Full circle on the Irish Sea

By Greg O'Brien
October 30, 2015
Greg O'Brien

Greg O’Brien during a 2015 visit to Ireland.Greg O’Brien during a 2015 visit to Ireland.Duncannon, County Wexford – The tapering headland of Hook Head on the Irish Sea, at the mouth of rivers Barrow, Nore and Suir, is wholly inspiring in its rugged landscape, primeval history, and the majesty this jagged peninsula evokes. At its rocky tip stands the majestic 800-year-old Hook Head Lighthouse, one of the oldest working lighthouses in the world. It rises like an ancient barbican—four stories high with trademark black and white stripes and limestone walls up to 12 feet thick that will likely stand until end times. Legend has it that long before construction of the lighthouse, monks in the fifth century from the nearby Dubhan monastery lit fires to warn ships from the treacherous red sandstone sarsens.

By hook or by crook, I was destined to connect here, southeast of Dublin, with John Joe Vaughan— two brash Irishmen separated by a sea of blue, roiling waters rushing to a horizon where water flushes up against the sky. It was God-ordained.
I had met John Joe almost nine months earlier at Logan Airport upon my return to Boston from Dublin, an annual pilgrimage to Eire. He had just arrived himself with family to visit his daughter Rena, who now lives in New Hampshire. While I was on the cellphone responding to a queue of backlogged voicemails, Rena began waving at me. She recognized me from a photo in my book, “On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer’s.”

The Irish American Partnership: Taking stock – 1986 to 2016

By Joe Leary
October 30, 2015
Joe Leary

The year 2016 will mark the anniversary of several important Irish events. First and most important are the 100th anniversary celebrations in Ireland and the United States American of the famous “Easter Rebellion.”

Another event will also be remembered by many: the beginning of the Irish American Partnership in early 1986.

David Finnegan: He made his mark with élan

Ed Forry
By BostonIrish.com... (not verified)
October 30, 2015

By Tom Mulvoy. Associate Editor

David Ignatius Finnegan, a member of a prominent political family with deep roots in Dorchester, died on Oct. 12 in Bluffton, S.C. at age 74. The cause of death was given as lung cancer.

Some 70 years ago, Mr. Finnegan was a lively presence in Neponset, his boyhood neighborhood where the streets were the best playgrounds. As a teenager he joined his brother John in treks up to Wollaston Golf Club across the Neponset River where he caddied with a certain panache while learning how to play the game skillfully.

Irish Network/Boston hosting national parley

By BIR News Room
October 30, 2015

Delegates from across the United States will descend upon Boston this month for Irish Network USA’s annual national conference, featuring plenary sessions, a special celebration at the State House, and a festival celebrating Irish culture and film. 

The four-day program runs from Thurs., Nov. 5, through Sun., Nov. 8. Registration details are available at irishnetworkboston.net.

They’re lining up for the AIG Fenway Hurling Classic

By BIR News Room
October 30, 2015

Ticket sales are said to be brisk for the the AIG Fenway Hurling Classic that is set for Fenway Park on Sun., Nov. 22. Gates will open at 11a.m. and the game begins at 1 p.m. 

Hurling, the world’s fastest field sport, returns to Fenway Park for the first time since 1954 as two of the sport’s biggest teams – Dublin and 2015 All-Ireland Finalist Galway – compete on the pitch. The festivities will include a lively Irish festival complete with Irish food, music, and dancing, featuring Boston’s favorite the Dropkick Murphys.  

The Evans boys: All for one, one for all

By Jack Thomas
October 30, 2015
Jack Thomas

The Evans family (from left): Paul, William, James, Thomas and John with Mayor Walsh and Ed Forry. Margaret Brett photosThe Evans family (from left): Paul, William, James, Thomas and John with Mayor Walsh and Ed Forry. Margaret Brett photos

November 1967 was a somber month in American history.

