All posts from Denise Foley
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A Belated Focus on Women As Peacemakers in The Troubles: Peace Activist Monica McWilliams
Photos by Tom Keenan At a youth conference in Northern Ireland recently, a young woman taking her O levels in history approached Monica McWilliams, co-founder of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition political party and a signatory of the Good Friday Peace Agreement in 1998. The student had a complaint. The only reference to women during “The Troubles” in the history curriculum, she told McWilliams, “was that women handed out tea and buns when the British […] Read More
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This Local Irish Dance Trainer Brings New Science to the Job
If you want to know the secret behind some winning Irish dancers, the Proud Mama Facebook posts say it all. From one whose daughter placed second in the under 22 age group at the regional Irish dance competition knowns as Oireachtas: “Thank you Angela for getting Chloe into dance shape both mentally and physically.” From another, whose daughter placed third in her competition and qualified for the world championships: “Thank you to all who have […] Read More
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RUNA and the Choctaw Nation: A Friendship Rekindled
Photo of RUNA with members of the Choctaw Nation by Brad Joe In 1847, members of the Choctaw Nation, who had lost one-sixth of their population in the forced resettlement known as the Trail of Tears only a decade before, did a remarkable thing. It was an act of kindness that would reverberate throughout 175 years of history and create a permanent friendship between two cultures an ocean apart. Members of the indigenous tribe met […] Read More
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Saving the Irish language, One Student at a Time
Growing up in Gweedore, the heart of Donegal’s Irish speaking region known as The Gaeltacht, Sorcha Ní Ghallachóir’s first encounter with the English language was a children’s television program about a red-haired, red-cheeked puppet named Bosco. She watched, mystified. He was speaking a foreign language. “To me it was double Dutch,” recalls Ní Ghallachóir. “I had no idea what he was saying except for the word or two he said in Irish.” Though Irish is the […] Read More
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John Byrne’s Songwriting Skills Take Center Stage
Standing in front of the noontime crowd at WXPN’s Free at Noon concert on this St. Patrick’s Day, John Byrne sounded almost giddy. “How are ye all?” he called to the crowd as he and his eponymous band launched into their version of the Dubliners’ “The Twang Man,” the story of a man who kills his lover’s new partner, then rolled right into “The Well Below the Valley,” an ancient tale of incest and infanticide, with […] Read More