Susan Boyle isn’t dreaming a dream anymore – she’s living it. The Scottish star’s debut album “I Dreamed A Dream” has broken records, and was just named Amazon Music’s largest global CD pre-order in history.

The actor – who plays vampire Edward Cullen in the movie franchise – is amazed at the response he’s had from fans around the world to the latest installment, ‘New Moon’.

Danicia Patrick may be the hottest thing in NASCAR racing right now but at heart she's Mom and Dad's girl who pays tribute to her folks at every opportunity. Now that she is on the verge of signing a NASCAR contract her super star status status seems assured but fame will not faze her.

WITH NEW VIDEO & PHOTO GALLERIES: It is the biggest story in auto racing for decades. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has made it clear that he wants Danica Patrick to join his NASCAR team, bringing about one of the greatest auto racing stories in American history and joining two legendary figures in the sport.

The Irish city of Cork has made the Top 10 list of must-see cities in the world. Cork - often referred to as the "real capital" by Corkonians, won a spot in the World's Top 10 for its youthful energy, sophistication and great restaurants.

The ancient O'Maille or O'Malley name is said to be derived from the Gaelic words "maille" meaning gentle or smooth, and "maglios" meaning chieftain, which is fitting as the O'Malleys were once the chieftains of the baronies of Murrisk and Burrishoole in County Mayo.

The Irish aren’t the only ones who love Susan Boyle. Japanese filmmakers plan on traveling to Boyle’s Scottish hometown and filming a documentary charting the singing sensation’s fairytale rise to fame.

In tough recession times both here and overseas, Ireland’s tourism may have slowed down, but HeritageIsland.com is providing travelers with guides and discounts to some of Ireland’s best historic and cultural spots.

The second part of our annual summer feature on the questions U.S. naturalization candidates can be asked during a citizenship interview, as provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. Here are the last 50, with acceptable answers. For more information on naturalization, visit www.uscis.gov.

When not blazing a trail on the silver screen in flicks like "Mamma Mia," Meath man Pierce Brosnan, along with his wife Keely, is a passionate advocate for the protection of whales and sea life.

All eyes are on defending champion Padraig Harrington and Tiger Woods at the US PGA today. The pair, who teed off at 9.35 a.m., are shaping up to be one of the biggest rival pairings in golf. In fact, the two are just coming off an epic battle at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone last week. Harrington is one of the few golfers with the mental fortitude to stay focused when Tiger gets his teeth in.

He has the look of an athlete, compact with broad shoulders. He also has something of a pre-game focus, a quiet intensity, and gives the impression, even as he answers questions, that he has his eye on the ball and he’s not forgetting for a moment that right now he’s involved in the biggest game of his career.

Looking to save money on your vacation this year? Heritage Island is here to help!

New Celtic boss Tony Mowbray has revealed his special bond with the club’s famous supporters helped make his mind up about a return to Parkhead.

Irish actor Devon Murray will return in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" as Seamus Finnigan, a.k.a. “O’Flaherty,” another student at Hogwarts who’s known for having his spells blow up in his face – literally.

The thousands of concert-goers expected at Dublin’s Croke Park for U2’s concerts on July 24, 25 and 27 has caused the stadium to heighten security and go forth with plans to shut down its GAA museum for the three dates.

Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson believes his team will have to get the balance just right if they are to beat Barcelona and retain The Champions League trophy.

An Irish actor who plays the character of Seamus Finnegan in the "Harry Potter" movies claims that the clamor to get a hold of a script to the upcoming film was so intense, his copy of it had to be moved from his home in County Kildare to a safe house.

Irish actor Pierce Brosnan caused a media storm at the White House Tuesday as he took in a tour while meeting with staff to discuss the preservation of whales.

A night out at 'Riverdance' in Tokyo turned into a dream come true for a Japanese man called Taka Hayashi. Taka was swept away by the Riverdance show, so much so that he quit his job, raided his bank accounts and flew to Ireland to chase his dream. The 28-year-old IT consultant had never danced in his life but was convinced he could make it into the world famous dancing troupe. His father, a taxi driver in Tokyo, shook his head at his son's dream and pronounced him "mad."

