Getting to Ireland, good deals abound; low cost WOW Air offers alternate route to Dublin

Ed Forry
By Ed Forry
July 30, 2015

By Ed Forry
Ireland has launched a program of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. “The Centenary Programme” is described as ”a call to action for the people of Ireland, our Diaspora and friends of Ireland all around the world - to remember 1916 and that pivotal period in our history, to reflect on the past 100 years, and to re-imagine our future.”

Peterborough Players present Shanley’s ‘Outside Mullingar’ Showing July 15-26

By R. J. Donovan
July 17, 2015
R. J. Donovan

John Patrick Shanley has written more than 25 plays and screenplays. He is perhaps best known for the film “Moonstruck” and the Broadway play “Doubt: A Parable.” 

The former, the story of a bookkeeper from Brooklyn who falls for the brother of the man she’s supposed to marry, starred Cher and Nicolas Cage and won Shanley an Oscar for Best Screenplay.  “Doubt” is an intense cat-and-mouse drama about a relentless nun who suspects a priest of molesting an altar boy.  For that one, Shanley received the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play along with the Pulitzer Prize.

Born in the Bronx, Shanley was raised in a decidedly Irish culture.  However it wasn’t until 2014, when he was well into his career, that he tried his hand at a story set in Ireland.  “Outside Mullingar” was the result, presented on Broadway by the Manhattan Theater Club and starring Brian F. O’Byrne and Debra Messing.  The piece received Best Play nominations for the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards.

“Outside Mullingar” is being presented from July 15 - 26 by The Peterborough Players in Peterborough, NH.  Set in rural Ireland, the smart, contemporary, romantic comedy focuses on the Muldoon and Reilly families and their rival heirs, Anthony and Rosemary.

Psst! There’s a lot to see and do in Co. Monaghan

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


By Judy Enright
Special to the BIR

Let’s have a show of hands, please, from all readers who have visited County Monaghan.

Where are all those hands? Hate to admit it, but I wouldn’t have been raising my hand, either – until this spring. Apparently, I’m not alone in overlooking Monaghan’s many charms. The county’s tourist board admits on its website (monaghantourism.com) that “County Monaghan is Ireland’s best-kept secret.” The board adds, “There’s more to Monaghan” and notes that the county is “home to Lough Muckno, a world-class center for angling and wakeboarding; Clones and Carrickmacross lace, an exquisite technique used in royal wedding dresses over many centuries; round towers, historic houses, and the drumlin-dotted landscape that inspired the poems of Patrick Kavanagh.” Who knew?

HIDDEN IRELAND
This spring, I visited a magnificent historic home – Hilton Park in Co. Monaghan - that I found through Hidden Ireland, an accommodation group.

I have long been a fan of Hidden Ireland (hiddenireland.com), which offers exceptional accommodation in country homes around the Republic and the North. All homes are privately owned and visitors are treated as honored guests – often as visiting royalty. There is little that the owners overlook in an effort to make your stay absolutely seamless. As the brochure says, “Hidden Ireland houses offer a hospitality that only a family home can.”

Over the years, I have enjoyed the hospitality of homeowners at Temple House in Co. Sligo, Ashley Park in Co. Tipperary, Bruckless House in Co. Donegal, Clonalis in Co. Roscommon, Delphi Lodge and Quay House, both in Co. Galway.

For Gourley and Feddersen, everything just clicked … now comes their first album

By Sean Smith
July 1, 2015
Sean Smith

The partnership of Boston-area musicians Nathan Gourley and Laura Feddersen is proof that, sometimes, good things happen because they simply should.
To start with, the pair have some significant things in common: Both are from the Midwest, both came from musically nurturing families with a fiddle-playing father, both took up classical violin at age 5 but eventually became immersed in traditional fiddle styles, notably Irish.

They earned their way to the All-Ireland Fleadh … the funding to get to Sligo is the cause now

By Sean Smith
July 1, 2015
Sean Smith

Young local musicians hoping to play at Ireland’s biggest traditional music event are getting a helping hand from one of the Boston area’s most famous Irish pubs – and one of its most celebrated comic personalities.


Realta Geala, whose nearly 20 members range in age from 8 to 15, finished first in the under-15 Grupa Cheol competition at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Fleadh held during May in New Jersey, earning an invitation to the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann – the All-Ireland Fleadh, a week-long festival of competitions and other special events held in August.

PRESERVATION, PROGRESS, OR BOTH? Keely’s ‘Prayer in Stone’ – Holy Trinity Church – due for a secular facelift

By Peter F. Stevens
July 1, 2015
Peter F. Stevens

Would architect Patrick Keely be spinning in his grave at the changes awaiting his magnificent Holy Trinity Church? Or would the Tipperary-born builder understand that times change, and be grateful that his artistic vision will remain at least partly intact on the South End corner that the church has graced since 1877?

Parades, bonfires, and hope are the themes in the North

By Joe Leary
July 1, 2015
Joe Leary

Despite the refusal of hardliners on both sides to embrace the peace and new spirit of cooperation in Northern Ireland, there are hopeful signs of change.

The signing of the Good Friday agreement in 1998 has nearly eliminated the bombings and sectarian killings that took place 20, 30, and 45 years ago.

Though the horrendous and divisive so called “peace walls” still separate and divide communities, Nationalists and Unionists are able to communicate and get along. Even the politicians, when out of the public eye and behind closed doors, are able to laugh and agree with each other.

IIIC offers condolences to families of J1 students

By BIR News Room
July 1, 2015

Youth and death – two words when paired together call to mind the most unimaginable heartache. It was with profound sadness that on June 16 we learned of the terrible news that occurred overnight in Berkeley, California - the death of six young students and the injuries to seven others.

The last of the funeral services have now taken place in Ireland and most of the injured students have returned home to continue medical treatment there. For several, the road to recovery will be long and hard. All of those directly involved will never forget the details of the tragedy.

Denis O’Brien’s latest move: Haiti’s first Marriott

By Bill Forry
July 1, 2015

The Marriott Port-au-Prince, which officially opened its doors last week after a “soft” opening period of three months, is far more than just a symbol of Haiti’s post-earthquake recovery. It’s a living, breathing, job-creating economic engine in a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince that sorely needs exactly that: jobs, vitality and the promise of further development to come.

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