During his visit to the U.S. last week, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin announced the allocation of $2.68 million in grants for Irish organizations throughout the U.S. The Emigrant Support Program, managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs, provides the grants.

A fundraiser will be held for the son and granddaughter of a Co. Kerry couple living in Massachusetts at the Kerry Hall in Yonkers on Saturday, October 18. Tena and Jimmy Maunsell have five children, all living beside them in Medford, Massachusetts. The Maunsells, who have worked hard through the years to provide for their children, have a daughter who was born with cystic fibrosis and is currently rejecting a double lung transplant she received many years ago.

An Irish-American firefighter died in the line of duty in New York early Friday morning. Patrick Joyce, 39, died while trying to extinguish a raging fire that engulfed a three-story family home at an address in Waverly Place, Yonkers, New York.

The annual DV green card lottery (DV-2011) begins on October 2, and concludes on November 30, 2009. As in previous years, applications can only be lodged electronically via Form DS-5501, available only through the State Department’s DV website at www.dvlottery.state.gov.

Dinosaurs were the only things on the mind of four-year-old Patrick Dillon as he waited patiently with his parents, sister and grandfather for the door of his new school to open at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, September 8.

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.

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 body of an Irishman was found in an apartment that was on fire in Yonkers on Thursday evening, July 9.

Lady Gaga, a serious talent to be reckoned with, was in County Cork last week doing her thing at the Marquee in Cork City – and enjoying some Irish whiskey during her downtime!

After losing all hope in life, a County Wicklow man who spent more than a year using both his hands and knees to get around, found joy in life again after a highly successful operation in New York in March.

It is impossible not to get caught up in the mischief and malarkey of one of Irish band Shilelagh Law's shows, with the crowd pumping their fists in the air, screaming soccer stadium chants between songs, and shouting out the words to all the bedrock traditional ditties and original tunes in the band’s repertoire.

One of the fascinating aspects of traditional Irish music is that it is a great magnet for making friends who may last your entire lifetime and band families together with the common bonds it engenders. This past weekend certainly was indicative of that as two separate and thoroughly enjoyable occasions came back to back on Friday and Saturday and were worth noting in this space.

The stormy weather was the last thing on people's minds at a small store in Yonkers today, where Niamh and Donal Finnan, a city couple originally from County Kildare, proudly accepted a $41M check from the New York State Lottery.

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.

Feiseanna are fun, but they’re a heck of a lot of work. United Irish Counties is based in New York, but still many of the organizers of the United Irish Counties Feis, held on June 14, had to travel to Yonkers.

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.

Irish dancing dresses are often truly gorgeous. They gleam with sequins, come in all colors, and combined with the wigs and tiaras, make the dancers look like princesses.

A jovial Longford man who has never lost his accent, Mike Prunty is a vice-president of the United Irish Counties Association of New York, and he put a strong effort at the United Irish Counties Feis on Sunday, June 14. “It keeps the Irish heritage going,” he said. “I love being involved. And I love watching the kids dance.”

Irish Voice columnist Paul Keating takes you through the best Irish Trad events over the upcoming week that take place in the Northeast

In the wake of the death of Irish immigrant Darren O’Donnell, Irish immigration centers in New York are calling for all the undocumented not to hesitate to seek medical help if they are injured.

Ashley Davis had a lot to celebrate last month. She was not only getting the opportunity throughout the East Coast to air the beautiful songs on her new “Down by the Sea” disc, she would be doing so as special guest on the tour of her idol, Clannad’s Moya Brennan.

A County Kildare native living in the U.S. since he was 18 is said to be the winner of a whopping $41 million New York lottery jackpot. A report in the Irish Independent claimed on Monday -- and was backed by countless rumors in the heavily Irish populated neighborhood of Yonkers -- that Donal Finnan, originally from Maynooth, Co. Kildare, is the winner via a ticket bought at the Lotto Plus store on McLean Avenue in Yonkers on Saturday, May 16.

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.

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.

Floods of Irish students are expected to descend upon New York and the surrounding areas in the coming weeks for their annual summer of fun.

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.”

The packed crowd at the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform meeting in Yonkers last week, including a sea of new faces, points out yet again the importance of the immigration lobby organization.

THERE was standing room only at Rory Dolan’s Irish restaurant in Yonkers on Wednesday, May 6, at an immigration meeting hosted by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. “There’s nothing going on in Ireland anymore. There are no jobs,” said Alan, 25, a native of Co. Limerick who has been working in New York for the past four months. “They say things are bad here, but I’ve still managed to find construction work. Not a hope of that in Ireland. There will be plenty more Irish coming over here very soon because it’s so bad. I hope ILIR is able to do something for them, and me.”

There was standing room only at Rory Dolan’s in Yonkers on Wednesday as the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform held a public meeting for the undocumented.

Though Ireland be in a dire recession, Irish immigrants who have returned home from America in recent years are happy with their decision to do so.

