By Ed Forry
High school seniors and their parents looking for another, more affordable option for college should consider the colleges and universities in Ireland. That’s the message being delivered by Ireland’s Minister for Education and Science, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan, who will be in Boston late this month to promote an Irish government marketing effort to attract American high school students to enroll in Irish colleges and universities. Read more
Baseball fans who find themselves in Ireland in October are well advised to find their way to Greystones (Irish: Na Clocha Liatha), a little town in County Wicklow on Ireland’s east coast, five miles from Bray and a half hour south of Dublin.
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by Ed Forry
I learned from your parents some months ago that you were on the way. The news came at dinner with them, as I offered to pour a glass of wine for your mom. At first she said yes, then hesitated, and declined. That was unusual because she and your dad often enjoyed wine with their meals, and I had just become a fan of Malbec, a red wine from Argentina, and wanted her to try it. Read more
Former UMass President Bill Bulger was guest speaker last month at a community breakfast hosted by Mt. Washington Bank. Speaking to a gathering of some 300 local business and civic leaders, Bulger used the occasion to voice a lament for the current tone of public discourse in public issues. Here’s an abridged version of his remarks: Read more
A large group of Bostonians of Irish heritage, chaired by Winnie Henry of Milton and Pat "Doc" Walsh of Dorchester, gathered with friends on Sun., May 2, to raise funds to support relief efforts for Haitian children orphaned by the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. Read more
A growing committee of Boston Irish chaired by Winnie Henry of Milton and Pat “Doc” Walsh of Dorchester have gathered to raise funds to support relief efforts for orphaned children who are victims of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti.
Organizing as “Irish Hearts for Haiti Committee,” a group of more than 30 Irish-born and Irish Americans have been meeting at Winnie’s home to make plans for the event. Working with her family and the committee, Winnie, the widow of Irish music legend Noel Henry, plans a day of continuous Irish music and entertainment from 2 to 9 p.m., on Sun., May 2, at the Quincy Marriott Hotel. Read more
Ireland's great Famine, also known as the Great Hunger (An Gorta Mór) took place in the middle of the 19th century, caused by a blight on the potato crop in the Emerald Isle. Beginning with the harvest of 1846, and lasting fully for five years, the fungus caused the potato crop to fail. It was devastating to huge numbers of poor Irish families. A family of six could be fed for a year on one acre of potatoes; the vegetable provided all the nutrients needed to preserve life. Read more
The story of how one Boston Irish business leader stepped up to help in the wake of the terrible earthquake in Haiti typifies the great sense of empathy, compassion and benevolence that is part of the culture of Irish Americans and the Irish around the world.
Here's the story of Kevin Leary, CEO of Valet Parking of New England, (VPNE,) in his own words: Read more
Old friend Marty Kane is back home in Boston after some wayward years of working “outta town,” or as we locals say, somewhere west of Jamaica Pond. A long-ago hockey player for BC High and Boston College, Marty sends word of a nifty annual event that celebrates almost five decades of ice hockey rivalry between his high school alma mater and Catholic Memorial.
The two schools, each considered hockey powerhouses, will resume their rivalry on Saturday, Feb. 6 when the CM team hosts the BC High skaters in a 3:30 p.m. game at the Walter Brown Arena, once called Boston Arena. Read more
Is this the year to make that long-delayed trip to Ireland? I asked myself that question at the beginning of 2009, and as in previous years, the answer was a resounding "maybe." Read more