The family of a missing Irishman in Australia have launched an Internet campaign to track their son down. Sean Walsh, 26, from Waterford, was last seen in the Sydney suburb of Randwick on Sunday, May 10, in the early hours of the morning, Australian police say. He was due to fly back to Ireland on Tuesday having been in Australia since November last.

Unless we want a repeat of the boom-bust-boom economic cycle, Ireland needs to find a new set of values

From Dennis Lehane to Samantha Power, the best of the best Irish-American writers and Irish writers in America

Irish super-group Celtic Woman made a special appearance on ABC’s TV sensation “Dancing with the Stars” tonight.

Too many “little stones” on a pitch in Italy caused the England U-18 schools rugby management to pull out of their game against Ireland on Saturday.

The president of a California college was killed in a single vehicle car crash on his way to a conference in Ireland earlier this week.

Padraig Harrington carded a very solid three-under par 69 to put near the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the Masters.

The tee times are set for the Irish trio taking part in the U.S. Masters tomorrow at the Augusta National in Georgia.

Northern Ireland rock band, The Answer, fresh from supporting AC/DC, release a new album

The chances are, you probably haven't heard of these bands, who celebrate strangeness in all its glory. Some have achieved more success than others; some are much more musically proficient than others. Call them what you will - just don't call them boring.

Mention Irish bands to most people and names like U2 (who are great) and The Corrs (who are not great) spring to mind. But there are many really great Irish bands and singers that never made it big beyond Ireland.

FOLLOWING is our annual two-part summer feature on the questions U.S. naturalization candidates can be asked during a citizenship interview, as provided by the U.

Four years ago Celtic Woman, the five member Irish super group, traveled from Ireland to America on a fast track journey to super stardom that has been like a dream come true for vocalists Chloe, Lisa, Lynne, Alex and Celtic violinist Mairead. This week the all-female super group are back in the U.S.

Proudly citing Irish ancestry or influence is truly a global phenomenon. Tom Hayden (whose previous books "The IRA," "The Troubles," "Michael Collins" and "De Valera" were all critically acclaimed best-sellers) takes a decidedly broad view of Irish influence in this book.

Nevertheless, he makes a convincing case that, as a result of immigration, imperialism and missionary activity, the Irish who scattered across the world have indeed left a distinctive mark, from Japan to South Africa to Latin America.

One of the more unique poetry collections you are likely to look at is "The Origami Crow: Journey into Japan, World Cup Summer 2002" by Eamon Carr (a founder of the band Horslips). From its unique layout (dominated by full-page, stark, black and white images) to its insistent exploration of the seemingly unpoetic topic of Ireland's performance in the 2002 global soccer tournament, Carr has certainly put together a book like few others. Ultimately, this is a modern-day Irishman ruminating on Japan, nature, life, death and, of course, soccer.

Evanna Lynch was a huge Harry Potter fan years before she was a character in a Harry Potter film. And she wasn't just a run of the mill enthusiast; instead she was the kind of fan who knew exactly how to make the weird radish earrings that her character in the new film "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," Luna Lovegood, likes to wear. And as it turned out, she was so good at designing strange jewelry that the film's costume department decided to use her creations rather than their own.

IT would be so easy to write a story about the bygone days and era of the Catskill Mountains and, in particular, the tiny hamlet of East Durham which is the heart of the Irish Catskills. The latest setback is the loss of one of the more popular resorts, the historic Fern Cliff House over the winter, when it was sold to a group that saw potential in it for a summer camp for Jewish youth.

While it is a crushing blow, there is still a resiliency that seems to permeate the region when July rolls around and the annual Catskills Irish Arts Week (July 15-21) is about to encamp in rustic community just 2 1/2 hours north of New York City and less than an hour south of Albany, New York's capital.

This year's Wee Craic Fest, the highly anticipated one-night-only-event that is the smaller but no less substantial sibling of the annual Craic Fest, is scheduled for September 22. Expect a night of brilliant short films, world-class musical performances, and more than a little Irish American mayhem in support of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR). CAHIR O'DOHERTY hears about what to expect from festival manager Kadi Hughes.

