Avoca Cafés and restaurants, with 14 locations throughout Ireland from Mount Usher in County Wicklow to Moll’s Gap in County Kerry, serve luscious lunches, dreamy confections, and sweet treats to eat-in or to take- away. Even some of the best cooks in the country supplement their own baked goods with offerings from Avoca, especially when the holiday season rolls around. This lemon curd cake (photographed at their Suffolk Street, Dublin loation) comes beautifully embellished with […] Read More

It may be a cliché, but everyone really is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day! Aran knits, tweed caps, and shamrock-emblazoned scarves come out of the closet on the 17th. If you’re cooking, that means your treasured Irish recipes emerge, too, ones that everyone loves and expects on the most celebratory day on the Irish calendar. Whether you’re a parade-goer, watch it on television, or simply enjoy the day with a cup of tea or an […] Read More

Sometimes, under the right conditions, you can become the very thing you hate. Life is rarely that simple, or the Irish Heritage Theatre’s upcoming production of playwright Martin McDonagh’s “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” would be incredibly short. Instead, the path to a ghastly, deeply sad predestined fate can be winding indeed. And therein lies a brilliant story. McDonagh’s tale paints a vivid portrait of two women living together in Connemara, County Galway – the […] Read More

At the heart of journalist Mark Bulik’s exhaustively researched book, “Ambush at Central Park: When the IRA Came to New York,” there is the story of a bold plot to kill an informer, one Patrick Joseph “Cruxy” O’Connor, who had made his way to New York City in hopes of eluding the Irish Republican Army’s grasp. But there is so much more to this book. You’ll learn rich details about the operations of the Cork […] Read More

Review: “Sara & Gerald …Villa America and After” By Honoria Murphy Donnelly  With Richard N. Billings Sara and Gerald Murphy had an uncanny knack for infusing even the quotidian with an artistic  flair. These wealthy sophisticated Long Island Brahmins sailed for Europe in 1921 with their three young children disillusioned with what they perceived as the cultural aridity of post-World War I America. Their destination was Paris.  They were not famous but they were destined to become […] Read More

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and cranberries, always synonymous with the holiday, are poised to make their annual appearance alongside turkey and side dishes and in quick breads like this one enhanced by orange zest and juice.  It’s sweet enough for dessert but not-too-sweet for breakfast or afternoon tea. I like to bake it in a 12 x 4 x 2 1/2-inch tea loaf pan (the same capacity as a 9 x 5-inch loaf […] Read More

Irish Philadelphia: You are choreographing a piece for BalletX. It’s a world premiere and what’s it called? Marguerite Donlon: Yeah, that’s right. It’s a world premiere and it’s called “Big Wig.” Irish Philadelphia: And where is that coming from? Marguerite Donlon: Well, the inspiration came basically from my childhood of Irish dancing. Back in Ireland, that’s all we ever did. There was no other kind of dancing at that time. And I just remember as a child, first […] Read More