticut.”

Murphy has four sisters and three brothers, and a quick look at the names demonstrates the family affection for things Irish: John Cullen, Mary Cullen, Katherine Siobhan, Joan Byrne, Robert Finn, Brendan Woods, Cait Naughton and Mairead Walsh.

Her father’s family (Murphy and Finn) hailed chiefly from Mayo, while her mother’s family (Byrne and Cerbery) immigrated from Limerick and Kildare.

Both sides came to this country in the 1880s.

C

Margaret Murphy argaret Murphy, a three-time Emmy Award winning producer, began her career as a member of the original staff of Sesame Street and went on to produce groundbreaking children’s programs for Nickelodeon as well as winning a Video of the Year Grammy Award nomination for Fun and Games.

The Television Academy also honored Murphy for her contributions as a producer and writer for ABC’s Nightline, Dateline NBC, and the PBS series Smithsonian World. Her History Channel specials, and many A&E Biographies and recent work on NBC’s new Digital Education Initiative all reflect her special ability to communicate complicated subjects in a way that engages the audience.

Murphy served as a film editor for several seasons of 60 Minutes at CBS and just recently edited the feature film Proud, starring Ossie Davis and Stephen Rea. Born in New York City, educated at Fordham University, Brooklyn College Graduate School and The Neighborhood Playhouse, Margaret Murphy fondly remembers a New York upbringing steeped in Irish tradition.

– Mary Pat Kelly

M

A National Book Award finalist for Young People’s Literature in 2006 for Sold, McCormick has a new book coming out in April called Up All Night – a collaboration with five other authors about six stories that take place after the sun goes down. Before concentrating on fiction, McCormick worked for, among others, The New York Times, Reader’s Digest and Parents magazine.

A proud Irish-American, McCormick traces her Irish heritage on her mother’s side to counties Mayo and Tipperary and on her father’s to Galway. Her maternal great-grandfather was a member of the Molly Maguires. The former adjunct professor of journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism lives with her husband in New York. She is the mother of two children.

– DOK

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The

Greening of Silıcon Valley How the Irish Technology Leadership Group is helping hatch the next Celtic Tiger.

By Chris Ryan

S

can the upper ranks of some of Silicon Valley’s top technology powerhouses and you’ll find them strewn with Irish names like gorse on a Kerry hillside. These executives have helped pick their companies up from the dot-com bust and already are developing the next phase of the Internet era, the socially connective technologies known as Web 2.0. But even as they help to build this new wave of Silicon Valley prosperity, a circle of Irish-American leaders are busy planning another wave of innovation and prosperity – in Ireland.

As the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG), the 17 members come together to ensure that the Celtic Tiger continues to grow and bring prosperity to the people of Ireland. It’s the brainchild of John Hartnett, native of Limerick and Senior Vice President for Global Markets at Palm, Inc., a Silicon Valley tech company that designs mobile smartphones and handhelds.

From age 17, Hartnett worked for American technology companies based in Ireland (attending the University of Limerick at night), and he has continued to work for companies with Irish operations since moving to California in 1998. Having seen both the rise of the Celtic Tiger and the technology boom and bust in Silicon Valley, it’s safe to say Hartnett has developed a long-term perspective on business.

Right: Palm Inc.’s Senior Vice President of Global Markets, John Hartnett, pictured outside company headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.

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The Irish Technology Leadership Group: Who’s Who CONRAD BURKE Conrad Burke is President & CEO of Innovalight, Inc., a solar energy startup based in Sunnyvale, CA. Conrad is from Dublin, Ireland and has lived in the U.S. for the past 10 years. His career has spanned venture capital, R&D, product management, marketing, sales and general management in renewable energy, semiconductors and IT. Conrad was named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and has represented Innovalight at the annual event in Davos, Switzerland. He has an MS in Physics from Trinity College, Dublin, a BS in Physics from University College, Dublin and has also attended The London Business School.

ÉMER DEANE

PHOTO BY: CHRIS RYAN,VIEWSOFTHEWORLD.COM

Émer Deane was appointed Consul General of Ireland to the Western United States in October 2005. She was born and raised in Dublin. As Consul General, she is responsible for promoting Ireland’s interests and protecting and supporting the Irish community in the 13 Western states of the Union.

Deane was educated at University College Dublin and at Trinity College Dublin. She has previously worked on European Union matters including during Ireland’s 1996 EU presidency.

Her partner, David Owens, is a career civil servant in Ireland’s Finance Ministry. They have a son and two daughters.

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RORY DOOLEY Rory Dooley has over 20 years’ experience in the global high tech industry. He currently serves as the Senior Vice President & General Manager of the Control Device Business Unit in Logitech.

He has worked for Logitech in Asia, the Americas and Europe and was instrumental in bringing Logitech to Cork, in 1988. He has also served as CEO of Linkvest (a Swiss-based software services company) and as a partner in Endeavor Advisors (a Geneva-based VC fund). Rory is married with two children and lives in the San Francisco Bay area. He holds an engineering degree from Trinity College Dublin.

ANDREW DUGGAN Andrew Duggan is Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of LPL Financial, a leading diversified financial services company and the largest independent broker/dealer. Duggan has been instrumental in managing the firm’s growth through technology innovation, operational excellence and business strategy.

Before joining LPL Financial, he held senior executive positions in management consulting organizations such as Accenture and Viant. He has also led venture-funded start-up companies. His extensive experience ranges from sales, technology and operations to executive level management.

Duggan received his Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Limerick in 1989.

BRIAN FITZGERALD Brian has thirty years of experience in operations and general management within the global high tech industry.

He has held senior management and executive management positions with Apple, Claris and Intuit. Brian has also held executive management positions with several early-stage start-up companies.

JOHNNY GILMORE Johnny Gilmore runs the global operations of Sling Media, a provider of consumer digital media products. Gilmore has led the company to rapid growth across North America and Europe.

Prior to joining Sling, Johnny worked in the high-tech consumer electronics industry in Northern California and Europe, and in the strategic and operations consulting practices of Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting.

Johnny has a BA in Economics from the University of Manchester and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He lives in San Jose, California with his wife Orla and their four young children.

And he knows that success can cause complacency. “The biggest challenge for us as a country right now is dealing with success and understanding the pitfalls it can cause.”

A Warmer (Business) Climate

»

The continued strength of the Celtic Tiger cannot be assumed. In last November’s U.S.-Ireland Forum in New York, Richard Medley, chairman of an investment management firm, warned the audience that continued high investment in Ireland is by no means assured. The country still has a sunny investment climate, but it now has to compete with other economies that are also courting international firms.

These days, companies that want a new manufacturing plant see low wages in Central and Eastern Europe, and those that sell services know of India’s large, Englishspeaking workforce.

John Hartnett explains, “Ireland can’t compete head-on to win manufacturing” from some of these countries.

Instead, he suggests, it should move “up the food chain” – pursue knowledge-based, value-added activities like research and development (R&D), engineering, science, and technology.

The ITLG wants agencies like the IDA (Industrial Development Agency) to attract the new tech companies expanding outside the U.S. – “winning that inward investment.” Hartnett feels his group can do this by helping the agencies to understand the key criteria for attracting companies, to market Ireland more effectively, and to exhibit Ireland’s advantages.

“Ireland’s greatest asset is its people,” he says, “and winning success is selling that.”

In addition to technology leaders, the group includes two members who can bridge the worlds of business and government. Dermot Tuohy directs the IDA’s West Coast operations and is responsible for implementing a knowledge-based strategy for the Irish economy, focusing on information technology, biotechnology, and the Internet; and Émer Deane promotes Ireland’s interests in the 13 Western states as a Consul General of Ireland.

According to Hartnett, Ireland is already showing encouraging signs of transitioning to a new, more advanced economy. In recent years the IDA has attracted high-tech companies like Google, Palm, Intel, and Bell Labs.

“There’s engineering design and development going on there . . . It’s really a signal that Ireland can compete in the technology/knowledge race.”

But transitioning to that post-manufacturing “knowledge economy,” Hartnett feels, will require fostering more than just a favorable business climate. It will take a conceptual shift.

“Ireland’s greatest asset is its people,” John Hartnett says, “and winning success is selling that.”

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GARY HANLEY Gary Hanley has over twelve years’ experience in the ICT industry in the U.S. and has held positions of leadership in software development, IT, sales and marketing for companies such as Sun Microsystems, GTE (now Verizon) and EMC. He was appointed Senior Vice President North America for Invest Northern Ireland in May 2007 and manages a team of 20 sales staff.

Residing in Boston, Massachusetts, Gary holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from the University of Limerick as well as a Master of Business Studies from the National University of Ireland at Galway.

JOHN HARTNETT Pictured at the opening of Palm’s R&D Engineering center in Swords, County Dublin are John Hartnett and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin, who will be honored by ITLG and Irish America at a dinner at Stanford University on March 27.

