The Abbey Theatre is in crisis as it makes its centenary tour of the U.S. Artistic Director Ben Barnes is stepping down amid financial difficulties, but the U.S. tour is proving to be a commercial and theatrical success.
Garden variety roses are the best for cooking purposes.
By Edythe Preet, Contributor
One Sunny June afternoon several years ago, I stood on a Wicklow cliff overlooking the Irish Sea. All around me, mounds of wild roses covered the ground. No genetically crafted sterile blooms were these. Each delicate flower and there were hundreds upon hundreds crowding the canes that tumbled in every direction had but a few scarlet petals surrounding a central golden pompom. Dust motes danced on slanted sunbeams, a heady rose scent suffused the air, and I understood why the rose is called The Queen of Flowers.
Maeve with her beloved labrador, Bluebell, in East Hampton, New York in 1962.
By Elizabeth Toomey, Contributor
In her new biography of Maeve Brennan, Angela Bourke includes two photographs taken around 1948. In one, Brennan, a delicate-looking young woman dressed in black, is sitting in front of the fire looking over her shoulder, a cigarette in her left hand. With her hair fixed tightly in a bun and her lips pursed, she looks like a fashion model.
In another photo from the same shoot, Maeve is standing by the fire, one hand on the mantelpiece, the other still holding a cigarette. In this one, which appears on the cover of the biography, she is looking directly at the camera, proud and slightly threatened. As Bourke put it recently, “It’s as if she’s saying, `I have every right to be here but who the hell are you? ”
What an enlightening, honest commentary on the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church. It’s misogyny lead me to leave the Catholic Church in the late 70’s. I continue to try to reconcile my faith with the disillusionment of organized religion. Recently, I have come to realize the profound support the Catholic Church offered my parents as first and second generation Irish Catholic immigrants. In fact, I have this Irish American Magazine to thank for that realization. Though the Catholic Church gave me a strong ethical foundation and a love of Jesus Christ, it did not support me, my femaleness, my worthiness, nor my inquisitive mind…I applaud James Carroll’s call for reform within the Catholic Church. This interview gave me some hope for speaking the truth.
The surnames Gleeson and Gleason developed from the Irish name O Glasain, which originated in East County Cork. The Gaelic prefix “O” means male descendant of, and Glasain derives from “glas,” literally meaning “green” in the sense of inexperience as opposed to the color. There are many variations of the name, including Gleason, Glisane, Glison, Glyssane, O’Gleasane and O’Glassane.
The Gleesons belonged to the ancient territory of Mac Ui Bhriain Aradh’s country, the area between Nenagh and Lough Derg in North County Tipperary. The name is still prominent in the area, but it has been carried all over the world.