Chief O'Neill's Sketchy Recollections of an Eventful Life in Chicago

By Francis O'Neill

Northwestern University Press

FRANCIS O'Neill led the kind of extraordinary pioneering American life that nowadays is no longer possible, all of which is detailed in the fascinating new memoir Chief O'Neill's Sketchy Recollections of an Eventful Life in Chicago, published this month by Northwestern University Press. Born in West Cork in 1848, at the age of 17 he boarded a passing ship that took him from Alexandria, Egypt to Yokohama, Japan - and to all stops in between.

For a young Irish man born during the darkest years of the Famine, how he must have relished the dazzling adventure his life had suddenly become.

THE New York International Independent Film and Video Festival was founded in 1993 to give unknown directors, actors and producers a chance to have their work seen without all the red tape hoopla that other festivals such as Cannes, Tribeca and Sundance have become known for. Not surprisingly, the idea has caught on.

A strong annual venue for films and documentaries about important social issues, the festival operates independently so it usually delivers controversial and edgy work that larger film events balk at.

EXCITING times ahead for Riverdance fans. The legendary show's star dancers will perform live on Dancing With the Stars on Tuesday, April 22 at 9 p.m.

LAST month up at the ICONS festival in Boston, I received a copy of the just released DVD Secrets of the Sole: Irish Dance Steps & Stories with Kieran Jordan featuring Kevin Doyle & Aidan Vaughan which I was looking forward to viewing.

Produced by dancer Jordan, a native of Philadelphia who has lived for a long time in Boston since attending Boston College for her undergraduate studies, it takes us inside the world of the solo percussive dance world by profiling two dancers, Doyle and Vaughan, who were formative influences on Jordan and her dancing career.

That career began as a competitive Irish step dancer in Philly who remained interested in Irish dancing in college, taking Irish Studies at BC and eventually modern dance at the University of Limerick's Irish World Music Center where she also was smitten with sean nos (old style) dancing that has became the rage in the trad music scene now in Ireland.

The scope of Tim Pat Coogan's latest book "Wherever Green Is Worn: The Story of the Irish Diaspora" is like nothing he's ever done before - and perhaps like nothing ever done in Irish history. The esteemed journalist spent the last five years traveling the world, from Japan to Latin America, from Africa to the U.S.

Here are 50 of the questions that U.S. naturalization candidates can be asked during a citizenship interview, as provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.

"In the lives of cities, boldness and vision rarely follow catastrophe," wrote architectural critic Paul Goldberger. The city of Belfast in Northern Ireland may be the exception that proves the rule. After a generation of Troubles, the citizens of the great port city have grown accustomed to peace and economic growth.

The Irish priest who lost his parish in South Dakota because of a messy green card snafu was told in January he could return to work on a fill-in basis until the summer. Father Cathal Gallagher, a native of Co. Donegal, was a priest in the De Smet, Iroquois and Arlington parish for more than 10 years.

THERE is little surprise in many quarters in America at the grimmer numbers about the Irish economy that are circulating these days.

The Irish media has been full of gloom and doom as the cheery numbers of the last few years have given way to a dawning realization that the good times are likely gone.

The Economic and Social Research Institute figures showing a looming recession and a return to emigration seemed to provide the kindling for the latest firestorm of media criticism about the handling of the economy.

A DONEGAL shellfish farmer has clinched a major deal as Europe's first and only provider of oysters to the Japanese.Agreements signed during a trade mission to Tokyo this week headed by Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan paved the way for Edward Gallagher to export millions of oysters to Japan.Less than 48 hours after the oysters are taken from his beds in Traigh Eanna Bay, Lettermacaward, they will be served up as quality delicacies in Japan's top restaurants.

AN Irish priest in South Dakota has been told he must leave the country by July 1 because he is undocumented. He has served a diocese in Sioux Falls community for 10 years.Father Cathal Gallagher, 58 and from Gweedore, Co.

TIME is running out for the Donegal Priest who has been told he must leave the country by July 1 because he has been out of status in South Dakota for the past number of years.Fr. Cathal Gallagher, 58, is to leave the United States next Tuesday if the Department of Homeland Security doesn't re-open his case in time.