Dragonfles, Death, Courage Found Amid Volcanic Horror
By Pól Ó Conghaile
Irish American Post Dublin Bureau
"You're on Africa time now, mate." A wry smile writes itself across the face of the Loadmaster as he opens the payload door, revealing Kigali Airport, Rwanda. For the past six hours, we've been asleep atop of 40 ton of humanitarian aid. And now Kigali, in all its sweltering glory: Dragonflies patrol the runway, buzzing in and out of UN planes and combat helicopters. [More]
 

Modern Celtic Churches Revive Ancient Traditions
By Susan Doyle Likovich
Special to The Irish American Post
There are a number of small, Celtic church communities in the United States. They meet in homes, small churches, and even in the woods. They pray using updated versions of ancient Celtic prayers, but they are not pagans or Druids. They are Celtic Christians who are reviving a version of Christianity that existed in Ireland at the time of St. Patrick. [More]
 

Four Knocks Opens Door to Irish Antiquity
By Lori Alexander
Special to The Irish American Post
I'm fascinated by megaliths. During my first two months in Ireland, I could hardly walk through a cabbage field or drive down a country lane without being overcome by the urge to investigate some archaeological relic. Ireland's passage tombs were built between 3000 and 2500 BC. [More]
 

'Skull' Gets Heads Up at Northlight
Special to The Irish American Post
As full of twists as a shillelagh, as haunting as a whistle in a graveyard, British sensation Martin McDonagh's raw Irish comedy, A Skull in Connemara promises to be a ghoulishly good time in its Chicago run at the Northlight Theatre in Skokie. . [More]
 
 

Publishing
	Sibert Award Goes to 'Black Potatoes' Susan Campbell Bartoletti, author of Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850, was named the winner of the 2002 Robert F. Sibert Award for most distinguished informational book for children published in 2001. The book, published by Houghton Mifflin Company, brings alive the events of the tragic Irish potato famine.  [More]
	Virtual Ireland Rises from the Dot.Com Ashes "I think the British Government is on an abandoning course - piece by piece." That was the answer given by Dr. Ian Paisley, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , when asked by www.virtualireland.com if he thought the British government would eventually abandon Northern Ireland. Controversial? We hope so! [More]
	$4,000 Short Story Competition Announced In association with Kennys of Galway, Virtual Ireland is running a short story competition with a top prize of $4,000. Visitors are invited to enter stories up to 1,950 words and are also given the opportunity to avail of the professional critique service offered on the site. [More]

Vacation Memories Awash with Seaside Frolicking
By Marian Keyes
Lahinch, Co. Clare...the scene of my summer holidays every year in the '60s and '70s. The run-up to it featured: a) Unbearable anticipation, and b) Running battles with my mother as she spent the week before departure washing, ironing and packing clothes and as fast as she was ironing them I was wearing them. Which isn't on. Everyone knows you can't wear your shiny, good holiday clothes until the whistle is blown to officially launch the holiday. [More]
 

Out on Limb, Williams Carves Fine Name for Himself
By George Houde
Mountjoy Writers Group
It was an unsure thing when John Williams climbed out on that precarious limb of a musician's life. He had earned a degree in psychology and could have gotten a comfortable and tedious job somewhere in an office. He had studied art and design and had done well, but an office was not where he wanted to end up. [More]

Funky Ceili
By Larry Kirwan
I met her at a dance in Rathmines, out of my head on cheap cider. I watched her refuse all comers and moved in on the first notes of a smooch. Frantic to impress her, I motor-mouthed a monologue, laced with self-deprecatory wit and no-so-subtle culchie passion. Less than impressed, she declined my offer of a mineral and returned to her amused girlfriends. [More]
 

Jewish, Irish Roots Mingle Over Centuries
By J. Herbert Silverman
Special to The Irish American Post
If your name happens to be Murphy, there's no question that your roots are firmly planted in Ireland — to be exact, in Co. Wexford. The Murphys, who edge out the Kellys with the most popular family name in the Emerald Isle, stem from the 12th century King of Leinster, "Murchadh," which means "Sea Warrior," or "Pirate." Murchadh, in turn, was descended from a long line of princes and kings including the fourth century ruler, Enda Kinsella. [More]