The Technological Mind

»

“Irish people have always been careful,” John Hartnett explains. “It’s ‘Protect what you have’ . . . whereas here in Silicon Valley people go for it – they go for the big bet, and it doesn’t always win, but when it does win it makes a big difference.” He has seen the confidence of businesspeople in Ireland rise over the last 10 years, but he feels it can rise even higher.

Here in California’s Silicon Valley, stories of young entrepreneurs are legendary. Nearly unbelievable tales of youth, opportunity, and jaw-dropping success fuel the efforts of those looking to hatch the next runaway start-up.

And the stories are doubly inspiring because they’re true.

When I attended primary school in Cupertino in the early 1980s, everyone knew about two guys who started a company out of their garage and called it Apple Computer.

These days the ambitious admire the young man behind Facebook, who developed the popular social networking site while still a student at Harvard, and the founders of Google, who created the Internet search engine while at Stanford; that start-up is now worth $170 billion.

Hartnett wants to know, “Why can’t two guys walk out of Trinity College in Dublin and create the next Google or Facebook?”

To create the right environment, Hartnett feels, technology needs to be a top priority in the educational system, in attracting investment, “and also within our fabric as a country.”

An All-Island Economy

»

One of the ITLG’s members is Johnny Gilmore, COO of Sling Media, a Silicon Valley company that develops consumer digital media products. Gilmore is a native of Northern Ireland and has worked in Dublin, England, Australia, and California. Now, as he looks to Ireland, he sees a lot of good schools and a lot of strong talent – not in the North or the South, but in Ireland as a whole.

As Senior Vice President of Global Markets, John Hartnett is responsible for Palm, Inc.’s worldwide sales, service and support. Palm provides mobile computing solutions to consumers and business.

Hartnett is a native of Limerick, and on the board of the University of Limerick Foundation. He is a Munster Rugby enthusiast, and a founding member of Munster Rugby USA. He is a member of The American Ireland Fund and the US-Ireland Alliance. A partner in Atlantic Bridge Ventures, a venture capital firm with offices in Dublin and London, he is married with four children and resides in Los Gatos, California.

CHRIS HORN Chris Horn is vice chairman of the board and co-founder of IONA Technologies Dublin, Ireland.

Horn received his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 1983. From 1984 until 1994, he was a lecturer in the Computer Science Department at Trinity College, Dublin, where he was involved in many pan-European IT research projects. He also worked in Brussels for the European Commission, and was an integral part of the ten-year “Esprit” program designed to improve the continent's technology industry.

Horn is vice president of the chartered engineering body in Ireland, Engineers Ireland. He is currently the non executive chairman of UNICEF Ireland.

JOHN MCINTYRE John McIntyre is Senior Vice President, Software Service & Emerging Markets, of Enterprise Ireland’s Silicon Valley office. McIntyre leads the team charged with driving market momentum for Irish software and technology companies in the North American marketplace.

Prior to his present position, McIntyre cofounded InnerWorkings, an e-learning company for software developers, and spent time at SmartForce (now Skillsoft) as Director of Business Development, and Intel Corp. where, as Director of Business Market Development, he partnered closely with Intel Capital to fund emerging technology and software companies. McIntyre holds a BSEE from Marquette APRIL / MAY 2008 IRISH AMERICA 103

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RORY MCINERNEY Rory M. McInerney is vice president of the Digital Enterprise Group and director of the Enterprise Microprocessor Group at Intel, Inc. In 2007, McInerney received an Intel Achievement Award for delivering the Tulsa Xeon-MP processor to market ahead of schedule. He holds two U.S. patents on microprocessor microarchitecture.

Prior to joining Intel, McInerney was a member of the research staff at the Philips Research Laboratory in The Netherlands.

McInerney graduated from the National University of Ireland, Cork, in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He graduated from Santa Clara University in 1997 with a master’s degree in business administration.

DIARMUID O’CONNELL Diarmuid O’Connell is the Director of Corporate Development for Tesla Motors, the San Carlos manufacturer of high performance electric cars. His portfolio encompasses the development of commercial deals to expand the company’s corporate and market infrastructure. Before joining Tesla Motors, he served as Chief of Staff in the Bureau of Political Military Affairs at the Department of State under Secretary Colin Powell.

O’Connell, who began his career with Coca-Cola, holds master’s Degrees in business from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and in foreign policy from the University of Virginia. He is based in San Francisco.

NIALL O’CONNOR Niall O’Connor has been Apple’s Chief Information Officer since 1997. He led the company through a major transformation highlighted by a streamlined systems environment. He joined Apple in 1991 and assumed full responsibility for the IT function’s global application development efforts. Prior to this, he served as a System Consultant at Eurolink.

O’Connor, who received his degree in Computer Science from the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, Ireland, held management positions in IT at Homedica in Limerick, and Westinghouse in Shannon.

JOHN O’GRADY John O’Grady is Chairman of Eastman Kodak SA, Managing Director of Europe, Africa and Middle East Consumer Businesses, and Vice President of Eastman Kodak, with responsibility for leading Kodak’s strategic marketing, sales and business operations in the EAMER region.

John joined Kodak in 1997 following a 12year career at Verbatim. During this time he was involved in several technical and business capacities in Ireland, the UK, Japan and the U.S. John graduated from the University of Limerick in Ireland with a Bachelor of Science in Electronics in 1990. John is married with four children and is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

104 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

The chairman of Intel Corporation, Craig Barrett will be honored by Irish America and the Irish Technology Leaders Group at the Silicon Valley Awards on March 27 at Stanford University. Barrett was an Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford before joining Intel in 1974.

As chairman of the board of Intel, Barrett is an advocate for improving social and economic conditions around the world through value technology. Intel Ireland employs over 5,000 employees at its Leixlip campus (both highskilled and contract workers), and as such it has been a major contributor to the performance of the Irish economy. In April 2005 the operation announced that the one-billionth microchip had been manufactured by the Leixlip-based operation.

So the ITLG is also looking to the six northern counties, working with Invest Northern Ireland to drive high-tech growth and investment there. But it’s all part of the same effort. Both governments know that the world sees Ireland as one, says Gilmore. They are starting to work well together, he observes, “and it behooves them to.”

There will be challenges, he says, but “it’s all part of the process.”

I asked Gilmore whether increased trade and investment in the North and between North and South indirectly benefits peace and reconciliation.

“Absolutely – anything which keeps the economy of the island thriving is good for continued stability.” But Gilmore notes that the concepts of “North” and “South” just don’t exist among businesspeople here in the U.S. “They only see Ireland as a whole.” Indeed, Gilmore often refers to them together as “the island of Ireland.”

For Gilmore and the ITLG, it’s not about politics. “We know from our own personal experiences and contacts that there are exciting and attractive companies and investment opportunities all over the island.”

Of course, many in government are still discussing the peace process and working to ensure its completion – and rightly so. At the same time, others like the ITLG are proceeding as though it is, in fact, complete.

And perhaps that’s the best way to ensure that it’s so.

The Greening of NASDAQ

»

The group plans to do more than foster the right climate within Ireland. They also want to help Irish companies doing business elsewhere.

John Hartnett points out that while Israel has 75 companies on America’s tech-heavy NASDAQ stock exchange, Ireland has only six or seven.

But what can a handful of Irish Americans in California do to help businesses 5,000 miles away?

“We can’t help 3,000 different companies,” Hartnett says, “but what we can do is help technology-based companies in Ireland . . . to be successful in the U.S.” Particularly small companies, adds Gilmore, which don’t have access to or may not realize the opportunities here.

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BARRY O’SULLIVAN

The group’s aid may include coaching, helping to develop business strategies, and even interesting the members’ own companies in symbiotic relationships like buying, licensing, or investing in the technologies of Irish start-ups.

“So,” Hartnett predicts, “if we can help those seven [Irish NASDAQ companies] become 15 and become 20, that can have a major impact.”

Together, Then Forward

»

When Hartnett started the ITLG late last year, he wasn’t fully aware of all the other “success stories” around – Irish-Americans who have worked their way to the top of American companies, often with IDA assistance. But since then, Hartnett has been approached by many tech executives, whether first, second, or third-generation diaspora, “who reached out once they heard this is going on. And it’s not just Silicon Valley; also San Diego, Chicago, New York, Boston, Texas – just everywhere.”

“It’s been great to be able to join the dots,” Hartnett smiles.

The group wants to create a network where Irish technology leaders in the U.S. can connect. Their first event is coming up in late March. Together with Irish America, the ITLG will host the first annual awards dinner, and honor Craig Barrett, Chairman, Intel Corporation and Ireland’s Minister for Enterprise, Micheál Martin. It’s a chance to recognize top leaders of Irish heritage in the technology sector.

For Hartnett, it’s also a major opportunity to show off the West Coast.

“The West Coast is the center, not just of the U.S., but the center of the world when you talk about technology,” he beams. “We plan to give the East Coast a run for their money.”