Senator Charles Schumer of New York will hold the first hearing on the issue of immigration reform on Thursday, April 30 in Washington, D.C.

Irish music fans will get two divas for the price of one when Moya Brennan hits the road with Manhattan’s own Ashley Davis for a spring tour.

For 22 years Joanie Madden and her female troupe Cherish the Ladies have toured the world with their Irish music and dance. Last week was one of those tour-de-force barnstorming series of shows stretching from Virginia to Connecticut.

Thousands of Irish immigrants, mostly undocumented, cannot obtain health insurance, meaning a visit to the doctor, dentist or hospital can cost them hundreds of dollars. But there is some help.

All the latest news and views from the New York GAA world.

  The two Kerrymen shared the same name and devotion for traditional music but could hardly be more different in personalities, though both made their mark in the annals of Irish music in the Big Apple.  When the name Johnny Cronin was mentioned in any connection to the times they had in

On December 5, 2009, I will marry John Mooney, a fine Limerick export, and I just can't wait! As I cleverly dodged the patches of ice on the Manhattan sidewalks last Wednesday morning on my way into the office, I quietly pondered the ingredients of a successful long-lasting marriage. What is it that makes a marriage last? I wondered. Is it good communication? Having the same circle of friends perhaps? Maybe passion? Unsure and badly wanting the answer, I decided to ask the experts, those who have gone before us and withstood the test of time (and many a disagreement or two).

Poor tickets sales due to the recession have forced Irish Ropes Promotions to cancel their St. Patrick’s Eve Erin Go Brawl II show at the

Visa Lottery Instructions LEGAL residents of the U.S. - and we emphasize legal - and all others living abroad should take note that the entry period for the annual DV-1 diversity visa lottery, also known as the Schumer visa program, especially in Irish circles, began on Wednesday, October 3, concluding at noon on Sunday, December 2.

A COUPLE of recent letters arrived from long-time permanent residents asking about U.S. citizenship, and help in dealing with the process.

THE annual DV green card lottery (DV-2010) begins this week on October 2, and concludes on December 1 at noon. As in previous years, applications can only be lodged electronically through the State Department's DV website at www.dvlottery.

The hopes of summer gathered at Rory Dolan's in Yonkers last Sunday courtesy of the Woodlawn School of Irish Music. It was their early foray into fundraising for their young students who aspire to attend Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann (www.fleadh 2009.

When it comes to encouraging children to take lessons in Irish traditional music, a key component is often what's in the genes and the role that families play in ensuring that it passes from one generation to the next. The support from parents and the extended family to youngsters learning the tin whistle, flute, accordion, fiddle, piano or singing and entering them into competitive fleadhs or summer schools to raise their standard of performance is vital to its success. It is also an important component in the Woodlawn School of Irish Music established in the Bronx enclave bordering on Yonkers, which could easily be considered an Irish village in America.

It was certainly a tale of two countries over this past weekend as the Culture Ireland task force hit the ground running for their second year of participation at the largest gathering of arts presenters in the world in New York City. Again traditional musicians played a major role in their contingent of almost 80 people in the theater, dance and music world coming over to strategically display their wares in the Big Apple at the 52nd annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) Conference at the New York Hilton held over the weekend. The gathering is said to attract 4,000 people from all 50 states and 25 countries that are seriously involved in the business of promoting and delivering the arts through the U.

FOR traditional music to survive and be passed on to the next generation, it takes a dedicated core of teachers who are willing to give of their time and talent to help young students learn. Thankfully these are not in short supply or devoid of energy and commitment based on a couple of upcoming events that I am aware of.

Once again the New York Fleadh is rolling around again in its firmly rooted home of Pearl River, New York just outside of New York City and Northern New Jersey at the Pearl River High School.

GETTING music students prepared for a fleadh competition is always a challenge, but few approach it with such dogged determination as Annmarie Acosta.

Given the fact that she is actually studying for a master's degree in traditional Irish music performance at the University of Limerick, over 3,000 miles away, to say that she has been tele-communicating is an understatement, leaving tunes and providing feedback on answering machines or via the web for her hopeful prize-winners at the upcoming Pearl River Fleadh (www.nyfleadh.

We often focus on Michael Coleman as THE Sligo fiddler who had the most influence in New York City, but actually his contemporary the "Professor" James Morrison (1893-1947) from Riverstown, Co. Sligo taught more people to play the fiddle over the years. One of his last remaining fiddle students, Veronica McNamara, a well-known face to many New Jersey trad folks, will lead a night of musical history at the clubhouse of the Irish American Association of Northwest Jersey (www.

ROSE of Tralee winner Lisa Murtagh has decided to conduct her official rose duties from New York while working full-time as a lawyer. She will review her situation again at Christmas.

Most girls, when crowned the Rose of Tralee at the annual festival in Kerry in August, make the decision to take a year out from their career or studies and travel the world representing the festival.