Plans in place for Boston-Cork flights beginning next May

By Ed Forry
October 1, 2015
Ed Forry

A budget-priced European airline has announced plans to begin non-stop transatlantic service from Boston to Cork, with flights expected to begin next May.

Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS), Europe’s third largest low-cost airline, says it will launch the new direct “low-cost” transatlantic services from Cork to Boston, making the route the only transatlantic operation from Cork Airport. A new Cork to Barcelona route will also be launched, the company said in a press release late last month.

Transformation at Ashford Castle earns an A-plus grade

By BostonIrish.com... (not verified)
September 3, 2015

By Judy Enright
Special to the BIR

Wow!

There simply isn’t any other word to adequately describe Ashford Castle’s new look.

Red Carnation Hotels, a South African company that owns Ashford Castle in Cong, Co. Mayo, has spent the last two years completing a 50-million euro renovation that included more than 800 new windows, new wiring, a new lead roof and repointed stonework. The hotel celebrated it new look when it was reopened this spring.Red Carnation Hotels, a South African company that owns Ashford Castle in Cong, Co. Mayo, has spent the last two years completing a 50-million euro renovation that included more than 800 new windows, new wiring, a new lead roof and repointed stonework. The hotel celebrated it new look when it was reopened this spring.
The well-known castle hotel, home to the Guinness family for more than 100 years, was purchased in 2013 by Red Carnation Hotels and has since been totally and exquisitely refurbished.

Taking a read of the musical ‘The Book Of Mormon’

By R.J. Donovan
September 3, 2015
R.J. Donovan

At Citi Emerson Colonial Theatre through Oct. 11

Jake Emmerling (third from left) with the cast of the national touring company of “The Book of Mormon,” playing the Citi Emerson Colonial Theatre through October 11. Photo © Joan Marcus, 2014Jake Emmerling (third from left) with the cast of the national touring company of “The Book of Mormon,” playing the Citi Emerson Colonial Theatre through October 11. Photo © Joan Marcus, 2014
Theater has been a part of Jake Emmerling’s life for as long as he can remember.  The influence began with his grandparents who were such diehard fans that when they’d visit New York, they’d see six shows in four days.  That love of the arts soon rubbed off on Jake, his brother and his cousins.

His stage debut came in the first grade. “I was the doctor for a lion that was sick or something that like. I couldn’t learn my lines,” he said, adding with a wry edge, “So that was great.”

The young actor is currently in Boston performing in the national tour of the outrageous musical comedy “The Book of Mormon,” playing the Citi Emerson Colonial Theatre through Oct. 11.  He has been with the show for the past three years, has performed in 32 cities, and recently played his 1000th performance as a member of the ensemble.

Boston Irish Reporter’s Here & There

By Bill O'Donnell
September 3, 2015
Bill O'Donnell

Fine Gael, Fianna Fail in 2016 – That is a headline that a respected member of Fianna Fail is pushing, and the sentiment for change can be heard from other Soldiers of Destiny front liners.

The next election must be held before April 3 of next year, and Taoiseach and FG party leader Enda Kenny will lead and contest that election. The major question, looking ahead, is who would be a suitable junior partner with Fine Gael?

RIP: Quincy’s Beachcomber. End of an era as popular venue exits the local music scene

By Peter F. Stevens
September 3, 2015
Peter F. Stevens

Since 1959, the Beachcomber on Quincy Shore Drive has been a watering hole for patrons and the stage for some of the best traditional Irish and Irish American bands and solo artists. The news that the club has been sold and will close its doors for good at the end of September marks the end of an era for live music in and around Boston.

With the recent closing of T.T. the Bear’s, in Cambridge, and the announcement that Johnny D’s, in Somerville, will depart the music scene in early 2016 after a 46-year run, up-and-coming Irish singers and musicians will no longer have three venerable stages to use as career launching pads./

The Beachcomber’s saga began in 1959, when Jimmy McGettrick opened the club with co-owner Fred Crowley. McGettrick’s opening stake was money that he had earned by selling Christmas trees, and the price to buy the Beachcomber was $25,000. McGettrick, who bought out Crowley in 1965, was 25 when they opened the club – fittingly – on March 17, 1959. After the purchase costs, the two partners had only $285 left to stock the bar.

When he passed away in 2011 after battling brain cancer, McGettrick’s sons, Sean and Patrick, stepped in to run the club. In July, they announced that they had sold the Beachcomber to a developer who plans to tear down the building and replace it with an upscale restaurant. For countless patrons over the decades, however, there is no replacing the club and the memories of the bands and singers who raised the proverbial roof along Wollaston Beach.

Taking stock: Time for renewal in Adams Village?

By Bill Forry
September 3, 2015

A block of stores along Adams Street, shown to the right of the flags, have recently been acquired by new owners— John and Peter Lydon, who plan to make improvements to the storefronts. Bill Forry photoA block of stores along Adams Street, shown to the right of the flags, have recently been acquired by new owners— John and Peter Lydon, who plan to make improvements to the storefronts. Bill Forry photoAdams Village, a key gateway to Dorchester and a bustling crossroads of daily life, is poised for incremental but substantial improvements over the coming months and years as a new property owner is vowing to pump youthful energy and investment into the aging business district.

Civic and business leaders hope the fresh ownership will trigger a positive shift in the village scene, a monstrous collage of neon signs, clashing architecture, and just an overall shabbiness that has settled in there over the last decade.

“We’d like to see the corner come back to where it used to be,” said Sean Weir, president of the Cedar Grove Civic Association. “Most of the buildings really need some tender, loving care. Right now, there are all these neon signs; nothing matches down there. We’d like to see uniform signage and all around cleanliness. It looks so congested and dirty.”

New confidence leads to lots of smiles in Dublin

By BostonIrish.com... (not verified)
September 3, 2015

After visiting Ireland for a week this past June I feel I can confidently say that Dublin and most of its citizens are enjoying one big celebration of life. Spend a Saturday afternoon walking from O‘Connell Street to Grafton Street and all the way up to a bench on St. Stephen’s Green, and if at the end you don’t experience the joy and superheated heartbeat of one of the world’s happiest cities, I’d be very surprised.

Quinnipiac’s Lahey: ‘Famine’ account is a ‘mis-told’ story

Ed Forry
By Ed Forry
September 3, 2015

Quinnipiac University president Dr. John Lahey was educated as a philosopher, and landed in professional academia in the 1970s as a vice president at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, with special skills in development and fund raising.

In 1987, he answered the call from Quinnipiac and relocated to Connecticut at age 40 to become one of the youngest college presidents in the country.

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