Hello, and Welcome to May. As Madigan Muses, May is for Mothers. Whether it be Mother Mary, May Crowning, International Worker’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, Peace Officer’s Week or Memorial Day, we celebrate with gratitude so many people and what they have done for our hearts and souls.
You can tell by our cover how much we think of the extraordinary priest and man that is Fr. Jim O’Donnell. Born and raised in Cleveland, Cleveland has been blessed by his presence for nine decades. Fr, Jim celebrated his 94th birthday April 10th, and his 70th Ordination to the Priesthood this month. We celebrate him too, here in print.
We could not possibly capture all the good he has done, the lives he has changed, but we do try to capture a bit, with this great feature written by Tommy O’Sionnach, with more to the story on iirish.us. Thank you Tommy O’Sionnach, Sr. Maggie, Keith Kearney and Patti Behnke for sending us your pictures to share with our readers.
I may be biased, but I truly believe we have a saint living among us; the title may be the future, but the time is now.
Dance Dance
Welcome to new Dance, Dance columnist Catherine Duplisea, writing about the intricacies and milestones every month in Irish dance today. Catherine has a lifetime of experience and success, started through her mother, Eileen Mangan Stull, and shares that passion in her own life, and now, with us. We are grateful and excited to have her join our team.
Taking the Fields of Glory, written by Cleveland GAA Chairman Vincent Beach, is back for the summer. Cleveland GAA is composed of Men’s Gaelic Football, Ladies Gaelic Football, Hurling (men’s), Camogie (ladies) and youth teams. Never has Cleveland GAA been so strong in featuring Irish sports for all levels, and they are all winning championships too. Check them out within if you would like to win too.
Terry Boyle has a new book of poetry out, Angels and Empty Pages; it is wonderful. Samples and stories are in this month’s Terry from Derry column this month.
It is the magnificent month of May, a Mother’s Love is a Blessing, bridging to a summer of even more celebrations; we have the talent, let us make the time.
iIrish is made in America. We have always been green and are proudly Irish, all year long.
Nuair a stadann an ceol, an damhsa déanann an amhlaidh
(When the music stops, so does the dance)
John
This Just In: BORDERLIGHT THEATRE FESTIVAL UNVEILS WINNER OF 2024 FESTIVAL ARTWORK CONTEST
John O'Brien, Jr.
*John is a Founder and the Publisher and Editor of iIrish, an archivist, spokesman, emcee, Spoken Word presenter and author of five books, (see below) so far.
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