Cover NOFrame Smaller.TRIAL.qxd
THE 15TH
9/14/12
5:15 PM
Page 1
Wall Street 50 CELEBRATING THE IRISH IN FINANCE
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
CANADA $4.95 U.S. $3.95
THE CHARMS OF
IRELAND’S WESTERN COUNTIES
COPPERS THE IRISH AMERICAN POLICE OFFICER IN REAL LIFE & ON TV GOLFING THE
“Ireland is a far better place today than it was a generation ago.” ADRIAN JONES - Goldman Sachs
0
74470 73334
8
1 1>
EMERALD ISLE
DISPLAY UNTIL NOV. 30, 2012
AIF_346-IrishAmericaAd_Layout 1 8/3/12 11:12 AM Page 1
Untitled-1 1
9/14/12 12:29 PM
AIF_346-IrishAmericaAd_Layout 1 8/3/12 11:12 AM Page 2
The American Ireland Fund salutes our Board Member and philanthropist, Adrian Jones for over 35 years The American Ireland Fund has supported innovative work that preserves Irish culture, counters sectarianism, advances education, strengthens community development and cares for those in need. Today, our Promising Ireland Campaign seeks to raise $140 million for Irish charities by the end of 2013. With charities facing increased demand for services with fewer resources, your support is needed more than ever. So far, over 350 outstanding projects and organizations have received support from the Promising Ireland Campaign. Please join us in Promising Ireland.
We invite you to learn about giving back to the land that has given us so much. Please visit
www.theirelandfunds.org
Untitled-1 1
9/14/12 12:30 PM
IA.TOC.qxd
9/14/12
6:14 PM
Page 4
Contents October / November 2012 Vol. 27 No. 6
84
38
33
42 76
94
18
FEATURES 33 GOLFING THE EMERALD ISLE
84 THE IRISH COPPERS
Robert Schroeder spent six glorious days golfing in Kerry and Cork, with a detour to the Notre Dame Vs. Navy football game in Dublin.
38 THE CHARMS OF THE WEST
With two new series about Irish cops out this season, Tom Deignan explores the history of the Irish-American policeman – in life and on TV.
90 HERE’S JIMMY!
Patricia Danaher explores the high season of Galway City and the delights of Ireland’s western landscape.
42 ADRIAN JONES After 8 years in the Irish military and 18 with Goldman Sachs, Adrian Jones understands what it means to be an effective leader. Wall Street 50 Keynote Interview by Sheila Langan.
49 THE WALL STREET 50
Jimmy Murphy, the Irishman behind the iconic Beverly Hills restaurant Jimmy’s, tells his story to Patricia Danaher.
94 WHAT ARE YOU LIKE? Pierce Brosnan, the Irish James Bond, answers questions about his life and work.
100 THE GREAT VICTOR HERBERT The Irish composer of such American favorites as “Naughty Marietta” and “Sweethearts” is remembered by Jack Callahan.
The 15th anniversary Wall Street 50, celebrating the best and the brightest Irish-American and Irish-born leaders in finance.
76 THE SILVER KINGS In the 1870s, four Irish Americans took a chance on the Consolidated Virginia, a segment of the massive Comstock Lode silver mine. As Roger D. McGrath writes, it paid off.
COVER PHOTO: KIT DEFEVER
DEPARTMENTS 8 12 14 82 96
Readers Forum News Hibernia Roots Books
98 102 104 106 110
Music Crossword Sláinte Those We Lost Family Album
Untitled-9 1
5/9/12 2:56 PM
IA.6.final.qxd
9/14/12
8:06 PM
Page 1
{the first word}
Vol.27 No.6 • Oct. / Nov. 2012
By Patricia Harty
The Irish World “I’ve lived almost half my life outside of Ireland but I am definitely Irish in terms of the teams I support, the sports I watch, what newspaper and websites I read first.” – Adrian Jones arly September mornings in New York take on that European feel. A breeze in from the river – no humidity. Everything clean from the overnight thunderstorm. Heading down the bike lane on Second Avenue, I pull over to adjust the understrap on my bike helmet. There’s a fruit stand right there and cherries are in season. Propping my bike up against a railing, I look around for the vendor and, not seeing him, I grab a bag of cherries and put them on the weighting scales – two and a half pounds. I’m pondering whether I should just leave the money when a young man appears – dark-skinned, finefeatured, shiny brown-black hair cut in a longish shag. In a word – beautiful. (Michelangelo would have made a fine sculpture of him, methinks). He’s holding an open container of blueberries – “I just washed them good,” he says holding them out to me. I take a handful. They are good, ripe and bursting with juice. Delicious. “You Irish?” he asks and before I can reply he says, “Conas ta tu?” with a cheeky grin. My native language rolling off the tongue of this young gallant is not something I was expecting on this New York morning. As it turns out, my fruit vendor is Turkish, but I don’t find that out straight away. “Ireland is my true country,” he says, his hand on his heart. He tells me that he learned his Gaelic hanging out with a group of young Irish in Australia, and that because “such great people must come from a great country,” he left Australia and went to live in Ireland. (There may have been a romance involved.) Our sidewalk chat turns to talk of the Irish weather, which we both agree is dismal, but he won’t be dissuaded that Ireland is anything less than perfect. My Turkish friend thinks the Irish are easy-going, but “watch out” if you bother them. “It’s the only country that doesn’t have an army,” he says. I correct him on that point but allow that the Irish Army is mainly engaged in peacekeeping missions. Finally, with a wave of hands and “Slan’s” and way too much fruit – in addition to my cherries I now have two containers of blue-
E
6 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
berries – I pedal away smiling, picturing as I go all those young Irish in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, spreading the joy, and thinking about the uncanny ability of the Irish to make people like them. I often randomly ask people what they think of the Irish, and the question always elicits a positive response. (A Chinese New York cab driver once told me that he liked the Irish because they never got sick in his cab. “They always open the door.” ) But it’s not just outsiders who have a thing for Ireland. For the Irish abroad, like Adrian Jones, this issue’s cover story, Ireland will always be home. After spending nearly half his life living outside Ireland, Adrian declares that he is still “definitely” Irish. And although he has one of the top jobs in the Merchant Banking Division at Goldman Sachs, he still finds time to stay involved with a number of charities and Irish causes. Emigrés such as Adrian are increasingly being seen as having an important role to play in Ireland’s economic recovery, and he has some interesting comments to make on that idea in his forthright interview with Sheila Langan in this issue. Ireland is asking more of its diaspora, yet, unlike almost every other country in the world, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K, and most of Europe, all of which allow passport holders to vote in elections, Irish citizens living abroad are not allowed to vote in Irish elections. This means that generations of Irish are disenfranchised and punished for leaving the island to find work. They can’t vote at home and they can’t vote in whatever country they find themselves unless they take out citizenship, a process that can take years. Since the early 1990s, the Irish government has been paying lip service to the idea of allowing emigrants a vote but nothing ever happens. It’s time to ask not what the Irish diaspora can do for the country, but what the country can do for the diaspora. A vote would be a good place to start.
