Here and There - August 2011

By Bill O'Donnell
July 29, 2011
Bill O'Donnell

By Bill O’Donnell

Irish Mass Emigration a Myth – Since the onset of Ireland’s economic crisis there have been countless anecdotal accounts of departures from Ireland, a mass exodus supposedly taking the Isle’s best and brightest to Britain, Australia, and America. Not so, says the first readings of Ireland’s 2011 census. The preliminary results show a population of 4,581,269 in the Republic, an increase of just over eight percent in the five years since the last census.

For ABCD head John Drew, all of life is a battle — you have to bounce back up

By Staff
July 29, 2011

By Greg O’Brien
Special to the BIR

There’s a bit of “Irish” Mickey Ward in John Drew, a scrappy, knock-down brawler when his back is against the wall. The inspiration for the Donny Wahlberg movie “The Fighter” reflects Drew in more ways than one can imagine. “There will never be a day when I can be complacent,” says the president and CEO of Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD), the Boston anti-poverty agency that serves 100,000 low-income, disadvantaged individuals and families, and is now in the gun-sights of Tea Partiers rallying against federal and state expenditures for the needy. “I have to keep on fighting, always with my hands up to ward off the blows, just to keep things going.”

Coming soon: ‘Certificate of Irish Heritage’

Ed Forry
By Ed Forry
July 29, 2011

By Ed Forry

When the Irish government underwent a transfer in power last winter with the removal of Brian Cowen’s Fianna Fáil party and the installation of Fine Gael ‘s Enda Kenny as Taoiseach, there followed, predictably, major changes in policy initiatives. But one foreign affairs initiative that would connect Ireland with the diaspora around the world has survived: The Irish government will soon begin offering an official government document to persons who claim some Irish ancestry.

Cavan hosts All-Ireland Fleadh

By Staff
July 29, 2011

All-Irish Fleadh in Tullamore, 2007. Photo by Elizabeth SullivanAll-Irish Fleadh in Tullamore, 2007. Photo by Elizabeth Sullivan

By Sean Smith
Special to the BIR

It’s not easy to come up with the right metaphor for the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil. The Super Bowl of Irish traditional music? The Mardi Gras? The Cannes Film Festival? All these, and more? Well, sort of.

Unquestionably, the All-Ireland Fleadh is one of the signal events of Irish traditional music, drawing musicians, supporters, and curious tourists each August to a designated host town in Ireland that, for a week, can claim to have the most Irish musicians per capita in the world. Its primary raison d’être is to hold individual competitions in various instrumental categories, as well as for singing and dancing.

Plans underway for Adams Corner, Dorchester Irish Festival October 9

Planning has begun for the third annual Irish Heritage Festival in Adams Corner, set for the Columbus Day weekend. The street festival was first organized in 2009 by a volunteer group of neighborhood residents and local businesses. Events that year and again in 2010 attracted thousands of people from the nearby neighborhoods and beyond, with daylong festivities including Irish bands, step dancers, and food vendors.
This year’s event will be held on Sun., Oct. 9, from noon to 8 p.m., according to Victoria Foley, one of the organizers.

Plans underway for 3rd annual Adams Corner Irish Festival October 9

By Ed Forry
July 18, 2011

Planning has begun for the third annual Irish Heritage Festival in Adams Corner, set for the Columbus Day weekend. The street festival was first organized in 2009 by a volunteer group of neighborhood residents and local businesses. Events that year and again in 2010 attracted thousands of people from the nearby neighborhoods and beyond, with daylong festivities including Irish bands, step dancers, and food vendors.

This year’s event will be held on Sun., Oct. 9, from noon to 8 p.m., according to Victoria Foley, one of the organizers.

Tips for travelers along the whiskey trail

By BostonIrish.com... (not verified)
July 5, 2011

Casks of Jameson in the Midleton, Co. Cork, Distillery.Casks of Jameson in the Midleton, Co. Cork, Distillery.
By Judy Enright
Special to the BIR

Depending on the ages of your group, traveling the whiskey trail in Northern Ireland and the Republic is fun and a great learning experience, even if you aren’t a devoted whiskey drinker. Bushmills and Jameson are probably Ireland’s best-known whiskeys, but there are many others, and most distilleries offer excellent guided tours of their facilities.

'According to Tip' with Flavin is superb entertainment

By Joe Leary
July 5, 2011
Joe Leary

Flavin, left, cuts the cake at the show debut.Flavin, left, cuts the cake at the show debut.By Joe Leary
Special to the BIR

Filled with deep laughter, happy songs, humorous political history lessons, and Dick Flavin’s magnificent acting, this one-man performance of “According to Tip” holds the audience’s attention riveted to the stage.

Flavin was interrupted several times by spontaneous applause during the June 23d performance, with the audience especially enthusiastic about “Tip O’Neill’s” tribute to his wife Millie after the singing of “I’ll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time.”

The Lyric Stage Theatre on Clarendon Street is an ideal location for a play like Flavin’s. Close-to-the-stage seating brings the action right into the audience.

The play is an American political history lesson covering some of our most destructive government leaders – Nixon, Agnew, and Gingrich – and some of Tip O’Neill’s greatest heroes – John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, and James Michael Curley, all done with gracious humor and a most entertaining style. The outspoken Speaker of the U.S. House, who was known for his devotion to helping the less fortunate and offering a hand to friends and foe alike, would be very pleased with Dick Flavin’s interpretations.

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