Cuba's Fr. Varela helped unwanted Irish immigrants in New York
In the 1820s and 1830s, no priest was more loved and revered by the Irish community than a Gaelic-speaking Cuban priest, the Rev. Félix Varela. Tho...
September 04, 2024
by Geoffrey Cobb
Cheering on Armagh from a faraway Brooklyn bar
I was anxious before Sunday’s All Ireland Gaelic Football final, as were all the Armagh supporters. How many times had our hopes been dashed? How m...
July 31, 2024
by Geoffrey Cobb
'Rebel Wife' premieres in NYC
A unique film on the life of an Irish woman revolutionary will make its premiere at the CraicFest on Friday, March 8, at 7 30 p.m., at the Village ...
February 21, 2024
by Geoffrey Cobb
Friel took Irish spiritual pulse
This season the Irish Repertory Company is celebrating the work of the great Ulster dramatist Brian Friel. It has been staging, for instance, Friel...
February 09, 2024
by Geoffrey Cobb
Glenveagh's dark, colorful history
Located in Donegal, Ireland’s “forgotten county,” Glenveagh National Park, which covers over a 170 square kilometers, is a rare gem offering stunni...
February 02, 2024
by Geoffrey Cobb
MacColl was 'Fairytale' partner
This Christmas, like every Christmas, Irish people will be listening to Shane McGowan’s immortal 1987 Pogues’ ballad “Fairytale of New York.” Liste...
December 19, 2023
by Geoffrey Cobb
Gallagher: A spell-binding artist
In 1970, both Rory Gallagher and guitar great Jimmy Hendrix played the Isle of Wight Festival. At a post-festival press conference, a reporter aske...
November 01, 2023
by Geoffrey Cobb
'Silent Testimony' for New York
In May, I met a man at a Fleadh Ceol in Armagh whose life had been destroyed by the Northern Irish Troubles. Two of his children had been murdered ...
September 14, 2023
by Geoffrey Cobb
Young workers mull exit options
During the heady days of the booming Celtic Tiger economy, a friend, who had lived in New York for many years, but returned to Dublin, predicted th...
September 07, 2023
by Geoffrey Cobb
The secret of Limerick's success
Once being a Limerick hurling supporter meant heartbreak, frustration, and disappointment. Limerick won a single All-Ireland title in 1973, after a...
August 24, 2023
by Geoffrey Cobb
Wadding created St. Patrick's Day
People around the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, but few people have ever heard of Luke Wadding, the Waterford man who was instrumental in plac...
August 24, 2023
by Geoffrey Cobb
Meagher is hero in U.S., Ireland
While recently in Ireland, I visited its oldest city: Waterford, whose mall is dominated by an imposing equestrian statue of Brigadier General Thom...
August 14, 2023
by Geoffrey Cobb