IRISH AMERICA Mórtas Cine Pride In Our Heritage
Founding Publisher: Niall O’Dowd Co-Founder/Editor-in-Chief: Patricia Harty Vice President of Marketing: Kate Overbeck Art Director: Marian Fairweather Deputy Editor: Sheila Langan Copy Editor: John Anderson Advertising & Events Coordinator & Music Editor: Tara Dougherty Director of Special Projects: Turlough McConnell Financial Controller: Kevin M. Mangan Editorial Assistants: Catherine Davis Michelle Meagher
IRISH AMERICA 875 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 201, New York NY 10001 TEL: 212-725-2993 FAX: 212-244-3344
Subscriptions: 1-800-582-6642 E-MAIL: irishamag@aol.com www.irishamerica.com Irish America Magazine ISSN 08844240) © by Irish America Inc. Published bi-monthly. Mailing address: P.O. Box 1277, Bellmawr, NJ 08099-5277. Editorial office: 875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 201, New York, NY 10001. Telephone: 212-725-2993. Fax: 212-244-3344 Email: Irishamag@aol.com. Subscription rate is $21.95 for one year. Subscription orders: 1-800-582-6642. Subscription queries: 1-800-582-6642, (212) 725-2993, ext. 150. Periodicals postage paid at New York and additional mailing offices. Postmaster please send address changes to Irish America Magazine, P.O. Box 1277, Bellmawr, NJ 08099-5277. IRISH AMERICA IS PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
Untitled-2 Kate's MOA1Ad.indd 1
5/2/12 12:12 5/8/12 11:31 PM AM
IA.ReadersForum.qxd
9/14/12
8:10 PM
Page 8
{readers forum} Joe Duffy Made Me Famous, Dingle Saved Me
The Last Word: A Handshake on the Road to Reconciliation
When someone [experiences] grief and heartache yet can rise above it with the help of the kind people in the community, that elevates their self-esteem quite a bit. Thanks for such a heartening story.
Martin [McGuinness], I applaud your efforts and those of the Queen in the most honest efforts toward rapprochement to date. I was awe struck to see the hand shake and the Queen wearing green. I was so struck by the possibilities of that image that I wrote the following poem entitled “Historic”
Frank O’Loughlin Posted online, July 28
My late husband and I traveled to Ireland 6 years ago and visited Dingle for one beautiful, memorable afternoon (and one of the most wonderful meals we’d ever had). We both wished we could have spent more time there – I will definitely return. Thank you for writing about your experience! Peggy Church Posted online, July 30
Dancing Through Life I really enjoyed Catherine Davis’s article on my aunt Terry McLaughlin. She was always a bunch of fun and has shown a lot of courage raising all of those kids after Uncle Vincent died. In the family she went by a nickname “Tootsie,” but that’s only within the family. I do remember the house in Merrick very well — the area was less crowded than it is now, but me being from Brooklyn it was another world. Aunt Tootsie still does her crosswords every day and it has managed to keep her mind sharp. When we get together we ask each other a lot of family facts. Aunt Tootsie keep on trucking!!!
There are moments in time, that make you pause and look, That you know instinctively, are destined for the history book, That lightening flash insight, that you know the past is past, A new dawning, a bright new day, a new die has been cast, There comes a time when sheer insanity gives way to common sense When both sides see eye to eye, and reach across the fence, No talk of starvation or internment or of explosions or random assassination, Just hopeful feelings of goodwill, just an air of conciliation, Between the once mighty British Empire and the determined Irish nation, The men in the line, were descended from the men of 1916, And the Queen greeted each man warmly, and the Queen wore Green. Jerry O’Neill Posted online July 31
David Carl Posted online July 20
When I first met Terry and all the kids I was so taken by her inner and outer beauty. I married into the family to her nephew Jim. She is truly an inspiration to all who meet her. Her zest for life and love of family is a constant. Maxine Ferrell Posted online July 25
Terry is sensational in every way, a role model for us all. She looks so beautiful, truly elegant and her verve comes through the pages. I wish her spirit could be bottled and sold as a tonic for us all to take. I am so happy for you that you still have her in your life. Please give her a big hug from me, a fan for life. Linda Galke Schwartz Received by e-mail
It’s been my pleasure to have known Terry McLoughlin or “Tootsie Belle” as she is affectionately called. What an eloquent, classy lady she is, filled with the spirit of giving and the celebration of life! I think I’ve summed up what I feel about her in the chorus of a birthday song I wrote her: “Tootsie Belle…I can tell From your laughter that all is going well As a mother of ten You persevered time and again You’re the dancin’ demoiselle…Tootsie Belle.” Lee Kweller Posted online, August 4 8 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
Martin McGuinness shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth.
Corrections A photo that ran with Mary Pat Kelly’s opinion piece “Stand With the Sisters” in the June/July issue incorrectly identified the nun presenting the Global Justice Award. Her name is Sister Ruthmary Powers. A piece in the August/September issue about the Worldwide Ireland Funds’ annual conference incorrectly stated that the goal of the Funds’ Promising Ireland Campaign had been extended from $100 million to $140 million by the end of this year. It has been extended to $140 million by the end of 2013.
