Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

AOH has seen enough from Trump. Again.

President Trump’s recent post of a video/meme showing Barrack and Michele Obama as apes hit home for the AOH. The president of the oldest Irish Catholic org in America has taken Trump to task in a recent statement. Irish immigrants in the 19th century faced the same racism, he recalls.

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Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

Happy Birthday Brendan Behan

The Irish writer Brendan Behan was born during the Irish Civil War on Feb. 9 in 1923. Most people have heard of Behan, but only because he caused a media sensation with his outrageous behavior. No one would have paid attention if he was just a successful writer. Rebel prisoner. Writer. Roustabout. Hopeless alcoholic. He was all these things and more.

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Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

OR names members of IRE Sister State panel

Background on the new, first-ever Oregon-Ireland Sister State Committee. Ireland is establishing official relations with more than 24 states. This initiative, headed by Sen. Mark Daly, is expected to enhance trade, cultural, educational and historical ties between Ireland and its diaspora in America.

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Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

That other airport in the West of Ireland

Forty years ago, residents of the West of Ireland began to see jets landing and leaving from Knock International Airport prior to its official opening in May 1986. Most had never seen such a sight and showed up on the big day. How Knock Airport got built is an amazing Irish story.

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Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

Another Irish High Cross is headed to Greater Portland

The Hibernian High Cross at the Oregon Potato Famine Memorial inspired the President of George Fox College to commission a second High Cross sandstone replica by the late artist Brendan McGloin. The Cross is expected in late 2026 or early 2027.

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Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

Meet Madge Clifford

Recent Golden Globe winner Jessie Buckley of Killarney, Co. Kerry is descended from a woman who played a role in the 1916 Rising and War of Independence in Ireland. How her genealogy can be a teachable moment.

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Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

What if Steve Bannon is right about Ireland?

Trump acolyte and advocate Stephen Kevin Bannon recently said the land of his ancestors,Ireland, is ripe for a MAGA-style revolution, complete with an Irish Trump. In this second of two columns I consider some comments.

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Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

Why Ireland, Steve Bannon?

Former top Trump adviser Steve Bannon is talking about Ireland again. He’s sure the Republic is ready for some Trumpism. Turns out Bannon has a close connection with Ireland through his third wife, a Limerick woman.

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Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

Hard times and a symbol of Irish resilience

The weather on December 13, 2008 was truly terrible at Mount Calvary Cemetery. That didn't stop the dedication of the Celtic High Cross at the Oregon Potato Famine Memorial. This year, on the seventeenth anniversary of the dedication, the father could not have been better for December in Portland.

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Mike Phillips Mike Phillips

What a musician listens to in December

Glen Hansard, formerly of The Commitments, busking on the streets of Dublin is a musical Christmas treasure acc. to Minister of Music Mike Phillips. You’ll never guess what his favorite Christmas song of all is.

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Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

A Fairy Tale come true for the Pogues

Though extremely popular at this time of year in England and Ireland, Fairy Tale of New York by the Pogues (with Kirsty MacColl) is hardly a Christmas chart topper in the US. Why do you think that is? Five reasons it deserves better here in the States.

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Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

The brilliant career of Mary McAleese

Mary McAleese (L), the eighth President of Ireland (1997 - 2011) came to Portland seventeen years ago to dedicate the Celtic Cross at the Oregon Potato Famine Memorial. Find out more about who she is and what she’s doing today.

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Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

Was this really the Greatest Irish Film of all time?

Filmed in Ireland and released fifty years ago on Dec. 11, 1975, Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon underperformed at the box office, disappointed most critics and was considered more of a hit than a miss for the master. But its fortunes have improved, even winning praise from one source as the Greatest Irish Film of all time. Really.

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Daniel J. Curran Daniel J. Curran

Shangana Press In Print and More 

Gemma Whelan talks with Hibernian Daniel Curran about her pivot to publishing with Shangana Press, named after her childhood home in Dublin. Daniel has details about the annual theater tour to Ireland she runs with her husband.

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Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

What’s in a name?

Dublin decided not to change the name of Herzog Park. Originally named in 1995 for Chaim Herzog, a former President of Israel born in Belfast and raised in Dublin, the park’s name also honors his father, Yitzak Herzog, He was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland after independence in 1921.

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Bill Gallagher Bill Gallagher

Divorce Irish Style. Part Two

PART TWO - Ireland voted to legalize divorce thirty years ago. On Nov. 24, 1995 a tiny majority of voters amended the constitution, which banned the “dissolution of marriage.” The campaign was rancorous. The outcome established the right to remarry. Divorce rates didn’t rise as much as some feared they would.

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