Irish Central Properly Owns St. Patrick's Day

Beyond today's parade and a bar after work like McSorley's Old Ale House, few places better reflect the spirit of March 17th than the corner of the Manhattan Internet that lies beyond the shingle irishcentral.com. Above, what the home page looked like when we checked in. Directly below, the first story in the scroll is headlined "The Absolute Best Things About Being Irish on St. Patrick's Day." The second item, "The Five Best New Irish Books to Buy on St. Patrick's Day." And then there's the Most Popular rundown to the immediate right: There's much to enjoy. In the essay "A St. Patrick's Day Message From Ireland: Thank You, America," journalist and author Rory Fitzgerald recalls being overcome with emotion after visiting the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park and then turning the corner to see the Statue of Liberty: In the nineteenth century the masses of destitute Irish were thought of as a hopeless burden on society. Yet by the 1960s they had risen to become one of the most powerful, industrious, creative and wealthy ethnic groups in the United States. JFK, Henry Ford, F. Scott Fitzgerald and millions more besides, changed the world for the better through hard work and sheer genius. The same potential lies within impoverished people everywhere, just waiting to be unlocked. Perhaps on St. Patrick's Day too, America's enemies might pause from their hatred and plotting and consider that, contrary to their dogma, America at its best does not trample or oppress the poor, but raises them up to freedom, dignity and prosperity. Everyone: black or white, Jewish, Christian or Muslim. Editor's Note (March 19): Irish Central has acknowledged our item and an earlier FishbowlNY write-up from 2014. Our double thanks to them: This wasn’t the first time Irish Central has received a nod from Fishbowl. Back in January 2014, they published a post praising a personal essay by Sean Dunne, who had just joined the Irish Central team at the time. The essay, which is well worth revisiting, delved into his decision to leave Ireland right after receiving his master’s degree in journalism, and come to New York. (Dunne is still producing great work, now back in Ireland as a journalist for the Irish Daily Mail).

Fishbowl

Irish Central Properly Owns St. Patrick's Day

The Grand Marshal of this content parade is Niall O'Dowd.

Richard Horgan

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Richard Horgan