Visit us online at Irishamerica.com to leave your comments, or write to us: Send a fax (212-244-3344), e-mail (irishamag@aol.com) or write to Letters, Irish America Magazine, 875 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 201, New York, NY 10001. Letters should include the writer’s name, address and phone number and may be edited for clarity and length.
Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at
Quinnipiac university connecticut Opens Fall 2012
www.thegreathunger.org | 203.582.8652 | 3011 Whitney Avenue, Hamden CT Untitled-3 1
IGHM_IrishAmer.Aug.Sept.Ad.indd 1
7/3/12 3:55 PM
6/27/12 4:32 PM
IA.ReadersForum.qxd
9/15/12
3:23 AM
Page 10
{contributors} Patricia Danaher Patricia Danaher is a writer, journalist and producer based in Los Angeles. She is the only Irish member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association with a vote in the Golden Globes. A longtime political correspondent for UTV, she was awarded a Nieman Fellowship to Harvard University for stories which she broke regarding the Northern Ireland peace process. She has just completed her first novel and children’s book, and is developing a movie on Mother Jones.
Tom Deignan For over a decade, Tom Deignan has written the weekly “Sidewalks” column for The Irish Voice newspaper. He also writes columns about movies and history for Irish America, and is a regular book reviewer for the Newark StarLedger. In this issue, he explores the evolution of the Irish-American cop, both in real life and in pop culture.
Sheila Langan Sheila Langan, Irish America’s deputy editor, is a first-generation Irish American with an Irish passport and a love of Irish literature. In this issue she interviews Wall Street 50 Keynote Speaker Adrian Jones.
Robert Schroeder Bob has been a graphic designer for over 20 years. He is currently a design director at a global brand consultancy in New York City, where he infuses compelling strategy with evocative creative to create rich brand experiences. Bob lives in Westfield, NJ with his wife, Cristin, and his pug, Murphy. The brother-in-law of prolific golf writer Tom Coyne, he took his own golf excursion to Ireland this summer and shares his experiences here.
CASHS
速
C R Y S T A L
Appellation: Handmade In Ireland
cashs.com crystalclassics.com shopshannon.com 800-999-0655
Untitled-1 1 irish_americanad5.indd 1
6/26/12 PM 6/25/124:29 5:41 PM
IA.News12-13.rev.qxd
9/15/12
12:29 AM
{ hibernia }
Page 12
PEOPLE
| HERITAGE | EVENTS | ARTS | ENTERTAINMENT
Irish Awards for the Diaspora
I
Ireland Fund; and Sr. Lena Deevy, community educator and executive director of Boston’s Irish Immigration Center. Awardees from around the world include business mogul and Irish community leader Pat Kelly of Ottawa; Pierre Joannan, Ireland’s Honorary Consul General in France and a great promoter of Franco-Irish connections; Fr. Michael Kelly, for his research and work with HIV and AIDS in Zambia; Irish Council of State member and activist Sally
PHOTO: PETER FOLEY
reland has a diaspora of over 70 million around the world, many of whom maintain a close connection with the country of their ancestors. From philanthropy to activism, from education to business and the public sphere, many of the diaspora have demonstrated exceptional passion for Irish causes. A new Irish award, the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad, aims to recognize these individuals
Chuck Feeney
Don Keough
and celebrate their great work. The inaugural recipients were announced in early September, and will be honored in a ceremony at Áras an Uachtaráin, the president’s residence in Dublin, on November 15. Irish Americans dominate the first group of recipients. The four honorees living in the U.S. are Chuck Feeney, who has donated over 1.5 billion dollars to the Irish university system (he recently also received the firstever honorary degree to be awarded by the Irish universities as a group); Don Keough, the former president and COO of Coca-Cola, who brought the company to Ireland and has spearheaded many programs there; Loretta Brennan Glucksman, chair of the American
Loretta Brennan Glucksman
Mulready and businessman Andy Rogers of England, each of whom have established a number of networks and initiatives for the Irish in Great Britain and beyond; and the late Jim Stynes, one of Australia’s best football players and a great philanthropist. In a statement, President Michael D. Higgins said “Each of the awardees has distinguished themselves by the long-standing service they have given to Ireland and to the Irish community abroad.” The awards are to be given annually. Nominees must reside outside the island of Ireland and have rendered distinguished service to the nation and/or its reputation abroad. – S.L.
PRESIDENT HIGGINS LEANS SPANISH ever one to rest on his laurels, Irish President Michael D. Higgins used some quiet time during the month of August to learn Spanish. The president and his wife, Sabina, spent three weeks at Menéndez Pelayo International University at its campus in the northern Spanish city of Santander. There, they both took a course on Spanish language and culture for five hours each day, in the company of seven regular students from Austria, Japan and Poland. Áras an Uchtaran stated that Higgins wanted to improve his Spanish before he travels to South America on official business in October. After learning with the other university students, the pres-
N
12 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
ident spent the last week in a private tutorial geared more towards his vocabulary needs as a politician. Lourdes Diaz, the university's deputy director of languages, said that Higgins is "now capable of speaking fluently and spontaneously, and he can read and understand complex literary texts.” – S.L.
GUINNESS BREWERY GETS “SSSURPRISE” VISITOR t. Patrick would not have been pleased. On August 28, workers at the Guinness Brewery in Dublin discovered a stowaway in a delivery container from Texas – a snake.Workers at the Diageo Logistic Centre at St James’ Gate found the reptile, which they named J.R. after the character from the TV show Dallas, in an empty keg. J.R. was brought to veterinarian Bairbre O’Malley, one of the leading Irish authorities on exotic pets, and was identified as a non-poisonous corn snake. He was assessed as healthy, if a little underweight and dehydrated, and was nursed back to health. As told to Newstalk.ie, the workers hypothesized that the snake had found its way into the empty keg from either the bar in Texas where the keg had been used, or the warehouse where it was stored prior to shipping. Snakes are not native to Ireland, though Irish legend has it that the reptiles were driven out by St. Patrick. J.R. is the first snake to be cared for by the Dublin Society for the Protection of Animals. – S.L.
