Search Results for 'Irish America'

The National Symphony Orchestra makes a long-awaited and welcome return to Galway on Thursday next October 6 in Leisureland at 8.00pm.

Augusta Lady Gregory, writer, folklorist and great patron of the arts, who died at her home at Coole Park in 1932, reappeared during the Druid production of five of her plays each evening this week. Druid is no stranger to magic, and such is their skill that Lady Gregory (Marie Mullen) makes several appearances inviting the audience to follow her for yet another of her plays performed in different locations around her home. From the edge of Coole lake to the old stables and yards, her ghostly figure seductively beckoned. The audience followed enchanted, moved by the strange power of her deceptively simple plays.

The first time Lady Gregory met John Quinn was on Sunday August 31 1902 at a Feis Ceol she had partly organised in the memory of Ó Raifteirí the poet. The occasion also marked Lady Gregory’s first steps into the Celtic revival movement which would absorb her energies throughout her long life, and define her reputation for ever.

After an initial welcome to New York, where Mellows was feted as a hero of the Rising, it all went sour. Despite warnings from the influential Clan na Gael to tone his rhetoric down, Mellows continued his war against Britain. He was kicked out of Clan na Gael by its leaders, the veteran Fenian John Devoy, and the ambitious Judge Cohalan, when he publicly campaigned against Irish Americans joining the army, to fight with Britain and her allies on the battlefields of France at the climax of World War I. This totally opposed the efforts of Clan na Gael not to isolate itself from mainstream American politics.

Mayo County Council was delighted to present the Grand Marshal of the New York City St Patrick’s Day parade, Brian O’Dwyer, with an iconic Foxford Woollen Mills Michael Collins Rug, at a function in New York on Friday March 15.

Week III.

In terms of professional recognition and box office takings, the 1952 film The Quiet Man was a big success, the romantic comedy-drama was a gamble for Irish American director John Ford who was, until then, known largely for his high octane Westerns. The gamble paid off and Ford scooped his fourth Best Director Oscar for The Quiet Man. Though the film's stars John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara did not receive nominations, the film was nominated for seven awards and eventually won two at the 1953 Academy Awards. Its success was good news for Ireland, especially along the Mayo-Galway border, and the village of Cong in particular, where the film had been shot. Ford and his Hollywood entourage arrived in the west in the summer of 1951 to begin recording the film's outdoors scenes. The production had brought welcome employment to the area and the end result showcased the beauty of the region to a global audience.