The group is also busy planning an event, slated for this summer, which would bring Irish companies over and put them together with local business technology veterans and venture capital “angels.” They would get help with their business plans, their sales pitches, and potentially even funding.

Aside from Palm, Inc. and Sling Media, the group includes leaders from numerous other Silicon Valley companies with bases in Ireland, from Apple to Intel to Google.

The ITLG wants to ensure these companies are as competitive as possible in Ireland, to the benefit not only of themselves but the Emerald Isle, too. Intel, for example, is one of the island’s largest employers, and Google, which already employs 1,500 people in Dublin, is looking to recruit 200 more.

Indeed, much of Ireland’s growth may still be ahead of it. But forward-looking strategists like the ITLG know the Celtic Tiger is not invincible. Hartnett and his group hope that their expertise, networking, planning, and hard work might help take Ireland – the whole island – into a new phase of investment and prosperity.

IA Call it the Celtic Tiger, 2.0.

As Senior Vice President of Cisco’s Voice Technology Group, Barry O’Sullivan leads a team of voice industry executives who are responsible for Cisco’s business units related to voice and unified communications.

Before joining Cisco, O’Sullivan spent 18 years at Nortel Networks as vice president and general manager of the contact center business and, prior to that, as vice president of Enterprise Voice for Nortel Networks Europe.

O’Sullivan holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in computer science from the National University of Ireland as well as a master’s degree in business administration from Santa Clara University, California.

TONY REDMOND Tony Redmond is Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of HP Services and the HP Security Program Office at Hewlett-Packard Company. Redmond is responsible for security initiatives that span HP’s business units, and for the technology strategy and leadership of HP Services, the world’s third-largest IT services provider.

Prior to the merger of HP and Compaq Computer, he managed Compaq’s Applied Microsoft Technology Group, before serving as the chief technology officer for Compaq Professional Services and Compaq Global Services.

Redmond has written nine books, including Microsoft Exchange 2003, published in November 2003. He is also a contributing editor to Windows.Net magazine.

DERMOT TUOHY Dermot Tuohy has been with IDA Ireland, the Irish government’s Investment and Development Agency, for over 30 years. He is Senior Vice President and Director of IDA Ireland’s West Coast operations. Tuohy has had a pivotal role in advising many major U.S. corporations on setting up their operations in Ireland. He is now responsible for implementing a new knowledge-based strategy for Ireland’s economy, focusing on advanced technologies and R&D. Tuohy is a graduate of University College Dublin, and holds a master’s degree in economics. He is married to Anne Marie Foley and has two sons.

Irish America Honors ITLG The first annual Irish America/ITLG dinner will be held on March 27, 2008 at Stanford University. Craig Barrett, Chairman of Intel Corp., Micheál Martin, Ireland’s Minister for Trade and Enterprise, and the following founding members of ITLG will he honored.

John Hartnett (Chair) Rory McInerney Niall O’Connor Brian Fitzgerald Tony Redmond Johnny Gilmore Barry Sullivan APRIL / MAY 2008 IRISH AMERICA 105

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IN REMEMBRANCE Corporate chieftains, innovative football coaches, entertainment stars, political movers and musical pioneers – each of the following brought their skill, passion and talent to the world, and they will be missed.

Ed Brennan dward Brennan joined Sears, Roebuck Corporation in 1956 as a salesman in its Madison, Wisconsin store and quickly rose through the ranks. In 1984 he became president and COO and served as CEO from 1986 to 1995.

After some bad years in the 80s, in 1994 under Brennan’s leadership the company reported record earnings. That same year, Brennan was honored as one of Irish America’s Business 100.

Brennan, a fourth-generation Irish-American, went on to serve on the board of the AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, McDonald’s, and 3M. Brennan died on December 27, 2007. He is survived by his wife, Lois, their six children, and 19 grandchildren.

THOSE WE LOST

E

Bob Callahan ublisher, editor, poet and author, Bob Callahan passed away on February 4, 2008 at his home in Berkeley, California. Callahan, who was immensely proud of his heritage, edited The Big Book of Irish American Culture, A Day in the Life of Ireland and the shortlived but long-remembered

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Callahan’s Irish Quarterly.

Callahan was also well known for compiling anthologies on comic books, including The New Smithsonian Book of Comic Book Stories: From Crumb to Clowes and The New Comics.

He was a long-time collaborator with artist Spain Gonzalez; the two worked on the web comic Dark Hotel which appeared on salon.com. They also produced work for the LA Weekly.

Callahan, who was also president of the Before Columbus Foundation, is survived by his wife Eileen.

Richard C. Casey ichard Conway Casey was the nation’s first blind federal judge. He served on the United States District Court in Manhattan.

Despite his disability, Casey ruled over some important cases during his career, including the trial of Mafia boss Peter Gotti.

In the early sixties, Casey was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative condition which resulted in his losing his sight in 1987.

However, his judicial career did not suffer and Casey was nominated to become a United States District Judge

by President Bill Clinton in 1997. Casey used a guide

R

David Ervine

dog to get around and was known as a judge who did not mince his words. He died on March 22, 2007 aged 74.

David Ervine t is fitting in an issue in which we honor the many who helped bring peace to Northern Ireland that we remember David Ervine, a former paramilitary turned politician, who died of a heart attack on January 8, 2007. He was 53.

A former member of the Ulster Volunteer Force, Ervine was arrested and imprisoned in 1974 for possession of explosives. After his release in 1980 he worked as a grocer before standing for local council elections in 1985 for the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). Ervine, a supporter of the Good Friday Agreement, played a significant role in brokering the Loyalist ceasefire in 1994.

He was elected to the Northern Ireland assembly in 1998 and became leader of the PUP in 2002. He is survived by his wife Jeanette and two sons, who established The David Ervine Foundation to enable disadvantaged children and youths to reach their full potential.

I

Merv Griffin

Merv Griffin how business legend Merv Griffin was perhaps best known for his TV talk show from the 1960s and 1970s. He also developed two of the most famous game shows of all time: Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.

Born July 6, 1925, in San Mateo, California, Griffin was playing piano by age 4.

In his teens he found a musical outlet at his parish church when he joined the choir. By the 1950s he was a popular singer on the radio.

During his lifetime, Merv was a musician, talk show host, prodigious TV producer, hotel mogul and even became a successful owner in the world of horse racing.

Among his horses was one named Cee’s Irish, trained

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Bill Walsh

by Doug O’Neil. Griffin loved Ireland and especially Co. Galway where he bought and restored to its former splendor, St. Cleran’s, the manor home once owned by director John Huston. Griffin died in Los Angeles in August, 2007. He had prostate cancer and was aged 82. He is survived by his son Tony and two grandchildren.

James Moran

rish traditional music lost one of its pioneers in 2007 with the passing of Tommy Makem on August 1. Never did anyone do so much to globalize Irish traditional music as Makem who through his collaborations with the Clancy brothers and later as a solo artist, became famous throughout the world.

The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem hit the big time on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1961. Tommy left the Clancys in 1969 to pursue a solo career, but reunited with Liam Clancy in 1975. They toured and recorded together until 1988.

Among Makem’s bestknown compositions were “Four Green Fields,” Gentle Annie,” “Red is the Rose” and “The Rambles of Spring.” Not only a master musician, he was also a noted poet and storyteller.

Even when ill with lung cancer, his love of Irish culture was undiminished. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.

illionaire car dealer and philanthropist James “Jim” Moran died on April 24, 2007. He was 88, and the only car dealer to ever grace the cover of Time magazine.

Born in Chicago, Moran bought a gas station in 1939, and later a used car lot. He went on to become a dealer for Hudson and Ford.

In the 1960s, Moran was diagnosed with terminal cancer and moved to Florida to retire. He recovered and was contacted by Toyota to sell their cars in the South.

He founded Southeast Toyota Distributors (SET) and today it sells about 20 percent of all Toyotas sold in the United States.

In his later life, Moran spent a great deal of time on philanthropic projects, and before he died he founded the Jim Moran Foundation to help disadvantaged youth in Florida get a good start in life.

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Dick Nolan ick Nolan was a former player and coach in the NFL who led the San Francisco 49ers to two Western Conference title games during his time as manager from 1968-75. A former player who plied his trade for 11 seasons as cornerback and safety for the New York Giants

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Tommy Makem

(where he won the NFL championship in ’56), the then Chicago (now Arizona) Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys, Nolan spent eight years as an assistant to Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry.

Ironically, it was to Landry’s Cowboys that Nolan lost both times he led his team to the conference title games. Nolan, who was ill for a time, died on November 11. He is survived by his wife and six children. Nolan’s son Mike is currently the head coach of the 49ers.

Bill Walsh ill Walsh transformed the San Francisco 49ers into the dominant franchise of the 1980s and early 1990s, with a great offense and a quarterback named Joe Montana.

During his tenure, Walsh won three Super Bowls. The team went on to win two more Super Bowls using many of the same players and the “West Coast offense” Walsh had established, which focused heavily on using the quarterback to pass the ball rather than relying on running the football.

