Broadway’s Ciarán Sheehan is Billy Bigelow in ‘Carousel’

By R.J. Donovan
June 1, 2016
R.J. Donovan

Broadway’s Ciarán Sheehan will be in town from June 9 to June 19 to kick off Reagle Music Theatre’s 48th summer season with Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Carousel.” The classic musical tells the challenging love story of Julie Jordan, an innocent New England mill worker, and Billy Bigelow, a swaggering carnival barker. Ciarán stars as Billy opposite Boston’s own Jennifer Ellis as Julie.
The Dublin-born actor-singer-producer made his Broadway debut in “Les Miserables” – mentored by legendary producer-director Hal Prince (“Evita,” “Cabaret”) – and subsequently starred in more than 1,000 performances of “Phantom of the Opera,” both on Broadway and in Toronto.

His credits include roles at The Irish Repertory Theater and in Frank McCourt’s “The Irish And How They Got That Way,” “Finian’s Rainbow,” and “Camelot” (with Jeremy Irons). As well, he produced and starred in a sold out run of “The Molly Maguires” at the Kirby Center in Pennsylvania.

As a solo artist, the charismatic Sheehan has sold out Carnegie Hall, appeared at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, opened the dedication of the Irish Hunger Memorial in New York City, and sang at funeral services for Beau Biden at the request of Vice President Joe Biden. He also has three PBS musical specials under his belt.

Ireland settles on a"Minority Government;" Kenny remains Taoiseach

By BillI O'Donnell
June 1, 2016
BillI O'Donnell

Irish Government Seeks Steady Footing – After a couple of months of negotiations, bargaining, offers spurned, and offers finally taken, the two major parties in Ireland have settled on an accommodation. In actuality, it is something called a “minority government,” and it offers a way forward to both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

BIR gives hundreds of books to ICC library

By Kiera Murray
June 1, 2016
Kiera Murray

The Boston Irish Reporter has donated more than 300 books and videos to the Irish Cultural Centre of New England in memory of the late BIR publisher Mary Casey Forry.

“Over the 26 years that we have published our Boston Irish Reporter, our newsroom has gathered hundreds of works relating to Ireland, many of which we have reviewed in our pages over the years,” said Ed Forry, Mary’s husband and current publisher of the BIR.

Some in US see British exit from EU as threat to progress in North

By Francis Costello
June 1, 2016
Francis Costello

A vote by a majority in Britain in the upcoming (June 25) referendum to exit the European Union poses a serious threat to the Northern Ireland economy in the view of several US commercial and political leaders, Democrat and Republican alike.

Each of those interviewed has shown a long-standing commitment to building peace and stability in the North that should give some pause to those seeking to minimize the impact of a “Brexit” from the EU.

HIGH PERFORMERS IN THEIR SPHERES: The revolutionary Thomas Meagher, and the golfer Christy O’Connor, Sr. deserve acclaim for the lives they led

By Peter Stevens
June 1, 2016
Peter Stevens

“The Immortal Irishman,” indeed. Some lives splash across a larger-than-life canvas. Such a saga is that of Thomas Francis Meagher. In the finely wrought new biography “The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero,” National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Timothy Egan has brilliantly captured the proverbial force of nature that was Thomas Francis Meagher.

In many ways, Meagher’s story embodies the quintessential struggle of immigrants escaping oppression to seek a better life in America. As the Great Famine ravaged Ireland in the 1840s, the handsome, well-educated Irishman unleashed his fiery oratory against the British government, denouncing Ireland’s oppressors as at least a million of his fellow Irish perished from starvation and disease.

Meagher translated his words into action when, as a leader of the Young Ireland movement, he launched a revolt against British rule that the empire crushed, in the process transporting Meagher to a prison colony in remote Tasmania, where and early death from hard labor loomed a certainty.

Wall between US and Mexico ‘too costly,’ says Trump. “I’m proposing a minefield’

By James Dolan
June 1, 2016
James Dolan

President Trump announced today that his long-promised plan for a huge wall along the United States-Mexico border now appears more costly than he expected and he was having difficulty getting Mexico to pay for it. Instead, he proposed a simpler solution – a minefield.

Political turmoil as Ireland awaits the vote on Brexit

By Joe Leary
June 1, 2016
Joe Leary

Recent parliamentary elections in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland have created a political instability not seen in many years. Unfortunately, this comes at a time when the controversial prospect of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union is a distinct possibility.

The British have scheduled a vote on breaking their ties to the EU for June 23 in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. While no one knows the impact of such a move, virtually everyone believes there will be many new problems to solve following a breakaway decision.

ICC hails ‘Riverdancers’ on 20-year anniversary tour

By Kiera Murray
June 1, 2016
Kiera Murray

Currently on their 20th Anniversary North American tour, the cast of Riverdance has been performing nonstop for months. By the end, they will have performed in 75 cities, often in multiple shows per day.

Which leaves the question: What do the dancers do on their rare days off?

Last month, they used respite time to visit the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton, where eight members were guests of honor – a public meet and greet, a dance showcase, honorary ICC memberships, and a nice meal – in celebration of their anniversary tour.

Quick-Look Calendar June 2016

By BIR News Room
June 1, 2016

June 1: Síobhra Aiken, former Irish Fulbright language Teaching assistant for the Irish Cultural Centre and Elms College, will discuss the Gaelic poet Patrick F. Hagerty at 7 p.m. in the Library Theater at Elms College in Chicopee.

Hagerty was a Gaelic poet and scholar from Springfield, Mass. who learned to read and write Irish in the States and passed on the language to his children while delivering Irish languages classes in this area.

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