An Post says declining emigration is the reason that the postal service will not produce its St Patrick’s Day cards this year. The Irish Independent reports that a spokesperson called the move “a sign of the times”, adding: We introduced the cards in 1984 at a time when emigration was very high in Ireland. Sales… Continue reading An Post stops service aimed at emigrant market, encourages immigrants to write home
Category: arts and culture
Self-proclaimed "plastic Paddy" weighs in on rugby controversy
The Irish Times carries a letter today regarding the rugby match between England and Ireland this evening at Croke Park. Much has been made over the controversial matter of “God Save the Queen” at the stadium, which was the scene of a massacre of 14 innocent people by British paramilitaries in 1920. Dr Richard Lanigan… Continue reading Self-proclaimed "plastic Paddy" weighs in on rugby controversy
"The Country Boy" tours nation with 1950s emigration tale
The Country Boy, a play written by John Murphy in 1959, is on tour around Ireland. The Irish Times calls it “a gentle, old-fashioned hymn to the Irish emigrant, a theme which, five years later, would receive a more sophisticated and cutting-edge treatment in Brian Friel’s ‘Philadelphia, Here I Come!’”. The play tells the story… Continue reading "The Country Boy" tours nation with 1950s emigration tale
Diaspora centre a future tourist attraction?
Minister for Tourism John O’Donoghue has suggested he would support an tourist attraction that would tell Ireland’s emigration story. “I would accept there is a case for a new attraction such as an Irish diaspora centre, based on something like the Ellis Island museum in New York”, he is quoted as saying in the Sunday… Continue reading Diaspora centre a future tourist attraction?
Flight of the Earls commemorated
The four-hundredth anniversary of the Flight of the Earls, one of the seminal events in the early history of emigration from Ireland is being commemorated this year. The Flight of the Earls, of course, marked the end of the old Gaelic aristocracy. Hugh O’Neill and Rory O’Donnell, fearing arrest by the new Lord Deputy of… Continue reading Flight of the Earls commemorated
Aisling Center’s book a sell-out hit
New York’s Aisling Irish Community Center’s collection of memoirs written by Irish immigrants who arrived between 1927 and 1964 has become a hit. One local paper calls “While Mem’ry Brings Us Back Again” the “‘it’ gift” of the holiday season. The Journal News reports that the first edition of 1,500 copies has already sold out,… Continue reading Aisling Center’s book a sell-out hit