Walsh was diagnosed with leukemia in 2004 and died at his home in Woodside, California on July 30, 2007. He had been working as a coach and athletic director at Stanford University.

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Michael Yeats he death of William Michael Yeats, son of the great Irish poet W.B., on January 3, 2007 was a loss not only to the Irish but to scholars and Yeats devotees around the world.

A member of the Fianna Fáil party, Yeats served in the Irish Senate for 20 years and was one of Ireland’s first members of the European Parliament.

In 1999 he published his political memoirs Cast a Cold Eye. Yeats was involved in a number of events and exhibitions at the National Library and the Yeats Summer School in Sligo.

Yeats is survived by his wife, Gráinne and their four children. He was 86. His only sibling, Anne Butler Yeats, died in 2001.

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THOSE WE LOST

Tommy Makem

Michael Yeats

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{music}

By Ian Worpole

The Chieftains

of Endurance Ian Worpole talks to Paddy Moloney

With St. Patrick’s season came the mighty Chieftains and their annual tour of the U.S., which began in Albuquerque in February and ended up at Carnegie Hall on March 17. What to say about these titans? This year’s set of gigs, titled “Celtic-Scottish Connections,” marked 34 years of touring in this country alone; they have recorded 44 albums, many in collaboration with the cream of the world’s musicians, from Mongolian throat singers to Van Morrison to Lyle Lovett.They’ve won every honor and award imaginable and composed and performed major film scores. I caught up with founder, frontman, and principal composer Paddy Moloney by phone from his winter home in Florida shortly before the beginning of the tour. I had my customary list of questions in front of me, but Paddy preempted me for forty glorious minutes by answering just about every single one before I could ask it; he knew my little home town back in England (“Ah yes,The Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea!”) and after I mentioned I was in a band with the name Trim the Velvet that had to be changed for a particular reason, Paddy informed me that the first name he came up with for the Chieftains was The Quare Fellows. “It lasted about five minutes.”

Tell us about this year’s tour.

I’ve had the luck to work with many great Scottish players, particularly the young ones. Recently, I was the first nonScot to be honored by the Scottish Traditional Music Association. At this stage of our career it’s payback time. We like to promote young bands and performers, so the opportunity to put a tour together utilizing just a few [great Scottish players] was too good to pass up, hence the “Celtic-Scottish” moniker.

We’ll have different artists joining us at various stages of the tour; a wonderful, gorgeous singer, Alyth McCormack, she 108 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

sings in Scots-Gallic, does a beautiful “Foggy Dew.” Maureen Fahy on fiddle and vocals, and of course a whole bunch of bagpipers. It’s about time we joined up with them, seeing as we gave them the bagpipes in the first place. We’ll also have two dancers from Canada, Jon and Nathan Pilatzke, they’ve been with us for a few years, also Cara Butler. And Triona Marshall of course, on harp, she is just a phenomenal player.

Is Triona pretty much becoming a full-fledged member of the band?

Well, we always said, after Derek’s pass-

ing (Derek Bell, long-time harper for the band, died in 2002) we’d never replace him, but Triona is as close as anything to being a band member. And she’ll always be grateful we rescued her from the orchestra!

After four decades, is the thrill still there?

Oh, the details get to be a bit of a pain, but once we get up there and start playing, it’s priceless, we just have the time of our lives, and we make sure we have guests, young and old, fresh blood. Okay, so we’ve cut back a bit on the length of the tour, just the 19 shows [!] for a month, across the whole country. We used to do two months, but we’re not as young as we used to be!

Do you spend your winters in Florida?

Yes, Naples, for the warmth of course.

It’s good for my wife’s health, and I commute to various places while I’m there.

The others don’t spend so much time here [in the U.S.] as me, but Matt and his son Peter have just opened a pub like his one in Westport, County Mayo. This one, “The Shaskeen,” is in Manchester, New Hampshire and we had a grand opening.

Michael Flatley was there, and I played whistle and cut the ribbon.

What else has been happening for you recently?

Well, the BBC has just made a new documentary that’ll be broadcast over here sometime fairly soon. It’s fun, with interviews with a lot of the lads, Keith Richards talking about how we’ve been around a year longer than them, reminiscing over the recording session. Sting also, lots of people, you’ll love it. There

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{music}

How about Ry Cooder? [a personal hero].

The Chieftains: Seán Keane, Paddy Moloney, Kevin Conneff, and Matt Molloy.

Well, around the time of the Santiago album, I took Ry down there to Havana and we recorded a few things with that great singer Omara Portuondo, and Pancho Amat. I also got some great film footage, maybe I’ll get it out there one day. Then I left and Ry stayed and next thing I know, he came up with the idea for The Buena Vista Social Club project, which of course was a phenomenon.

So you were in at the beginning of all that?

Absolutely. Now we’re kicking around ideas for a new album with Ry, but nothing is definite yet.

Your collaborations are a Who’s Who of music; is there anyone you wish you could work with that you haven’t already?

Bob Dylan. We’ve come close was a tour of Japan; working in Spain with the great Galician piper Carlos Nunez. I worked with composer James Newton on a new film The Waterhorse: Legend of the Deep, and of course we play on the soundtrack. It’s based on a Loch Ness monster idea – more Scottish stuff!

Was the Rolling Stones session as much fun as it sounds?

We’d recorded the Long Black Veil track with Mick [Jagger] previously, but he had so much fun he came back for the Rocky Road session.

They brought their whole entourage. I had to boot them out the back every time they wanted a cigarette, but we had a blast. After hours of rehearsal I hit the record button around 11 p.m. and we played until three. It was down at Ronnie Wood’s place in Clane, County Kildare, and I’d arranged for the local pub to stay open if we needed a pint, so we ended up there at three a.m. and called it a night around six. A fantastic

Once we get up there and start playing, it’s priceless, we just have the time of our lives, and we make sure we have guests, young and old, fresh blood. night. Another good session was down at Sting’s mansion in South England.

We stopped playing to have lunch down by his pond. Derek didn’t notice it was there, and just walked right in. I have a wonderful picture of Derek’s socks drying over Sting’s fireplace while we played. Then we stayed for dinner; he has two chefs.

And as he likes to say, he bought the house for a song – literally.

a few times. He’s up for it but we just haven’t figured out the details. I think he’s actually at the peak of his form, and I think we could do some great stuff. We might be able to get Elvis Costello up on stage at the Carnegie Hall concert.

With Diana [Krall] on “Danny Boy”?

Paddy, thanks so much for your time, and good luck with the tour.

Ian, you’re very welcome.

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Right!

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{music}

By Ian Worpole

Music Reviews

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n the CD front, there are two new offerings from great young Irish-American women this month. First up: Heidi Talbot. A recent alumna of Cherish the Ladies, this is her second solo album on the Compass label, titled In Love and Light.Talbot, born in Kill, Co. Kildare, grew up singing in the church choir and studied at Dublin’s Bel Canto singing school. After relocating to New York she began to tour with The Ladies but, with a five-year stint under her belt, she has now struck out on her own and this new CD contains a wonderful range of Irishtinged folk, jazz, and even gospel. Guest singers and musicians abound, with the likes of Eddi Reader and Kris Drever on duets, John McCusker on fiddle, Mike McGoldrick’s inimitable flute, and John Doyle, the ubiquitous guitar virtuoso (does that man ever sleep?).Talbot has a fabulously rich, honeyed voice that recalls the great Sandy Denny; indeed one of my favorite tracks is “Whispering Grass,” the Inkspots classic that Sandy also did. A remarkable version of Tom Waits’ classic “Time” is given a rousing interpretation (Waits is quite possibly second only to Bob Dylan in having his works covered these days). A couple of great new Boo Hewerdine songs are in the mix, and the whole thing is rounded out by an old-time hymn, “When They Ring the Golden Bells.” A truly great, uplifting album, with a release party at this year’s Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, where our good friend Allison Barber and Talbot performed; both to great acclaim, I hear!

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n a rather more introspective vein, Ashley Davis’ new CD, Closer to You, is a lush mix of original Celtic-mythic love songs sung with an ethereal, dreamlike quality. Indeed, Davis credits Loreena McKennitt as a primary influence, and that Celtic-Eastern quality is all-pervasive throughout the album, to great effect. A Kansas native, Ashley was raised on bluegrass before heading to Limerick to earn a master’s degree in Traditional Irish Singing at the Irish World Music Centre and at the same time to become totally immersed in all things Celtic. Philip Glass is a fan; indeed, when I caught Ashley at Joe’s Pub in NYC this past January the man himself was seated at the next table, enjoying every moment. Her sold-out show that night was a warm, witty masterpiece, with Dan Lowery, a good friend of mine, playing some sizzling flute solos and the five-piece band as a whole adding many layers of intricate sound to her songs, some of which are apparently entering the “traditional” canon back in Ireland, according to one of her many hilarious introductions, for indeed, Davis has also become something of a master storyteller. You can purchase her CD at: www.daisyrings.com.

