Legendary band Black 47’s New York City shows, which have been going on for the past 20 years, have been described as “a rite of passage for all New Yorkers.”

Back home in Kerry to prepare for her wedding, and praying it won’t be a wet one. A waterlogged April Drew reports on a never-ending Irish problem: the incessant rain.

French soccer “star” Thierry Henry’s “hand of Gaul” go-ahead goal against Ireland in the World Cup qualifier has once again shown the need for the instant replay. American sports are no stranger to human error and bad calls that could have been solved by modern technology. Here’s a list of the ten of greatest blown calls in American sports history that could have been reversed with instant replay...

The U.S. wants the gardai (Irish police) to deliver James O’Gara, who stole $12,600 from a bank in the Bronx in April 2007. As he left the bank, he lost not just his gun, but also his cash.

Andy Lee's (19-1) preparations for his fight against France's Affif Belghecham (19-3-1) on November 14 at the University Arena in Limerick are going to plan in New York.

On Saturday, October 17, rain or shine, the Shannon Gaels Gaelic football club of Queens will host its first annual field day in Sunnyside Gardens Park (49th Street and 39th Avenue). The special guest will be New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The death of Ted Kennedy precedes by three weeks the end of John Sweeney’s 14-year tenure as president of the AFL-CIO. Together, these events signal the end of an epoch in American political history: that of Irish American leadership of the nation’s liberal institutions and Democratic organizations.

It is fitting that the 1969 Nobel Prize for literature went to the Irish playwright and novelist Samuel Beckett. After all, in works such as "Waiting for Godot" and "Endgame," Beckett alternated between tragedy and comedy, drama and farce. The same could be said about 1969.

James B. Irwin, the founder of the annual International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, took his own life on Monday evening at his home in Connecticut.

Niall Heraty is just like every other 11-year-old. He adores the Yankees, he plays a mean game of basketball, and he loves more than anything to wind his older brother, Conor, and his younger brother, Ryan, up. However, Niall, son of Julie and Vinny Heraty, natives of Westport, Co. Mayo, hasn’t had the time or energy to enjoy such activities since March. Niall has a rare cancerous tumor and is currently undergoing rigorous treatment to rid his young body of the disease.

Irish Olympian Martin Fagan has been confirmed as a participant in his year’s 40th running of the ING New York Marathon on November 1. Fagan will continue a long list of elite Irish runners who have competed in the race.

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.

Kelleher exists also as Keliher, Kellaher, Kelliher, etc. The modern forms of the name are derived from the Irish name O Ceileachair, from ceileachar, which means "uxorious," or "excessively fond of one's wife."

Based on family names and individual stories, there are many hundreds of American dead with Irish heritage, including Americans who through parents or grandparents had become Irish citizens. 

This is a tribute to several of these brave Irish men and women.

After eight years working for a construction firm, an Irish mother of three girls decided it was time to change direction in her career, so she followed her dreams and recently opened up a women’s clothing boutique called Sea in Nyack, New York.

Irish immigration centers in New York are feeling the pinch of the recession and are concerned about the future of their services.

Senator Edward Kennedy - who freely acknowledged that his own family would not be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. now - was a real champion for the undocumented Irish.

The Big Apple plays a big part in new movie "The Bounty" which stars Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. The pair - who have been romantically linked for the past several months - have been spotted filming in Harlem, the Bronx and Queens, and have even taken a couple of day trips further afield to Long Island and Atlantic City in New Jersey.

A little slice of Ireland, hidden among trees, shrubs, blossoming flowers and vegetables, can be found tucked deep into a corner of New York’s Botanical Garden in the Bronx.

The New York Jets and New York Giants have said their new stadium at the Meadowlands will be one of the greenest in the country. While they were talking about the environment, an announcement today about the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame makes the new arena even greener. And a bit orange, too.

John Sweeney, head of the AFL/CIO, is stepping down shortly, but don't expect him to retire and fade away. Word is that Sweeney will be getting a big job in the Obama administration

An Irish contractor is due in federal court tomorrow to face corruption charges related to a bribery scheme involving New York City’s carpenters union. Finbar O'Neill, 44, from County Tyrone, surrendered to the FBI at Newark International Airport on Wednesday after returning from Ireland.

Eugne Kyne with the breakdown on all the games played in the Bronx last weekend.

The Carlin name is found in County Limerick, where they held a family seat in ancient times, as well as in the counties of Meath, Derry, Cavan, Monaghan and Tyrone. The name is derived from the original Gaelic forms, O Caireallain and O Cearbhallain.

Irish-born artist Katie Holten is encouraging New Yorkers to commune with nature this summer through her interactive Tree Museum, a public art project along the four-and-a-half-mile Grand Concourse that connects Manhattan to the north Bronx.

 “There’s no sense of entitlement, no sense of placement, it’s all a sense of you’ve got to go out and work hard to get there. It doesn’t all break your way all the time, so you’ve got to just power through it. I think that’s deeply imbedded in the culture of the Irish.” –

Tom Deignan reviews a selection of recently published books of Irish and Irish-American interest.