S
IA.News12-13.rev.qxd
9/15/12
12:29 AM
Page 13
{news from ireland} NATIONAL REDHEAD CONVENTION CELEBRATES IRELAND’S ‘GINGERS’ n August 18, the seaside town of Crosshaven in County Cork hosted the third annual National Redhead Convention, which describes itself as an event “to celebrate Ireland’s emblematic hair colour, challenge hair-based discrimination, and have a great family day out.” Fair-skinned redheads often find themselves subjected to casual ridicule from friends, enemies, and television shows – most prominently by the satirical cartoon South Park, which has a running joke about redheads lacking souls. But petty derision can quickly turn into real derision, and some worry that behind the seemingly ridiculous nature of this antagonism may lie more serious deep-seated prejudices about Irish stereotypes. In addition, many redheads, given their generally fair complexions, are at an exceptionally high risk for skin cancer and other ailments that plague those lacking in melanin. Kenneth Gordon, 22, of Glasheen, Cork, described the event to IrishCentral.com as “a collective moment of emancipation of an entire hair colour.” With activities ranging from red balloon launches, red face painting, and the distribution of Certificates of Red-headedness, the Convention, which donated all proceeds to the Irish Cancer Society, remained firmly tongue-in-cheek. However, some local politicians did take the creative event seriously. “[Inspiring ideas like this] will bring much needed money back into the local economy, give people some respite from the doom and gloom of the recession, and even raise some funds for charity in the process,” Brendan Finucane, a Local Area Representative for the Fianna Fáil party based in Rochestown, told IrishCentral. – C.D.
O
BOOK OF KELLS VIEWED BY 10 MILLIONTH VISITOR rinity College, which houses The Book of Kells, welcomed its 10 millionth visitor on August 8. The book, an illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels created by Celtic monks sometime during the eighth century, is one of Ireland’s biggest tourist attractions, now drawing more than a half a million visitors each year. Robin Adams, a librarian, told the Irish Times that this occasion is well timed, as the library’s cornerstone was laid exactly 300 years ago, in 1712.The lucky 10 millionth visitor came with a family of English tourists, who were all given memorabilia and a guided tour of the Old Library, which houses Trinity’s oldest manuscripts and is itself a historic building. “The number of visitors to the old library have increased by 10 percent this year and we hope that with the expansion and upgrade of facilities, we will welcome many more,” Adams told the Times. The college is currently upgrading its Book of Kells Visiting Center to improve access to the exhibit.Already, over 20,000 school children visit for free each year. – C.D.
T
IS IRELAND LOSING ITS RELIGION? ifty years ago, Ireland was one of the most religious countries in Europe, but according to a recently released poll, taken by the Gallup International in 2011, Ireland now ranks among the top ten atheist nations worldwide.These results are a huge shift from the last poll, in 2005. In the six years between the two, one in five Irish set aside religion. These results indicate that of the Western nations, Ireland is losing its religious identity the fastest. The Gallup poll, titled the Global Index of Religion and Atheism, asked 50,000 people in 57 countries “irrespective of whether you attend a place of worship or not, would you say you are a religious person, not a religious person or a convinced atheist?” The 2005 poll showed that 69% of the Irish respondents considered themselves religious, 25% as not religious, and 3% as convinced atheists. In 2011, 47% considered themselves religious, 44% not religious and 10% convinced atheists.These most recent poll results reflect a 22% drop in religious identification among the Irish in just six years, with
F
a corresponding increase in both “not religious” and “convinced atheist” categories. Some suggest the study could reflect the shattered trust and negativity surrounding the numerous sex-abuse scandals and corruption within the Church, “rocking established religion in the predominately Roman Catholic country.” In a rebuttal to the poll’s results, a spokesperson for the Catholic Communications Office said that religion is not a “numbers game” and that the word “religious’” is too general to be used as the key word in a survey, especially in Ireland where the people prefer words like “spiritual.” Numbers game or not, Ireland ties with Austria, Iceland and Australia with ten percent of respondents in the “convinced atheist” category. Ireland is not the only country showing a significant decline in religious identity – the United States saw a 13% drop in religious identification over the same period. – M.M. OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 13
IA.IEOH.qxd
9/14/12
9:05 PM
Page 14
{ irish eye on hollywood} By Tom Deignan Colin Farrell and Woody Harrelson in Seven Psychopaths.
Let’s hope the ever-busy Brendan Gleeson doesn’t get whiplash. The Dublin-born star of recent flicks such as The Guard as well as the Harry Potter movies is regarded as one of the most versatile actors in the world. Still, even Gleeson may have a little trouble making the transition from At Swim Two Birds to Smurfs 2. As is well known by now, Gleeson is adapting At Swim Two Birds for the big screen. The movie is based on the challenging but brilliant Irish novel by Flann O’Brien (writing under the pen name Brian O’Nolan). The novel, published in 1939, is a headspinner about an Irish student of literature who rages against the basic conventions of storytelling, so that it’s hard to tell which elements of the plot are O’Brien’s creation and which are the creations of his creations. At Swim Two Birds is also expected to star Michael Fassbender, Colin Farrell, Gabriel Byrne, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Cillian Murphy and Gleeson’s own actor-son Domhnall, who has appeared in True Grit and Dredd 3D. (Look for Domhnall in Joe Wright’s forthcoming movie version of Anna Karenina.) Brendan Gleeson has said At Swim Two Birds will be released in about a year or so, though he has admitted the script has already gone through over a dozen rewrites. In the meantime, Gleeson will go on to star in the slightly less brainy Smurfs 2, also featuring the voice and live action work of Sofia Vergara, Neil Patrick Harris and Hank Azaria. Smurfs 2 is slated to be in theaters July 2013. Also expected in summer 2013 is the highly anticipated film of Irish-American literary legend F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel The Great Gatsby. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Baz Luhrmann, the film had been slated for a winter release, but producers have said they believe the 3D flick can be a summer blockbuster. Like Brendan Gleeson, another Irish thespian going the sequel route is Liam Neeson. This October, look for Neeson to be kicking some more serious butt in Taken 2, also starring Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen. Not that Neeson needed any more arrows in his quiver, but the Ballymena native – having earned respect on stage and in Liam Neeson in the eagerly anticipated Taken 2.
serious films such as Schindler’s List – is now a bankable action star. In Taken 2, Neeson once again plays retired CIA operative Bryan Mills. Set in Istanbul, the film follows Mills and his wife as they are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper Mills killed in the first Taken film. Also in October, look for Colin Farrell collaborating with acclaimed Irish playwright and director Martin McDonagh in Seven Psychopaths. The film is about a screenwriter (Farrell) whose unsavory best friend is an unemployed actor and parttime dog thief who crosses the wrong man. Also starring in Seven Psychopaths are Christopher Walken and Woody Harrelson. The film re-teams Farrell and McDonagh, who, along with the aforementioned Brendan Gleeson, filmed the criminally underrated In Bruges in 2008. Perhaps McDonagh can help Farrell regain his box office mojo after pricey remake flops such as Fright Night and Total Recall.
