Tip Sheet
by Cahir O'DohertyRSS 
Recent Posts
- In twilight years and refusing to go quietly - 'These Halcyon Days' at The Irish Arts Center - VIDEO
- A look at books: Ireland’s growing cadre of first rate thrillers and personal essays of home
- There’s something about Mary - controversial play 'The Testament of Mary' wins Tony nod before closing early
- Review - “The Testament of Mary” and “The Nance” welcome Broadway additions
- A look at books - the Magdalene Laundries, Reverend Ian Paisley and the Irish Diaspora
Archives
The Last Girl
Ireland's growing cadre of first rate thriller writers is already a thing to marvel at, and Jane Casey is emerging as one of its most accomplished members. In 'The Last Girl' her nervy young detective Maeve Kerrigan sets out on her third (about to be bestselling) case, and this time it’s a murder at a well to do home.
The house happens to belong to defense attorney Phillip Kennford, a man who isn’t particularly beloved by the police for his tendency to get convicted criminals off the hook.
Casey excels at creating plot complications when you least expect them, and her characters continually throw up hooks and snares that you can’t see coming. She’s a born thriller writer.
It can’t have been easy being mother of God, but the Bible actually tells us comparatively little about Mary. There’s barely a record of a word she spoke, other than to confirm she’d play her part once God’s plan was revealed to her.
It’s a bit of an oversight considering her historical importance, isn’t it? Matthew and Luke mention her occasionally in the Gospels, but Mark barely mentions her at all.
It Doesn’t Ring a Bell
By Racer Lynch
It hasn’t been two decades since the last Magdalene Laundry in Ireland closed in 1996. That’s well within the living memory of young adults. The question is, what to do with all that suffering now that its come to light?
The truth is Matilda isn't one of Roald Dahl's most interesting works. Oh, it's a charming and typically dark effort by the old master and you'll certainly find yourself rooting for his bright and put-upon young creation, but there are contradictions in the narrative that make you wonder why it takes the time it takes for the story to end happily.
That's not the case with the Royal Shakespeare Company's absurdly entertaining new musical Matilda based on Dahl's book, now playing on Broadway.
The Irish: A Photohistory
By Sean Sexton and Christine Kinealy
Sometimes a photograph can be a door you can walk through into the past. In The Irish: A Photohistory, Sean Sexton and Christine Kinealy have assembled one of the most evocative and moving collections of the life of the Irish over the past two centuries that I have ever seen.
Vengeance
By Benjamin Black
.
The Origins of the Irish
By J.P. Mallory
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien was one of the greatest soul singers of the 1960s and ‘70s. You’ve probably heard of her legendary stage name, Dusty Springfield, but did you know she was born a shy Irish Catholic schoolgirl?
Making your way through the heady atmosphere of Swinging Sixties London required talent (she had enough for several lifetimes), but it also required nerves of steel (and she found that the way many Irish people have, via the end of a vodka shot glass).
Katie Finneran, 42, is the Tony Award-winning actress currently wowing audiences with her barnstormer performance as Miss Hannigan, the so-bad-she’s-good orphanage supervisor in the Broadway revival of the classic musical Annie.
It’s a somewhat unlikely role for the Miami-born Irish American actress, whose previous Broadway hits include her unforgettable Tony winning turn as a been around the block barfly opposite Sean Hayes in the musical Promises, Promises.
Irish economist A.P. O’Malley has studied the global economy for a quarter of a century, and being Irish he also found himself compelled by it to make a life here in the U.S.
Your Irish mother was right. There are two things you need to turn a house into a home -- love and decent cooking. Get those two things right and you’re well on your way to enduring happiness.
But you don’t just become a good cook, do you? If it was easy we’d all be Julia Child, I suppose. The truth is it takes practice and a little persistence, and where you turn for help when you are starting out will make all the difference.
For a decade now the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York has made the wise decision to include at least one musical in its seasons. Usually this means spirited revivals of golden age classics, but this year they've gone for a bit of a surprise.
Donnybrook!, the rarely performed 1961 chestnut by Johnny Burke and Robert E. McEnroe, is a diverting romp based on the beloved John Ford film The Quiet Man.
for tickets and showtimes.
The Nice born French pastry chef became a world class chocolatier right here in New York City after challenging himself to create an exciting new dessert repertoire.
In 2009, Payard opened the François Chocolate Bar, and since then the former James Beard Foundation pastry chef of the year has been delighting new Yorkers with his chocolate and seasonal fruit menus.
By Geraldine Comiskey
Ireland is the acknowledged home of surrealism and Geraldine Comiskey (a roving reporter for the Sunday World) often has occasion to encounter it at its source.
Having a journalistic resume that includes getting set on fire by stuntmen, dancing on the wings of a World War II bi-plane (well, who hasn’t?) and joining a circus trapeze troupe, she’s clearly ready for anything.
The 1st Irish Theatre Festival deserves accolades for bringing these talents to an American stage, and Irish drama has been enriched by their appearance.
Prodigals And GeniusesBy Brendan Lynch
The Irish love a good pub within walking reach and Ireland’s most gifted artists and thinkers have been no exception. As Paris has it’s Left Bank and New York has its Upper West Side, for decades Dublin’s bohemian quarter has been centered around Baggot Street and Leeson Street, fringed by the Grand Canal.
Among it’s familiars were four winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature and nearly every major Irish writer of the 19 century, including Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and even Samuel Beckett.
.
