December 22nd, 2020, marked the 121st birthday of heroic women’s rights fighter Lucy Burns. Today, few remember Burns and take a woman’s right to vote for granted, forgetting that a century ago women were denied this basic American freedom. They also forget that women like Burns were imprisoned…

'The only position for women in the civil rights movements is prone.' 

     -- Stokely Carmichael, African American civil rights leader (1968)

'I have often said when Hillary Clinton…

Kathleen Lynn has been described as one of the great Irish humanitarians of the 20th century. Her influence extended throughout Irish society with her work in hospital medicine, her fight against poverty and disease, her career as a politician and as a lifelong social revolutionary. She was a campaigner for women’s…

Edward Joseph Flanagan was born in 1886 in Leabeg, County Roscommon, to John and Honoria Flanagan, both fluent Irish speakers. He was the eighth child in a family of eleven children.

Pictured, above, a scene from the "Boys Town" movie with Spencer Tracy as Father Edward Joseph…

I'm seeking some background on John Boyle O'Reilly and his life in Boston, particularly his involvement with the Irish community then (including the Catalpa Affair). I have uncovered some wonderful inks between…

As I watched Ken Loach's newest film, “Jimmy’s Hall,” I was struck by how, as had also been true in “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,” Paul Laverty’s writing and Loach’s directing of that writing is free of pretension.

Loach (pictured, foreground) doesn’t need fantastic sound tracks or the latest and greatest special…

If you don’t defend human rights lawyers, who will defend human rights? --  Rosemary Nelson                                                                                                  

It is all very well to have international laws on human rights,…

In the following three-part series, Sixteen Films' screenwriter Paul Laverty writes about the genesis of "Jimmy's Hall." His observations were first published in Sixteen Films' Production Notes, and are reproduced here with permission. Production Photos see here are by …

Jane [Jennie] Wyse-Power nee O'Toole was born in Baltinglass, County Wicklow, in 1856 to Edward And Mary O’Toole [nee Norton]. Her father owned his own business and before she was two years of age her father had sold his business and moved the family to Dublin. Some sources say she attended attended Warrenmount National School or the Loreto Day School Dublin.

Pictured, 'Liberty Girls,' with Wyse-Power in the…

In the following three-part series, Sixteen Films' screenwriter Paul Laverty writes about the genesis of "Jimmy's Hall." His observations were first published in Sixteen Films' Production Notes, and are reproduced here with permission. Production Photos see here are by Joss…

From the Team That Brought the World “The Wind That Shakes the Barley” ...

‘Jimmy’s Hall’: Where Anything Goes and Everyone Belongs

Directed by Ken Loach, Screenplay by Paul Laverty, Produced by Rebecca…

See "Jimmy's Hall" and Win an Official Poster …

The real Jimmy Gralton in 1944

By Donal Ó Drisceoil

Jimmy Gralton returned to Leitrim from New York in June 1921, just as the Anglo-Irish war was coming to a close. That conflict between…

Each week through Sept. 15, TheWildGeese.Irish will be giving away an official “Jimmy’s Hall” movie poster, courtesy of Sixteen Films and Sony Pictures Classics. (For the U.S. market, not a French edition as pictured here.)

To be eligible for the drawing, you need…

As May Day is observed around the world, we take a look at the close connection between the Irish and the efforts to organize labor around the world. At home in Ireland the fight was led by men like James Connolly and "Big Jim" Larkin. In…

2019 is the 106th anniversary of the 1913 lockout in Dublin. Often referred to as a strike, it is more accurate to call it a ‘lockout’ since many of those to suffer from the vengeful actions of the employers were not members…

Hey Gerry and everyone, this silly season the Che Mural story has gone viral, and I'm swamped on my Facebook page and Facebook Gallery page.

Two simple points:

1. I really doubt the 'American Tourist' story. It's the local council trying to divert attention from a dumb decision. The Che Festival has given a huge boost to Kilkee, and I'm proud to help a town I…

Imagine you were launching a new medicine for arthritis and in your application for approval from the FDA you employed as technicians people who had huge numbers of shares in your company and stood to make a fortune if the FDA gave your product a green light, that you only canvassed patients who had reported health improvements and…