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very traditional Irish musician I know, myself included, speaks in awe of Martin Hayes, particularly in tandem with Dennis Cahill, his soul-mate guitar accompanist.Their output is slender by some measures, each offering a sheer gem,

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and the release of a new CD by them is a rare and special treat, eagerly awaited by all lovers of the pure sound.Their new release, Welcome Here Again, on Compass Records was well worth the wait, marking an interesting development in that 14 of the 18 tracks are single tunes, rather than the more usual sets of tunes. Hayes, ever striving for that “Lonesome Touch,” presents each tune as a masterwork in its own right, with the fiddle tuned down a step on most tracks, with spare guitar or mandolin accompaniment creating a haunting, timeless quality, as though each song has existed forever somewhere in our unconscious Celtic spirit. Indeed, there is much of the quality of The Kronos Quartet’s classic “Ancient Music” to this whole album. Much like a perfume, hints of winter, spring, fall, and okay, occasionally summer, but an Irish summer, drift in and out. I’ve been playing this CD constantly while I work, drive, read; all I can say is it is essential listening. I hope to write much more about Martin Hayes in a future issue.

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ne of my favorite young bands, Gráda, has a new release, Cloudy Day Navigation, and it is a gem. Here is a hard-working band touring the world, endlessly performing a mix of tunes and songs and presumably having a great time, or else what would be the point? Now, lately, I’ve been pondering this song/tune mix, quite a standard format for Irish bands. Gráda’s new album features a relative newcomer on vocals, Nicola Joyce, and the harmonies she works up with the guys is a true delight, so much so that, however wonderful the instrumental works are, one would love to hear a complete album of these quirky songs. And I say that as a dedicated tune player myself. But I’ll take what I get; this is a fabulous album, with a DVD concert thrown in as an increasingly common bonus feature.

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o much great new music out there; the last, but not least, I can squeeze in this column is Changing Trains by Supergroup Mozaik, with Irish giants Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny joining forces with Bruce Molsky, Nikola Parov and Rens van der Zalm.Virtuoso multi-instrumentalists all on every manner of stringed instrument known to man, this is a heady mix of Celtic/Eastern/American tunes and songs that boggle the mind with their complexity. For example the sleevenote to “Humors of Parov” reads: “Donal wrote this tune to celebrate the distinction between Bulgarian daichevo horo time, in 9/8, and the Irish slip jig which is also in 9/8 time.” Okay lads, I’ll try that one at the local session . . . exhilarating stuff, with some fine singing from American Bruce Molsky and, of course, Andy Irvine, my only caveat being that Andy’s songs are so personal, so uniquely him that they almost belong on one of his own albums. But another way of looking at that is that one gets not only a superlative band effort, but some great Irvine songs as well. So in fact, the glass is neither half empty nor half full, it runneth over. IA

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Top Honors for Sir James and Lady Jeanne students around the world through flute master classes and the use of the interactive website TheGalwaynetwork.com.

The Galways are also known for their humanitarian efforts. They are patrons to the charity Future Talent headed by the Duchess of Kent, and their concert performances have included fundraising events for UNICEF, SOS, FARA, and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Sir James and Lady Galway performed at a fundraiser to benefit the University of Mississippi. They also helped raise funds for the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Greenvale, New York.

In 2004, Sir James received the President’s Merit Award from the Recording Academy at the 8th Annual Grammy “Salute to Classical Music.” He has also been honored at the prestigious Classic Brits Awards held in London’s Royal Albert Hall, where he received the “Outstanding Contribution to Classical Music” award in recognition of his 30 years as one of the top classical musicians of our time.

In April, the Galways will perform with the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast and Dublin. They will return to tour the United States in May, and while here, Galway will receive the 2008 University Musical Society Distinguished Artist Award at the University of Michigan’s Ford Honors Program.

For more information about upcoming concerts visit the Galways IA website at www.thegalwaynetwork.com Photo: Paul Cox

Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne Galway received Irish America’s “Artistic Achievement Award” at this year’s Top 100 Awards ceremony.

The presentation came at the end of the Galways’ six-week tour of the U.S. which began in February and was highlighted by performances with the San Antonio Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and a recital at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The Belfast-born Sir James, nicknamed “the man with the golden flute,” is widely regarded Lady as both a supreme interpreter of the classical Jeanne flute repertoire and a consummate entertainer. and Sir He has recorded more than 60 CDs and sold James Galway. more than 30 million records. His wife, Lady Jeanne Galway, is one of the leading female flute soloists and a recording artist in her own right. The two often perform together, delighting audiences with a rare freshness unique to the music world.

On their most recent recording My Magic Flute (Sept. 2006), Sir James and Lady Jeanne, along with harpist Catrin Finch, transport listeners on a journey through the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Sir James also delighted fans with The Essential James Galway (May, 2006) which featured selections ranging from Grieg’s Peer Gynt and Chaminade’s “Concertino for Flute and Piano” to “The Girl from Ipanema” and “Riverdance.” Lady Jeanne’s chamber group Zephyr can be heard on Winds of Romance, which includes works from Haydn, Martinu and Weber.

As instructors Sir James and Lady Jeanne teach and inspire flute

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{ireland today} Opinion by Cormac MacConnell

Please Treasure Our History A MESSAGE TO THE DIASPORA any of you out there in the diaspora are in possession of treasures of our history which we here at home either carelessly lost or callously threw away into the footprints of the Celtic Tiger.

That reality was hammered home to me an hour ago.

I was in my neighbor Jimmy’s house and his Limerick mother was there. Her eyes were glowing as she showed me an aerial photo of the long-thatched West Limerick cottage in which she was bred, born and raised, one of nineteen children altogether.

They were hard but happy times, she said, her fingers caressing the front wall and eaves of what had been home. She did not weep but she was deeply moved, and rightly so.

Their thatched cottage was later sold for about 300 Irish punts. Later it was converted into a bungalow.

Now it no longer exists at all. That aerial photo, taken in the late fifties or early sixties, is the only photo she has of her birthplace.

It came across the Atlantic to her in a small cache of treasures that belonged to a relative in New York whom she never met but had corresponded with for no less than 37 years! Her American relative had a fear of flying so never made it back home to Limerick and died some months ago.

Her family, finding the lengthy correspondence across the ocean, put the cache of mementos together and sensitively forwarded it back to Jimmy’s mother in Limerick. They were not to

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know that one of the items they sent back was a bone rosary that was a gift from Jimmy’s mother to her cousin nearly thirty years ago.

Now she sat before me with her eyes feasting on the black and white image of the cottage in which she was born. It was a special experience for me.

Yes, many of you out there in the diaspora possess family treasures we have allowed to slip away. When the good times came we threw away far too much, including too many elements of our histories.

Keep them safe, please, both for yourselves and those who will follow. And for us. More and more we will appreciate them.

I have personal experience. Six or seven years ago in the Bronx I met the oldest survivor of the generation before my father. All my grandparents had passed away before I was born.

This feisty old lady, since gone to God, was able to tell me about my father’s mother Bridgie (“She’d had a stroke. She was still out on the farm feeding calves even though one side was nearly totally paralyzed. She was as cross as a cat!”)

And many more items of my genetic cargo were related to me before a rich evening ended before a peat fire and beside a nearly emptied bottle of Irish whiskey. I learned a lot about myself that evening and was the better for it.

I think this situation exists because those who emigrated – to the U.S. especially – fundamentally believed they were making a one-way trip. I think they knew they would be lucky if they were able to afford a trip home in later years.

Hence the power and poignancy of the so-called “American wakes” in the hours before the hackneys brought emigrants down to Cobh and the waiting ships.

And surely that mindset enriched the later nostalgic memories of home, surely it enhanced the importance of the letters and photos and family news from Ireland.

If the “American letters” back home with vital dollars were important over here then, I’m now certain that the “Irish letters” to the ones far away in Boston and New York and Chicago were just as vital for family survival.

And I think we did not preserve our 50 percent of that cache of emigrant documents as well as you did on the other side.

Only last Halloween, for example, I wrote here about the execution in 1923 by the Free State of a young IRA man called Patrick Hennessy after he and his colleague Con McMahon were captured after attempting to blow up the railway lines at Ardsolus Railway Station in Clare. It was a minor engagement of our dreadful Civil War. It would be long forgotten in Clare but for American resident and family member Ellen Murphy, who has donated the correspondence relating to the event, including Hennessy’s touching eve-ofexecution letters, to the Clare County Museum. Because of those letters, good Irishmen are now known about, honored,

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ILLUSTRATION: CATY BARTHOLOMEW

remembered with sadness.

Any time I have visited the U.S. in recent years I’ve talked to older emigrants who possessed a crystal clarity about what they left, how they traveled, what they found when they passed through Ellis Island.

