Presenting ‘just the place to spend the night’

By Ed Forry
August 29, 2013

By Judy Enright
Special to the BIR

Traveling PeopleTraveling People
What’s a holiday in Ireland without splurging now and again? Isn’t that how some of your best memories are made?
If you seek comfort, elegance, world-class service and hospitality, beautiful surroundings, and delicious meals, you simply can not do better than to check in at the four-star Gregan’s Castle Hotel, Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare, in the heart of the magnificent Burren.
Occasionally, a traveler will say accommodation is not all that important. “It’s just a place to spend the night,” they say. Well, that’s true enough for many places.

But Gregan’s is hardly “just a place to spend the night!” It’s a place to relax, savor every elegant touch, enjoy a drink or superb lunch in the comfortable Corkscrew Bar, make a reservation for afternoon tea (daily from 2:30 to 4:30), enjoy a sumptuous dinner in a dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows that frame views of beautifully-maintained gardens, two resident donkeys, and the rocky reaches of the Burren.

‘Boston Irish Honors’ for: Senate President Murray, Mulligan family, and the late Atty. John P. Driscoll

By Ed Forry
August 29, 2013

The Boston Irish Reporter, the region’s leading chronicler of all things Irish-American, will host “Boston Irish Honors 2013,” its fourth annual celebratory luncheon on Fri., Oct. 25, at 11:45 a.m. in the main ballroom of Boston’s Seaport Hotel.
BIR publisher Ed Forry has announced the 2013 honorees are: Senate President Therese Murray, Robert A. Mulligan, Gerald T. Mulligan & family; and John P. Driscoll, Jr. (posthumously.)

UMass Boston to honor Jim Brett with dedicated chair; disability efforts cited

By Ed Forry
August 29, 2013

UMass Boston has announced the creation of a chair in Disability and Workforce Development that will be named in honor of Jim Brett, President and CEO of the New England Council and a former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, from Dorchester. A longtime civic leader, and an advocate for people with intellectual disabilities, his board service includes the chairmanship of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities and the Massachusetts Governor’s Commission on Intellectual Disabilities.

Post-Whitey: A lingering cacophony of media myth, frenzy, fact, and fiction

By BY PETER F. STEVENS
August 29, 2013
BY PETER F. STEVENS

By Peter F. Stevens
BIR Staff
It’s “ovah.” Or is it? James “Whitey” Bulger finally stood trial and received a long-belated, long-deserved verdict. One can only hope that his victims’ families received at least some scant measure of solace, courtesy of a jury that had to endure not only graphic, horrific testimony and grisly crime-scene photos, but also a sorry cast of prosecution witnesses as vile as the gangster on trial.

Concertina players are coming to fore; instrument’s versatility is called a key

By Sean Smith
July 31, 2013
Sean Smith

Q. How do you make a concertina?
A. Cross an accordion with a stop sign.
It’s not as if the concertina has never gotten respect in the traditional Irish music world – maybe it’s just overlooked, in comparison with, say, the fiddle, uilleann pipes, flute, whistle, and accordion.
But what with the emergence over the past few decades of eminent concertina players like Noel Hill, Mary MacNamara, Jackie Daly, John Williams, Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh, and Niamh Ni Charra (not to mention New England’s own Christian Stevens), perhaps the squeezebox’s moment has arrived.

Public discourse plays loose with the real meaning of words

By Ed Forry
July 31, 2013

BY JAMES W. DOLAN
SPECIAL TO THE REPORTER
Words are sometimes used to inflate, demean, soften, distort, or distract us from reality. In our celebrity culture, what we say or do is often defined by those who have an interest in either protecting or promoting themselves.
Take, for example, the word “inappropriate.” Have you noticed how often people use that term to describe wrong, even reprehensible, behavior? The offender can usually be found before a microphone apologizing for acting inappropriately, asking for forgiveness, and promising never to do it again.

Split between Catholic Church and Irish government worsens

By Joe Leary
July 31, 2013
Joe Leary

The divide between the Irish Government and the Catholic Church in Ireland became more profound last month with the Irish Parliament’s approval of new laws liberalizing abortion restrictions. The aggressive moves by the Fine Gael/ Labor coalition government, which included forced resignations if party members did not vote their leaders’ wishes, embittered many.

Family ties distinguish two bands who will play at the Irish Cultural Centre in August

By Sean Smith
July 31, 2013
Sean Smith

Two family-based bands with different approaches to Irish music will make appearances this month at the Irish Cultural Centre of New England in Canton.
On Aug. 3, the ICCNE will feature Michigan quartet Finvarra’s Wren as part of the center’s Tiny Cottage Series. And on Aug. 23, the Makem and Spain Brothers will perform an outdoor concert. Both events begin at 8 p.m.

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