Daniel Day-Lewis as President Abraham Lincoln.
In November, it’s time for history class, when Daniel Day-Lewis returns to the big screen to portray Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s biopic of the 16th president. It will be curious to see if the great director will touch upon Lincoln and the Irish, who were loyal Democrats and, thus, generally not supporters of Lincoln or the Civil War he oversaw.
Colm Meaney is set to star in an Irish-American film project called The Yank. Set in Cleveland, the film features writer/director Sean Lackey in the starring role, as Tom Murphy, a conflicted son who wants to please his IrishAmerican parents by marrying a sweet lass. When a pal
IA.IEOH.qxd
9/14/12
9:05 PM
Page 15
decides to hold his wedding in Ireland, Tom thinks it might be his best chance to find his beloved Colleen. Of course, IrishAmerican expectations clash with 21st-century reality. Meaney will reportedly be playing the role of curmudgeonly farmer Fintan Maguire. Fred Willard and Kevin Farley (brother of Chris) have also been linked to the project. Lackey himself is the son of Irish immigrants who settled in Cleveland. The Yank started shooting in late July (the opening scene takes place at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) and could be in theaters next year. As for Colm Meaney, he can currently be seen in AMC’s Western railroad series Hell on Wheels, and is also tapped to appear in the film Occult, as well as an Irish picture entitled Belfast Story. The latter also stars Malcolm Sinclair and is set in post-Troubles Belfast, where terrorists find themselves out of work and looking to crime. Producers hope to bring Belfast Story to U.S. theaters next year.
with films such as In Time and Tron: Legacy. Perhaps that’s one reason Murphy is going the TV route next. He will appear in a BBC mini-series entitled Perky Blinders about gangsters in post World War I Birmingham. Aside from poverty and angry revolutionaries, Murphy’s character must also contend with a mysterious woman and a ruthless Belfast police chief. Irish actor Liam Cunningham will team up with Irish American John Cusack and up-and-comer Malin Ackerman (Rock of Ages ) in the thriller The Numbers Station. Expected to be released later this year, The Numbers Station follows a CIA operative with a troubled past who has been given a simple assignment: protect a 20-year-old woman. Needless to say, things get complicated.
Irish-American icon Grace Kelly will be the subject of a new biopic entitled Grace of Monaco, and Nicole Kidman has reportedly been cast in the starring role. Set to hit screens in 2014, the film will focus on the year or so during which Princess Grace – as she was known after marrying Rainier III – prevented a coup in Monaco. She was seen as a key player in brokering peace after French leader Charles de Gaulle Saoirse Ronan has several ordered Rainier to institute key new projects on tap. The reforms or face dire consequences. young Oscar nominee will star Tim Roth has also signed on to the in Byzantium, to be directed by project, and will portray Rainier fellow Irish star Neil Jordan. III. Frank Langella will appear as Also starring Gemma Arterton well. and Johnny Lee Miller, Kelly, of course, was a Byzantium is a vampire thriller Philadelphia native and one of and was shown at the Toronto Hollywood’s brightest stars in the Film Festival in September. 1950s, appearing in Alfred Ronan is also linked to films Hitchcock classics such as Rear Clockwise from top left: Grace Kelly and Nicole Kidman; Window and To Catch a Thief. Saoirse Ronan plays a vampire in Neil Jordan’s Byzantium; such as The Host and Justin and the Knights of Valor, though Following her marriage, she Cillian Murphy and Tim Roth in Broken. perhaps her most intriguing stopped making films. upcoming project is a biopic about Mary Queen of Scots. Tim Roth, incidentally, has also appeared alongside Irish Ronan is expected to play the title role in the film of the actor Cillian Murphy in the film Broken, which was screened Catholic queen who was crowned when she was under a year at Cannes in May but has not yet received an American release old and executed in 1587 during England’s religious wars. date. Broken (written by Irishman Mark O’Rowe, who also wrote the fine Irish film Intermission) is about a young girl Finally, on the TV front, Dublin actor Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids) has signed on to an HBO series entitled Family (Eloise Laurence) in London who witnesses a violent crime. Tree, while Irish American Jerry O’Connell (Crossing Jordan, No word yet on when Broken might be released in the U.S. Stand By Me) is slated to star in Mockingbird Lane, a reboot of Though he had a role in the mega-hit Dark Knight Rises, IA the classic black-and-white TV series The Munsters. Murphy has not had the best luck at the box office of late, OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 15
ONLY CIE TOURS OFFERS YOU... 81 years of travel experience | Over 40 coach tour itineraries | Guaranteed departure dates 10% Early Booking Discount | Dedicated group travel department
TASTE OF IRELAND 5, 6 or 7 days from $658 — NEW! — TASTE OF WALES & IRELAND 10 or 12 days from $1794
IRISH HERITAGE & DROMOLAND CASTLE 8 days from $1188
IRISH CLASSIC 12 or 13 days from $1898
SCOTTISH & IRISH DREAM 13 or 14 days from $2268
— NEW! — ICONS OF BRITAIN 16 days from $3398
For more information contact your travel agent, call
800.243.8687 or visit www.cietours.com
All CIE Tours travel programs are protected by the company’s $550+ Advantage, a no-fee benefit guaranteeing that travelers are never charged for special features considered optional extras with other tour companies.