Memorable was the late Peg Pierce from Liscannor, who recalled that she danced so much during the voyage that her Clare feet blistered inside her shoes.

Contrary to our common belief, she was dancing with joy at having escaped from a harsh and hungry economic background with, at best, a nearly enforced marriage in her late teens to a much older farmer.

Thereafter she would have a huge family and a corresponding workload. She did much better over on the other side.

And she knew it. But she still missed home so very much down the years.

Back here at home, after decades of hardship and emigration, we threw out

Was Colleen truly a beauty queen in Chicago in 1947?

Have we any photos of her? too many of the babies with the bath water when the better times came.

Modern homes replaced the cottages, and the old photos and correspondences were too often devalued and lost.

We were – and are – in such a hurry to get where we are going that we wanted to forget the most of where we came from.

The regrets are starting about now. And they will become sharper in the years ahead.

What did Aunt Alice look like before she went to Boston in ’22?

Did we really have a photo of an uncle who was a cowboy on the Oregon Trail cattle drives?

Was Thomas really a GI in World War II? Was Colleen truly a beauty queen in Chicago in 1947? Have we any photos of her?

You in the diaspora have more proofs of our scattered histories than we have anymore. You treasured our past better than we did. For God’s sake (and ours) don’t lose it or throw it away like we did.

I wish ye all could have seen Jimmy’s IA mother’s glowing eyes.

Cormac MacConnell is a columnist for the Irish Voice newspaper where the above commentary previously appeared.

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{roots}

By Maeve Molloy

The Mighty Moran Clan From priests to centerfolds to “Irish-American of the Year,” the Moran clan have produced some very interesting folk. he anglicized “Moran” can be traced to multiple distinct Irish names, and though commonly linked to County Mayo, forms of the name originated throughout middle Ireland in Counties Leitrim, Galway, Kildare, Offaly, and more. Moran is so heavily anglicized – from the French “Morrin” to the Irish “Moran” – that exact knowledge of each Moran’s lineage may be hard to trace.

Most Morans will find it helpful in tracing their roots if they can determine the particular county or region of Ireland to which their family belongs.

The ancient form of Moran is the Gaelic Ó Moráin, from a diminutive of mór, meaning “big.” Roughly translated, Ó Moráin means descendant of the “Great One” or “little big man.” The Ó Moráins hailed from Mayo, notably in the northwestern area of the modern town of Ballina where the ancient kingdom of the Ó Móráin sept is believed to have been. After the Norman invasion of 1169, the Ó Móráins lost control of their territory to the Burkes and Barretts.

Today Morans are located mainly in the southern region of Mayo and Galway, suggesting that the Ó Móráins migrated southward after their defeat.

Among the many different spelling variations of the name is O Moghrain, which was earlier O Mughrain, and connected to O Mughriain of Ui Maine, who was chief of Criffon in Co. Galway, which explains the presence of the Moran name in this area.

A third ancient form of the Moran name is Ó Murcháin, from the Gaelic “murchadha,” meaning “sea-warrior.” In modern times, Ó Murcháin is most often translated as Morgan or Moran (as a contraction of Morgan) though it has also taken the forms “Morahan” and “Morrin.” The ancient Ó Murcháin family hailed from eastern Offaly, near Kildare.

The Morans have distinguished themselves as statesmen, artists, athletes, businessmen and performers. Among notable Morans is the well-known folk-

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history figure Michael Moran (17941856), better known as Zozimus. A blind musician, Michael made his living on the streets performing ballads and recitations of famous works. A monument stands in his honor in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

Daniel Keys Moran, a prolific American writer and author of The Tales of the Continuing Time series, is well known in the contemporary science fiction literary community, and has had several short essays and stories featured on National Public Radio.

The Morans have had influence on gender equality as well: Frances Moran (1893-1977) was the first woman Professor at Trinity College Dublin, and the first woman on the board of the college. She is also remembered as the first Irishwoman to become a senior counsel, and for blazing a trail for Irishwomen in academia and politics.

American actress Erin Moran holds a place in the hearts of classic television enthusiasts for her role as Joannie Cunningham on the sitcom Happy Days.

Erin Moran followed the sitcom with her own series Joannie Loves Chachi as well as appearances on Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote.

Irish footballer Kevin Moran (born

1954) is the only sports player to have won both an All-Ireland Gaelic Football Medal and an English FA Cup Medal. He played Gaelic football with the Dublin team from 1975 to 1977 and won two AllIreland medals before joining Manchester United and winning the FA Cup in 1983 and 1985. The dual star played for the Irish national soccer team 71 times.

Morans also distinguished themselves in the artistic field. The work of American landscape painter Thomas Moran (English-born, American Hudson River School 1837-1926) can be seen in museums throughout the country, including the Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco. One of his most famous images is of the Grand Canyon.

During the American Civil War, Union soldier Lt. Charles H. Moran took part in a daring escape from a Confederate prison in Richmond, Virginia. He was one of 109 escapees who crawled through a rat-infested tunnel to make their getaway. Fifty-nine succeeded in reaching Union lines, 48 were recaptured, including Moran, and two drowned in the nearby James River.

Moran later wrote, “No tongue can tell how the poor fellows passed among the squealing rats, enduring the sickening air, the deathly chill, the horrible interminable darkness.”

Another member of the clan who made a great escape – from the porn industry – is Cissy Moran, the former Playboy and Hustler centerfold who embraced Christ and became a social worker.

On the other end of the community service scale, we have Father Moran, a Jesuit missionary from Chicago who went to India in 1919 and befriended Mahatma Gandhi.

And finally, the most famous Moran in Irish-American circles today is Thomas Moran who has managed to have a hugely successful career in corporate America while still finding time for many humanitarian and community causes. We are proud to name Tom as Irish America’s “Irish-American of the Year, 2008.” IA

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{ review of books}

Tom Deignan reviews a selection of recently published books of Irish and Irish-American interest.

Fiction n 2005, The Sunday Business Post cited up-and-coming author John Boyne as one of 40 Irish people under 40 who were likely to be “the movers and shakers who will define the country’s culture, politics, style and economics in 2005 and beyond.”

Boyne is not only doing great in Ireland but in America as well, where four of his books have been published. First came The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which chronicled a child’s efforts to grasp the Holocaust. Then came Crippen: A Novel of Murder, another dark historical novel about a (somewhat) forgotten murder case which unfolded in 1910 and involved a mild-mannered doctor named Hawley Crippen.

Crippen was followed by The Thief of Time, in which Boyne echoed Pete Hamill’s Forever and gave us a story of a man blessed (or cursed) with eternal life.

Now, in Next of Kin, Boyne explores the

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British love affair between Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson. That famous story, however, serves as more of a backdrop to other conflicts in Next of Kin. Boyne’s protagonist is the wealthy and prominent Owen Montignac, who is hoping his late uncle will leave him enough money to continue living well, not to mention pay off some gambling debts. If Owen doesn’t come up with a substantial amount of money, he has been told he will be killed.

Biography

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n 1866, Conan Doyle published a story called A Study in Scarlet, the first to feature a detective whose name was a combination of two of Doyle’s classmates: Patrick Sherlock and Oliver Wendell Holmes.Though Sherlock Holmes went on to become known as the ultimate British sleuth, his creator, Conan Doyle, was born in Scotland in 1859, and as we learn in Andrew Lycett’s new book The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes:The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he was really Irish.

A biographer of Rudyard Kipling and Dylan Thomas, Lycett now turns his attention to the man many consider to be the creator of mystery fiction.

With access to thousands of previously unavailable documents, Lycett explores the origins of Doyle’s interest in both science and spirituality. He also explores his Irish background. Lycett writes: “Both sides of [Doyle’s] family came from Ireland. So far as the record extends, Arthur’s grandfather John Doyle was a tailor’s son who started professional life as an equestrian artist in Georgian Dublin. He won commissions from aristocratic patrons, including Lord Talbot, Lord Lieutenant during a politically turbulent period from 1817 to 1821, and the Second Marquess of Sligo. One thing is indisputable – the Doyles were devout Roman Catholics.”

This is certainly the definitive biography of a great Irish writer not often lumped with the 19th century’s many other towering Irish literary figures. ($30 / 559 pages / Free Press)

In desperation, it is Owen himself who may be forced to turn to murder.

In Next of Kin, Boyne continues to prove he is an excellent historical novelist, recreating 1930s London vividly, and painting a biting portrait of the upper classes. ($24.95 / 368 pages / Thomas Dunne)

iaran Carson has just released a new translation of Ireland’s greatest epic tale, The Táin, about the Connaught Queen Medh’s attempt to steal the stud bull Dunn and the efforts of the teenager Cúchulainn. With the recent film version of Beowulf hitting screens (starring Angelina Jolie among others) now may be the time for readers to tackle this ancient classic. Dating back to the eighth century, Táin Bo Cuailnge (as it is fully known) is a heroic tale and, in the hands of Carson, a readily accessible one. Without minimizing the breadth and poetry of this story, Carson also emphasizes the compelling nature of the plot.

