SMALL NEWS IS BIG NEWS
By Brian McGowan
By Brian McGowan The Irish ballad “Paddy’s Lament” recalls the fate that awaited countless Irish immigrants on their arrival in the United States: “When we got to Yankee-land, they shoved a gun into our hands, saying ‘Paddy, you must go
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By Brian McGowan With all the tumult over Christopher Columbus and political correctness, it may be time to resurrect a far-earlier discoverer of North America, and give credit where credit is due. In this particular case, that credit must go
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By Brian McGowan What U.S. Army division first put “boots on the ground” in Europe during the second World War, and where did those boots land? Soldiers of the 133rd Infantry Regiment, a unit of the 34th Infantry Division (“Red
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By Brian McGowan All immigrant groups are proud of their heritage, few more so than Irish-Americans. It is a heritage to be proud of, with few blemishes. One that cannot be ignored, however, is the role the Irish played in
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By Brian McGowan In a recent issue we spoke of the cláirseach, or harp, as a musical instrument immediately and passionately identified with Ireland, and Turlough O’Carolan, the most famous of Irish harpers. But Ireland is not the only country
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By Brian McGowan Listen to enough Irish ballads and soon enough you will run across a seemingly favorite date for songsters to reference, and that date is “The 23rd of June.” At least a few songs immediately come to mind:
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By Brian McGowan We return again to music as our theme. The harp – cláirseach in Irish – is a musical instrument immediately and passionately identified with Ireland and the Irish as no other in the world. It appears on
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We just passed a milestone in Ireland’s history that probably went unnoticed by most. It didn’t escape my notice, and compelled me to display again the Irish flag outside my house, displacing only temporarily the U.S. flag that flies there
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