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‘Duffy’s Cut’: Local Oncology Nurse and Playwright Tells a Ghost Story with a Modern Moral
When Einstein oncology nurse Liz Kerr sat down to write an ambitious three-act play about 57 Irish railroad workers and two women buried in a deep mass grave not far from the tracks in East Whiteland Township, she had an unusual muse. It was the ghost of young John Ruddy, believed to have been savagely murdered by nativists who wrongly blamed the Irish for bringing cholera to a nearby town near the worksite now known […] Read More
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The Full Irish is Still the Best
In my latest cookbook, Delicious Ireland: Forty Years of Fabulous Food, I wrote about experiencing my first Irish breakfast: “We all treasured Ireland for reasons of our own, but none of us thought much about the food then — except breakfast, perhaps, when we would sit down with total strangers and be fussed over about how we wanted our eggs cooked and whether we wanted a bit of porridge to start or did we need more toast […] Read More
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Irish Viral Sensation “Hallelujah” Priest Father Ray Kelly To Perform at Little Flower Charity Event
Are you one of the 91 million who got goosebumps watching the YouTube video of an Irish Catholic priest sing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” in a perfect tenor voice to a young couple whose wedding he just performed? That was Father Ray Kelly, a former missionary turned pastor of a parish in County Meath, who at 61 became an overnight viral sensation. Later, he went on to wow the usually scowling Simon Cowell on Britain’s Got Talent […] Read More
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Irish on The Inside: Book Review/Commentary
The late author Tom Hayden – a civil rights activist, Vietnam War protester and one of the infamous Chicago Seven – left behind a treasure trove with his historical account of what it means to be Irish in America. It is also a joyful personal awakening, a riveting memoir – and epiphany of sorts. I have not read anything comparable by any other contemporary Irish American that captures the Irish American experience so well. Tom Hayden, who […] Read More
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Podcast: Interview with Merton Play Actress Kirsten Quinn
“Rendezvous in Bangkok … Who Killed Thomas Merton,” written by Sabina Clarke and Thom Nickels, premiered in 2021. It’s back, revised, for a performance at the Commodore Barry Arts & Cultural Center (the Irish Center) Sunday, Sept. 22. What follows is a transcript of an audio interview with Kirsten Quinn, who portrays Merton friend Joan Baez. She is also the casting director. Quinn is associated with several theater groups in the Philadelphia area, including, notably, […] Read More
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For Dessert, Bake Some Peaches
It’s peach season in most places around the country, a time for crisps, cobblers, pies, upside-down cakes, and these delicious baked peaches. No crust or crumble required, just stuff and bake for an easy, elegant dessert. Baked Stuffed Peaches Makes 6 This recipe uses ground almonds and crunchy Italian amaretti cookies to stuff the peaches. Serve them warm with vanilla ice cream or with one of the delicious toppings that follow. 1/2 cup ground almonds […] Read More
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The Irrepressible Edna O’Brien
Forward: Edna O’Brien, my favorite Irish woman writer, often referred to as the “Queen of Irish writers,” died Saturday on my birthday. I’ve always felt a kinship with her and particularly loved her short stories. It seems unfair that she never won the Nobel Prize in Literature or the prestigious $40,000 Booker Prize that is often seen as a precursor to the Nobel. She was honored with the title “Saoi,” meaning “wise one,” the highest honor […] Read More
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Eight Months and Counting Until the First Glenside St. Patrick’s Day Parade
It’s going to be a relatively modest affair compared to other parades in the area, but the first St. Patrick’s Day parade planned for Glenside in Montgomery County is a pretty big deal to its well-organized planners. Members of the organizing committee met one evening recently around the dining room table at Noreen Donahue McAleer’s house not far from the proposed parade route. The parade—planned for March 8, 2025—is still months away, but the committee […] Read More
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Have a Red, White and Blue Salad Celebration
Once upon a time in Ireland — at least at the time I made my first trip in 1984, and even a decade later — a salad was not a salad as we know it today: think a few leaves of iceberg and a slice or two of tomato. Perfectly acceptable at the time, but four decades later, you’ll find salads worthy of celebrating. Yes, greens are often dressed with a simple blend of oil […] Read More
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Help the Philadelphia Ceili Group Celebrate 50 Years of Its Annual Festival
Come October 10, 11 and 12, the Philadelphia Ceili Group hopes to present its 50th annual traditional Irish music and dance festival. “Hopes to” because it isn’t necessarily a sure thing. Whether it happens is in large part up to you. The Ceili Group is trying to raise $25,000 to bring the very best in Irish traditional music and dance to the Commodore John Barry Arts and Cultural Center (the Irish Center) because, frankly, that’s what […] Read More