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($24.95 / 256 pages / Viking)

f they gave out awards for titles alone, Joseph Caldwell’s new novel The Pig Did It would surely win one. The book follows unhappy New York teacher Aaron McCloud as he heads to Kerry to wallow with relatives over a failed romance.

Aaron’s Aunt Kitty is, to say the least, a colorful personality.

Things go awry when a lost pig not only begins hanging around Kitty but also discovers a human skeleton. Suddenly Aaron, Aunt Kitty and the pig are thrust into what may be a murder mystery.

Caldwell’s comedy is sharp and The Pig Did It is a great read.

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($22.95 / 195 pages / Delphinium) 116 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

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Non-Fiction wo Irish-Americans have recently released books meant to feed the public’s apparently boundless fascination with the Mafia. For many years, Bob Delaney had a fine job as a professional basketball referee with the NBA. Previously, he had worked as a New Jersey state trooper. And as he now reveals in Covert, Delaney infiltrated the mob at the highest level. In a book certain to remind many of Donnie Brasco, we learn about the dangers of coming too close to organized-crime killers. In fact, Delaney came across Joe Pistone, the real-life Donnie Brasco, while both worked undercover.

In 1975, Delaney was practically still a rookie when he signed onto a project which would ultimately lock up key members of the Bruno and Genovese families, and pave the way for additional arrests by the federal government in the 1980s. This is the fascinating story of how an Irish kid from New Jersey waded into the mob, survived, and then went on to have a second career as a referee in pro basketball.

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($19.95 / 288 pages / Union Square Press)

eanwhile, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Jimmy Breslin is at it again, telling some of his favorite mob stories in The Good Rat. The center of the book is Burton Kaplan, the titular rodent and star witness in the recent trial of the New York Police Department’s so-called “Mafia cops.” Using Burton Kaplan as a way into New York’s mob, Breslin takes us on a broader tour of the underworld.

We meet famous mobsters like Sammy “The Bull” Gravano and “Gaspipe” Casso. (Guess what his favorite weapon was). But there’s also Thomas “ThreeFinger Brown” Lucchese, and Jimmy “The Clam” Eppolito, and many of the guys who hung out at Pep McGuire’s, a mob-friendly Queens bar. Breslin even takes us inside the world of John Gotti on the night he celebrated his infamous acquittal at the Ravenite Social Club on

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Mulberry Street in Little Italy. (He basically bribed his way to innocence.) All of this is told with Breslin’s inimitable grit and humor, proving that after all these decades, Breslin is still a must read. ($24.95 / 288 pages / Ecco)

ne of the most gruesome episodes in the history of the American West was the trek of the Donner Party in the 1840s.

Irish immigrant Patrick Breen was among those headed to California when the group came upon snow so deep they were unable to continue. As he wrote in his diary: “We now have killed most of our cattle, having to stay here until next spring.’’ Almost 50 of the 100 or so Donner travelers died, and some of those who lived likely resorted to cannibalism. Now a full-scale history, entitled Desperate Passage: The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West, has been written by Ethan Rarick. Using new archaeological evidence, and other groundbreaking research methods, not to mention the heartbreaking letters which survived, Rarick acts almost as an historical detective, overturning many previously believed notions regarding the Donner Party. In the end, Rarick writes, “this is a story of hard decisions that were neither heroic nor villainous. Often, the emigrants displayed a more realistic and typically human mixture of generosity and selfishness, an alloy born of necessity.”

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($28 / 304 pages / Oxford University Press)

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two-volume study of stones may sound like a dreadfully boring read, but, thankfully, readers of Tim Robinson’s Stones of Aran got much more from that fascinating study of those islands and their distinct culture. Now, Robinson takes a close look at another rich region with Connemara. A winner of the Irish Book Award for non-fiction, this is regional history at its finest. Robinson, who lived in Connemara for nearly two decades, reveals more about the area than any straightforward history could through his use of fables and written records. His writ-

ing remains lively, poetic and finely detailed throughout. ($17 / 448 pages / Penguin)

or a more comical Irish tour, try PintSized Ireland: In Search of the Perfect Guinness, in which columnist Evan McHugh treks across the island sampling the local nectar, in search of perfection.

Now, that’s good work if you can get it!

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($13.95 / 288 pages / St. Martin’s)

wo of the most famous characters in recent Irish literary history have returned in a new book, actually two books. First, there is Frank McCourt, the longtime New York City high school teacher who exploded onto the literary scene with his Limerick coming-of-age memoir Angela’s Ashes in 1997. Then there is Angela, Frank’s mom. Frank has written a new book called Angela and the Baby Jesus. It is based on his mother’s youth, specifically an incident which occurred when Angela was six and she stole a baby Jesus from a local church nativity scene.

The story revolves around young Angela, worried that baby Jesus, sleeping in the cold, dark church as Christmas approaches, will get sick. He is not even covered with a blanket, little Angela notes. As in his first, most famous book, McCourt gives a distinctive voice to a child with astonishing skill. Angela comes alive as a thoughtful, determined person, even if no one around her sees her that way. This is another magical tale blending grim surroundings with redemptive humor, and aimed at readers of all ages.

Literally. Angela and the Baby Jesus has been published in two editions. One, for children, includes illustrations by Raul Colon ($17.99 / 32 pages / Simon & Schuster). The adult version of the tale includes (arguably) darker, more complex illustrations by Loren Long. As readers wait for another longer book from McCourt, Angela and the Baby Jesus should hold them over for a bit.

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($14.95 / 40 pages / Scribner) APRIL / MAY 2008 IRISH AMERICA 117

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{sláinte}

By Edythe Preet

A Charmed Life

While numerous feasts and celebrations pepper the Irish year, Bealtaine, or May Day, is a good time to pass on family ‘cures,’ writes Edythe Preet.

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MICHAEL KALUTA

y friend Michael says he has a charming mother. He Tain Bo Cuilange, or Cattle Raid of Cooley, when Cúchulainn hastens to add: “I know you think we all do, but my and Ferdia are so badly wounded that they are beyond the help mother has charms other than the ones on her gold of herbs and plants and “nothing could be done but lay magic bracelet. She has the ability to stop bleeding and cure amulets on them and say spells and incantations to stop the burns and headaches and sprains and styes in the eyes spurts and spouts of blood.” After the boxing match ended, with just by laying on her gentle hands and reciting words an eye to safeguarding his future grandchildren from cuts and handed down through the centuries.” other potential maladies, Patricia’s father-in-law wrote down his The concept doesn’t surprise me at all. Folk remedies are not charms, cautioning her to mind the confidentiality caveats or exclusive to the Irish. When I was a child and came down with their potency would be lost forever. His admonition to secrecy a fever or sore throat my Italian grandmother used to place her reeks of Irish faerie lore. hand lightly on my forehead and murmur a string of singsong syllables. Almost immediately my temperature would drop and my discomfort would diminish.

Neither my mother nor her siblings knew how their mother achieved her cures, replying when questioned only, “It’s a secret.” Since my grandmother didn’t speak English and none of her grandchildren were taught Italian, I couldn’t ask her to teach me her folk remedy, but I listened carefully and memorized the sounds. Years later when my own daughter experienced an occasional fever, I mimicked Nana’s ritual and found it to be as effective as ever, even though to this day I have no idea what I was The Hawthorn Giant and his daughter Olwen, the Flower Maiden who marries the young summer-hero saying. allowing the bountiful season of summer to begin.

Michael is more fortunate than I. His mother Patricia, born and bred in Belfast, still has the Illnesses and injuries were thought to result if one of the faerie yellowed slip of paper inscribed with words that were passed on folk was treated with unkindness or disrespect, or if their activito her more than fifty years ago. Her charms can only be revealed ties were disturbed in any way, such as building a house atop one to a family member of the opposite sex, but she did share how it of their favorite pathways. Conversely, it was also believed that was that she came to learn them. While watching a boxing match physicians and healers received their curative skills directly from on television with her father-in-law, who was a devoted fisticuffs the faeries. A tale told around the hearth fire speaks of three fan, his sparring favorite received a blow that bled profusely. women from Dingle who needed to cross a river and encountered When the elder gent whispered a few words and the bleeding a beautiful lady on its bank. When she asked for their assistance stopped, his son chuckled, “Ah, Da’s charmed another one.” in fording the water, two of the women said they were already Stopping bleeding, a most useful charm, is mentioned in the carrying too heavy a burden but the third generously put aside Note:The illustration above is from Celtic Calendar, a historical and mythological calendar representing the Celtic year: November 1 to October 31, produced by the Celtic League American Branch, P.O. Box 20153, Dag Hammarskjold Postal Center, New York, NY 10017. E-mail: alexeiK@aol.com 118 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

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RECIPES L

Herbed Butter 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature 4-6 tablespoons minced fresh herbs or edible flowers juice and grated zest of 1 lemon salt and pepper to taste

Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spoon butter mixture onto a sheet of waxed paper and roll into a log approximately 1-inch in diameter. Chill until firm. Slice into rounds for serving. For meats, fowl and fish: any combination of garlic, parsley, chives, tarragon, thyme or basil. For toasted bread: omit lemon, salt and pepper and use 1-2 tablespoons honey plus minced rose petals or lavender buds, minced orange zest and cinnamon, or a combination of cinnamon and nutmeg to taste. NOTE: Never use herbs or flowers that have been exposed to insecticides!