Thomas Cahill’s most recent book, A Saint on Death Row: The Story of Dominique Green (March 2009), is a departure from the Hinges of History series. Or is it?

Her husband may be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but Jane Sullivan Roberts is an amazing success story all her own.

A spate of inexplicable suicides has swept the Irish community in New York. In the space of just six weeks, three young Irish men have taken their lives. Six weeks ago a young Kerry footballer, who was believed to have a history of depression, ended his life just hours after getting off the plane from

A group of Irish and Irish American soccer players are about to take part in one of the highest ranked amateur tournaments in New York

The Rockland County Feis is in its 36th year of existence. Sponsored by the Rockland County Ancient Order of Hibernians (men’s and women’s divisions), it is an enormous event, and is a huge undertaking to organize.

The tragic story of "Irish Billy Collins" and the brutal fight which ended his career is being retold in a new documentary on HBO. "Assault in the Ring," will debut August 1 and focuses on the scandal which many consider boxing's darkest hour. The undefeated Irish Billy Collins was a rising star in 1983 when he stepped into the ring in Madison Square Garden on June 16 to fight veteran welterweight Luis Resto.

The Fighting Irish are coming to the Bronx. According to IrishCentral sources, the Universiity of Notre Dame is ready to sign a deal to play the U.S. Army Black Knights in 2010 at Yankee Stadium.

On any given day a young County Mayo man can be found chauffeuring tourists around Central Park on the back of his rented Pedi-cab, winning them over with his charm and wowing them with his in-depth knowledge of the city.

Woodlawn in the Bronx was abuzz with excitement on Tuesday, July 7, as New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn brought an entourage of reporters and staff to visit “Little Ireland” in an effort to make other New Yorkers aware that you don’t have to get on a plane and travel 3,000 miles to visit the Emerald Isle.

Eugene Kyne highlights the past week's senior hurling and junior and intermediate football action from Gaelic Park, as well as the results from the Dennis McHugh under-8 Gaelic Football Tournament in Rockland.

It was like a scene from a beauty pageant. Nine striking women, three of whom were Irish, sat side by side donned in summer colors with orderly haircuts and brightly shaded manicures. Although it could very well have been a beauty pageant, it wasn’t. It was a celebration of life. A celebration of 100 years of life on this earth.

The recession has affected all walks of American life and sport is just one of the many victims. Fewer fans are willing to pay top dollar and sponsors are hard to find. But the global nature of the recession is boosting the fortunes of one particular sport: New York’s Gaelic Athletic Association. The storied 95-year-old amateur football league is experiencing a revival as laid-off footballers have fled Ireland for America.

A summer of work and fun in New York isn’t going as planned this year for a number of Irish J-1 visa holders, who are finding it difficult to secure jobs and accommodation.

It was like they appeared out of nowhere. Suddenly, the dancing space at the United Irish Counties Feis was filled. Kids wearing rather non-traditional yellow t-shirts, running shoes and jeans danced, hands on their hips, and the audience began to clap along.

O'Hara is an anglicized phonetic rendering of the Irish translation O hEaghra, and is one of the few Irish families to have consistently kept the 'O' before the name. The clan, of a distinguished origin, is descended from Eaghra (pronounced Ara), chief of Luighne (modern Leyny) in County Sligo.

It is that time of the year again when I am very much in the New York state of mind as the days rapidly approach for another gathering of the trad music universe known as the Catskills Irish Arts Week (CIAW).

GAA players in Rockland County will soon have the pleasure of training and competing in a state of the art football pitch in 2010.

Patricia Harty was honored at the St. Patrick’s Day festivities in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and decided that if there is a place called Irish America, this could be it.

It’s a long time since Kathleen Blake has danced herself, but she loves dancing, and she follows her three grand-nieces across the country as they compete in contest after contest. “I love the costumes, the wigs, the music, the competition, the people, the camaraderie,” she says. “I’m obsessive about Irish dance. We’re groupies. We travel wherever they go.”

Feiseanna are growing and getting bigger across the country, she says, and a lot of work has to be done to keep up with these trends. Behind the Mulvihill-Lynch Feis is a seemingly vast network of committees, run by parents and by teachers, and each with its own head.

A New York City police officer, a former NYPD officer and another man were acquitted on Monday, May 17, of assaulting a County Limerick man outside a slew of bars in Yonkers, N.Y. in September 2007.

He lived here undocumented for 12 years, heeded the call of family in Ireland and returned home, but now he’s back in New York, and back for good. Irish immigrant Tom talks about why he made the move once again to the Big Apple, a place he now proudly calls “home.”

A New York City police officer, a former NYPD officer and another man were acquitted on Monday, May 17, of assaulting a Co. Limerick man outside a slew of bars in Yonkers in September 2007.