Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas Music Video's







This song/video has a couple of PG13 type lyrics so don't let the children listen to it....

Merry Christmas - Nollaig Shona To the O"Donnell's and............

My family started out last New Year with my brother and his family in New Jersey and Florida and my family in California and New York. My family is a small family. Then everything changed in a New York minute. We were discovered through the internet by my cousin who lived in England at the time. We went to Ireland on St Patrick's Day 2008 and met my ninety four year old Aunt Maggie and my very large O'Donnel family and a smaller Duffy family. So this Christmas we celebrate our family.

A giant Merry Christmas wish goes out to my newly discovered family on my mother's side the O'Donnell's and my father's side the Duffy's. So here's to the O'Donnell's from Glanduff, Couny Mayo and the Duffy's from County Tyrone and Donnelly's from Dungannon. And best wishes to all of them now spread all over the world in: Ireland, England, Australia, Germany, Canada, Hungary and here is the United States.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

It started here on the mountain in Glanduff....
Up Aunt Maggie.... Up the O'Donnell's..........

and now it's expanded and spread out.....

Up the Quinns's,Up the Duffy's, Up the Burton's,Up the Gavin's, Up the Prescott's, Up the Timlin's, Up the Donnelly's, Up the Costello's, Up the Foran's, Up the Roberts, Up the Murray's, Up the Cassini's, Up the Fomin's Up the McGuire's and all our relatives all over the world.....


Truly a blessed and Merry Christmas / Nollaig Shona for all of us .....

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand........

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

From Cork to New York - The Annie Moore Story

A video trailer made by 11 year old students in Ireland about the first immigrant to Ellis Island - Annie Moore a fifteen year old Irish girl from Cork.
I grew up in New York the second son of two irish Immigrants who came thorough Ellis Island in 1928. They came from County Mayo and County Tyrone. This Christmas on a holiday trip to New York I plan on taking my eleven year old daughter to Ellis Island.

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Monday, December 15, 2008

Irish- American - In the Eye of the Storm

An Irish- American to Watch:

The recent political explosion caused by the arrest of Governor Blagojevich in Illinois was initiated by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. Mr Fitzgerald has built an impressive track record of prosecutions and cases ranging from:

Plamegate Case
First World Trade Center Bombing Case
Gambino and Gotti Crime Cases

He was born in December of 1960, Fitzgerald grew up in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Irish immigrants, and his father worked as a doorman for a Manhattan residential building. One of four siblings in the Roman Catholic family, Fitzgerald attended Regis High School in Manhattan, known for its rigorous academic program. At Regis he emerged as a talented member of the debate team before heading on to Amherst College, where he majored in economics and mathematics. He earned tuition money during the summer months by working as a doorman at a building down the street from his father's post, and also by serving as a deckhand on the commuter ferries that plied New York harbor.

Fitzgerald went on to Harvard Law School, and practiced at a firm for three years after earning his degree in 1985.

He is an Irish-American to watch as he prosecutes this case and continues his career progress.......

Friday, December 12, 2008

Looking Back - Looking Forward - Movie Reviews

Film Ireland
Irish & Irish American Movies I watched in 2008 and reviewed on blog:

1. "In the Name of the Father"
2. "Rory O'Shea was Here"
3. "Omagh"
4. "Waking Ned Devine"
5. "The Boys & Girl from County .
6. "Dancing at Lughnasa"
7. :"The Undertones"
8. "My Left Foot"
9. "Michael Collins"
10. "The Secret of Roan Inish"
11. "Into The West"

Irish & Irish American Movies I watched in 2008 plan to review on blog:

1. The Wind that Shakes the Barley
2. 48 Angels
3. Gangs of New York
4. Angela's Ashes
5. The Quiet Man
6. Once
7. Far and Away


Irish & Irish American Movies I plan on watching in 2009 and reviewing on blog:

1. Black Irish
2.The Mapmaker
3. Bloody Sunday
4. Monument Ave.
5. Borstal Boy
6. The Front Line
7. In America
8. The Brothers McMullen
9. Widow's Peak
10. The Commitments
11. Laws of Attraction
12. Flick
13. A Love Divided
14. About Adam
15. American Woman
16. Bitter Harvest
17. Bloom
18. Breakfast on Pluto
19. Broken Harvest
20. Cowboys and Angels
21. Dead Bodies
22. Disco Pigs
23. Dead Meat
24. Evelyn
25. Driftwood
26. Goldfish Memory
27. Intermission
28. Middletown
29. Ordinary Decent Criminal
30. Southpaw
31. Tara Road
32. The Butcher Boy
33.The General
34. The Last September
35. Visions of Ireland
36. State of Grace
37.Finian's Rainbow
38. Garage
39, Prayer for the Dying
40. Ash Wednesday
41. Veronica Guerin


Well my goal for 2009 is to watch every movie made in Ireland, about Ireland and about Irish Americans I can get my hands on in DVD. If I missed any or if you have any suggestions please comment and let me know.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

A Song - Stick to the Cratur (Poteen)

Here is a sung about Poteen. Irish moonshine whiskey. On my first visit to Ireland this March on St Patrick's Day I heard tales of my grandfather who made and sold "Poteen". I heard many tales about the history of Poteen and his experiences with it from my cousin Tony. It was and is a illegal moonshine whiskey. I was also give a few glasses (small or wee) of Poteen to drink by by my dear cousin Marie. It was like a warm explosion going off inside when you swallowed the shot. It tasted surprisingly very good. So here is a song to it.... Slainte......