Five hundred thousand American troops were in Vietnam, and Gen. William Westmoreland was insisting that the United States was winning the war in Asia, which Americans would fight for another seven years, then abandon. On Nov. 19, a Sunday, while the Jets and Joe Namath were at Fenway Park, beating the Patriots, 29-24, in Vietnam, in the Central Highlands, the battle for Hill 875 began, a four-day siege with American casualty rates of 60 percent. On the same day, 9,000 miles away, in South Boston, six teenagers agreed to enlist together in the Marine Corps, and soon they were off to South Carolina, to boot camp at Parris Island, and then to Vietnam.

The Globe’s Mike Sheehan has proven a stand-up guy and a standout success

By Peter F. Stevens
October 30, 2015
Peter F. Stevens

Boston Globe CEO Michael Sheehan, Boston Irish Reporter publisher Ed Forry and Bill Kennedy, who introduced Sheehan.Boston Globe CEO Michael Sheehan, Boston Irish Reporter publisher Ed Forry and Bill Kennedy, who introduced Sheehan.

Sheehan was raised in Weymouth and proudly calls himself “a regular Weymouth guy.” He grew up with and played CYO basketball with Brian McGrory, now the Globe’s editor-in-chief, and the two remain close friends and colleagues.

At the age of 15, Sheehan became a local sports reporter for the Weymouth News. After his graduation from Thayer Academy, he was accepted at the US Naval Academy, but decided after a semester to attend Northeastern. Then, he went up to St. Anselm College, in Manchester, New Hampshire, with a friend who was visiting the school, and decided “on a whim” to fill out an application himself. He was admitted and ended up graduating from the Catholic institution. During his years at St. Anselm’s, Sheehan worked on the weekends at the Boston Globe’s library, where he learned firsthand how a large newspaper works.

Margaret Stapleton’s credo: Work hard, be honest and faithful, and help others

By Ed Forry
October 30, 2015

Ed Forry of the Reporter with honoree Margaret Stapleton.Ed Forry of the Reporter with honoree Margaret Stapleton.

Margaret Stapleton arrived in Boston from County Tipperary in July 1955, then settled with cousins in Scituate. She accepted an entry-level job with the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. and earned BS and MBA degrees by taking evening college classes over more than a decade’s time. She has been a longtime volunteer at Pine Street Inn and plays an active role with Irish organizations including the Eire Society, Charitable Irish, and the Irish Pastoral Centre.

The early years in Ireland
Margaret Stapleton’s parents emigrated to the states in the 1920s. Although they both hailed from County Tipperary, William Stapleton and Mary Anne Lyons first met in New York, married, and settled down there to begin their family. Mary Anne gave birth to a girl and then a boy just as the Great Depression began.

Margaret Stapleton’s credo: Work hard, be honest and faithful, and help others

By Ed Forry
October 30, 2015

Margaret Stapleton arrived in Boston from County Tipperary in July 1955, then settled with cousins in Scituate. She accepted an entry-level job with the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. and earned BS and MBA degrees by taking evening college classes over more than a decade’s time. She has been a longtime volunteer at Pine Street Inn and plays an active role with Irish organizations including the Eire Society, Charitable Irish, and the Irish Pastoral Centre.

The early years in Ireland

Looking to tour Ireland? Guide choices are many, varied

By BostonIrish.com... (not verified)
October 1, 2015

by Judy Enright

Planning to book a tour of Ireland? As you probably know already, tours are a really great way to see the country through the eyes and dialogue of trained guides in the many all-around tour companies. There are so many things to see across the Irish countryside from churches and monuments to castles and thatched roof houses and so much more. It’s always fun to get the guides’ take on it all.
Lismore: Lovely Lismore Castle in Co. WaterfordLismore: Lovely Lismore Castle in Co. Waterford
There are many tour operators that work in Ireland and many – like CIE and Brian Moore International Tours and more – that offer options for those who want an overall or focused experience. Clearly, we cannot mention them all but there are many very reputable companies that can take you on a general tour around the country’s many tourist attractions.

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