Irish Eclectic

By Brian McGowan My wife and I had the pleasure last Saturday of viewing “The Quiet Girl” (in Irish An Cailín Ciúin) at Pleasantville’s Jacob Burns Film Center, where it opened for a Westchester exclusive showing. Directed by Colm Bairéad,

By Brian McGowan Ah, March! The “Holy Season” of parades and festivities, all decked out in honor of Ireland’s patron, the good Saint Patrick, of whom we’ve written much in this column. While last year marked the end of a

By Brian McGowan It’s a Friday, our third day “in country,” and we leave Dublin on a grey, wet but still warm September day, bound for the Irish countryside. Our passage out of the city center is better than what

By Brian McGowan Last issue, we recounted the beginning of a COVID-delayed trip to Ireland, and an interesting connection between Dublin and Handel’s “Messiah.” Today we continue the journey. So, relax in your armchair, or other relevant device, as we

By Brian McGowan What do Dublin and Handel have in common? Much, it turns out.  But first, a word about a recent trip to Ireland, and some discussion on celebratory music of the mid-18th century. With COVID on the wane,

By Brian McGowan Our final installment in the “Women of Ireland” series, Kathleen Lynn, did not carry a gun, as the bulk of our other subjects had. Instead, she carried a medical kit. Writer Mary Thorpe, in https://celticlifeintl.com, labels her

By Brian McGowan This week, our Woman of Ireland focus is on Countess Constance Gore-Booth Markiewicz, who played a major role as a rebel commander and combatant in Ireland’s ultimate struggle for freedom.  Wife of a Polish nobleman, she bore

By Brian McGowan We continue our “Women of Ireland” series, focusing on a distinctly different type of Irishwoman, one born into the very heart of the Anglo-Irish ruling class – Maud Gonne. Born in 1866 in England, Maud was the

By Brian McGowan This month we begin profiling several “Women of Ireland.” Some are known, some not, but all deserve to be celebrated.  We begin with Grace O’Malley, often referred to as “The Pirate Queen.” Daughter of an Irish chieftain,