Celtic Moon Rises Over Petoskey 
By Martin Hintz 
Druids dining in downtown Petoskey? Pagans sunshine-basking along Little Traverse Bay? This northern Michigan town is better known for its impact on young Ernest Hemingway who summered here and for a resort community for vacationing Methodists, than it is for Celtic spiritualists. Yet if any wanderers are searching for the Holy Grail, they'll be sure to discover a true snug at Capricorn Moon. The book and gift shop, 202 Petoskey St., celebrated its ninth anniversary this year. [More]
 

Patrick Rucker
	Rucker Makes Stop in Belfast for Life-Changing Momement By Martin Russell Irish American Post book editor Patrick Rucker is a movin' man. Born Portland, Ore., he lived in Peoria, Ill., Houston and and New Jersey. Went on to studies in Richmond, Va., and now in New York City. "My family background is the same as all Irish-Americans, but it's difficult to trace," the 27-year-old author of  This Troubled Land ( 2000) . "I visited Ireland a number of times before I started the book. But arrived to work on This Troubled Land just before Christmas, 1998. When it was done, I left Belfast last May," he said. [More]
	Rucker Makes Stop in Belfast for Life-Changing Momement By Patrick Rucker We heard the explosion in the middle of the night. a hollow, distant, single, boom. It was an unfamiliar sound yet distinct as a thunderclap. It jarred us awake, and we sat up in our sleeping bags. Out there on the streets of Belfast, a bomb had gone off: [More]

Wordsmith Drake Hits High Irish Note
Special to The Irish American Post
A David H.B. Drake fan never really knows when and where the Milwaukee-based musician will appear — or as what sort of a character. Drake, easily spotted with his bushy white beard, can pop up as troubadour Carrie O'Tune at Milwaukee Irish Fest or as a singing seaman aboard the Milwaukee-berthed schooner Denis Sullivan. He may be leading a concert at a school, attending a folk festival or just plunkin' away on his banjo at a get-together in a local park — presenting more than 200 programs a year.  [More]
 

Joey King Treats Farmhouse Guests Like Royalty
By By J. Herbert Silverman
The picturesque and placid River Bann flows from Lough Neagh, the largest lake in Ulster, to the rugged Northern Atlantic coast emptying into the ocean at the seaside town of Portstewart. On its way, the river passes through the lush countryside of Co. Antrim and some of the finest farmland in the North of Ireland. The Antrim coast, with the famous Giant's Causeway and its "stepping" stones extending seaward toward Scotland only 14 miles away, is Northern Ireland's  leading tourist attraction. [More]
 

Elders Tell of a Way of Life That Was
By Dipika Kohli 
"Cork's sense of itself is heavily dependent upon the assembly of memory...Cork life is viable and significant because it can be remembered so completely — poet Thomas McCarthy, Gardens of Remembrance, 1998.
I met a second-generation Irishman on a recent visit to Edinburgh. "I'm sure there's an Irish side of me dyin' to come out,' he said. "I'd be curious to learn more about where I'm from. Get back to my roots." [More]
 

A New Beginning to Policing? 
IAUC Issues An Open Letter to Tony Blair 
By Gerald P. Lally 
Sinn Féin has received much criticism for not signing on to the so-called police reforms in Northern Ireland. One of their main objections has been the lack of accountability of this new police service. Recent events would seem to justify this concern and indicate that there is no such new police force just a new name, PSNI, for the old and discredited RUC. [More]
 

Dapper Varney Has Designs on Ireland

For a guy with an English dad and Lithuanian mom, designer Carleton Varney does okay when it comes to the Irish green. He has a home in Newmarket-on-Fergus, which allows him to drop by once in awhile for a snifter of bubbly at Drumoland Castle. The massive front door of the O'Brien clan homestead is open for him because he refurbished the building's interior in the late 1980s. Good neighbor policy and all that. "Ah, for sure, Carleton is quite a fellow," asserted Patrick O'Riordan, who handles promotions and marketing for Drumoland out of New York. [More]
 

O'Briens Here, There and Everywhere
By Steve Hintz
Special to The Irish American Post
Oh, great....another O'Brien stronghold, I thought, as we drove up the narrow country road. In the distance, a pile of rubble loomed dark against the purple gorse and heavy rain-laden sky. It seems like Brian Boru laid his claim to every other farm this side of the Shannon and every available woman, too. [More]
 

Postcodes
By Tricia Sheehy Skeffington
"Your zip code Madam?" Ah . That question. That box on booking forms I dignify with one number only, that universal given Ireland decided to not get.
"Seven." I almost hear the eyebrows arch at the other end of the phone line. "Dublin Seven." Yes, that is all. It's not some expensive designer zip trying to sound like James Bond, it's my post code and it's all I've got. And living in Dublin, I'm one of the lucky ones. [More]
 

Belfast Gals' Night Out Is Limited on Lesbian Scene
By Leanne Hurley 
This article had been a helluva lot harder to write than I had initially envisaged. Introduce lesbian Belfast to the rest of the UK - shouldn't be too hard considering I've lived there all my life (give or take the odd foray into the country in the name of 'lurve'). "Tell the truth," commented one friend helpfully. [More]
 

Milwaukee Irish Fest Plans Another Blast
Notwithstanding old Kermit the Frog's adage, it actually IS easy being green...at least at Milwaukee Irish Fest where emerald is the color of choice. So break out the azure between Aug. 15-18 and jig or jog your way to the Henry W. Maier Lakefront Festival Park. [More]
 

Irish Fest Summer School Pack's 'Em In
By Natalie Mauer
What if four days of celebrating all things Irish just isn't enough? If you can't meet your yearly needs this coming Irish Fest weekend, why not make the fun last a little bit longer at the Irish Fest Summer School. The school features a week of Irish centered curriculum for students of every age. 
. [More]