cúisle mo chroí

I believe I may be the only person interested in live-tweeting the New York New Belfast Conference which begins today, but so be it! As someone who is interested in the post-conflict regeneration of the North of Ireland, absolutely loves Belfast (and New York!), I’m really looking forward to this conference. I’m also [...]

Now that I can finally say I own a computer, I am finally getting around to writing a post about my participation in and my thoughts about the recent United Ireland forums hosted by Sinn Féin in New York and San Francisco. That’s a picture of me at the mic taken by my [...]

This afternoon I am off to New York, where aside from visiting long lost friends, I will be attending tomorrow’s Index 30 luncheon on Wall St, hosted by The Irish Echo. Mary Louise Mallick, Deputy Comptroller of NY State, whom I had the good fortune to meet in Belfast last May, will receive the [...]

It’s in!  The following is a statement from Congressman Richie Neal (D, MA), Chairman of the Friends of Ireland group in the House, in support of tomorrow’s Cultural Economy Conference in West Belfast:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 7, 2008
CONTACT: William Tranghese (202) 225-5601
 
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN RICHARD E. NEAL
CHAIRMAN OF THE FRIENDS OF IRELAND
ON THE CULTURAL ECONOMIC [...]

From the Irish News:
Sinn Féin has called for another commissioner to be appointed - this time one for the Irish
language.
Francie Brolly said some form of oversight body was needed to ensure the government delivered on commitments to Irish speakers.
He told culture minister Edwin Poots, who was giving evidence to his scrutiny committee at Stormont, that [...]

The Irish American Unity Conference today condemned the recent anti-Irish language actions of DUP Minister Edwin Poots, emphasizing the potential of such blatantly discriminatory decisions to overshadow recent attempts to attract foreign investment and promote fair employment in the “new Northern Ireland.”  In October, Poots blocked the Irish Language Act promised by the British government [...]

Alright, I know I’ve blogged about Cassidy’s book numerous times. Perhaps I feel a bit of connection to him, though we’ve never met, because a) we have some mutual friends, b) I am trying to learn Irish, c) my pops is a fluent speaker, and of course d) the book and its thesis rules. [...]

Now that September has arrived, it’s time for me to return to my Irish classes.  The first was on Wednesday, and despite the fact that the first two reminder emails for the class also mentioned a wake for someone and announced the death of another, we actually focused on vocabulary the entire time.  To be [...]

Dan Cassidy was interviewed on RTÉ earlier this month about his new book, How the Irish Invented Slang. To listen, go here and click on the 11 August link next to the description of the show. I’m not too familiar with .smil files, but Real Player worked for me (QuickTime didn’t).
He may be [...]

It’s long since gotten to the point where my friends roll their eyes (albeit lovingly) whenever I mention an Irish connection to anything–so you can imagine the reception I get when I bring up the idea that much of our common American slang (words like jazz, dude, slum and snazzy) is rooted in the Irish [...]