Untitled-4 1
9/4/12 4:50 PM
IA.NEW hib17.qxd
9/14/12
9:06 PM
Page 17
{hibernia}
A Run for the Commodore
H
e once ran from New York to San Francisco in 53 days and 7 minutes, and for three years held the Guinness World Record for the fastest run across America. He has run for 24 hours straight and has completed multiple 1,000 mile runs for charitable causes, including UNICEF and Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s pediatric cancer center. But Tom McGrath, an ultra-marathoner and owner of The Black Sheep pub in Manhattan, says his recent 250 mile solo run for Above: McGrath running with a police escort for Commodore John Barry was the best ever. safety; crossing the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. “I mean it from my heart,” the Fermanagh native said recently over the agreed to allow a memorial in a choice phone. “It’s a great feeling to have done location, just inside the main pedestrian this for a fellow Irishman. Everyone should gate. The gate was re-named Barry Arch in appreciate what Barry achieved.” January, and the design process for the John Barry, the “father of the American memorial has commenced. Navy,” was born in Co. Wexford in 1745, The John Barry Memorial Project, headthe son of a tenant farmer. His inspiring ed by John McInerney of the AOH, needs legacy and story make him a heroic figure to raise over $200,000 to see the memorial to McGrath and to many other Irish come to fruition. This summer, 61-year-old Americans. Tributes to Barry can be found McGrath (an AOH member) pledged to everywhere from his native Wexford to the help them meet that goal by running the Commodore Barry Bridge, which crosses 250 miles from Manhattan to Annapolis. the Delaware River; however, there was He set out on July 20 and, averaging 30 until recently little commemoration of him miles – more than a marathon – each day, at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, reached Annapolis on July 27. The route Maryland, something the Ancient Order of and logistics were planned by McGrath’s Hibernians and other Commodore Barry friend Frank Corcoran, without whom he enthusiasts have been trying to rectify for said the run could not have happened. several years. Last year, the academy Aside from a few aggressive dogs and
drivers, the run went about as smoothly as a 250 mile run can. As he ran onwards through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, McGrath was not alone. Corcoran and another friend, Bill Reilly, followed McGrath the entire way in a trailer. He was also joined, at various points, by local runners, whom he described as amazing for moral support, but in possession of an unfair advantage: rested legs. “It was important that they let me set the pace,” he explained. On day three, in Philadelphia, he stopped at Old St. Mary’s Church, where Barry is buried. Other stops included Commodore Barry Bridge and the Irish Railway Workers’ Museum in Baltimore. Each evening he met and dined with supporters of the memorial project. McGrath made it to Annapolis on the seventh day, and was toasted by friends and supporters at O’Callaghan’s Hotel, and at the Naval Academy on the following day. The 250 mile run raised tens of thousands of dollars, and the donations are still coming in, according to McGrath. The best part, he said, was learning that the memorial's future is now certain, with an unveiling set for September 13, 2013. – S.L.
Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum
Q
uinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut and its president, Dr. John L. Lahey, have long been champions of Irish Famine awareness and education. The university’s collection of art and other materials relating to An Gorta Mór, the Great Hunger of 1842-52, when 1.5 million Irish died of starvation and 2 million emigrated, is to receive its own building this autumn. Quinnipiac has extensively renovated a 9thcentury building that once housed Hamden’s first public library, and is looking forward to welcoming the public to the 4,750-square-foot space in October. “The museum will preserve, build and present its art collection in order to stimulate reflection, inspire imagination and advance awareness of Ireland's Great Hunger and its long aftermath on both sides of the Atlantic,” said Lahey. The museum’s unparalleled famine art collection (which Lahey started in 1997, finding many of the pieces himself) will feature works by 19th and 20thcentury Irish artists James Brenan, Daniel MacDonald, and Jack B. Yeats; contemporary artists
Robert Ballagh, Alanna O’Kelly, Brian Maguire and Hughie O’Donoghue; and sculptors Rowan Gillespie, Eamonn O’Doherty and John Behan, whose National Famine Memorial sits at the base of Croagh Patrick. The collection includes a model, pictured below. The museum’s dedication and official opening will take place on September 28, and will be preceded by a week of cultural and educational events at Quinnipiac’s Hamden and Mount Carmel campuses. Gerry Adams will deliver the lecture “Irish America and the Struggle for Freedom in Ireland” on September 25. Catherine Marshall, senior curator and head of the collection at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, will moderate the panel discussion about famine art between Irish artists Robert Ballagh, John Behan, Brian Maguire and Geraldine O’Reilly on September 26. The next day, Christine Kinealy, the famous famine historian, will deliver a lecture, “Fifty Years of the Great Hunger: The Remarkable Legacy of Cecil Woodham-Smith.” The museum will then open to the public on October 11. Visit www.quinnipiac.edu for more information. OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 17
IA.HibNotreDame.qxd
9/14/12
11:24 PM
Page 18
{hibernia}
NOTRE DAME VS. NAVY IN DUBLIN
What Irish and Irish-American Dreams
are Made Of
Irish America’s publisher Niall O’Dowd wrote from Dublin about the eagerly anticipated Notre Dame vs. Navy football game, which drew thousands of Irish-American fans home to Ireland. Notre Dame and Navy go head to head in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.
I
n years to come, hardcore Notre Dame fans will ask “Were you there?” when this Dublin game against Navy is discussed. I predict it will be right up there with many of the great moments of this storied college. What a day to be both Irish and American. If you were not proud of your heritage in Dublin on September 1, then you lack an
18 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
emotional bone in your body. I’m a sucker for two national anthems: the Irish and U.S. ones. Hearing them both played at the commencement of the Notre Dame/Navy football game at the astonishing Aviva Stadium in Dublin was a deeply emotional moment. The Aviva is built acoustically to keep the sound waves in, to magnify the impact of the home crowd, and as the thunderous
anthems rolled across the stadium I saw many in tears. This was the homecoming to beat the band, the day that Ireland saw what the legend of Notre Dame meant to so many millions of Irish Americans as 35,000 fans made the pilgrimage across the Atlantic. The Fighting Irish scored 50 points to Navy’s 10, giving a high-octane performance no doubt fueled by the emotion of the
IA.HibNotreDame.qxd
9/14/12
11:24 PM
Page 19
ALL PHOTOS BY ROBERT SCHROEDER
Clockwise from top left: A view of the field from the Navy side; touchdown celebrations; pre-game festivities with the Notre Dame leprechaun.