The Colours of Man
By Micheal O’Conghaile
Michael O’Conghaile is already a famous short story writer in the Irish language, but this new collection of his most celebrated works translated into English will introduce him to a larger (and I am certain appreciative) new audience.
A typical offering in this brilliantly funny collection of short stories is Death at a Funeral, where O’Conghaile illustrates just why he’s widely revered as an Irish language author. O’Conghaile’s works illustrate what the poet W.B. Yeats called the Irish preference for a swift current in both language and human interaction.
Lucien was a shy boy who has grown into a overly cautious and haunted young man (Christian Conn) and Anthony (Blake DeLong) is a ne'er-do-well who was struck by lightening when he was six and looks fated to live out a damaged existence under the watchful eye of his old friend.
Morgan underscores the enduring love between the two friends, which crucially runs just a little deeper than the mistrust that occasionally brims to the surface between them. As adolescents we learn that both men once loved a young woman who took her own life. The affection was so deep, the loss so profound, they can barely bring themselves to speak of it.
By Maura Mulligan
Maura Mulligan is perhaps best known to the Irish community in New York for her works as a dancer and actor at the Irish Arts Center, and as the founder of the Irish language school An Scoil Gaelige.
In Call of the Lark, her atmospheric and heartfelt new memoir, she conjures an Ireland and a way of life that may be as irretrievably lost to us now as Atlantis.
Oscar’s Shadow
By Eibhear Walsh
After his imprisonment and death, poet and dramatist Oscar Wilde continued to be a visible presence in popular culture in Ireland in a way that did not happen in England.
James Joyce had a lot to do with it. He wisely read Wilde’s sexuality and his art as challenges to the dominant political and moral hegemony of the British Empire (bolstering his own fight with official Ireland in the process).
Kazee, 36, who gives his all to his portrait of a wounded young Dubliner with a song in his heart, lost his mother at Easter whilst the show was still in preparation. Lat night Kazee remembered her in an emotional tribute that brought supporters to their feet.
In his acceptance speech he quoted Arthur O'Shaughnessy, the poet of Irish descent, saying : 'We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams.'
, or call 401-486-9601.
By Jane Casey
By Lara Marlowe
Lara Marlowe is best known as a distinguished foreign correspondent for The Irish Times, but she is equally well known in Ireland for her writings on French art. Painted With Words is her luminous new collection of essays on some of the world’s greatest painters.
“Painting is not done to decorate apartments,” wrote Pablo Picasso. “It is an instrument of war against brutality and darkness.”
By Darina Allen
Can you call yourself Irish if you don’t own at least two Irish cookery books by Darina Allen? Simply put no one else has ever assembled the classic Irish dishes with the range and scope and appreciation for Irish tradition that she has.
In Irish Traditional Cooking Allen has assembled over 300 recipes that are as wholesome and unpretentious and the books title. Allen is a seasonal cook, which means she lists dishes that are in tune with the produce on offer year round, which makes this book an especially worthwhile purchase for discerning cooks.
Edited By Emily Firetog and Declan Meade
Turn heads and maybe win some new admirers before or after the parade. You can pick 'em up by clicking here.
---------------------
Read more:
More US politics news from IrishCentral
John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban, seeks Irish citizenship - POLL
The Academy's decision to overlook his work was a widely lamented travesty, but an expected one, considering their track record on mature themes and nominations.
Male nudity has always been a bridge too far for the sensitive types who compile the nominations but thankfully Fassbender's not concerned. In fact he recently had a laugh at all the fuss his latest film caused in some quarters.
_________________
Read more:
Based on the life of Ghandi, with illuminating reference to the lifelong struggle of fellow titan Martin Luther King, the performance achieved moments of extraordinary beauty.
This being a Phillip Glass work it was also ponderous, aching, celebratory, stirring and at times - yes - seriously dull.
'I wanted to make people more aware of our veterans’ sacrifices and help put people’s lives into perspective,' Sanders told CNN.
Photographed above is James Tobin, who fought in the Pacific.
Here's an Irishman's view of the Wall Street shenanigans. The language is colorful and probably not safe for work - you have been warned!
Asking Apple's iPhone Siri app to 'create a reminder' is a bit of a challenge in Scotland:
'The writers we’re bringing over are Irish writers we’ve been associated with for a few years,' says Stinging Fly editor Declan Meade. 'It’s work that we want to showcase. And we’ve also asked Irish writers who live here in New York to contribute to the event as well. So the works will be from the perspective of people who live here and from the people we’re bringing over from Ireland.'
Not only a magazine, but now also a publishing press, in recent years The Stinging Fly has become the recognized launch pad for a new generation of Irish talent. Created as the Celtic Tiger economy was taking flight, since that time it has helped launch the careers of writers like Emma Donoghue, Eamon Grennan, Kerry Hardie, Michael Harding, Claire Keegan and James Kelman.
An all-star concert, the once in a decade night will remind us that before there was George M. Cohan the songs of his hero Edward 'Ned' Harrigan, the Irish American songwriter and playwright, were the toast of Broadway.
The concert takes place on the hundred year anniversary of Harriagn's passing and through story, song and dance you'll see the artists of the calibre of Athena Tergis and Susan McKeown take to the stage to recreate numbers that will live in your memory.
Charismatic, focused, instinctive and pitch perfect, Fox’s performance is the key to the success of Deirdre Kinahan’s tender and accomplished new play.
Book your tickets HERE
