New documentary on the Boys of St. Columbs

By Bill O'Donnell
September 2, 2009
Bill O'Donnell

The college was founded 130 years ago and over the years has nurtured young male students, many of whom have made their mark in Ireland and beyond. In 1947 a new and revolutionary education law was introduced that allowed for the first time students from working class families to attend grammar schools in Northern Ireland.

A new documentary that will be aired on September 21 tells the story of eight of those former St. Columb's college boys who took advantage of the 1947 law and went on to distinguished careers.

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Print vs. Online: Different Strokes for Different Folks

By Tom Mulvoy, BIR Staff
September 1, 2009
Tom Mulvoy, BIR Staff

These are parlous times in the news profession, print division. No one is sure where things are headed as newspaper proprietors work at fashioning a 21st century business model that will link news gathering and advocacy, advertising, circulation/readership, and the marvels of the World Wide Web to remake the profitable entrepreneurial approach that sustained the golden era of ink-on-paper journalism for most publishers over the last 100 years.

That is big-picture, large-bore stuff, and good luck to us all as we take things a step at a time.

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A First: Some Are Starting to Mull Sinn Fein Without Gerry Adams

By Robert P. Connolly
September 1, 2009
Robert P. Connolly

For more than a quarter of a century, the Irish republican party, Sinn Fein, has had a clear and undisputed leader, Gerry Adams.

To be sure, Adams has had a leadership partner, Martin McGuinness, but fundamentally, it has been understood that Adams received top billing – he was the party president, the thinker, the charismatic speaker, the international media star.

To think Sinn Fein was to think Gerry Adams.

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A Meditation on the Lonely

By BostonIrish.com... (not verified)
September 1, 2009

I am at an age where a few of my friends have lost their wives. The period of adjustment appears deeper and longer than for wives who lose their husbands. But then I've always believed that women alone are more independent and self-sufficient than men.

Women play a much larger and important role in extended relationships than men are inclined to publicly acknowledge. Most men also believe it is in the natural order of things that they will be the first to die, so they don't prepare for the loss of a spouse.

Says Bridget Shaheen, of Lazarus House in Lawrence: 'I Am Fully Satisfied in Doing What the Lord Wants Me to Do'

By Greg O'Brien
September 1, 2009
Greg O'Brien

An old Irish proverb graces Bridget Shaheen's modest office in Lawrence: "It is in the shelter of each other that the people live." In the shelter of Lazarus House Ministries on humble Holly Street, executive director Shaheen, who walks the Christian talk on how to love, oversees the provision of immediate support, food, training, shelter, and medical and dental care to those who have none in this working class city of immigrants that ranks the poorest in New England.

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Shannon Heaton's Passion: 'To Get to Put My Sass On'

By R. J. Donovan
September 1, 2009
R. J. Donovan

Are you one someone who sings at the drop of a downbeat?  Aside from the social aspects of sharing a tune, would you like to explore the skills involved in traditional Irish singing?  Then the Irish Song Circle Workshop at Springstep in Medford may be for you.

Jointly taught by Shannon Heaton and Liz Simmons, the Song Circle is a six-week course touching on the techniques and emotional connections involved in the art of Irish singing.

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BCMFest notes

By Sean Smith
September 1, 2009
Sean Smith

Bonny "Babes" - There'll be a distinctive Caledonian feel to this month's BCMFest Celtic Music Monday concert, which features some of Greater Boston's most outstanding female musicians in the Scottish tradition. "Babes in Scotland," which takes place Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. in Harvard Square's Club Passim, will explore the new and the old in Scottish music and song, and how centuries-old traditions have joined with contemporary influences to create exciting sounds.

End of Summer Doesn't Mean Nothing's Going On

Ed Forry
By Ed Forry
September 1, 2009

As this prolonged summer comes near its end, there remain several events to attract folks outdoors before the snows of winter arrive. With Labor Day late this year, the traditional Waterfront Irish Festival in Newport will take place on the holiday weekend, September 5, 6 and 7. There will be five stages of entertainment, with performances from the likes of Eileen Ivers, Black 47, The Makem Brothers & Spain Brothers, Calley McGrane and The Exiles and many more.

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