homecoming and the historic nature of the clash. Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame team overwhelmed Navy in the first half, with a 273 lead. The Irish defense continued strong, allowing only one Navy touchdown. Trey Miller, Navy’s quarterback, did hit 14 of 19 pass attempts in the air, with a
Navy kicked a 26-yard field goal before halftime and opened the second half with a three-pass drive capped by Shawn Lynch’s 25-yard grab to make it 27-10. Atkinson and Riddick replied with two of Notre Dame’s three second-half touchdowns. Somewhere, Coach Kelly’s Irish antecedents were waking up the echoes,
new tactic from coach Ken Niumatalolo, but the team averaged less than three yards per carry. Theo Riddick and George Atkinson of the Fighting Irish ran for first-quarter touchdowns, and tight end Tyler Eifert caught a five-yard touchdown pass. Stephon Tuitt scooped up Navy quarterback Trey Miller’s fumble and rumbled to the end zone to put the Irish up 27-0 in the second quarter.
pointing to the great-grandson of Irish emigrants doing them so proud back in the old sod. For the best part of the week every location on this island has felt the power and emotional strength of that diaspora to which many pay lip service but never fully acknowledge. The spangled banner stretched from Kerry in the south to Belfast in the north, and points east and west. For a country so
troubled economically it was manna from heaven. But there was emotional sustenance too; the sense of a tribe reuniting, if only for a brief time. The Irish National Anthem contains the words “Buion Dar Slua, Thar Toinn De Ranaig Chughainn.” Roughly translated it is an explicit recognition of “Those who have come, of our ancestral race, from a land beyond the wave.” It was a recognition of the Irish who left and the generations they bred who still cared deeply about the land. It was a clear reference to the Irish in America, and at the Aviva stadium on Saturday they did indeed come in their tens of thousands from the land beyond the waves. You could not imagine a more picture perfect scenario. The leaden Irish skies of summer gave way to a brisk autumnal day, reminiscent of South Bend, Indiana, Notre Dame’s home turf, in the fall. The CBS network carried the images back across the broad Atlantic, and one can only speculate how many who watched will be stirred to make that homecoming journey too. The game was the vision of Irish businessman Martin Naughton and his American counterpart Don Keough, former President of the Coca-Cola Company. The two should be renamed the “Sunshine Boys” for the ray of light they shone on Ireland yesterday at a time of tough economic times. Sunshine it was, and a weekend to remember – one of the best ever, in fact. OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 19
in ancestry or in spirit, you’re invited to Be Part of It! The history of these honorees and of all Irish Americans runs deep throughout the island of Ireland and there has never been a better time to explore, discover and enjoy!
A Message from Joe Byrne It is with great pleasure that I extend our warmest congratulations to the 2012 Wall Street 50. These individuals have made great impacts in the worlds of business and finance and are ambassadors for Irish culture. Their leadership and dedication are not only echoes of their Irish roots but also testaments to the American dream that they and those before them have pursued. Ireland and America have always been linked in spirit and through families and these honorees are proof that those links stand the test of time.
But, there’s an opportunity beyond a fabulous vacation. Organize your own Gathering and contribute to Ireland’s renewal. Organize a golf trip, a family reunion, a corporate event – whatever it is you can plan, bring a gathering of your own to Ireland next year. You can be sure of Céad Mile Fáilte and days filled with fun and special experiences.
Executive Vice President United States and Canada Tourism Ireland
2013 will be a very special year. The Gathering Ireland 2013 is an unprecedented yearlong celebration when Ireland invites the world to join us in celebrating our music, fun, culture and lots more. The Gathering presents the perfect opportunity to reconnect with your Irish family and friends. Whether you’re Irish
Messagr from Joe.indd 1
9/14/12 7:42 PM
B:8.75” T:8” S:7”
Calling all Flynns, O’Malleys and Schweitzenburgs. No matter how much, or how little, Irish you have in you, you’re invited to come and experience The Gathering Ireland 2013. This year-long celebration of Irish culture promises a trip like none other — you can immerse yourself in countless festivals and events, incredible music and art, exhilarating sports and there are thousands of ways to connect with your Irish roots. If you’ve ever wanted to come “home,” there’s never been a better time to do it. Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance — be a part of it.
thegatheringireland.com
169132_1EnabGrid_v2.indd 1 Studio#: Agency Job #: File Name:
301-0021-TIL2022 TIL2022TIL_EnabGrid.indd
Media Type: Magazine Issue Date: Sep 2012 Creation Date: 8-23-2012 5:47 PM Last Modified: 8-28-2012 11:24 AM Publication: Job Desc:
8/29/12 2:29 PM
169060.3
Bleed: 8.75” x 11.5” Trim: 8” x 10.875” Live: 7” x 9.875” Scale Ratio: 1:1 Output % 100% Actual Size: Yes
Irish America magazine Single Page Bleed Ad
File Location: Publicis_Group:Volumes:Publicis_Group:Tourism-
Ireland:Mechanicals:301-0021TIL2022:Documents:TIL2022T IL_EnabGrid.indd
CLIENT: Colors: 4CP
Tourism Ireland VENDOR: MUNDOCOM NY
APP: CS5 INK: Library Stamp FONTS: Malcom (Medium; Type 1) Myriad Pro (Bold Condensed, Condensed; OpenType) Helvetica Neue (87 Heavy Condensed; Type 1) LINKS: businessman with jacket over shoulder.jpg girl w.long red hair.jpg vietnamese guy.jpg indian woman.jpg jewish man.jpg businessman boomer.jpg AA man.jpg 117046883.jpg
103060034.jpg green spotlight_Tour. Ireland.psd Ireland.Shamrock logo. white.ai gathering.dark green(circles).ai
TIL2022 Enabler Grid
Name
WC
OK
Date
Art Dir: Matt Leopizzi Creat. Dir: Copy Wrtr: Traffic: Victor Basile Prod: Victor Basile Acct. Mnger: Mike Reilly Proofreader: Studio: jamesdu AE OK Rel: Notes:
525
ROUND #:
169132_1EnabGrid_v2
2
B:11.5”
S:9.875”
9/4/12 5:17 PM
T:10.875”
Untitled-4 1
IAHib22.qxd
9/14/12
11:31 PM
Page 22
{hibernia} The Kennedy Summer School Kicks Off in Ireland, and a Young Kennedy Returns to His Roots
T Minister Howlin presents Bobby Kennedy III with an award marking the induction of his grandfather Robert F. Kennedy into the Irish America Hall of Fame
ALL PHOTOS: MARY AND PATRICK BROWNE
Three photos clockwise from right: Bobby Kennedy and Sean Reidy, Chairman of the JFK Trust, aboard the Dunbrody Famine Ship; a tea party on the Kennedy Homestead in Dunganstown; Sean Reidy presents Special Olympic athlete Ann Hickey with the award marking Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s induction into the Irish America Hall of Fame.