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Fresh Farm Cheese ⁄2 gallon whole milk 1 quart half & half cream 1 ⁄4 cup lemon juice 1

Combine the milk and half & half cream in a large stainless steel or enamel soup pot and heat almost to boiling until tiny bubbles appear around the edges.

Stir in lemon juice until the milk mixture separates into curds and whey. Remove from heat and pour through a sieve lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth that’s placed over a large bowl. Tie up the curds filled cheesecloth into a ball and suspend over the bowl for approximately 30 minutes or until it stops dripping. Unmold the cheese onto a low-sided bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve. Chilled whey is a refreshing drink. NOTE: To make an herbed cheese, mix 4-6 tablespoons of minced chives and/or fresh herbs to the curds after they have been unmolded from the cheesecloth, then reform and refrigerate. To make a sweet cheese, substitute 2-3 tablespoons of honey for the herbs; serve plain or sprinkled with finely chopped toasted unsalted nuts.

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her own parcels and carried the lady to the opposite side. On reaching dry land, the stranger told her: “When you wake tomorrow morning you will know fully every plant and herb that grows in Ireland.” Next morning on awakening the woman knew all plants and herbs by name, where they grew, and the power of each, and from that moment she was a great doctor.

Admittedly, belief in the faerie folk was stronger before computer technology and workstations in space, but it lingers even now – especially midway between the vernal equinox and summer solstice at the full moon known for millennia as Bealtaine.

Like its autumnal counterpart Samhain (Halloween), Bealtaine, which means ‘bright fire’ and is now celebrated as May Day, marks a time when folk believe the veil between worlds is the thinnest and fairies roam at large. Formerly fields, herds and people were blessed in fire rituals that they might be free from disease, be fertile and produce abundantly through the agricultural season.

Though the practice of walking through flames or over glowing embers has all but vanished, certain Bealtaine customs remain.

It is, for instance, the night of nights to pass on family charms, for the charms shared then will be more effective than any told on other days of the year. Herbs cut on that day will hold their curative powers longer and stronger. Washing with dew gathered before Bealtaine dawn will insure that beauty’s rose will fade more slowly. And it is the best time to draw water from a Holy Well to use for healing purposes throughout the year.

Like most other celebrations, Bealtaine has certain traditional foods. Cattle being the significator of Celtic wealth and spring being the time when calves are born, May is the time when cows produce a copious amount of milk. Ireland’s ‘white foods’ therefore are one of the headliners on the May Day menu.

At the top of the milk products list is butter. Until fairly recently every farmhouse churned its own, and since butter was both beloved and nutritionally necessary, superstitions surrounded it.

Every good butter-maker had an arsenal of prayers and charms to prevent mischievous or malevolent sprites from jinxing the process. Second only to butter, cheeses of all types, plain and flavored with herbs or honey, also occupied a place of prominence on the Bealtaine table.

Spring’s newly sprouted herbs and flowers are important Bealtaine elements as well. In the mythological tale Cath Maige Tuired, wounded Tuatha De Danaan are healed by being immersed in the Well of Slaine into which had been placed “every herb that grew in Ireland.” All healers, then and now, prize their apothecaries of herbal remedies. Some faerie herbs that were widely used for healing include dandelion (heart disease), eyebright (eye infections), vervain and rowan (general health and prosperity), elder twigs (pain), calendula (fever), and St. John’s Wort (dementia and depression).

Last, but certainly not least, are eggs, with their yolks symbolizing the life-giving sun and the miracle of stones seeming to crack open of their own volition to reveal newborn chicks. With spring’s warmer temperatures, birds once again begin to lay eggs so regularly that there is no want of them for the Bealtaine meal, a fact best expressed by the Celtic proverb “The cocks crow, but the hens deliver the goods.”

While numerous feasts and celebrations pepper the Irish year, Bealtaine is one of the most cherished, and the charm for the time rings with promise of plenty. May the blessed sunlight shine on you and warm your heart till it glows like a great peat fire. Sláinte!

Baked Milk Custard 2 ⁄4 1 ⁄8 3 1 ⁄2 1

cups whole milk cup sugar teaspoon salt eggs, well beaten teaspoon vanilla grated nutmeg

Heat oven to 300F. Blend the ingredients together, then pour into individual custard cups and dust with nutmeg. Place the molds in a pan of water that reaches halfway up the sides of the cups. Bake 45-60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the custard can be removed clean. Chill. Serve plain or with sliced fruit.

Makes 4 servings.

Recipes by Edythe Preet APRIL / MAY 2008 IRISH AMERICA 119

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{crossword}

By Darina Molloy

ACROSS

2. It is another day, after all (8) 5. Co. Kildare town (4) 8. See 15 across (8) 9. See 37 across (6) 11. See 3 down (3) 12. Athlone is in this county (9) 15. (& 8 across) Former NYC mayor who opted out of race for Republican nomination (4) 16. Wicklow river (5) 17. Well-known PA university (9) 20. Something hidden away (5) 23. (& 31 down) Royal series with Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII (3) 25. (& 24 down) Democratic senator who endorsed Obama for President (6) 26. Coriander by any other name (8) 28. Romantic Ireland is with ____ in his grave, according to W.B. Yeats (6) 30. Co. Laois is in this province (8) 34. This Dublin park is home to President McAleese (7) 35. See 36 across (4) 36. (& 35 across) Britney Spears’ sister (5) 37. (& 9 across) Young actor who died in January (5) 38. French love (5)

DOWN

1. Nintendo’s newest game console (3) 3. (& 11 across) Oscar win for No Country for ____ (3) 4. This bog harvest makes for an aromatic fire (4)

6. Gabriel Byrne’s occupation in In Treatment (9) 7. See 33 down (4) 8. Area where Irish language is spoken (9) 10. See 27 down (4) 13. Irish for house (5) 14. Type of Irish sweater (4) 18. Death notice (8) 19. Galway river (6) 21. How many in a baker’s dozen? (8) 22. (& 32 down) Young Irish actress nominated for Oscar (7) 24. See 25 across (7)

Win a subscription to Irish America magazine Please send your completed crossword puzzle to Irish America, 875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10001, to arrive no later than April 18, 2008. A winner will be drawn from among all correct entries. If there are no correct solutions, prizes will be awarded for the completed puzzle which comes closest in the opinion of our staff. Winner’s name will be published along with solution in our next issue. Xerox copies are acceptable.

Winner of the February/March Crossword: Kevin Skehan, Columbus Ohio 96 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008

27. (& 10 down) Oscar Wilde’s youthful protagonist (6) 29. Any machine that uses energy to develop mechanical power (6) 31. See 23 across (6) 32. See 22 down (5) 33. (& 7 down) Most famous book of the late John O’Donoghue (4)

February / March Solution

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{photo album} Family Pictures

The Deary Sisters

The four daughters of John and Katherine (Close) Deary of Providence, Rhode Island are pictured in this 1918 photograph. Left to right: Helen (1901-1923), Catherine (1896-1970), Margaret (1894-1973) and Mary (1890-1980).

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ohn Deary was the son of Patrick and Beatrice Deary, who emigrated from near Kerry in the 1850’s, eventually settling in Rhode Island. Likewise, Katherine Close was the daughter of James and Katherine Close, from County Down, whose family also settled in Rhode Island. John and Katherine were married at St. Michael Church, Providence, where all their five children were baptized. In addition to the four girls pictured above, the family also included a brother, James (1892-1918), who died in the flu pandemic of 1918. His death was the inspiration for this group picture of the remaining daughters.

Mary (Mae) never married, but lived the longest, and had a career with the local phone company. Helen married first, soon after the picture was taken, and had a daughter, but no grandchildren. Margaret married businessman William Nolan, while my grandmother, Catherine, a telephone operator for the City of Providence, married Providence policeman Richard Murray Hickey. Their one surviving child, my mother, Dorothy, and her husband, Dr. Daniel S. Harrop Jr., produced myself and my siblings – John and Katherine Deary’s only great-grandchildren. IA SUBMITTED BY: Dr. Daniel Harrop.

Please send photographs along with your name, address, phone number, and a brief description, to Declan O’Kelly at Irish America, 875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10001. If photos are irreplaceable, then please send a good quality reproduction or e-mail the picture at 300 dpi resolution to Irishamag@aol.com. No photocopies, please. We will pay $65 for each submission that we select.

122 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2008