The participants in the Obama vs. Romney U.S. Presidential Election Forum (l-r): Tad Devine, Tom Plank, Aine Kerr, Larry Donnelly, and Gary Murphy. 22 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
he inaugural Kennedy Summer School was held in New Ross, Co. Wexford, September 6-8. Twelve separate events celebrated Irish-American history politics and culture, and the legacy of the Kennedy family in Ireland, and both Robert F. Kennedy and Eunice Kennedy Shriver were posthumously inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame. The highlight on day one was a special presentation by Irish broadcaster and historian John Bowman on the 50 years of politics on Irish television since President Kennedy made his historic visit to Ireland in 1963. Bowman provided a fascinating take on the impact of television in the modern history of Ireland The Kennedy civil rights legacy was discussed on Friday with keynote addresses by Professor Howard Keeley of Georgia South University and Austin Currie, former government minister of Ireland – both North and South. At the conclusion of this event, Robert F. Kennedy was posthumously inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame. The formal induction address was given by the Minister for Public Service Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin, who presented a specially commissioned presentation piece to Robert Kennedy’s grandson, Bobby Kennedy III. The presentation was given by the Minister on behalf of Irish America, and a portrait of Robert Kennedy was unveiled at the Dunbrody Irish Emigration History Center in New Ross. Upon receiving the award Bobby Kennedy said, “I’ll accept this award and deliver it to my grandmother on behalf of her and my uncles and aunts and my many, many cousins. I’ll try to bring as many of them as I can back here next year, and if we get a third of them, we’re going to need a bigger room.” Also on Friday, Geraldine Kennedy, the former editor of the Irish Times, was interviewed by Kennedy Summer School director Noel Whelan. Their fascinating conversation delved into the current Irish political climate, and Kennedy (no relation) put forth her view that it might be time for a new major political party to develop in Ireland in the coming years. In anticipation of the coming U.S. elections, a Presidential Forum was held on Saturday. Leading Democratic Party strategist Tad Devine gave an up-to-date assessment of the prospects in the upcoming election, while Aine Kerr of Storyful.com stepped off the plane directly from the Democratic and Republican conventions to give her reflections on each. Tom Plank, the chairman of Republicans Abroad, Ireland; Larry Donnelly, legal counsel to Democrats Abroad, Ireland; and Professor Garry Murphy of Dublin City University also spoke. Saturday afternoon saw Bobby Kennedy visit his Irish cousins at the Kennedy family homestead in Dunganstown, just as his great-uncle did in 1963. The final event on Saturday evening was a tribute to Eunice Kennedy Shriver and her incredible work with the Special Olympics, which concluded with her induction into the Irish America Hall of Fame. Bobby Kennedy III made this presentation on behalf of Irish America to Special Olympic athlete Ann Hickey, who received the posthumous award on behalf of the Shriver family.
UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School Learn today Lead tomorrow
Study for your post-graduate degree in Ireland. Where business and inspiration meet on a daily basis. Irish creativity. It’s famous for the successes it has fostered in literature, music and business. UCD Smurfit School postgraduate business programmes are stimulating, inspiring and innovating. They’re chosen by people who want to make a real Tony Condon difference in their career progression and personal Director of Development more. out UCD College of Business & Law development. Visit our website to find Tel: + 353 1 7168895 Email: tony.condon@ucd.ie www.smurfitschool.ie
Untitled-4 1
50886 IrishAmerica Mag 10.875x8in.indd 1
9/4/12 5:20 PM
12/11/2010 14:25
IA.Hib24.qxd
9/14/12
4:46 PM
Page 24
{hibernia}
Fordham Law School to Host Famine Tribunal M ore than 150 years after the fact, a tribunal examining the Irish Famine will be held at Fordham Law School in New York City on October 19 and 20. The stated aim of the tribunal, the first of its kind, is to “assess the impact of the Great Irish Famine (also known as the Great Hunger) on the Irish population, and to examine its political, economic, cultural and physiological legacies, all within a legal framework.” New York activist Owen Rodgers organized the committee, comprised mostly of experts in law, history, and sociology, and will explore the Famine through a fresh approach to scholarly analysis. According to its statement of intent, the tribunal will “investigate the nature of the catastrophe and the various steps taken to counteract its severity by the responsible institutions of governance. . . The efficacy of the Poor Laws and the workhouse system will be examined with a view to determine whether the optimum level of counter-famine protection was afforded by the Government and local authorities to those most in need of assistance.” An Gorta Mór, the Great Hunger, has been the subject of study and scholarly debate for years. This tribunal will place a
particular focus on John Mitchel’s claim that the English government encouraged and even aggravated the effects of the Famine for the purpose of thinning the Irish population. It will also utilize the “Nuremberg Defense,” which explores how people can be held culpable for violating laws which did not exist at the time of offense. The tribunal will formally sit on October 19 and 20. The trial will be held on the first day, and the consequences of the Famine, in light of the findings, will be discussed on the second day. The committee is compiling a bibliography in advance, which will allow those who are interested to become better prepared to study the issues that will be addressed. On October 21, Dr. Garrett O’Connor and Thomas Keneally will present the evidence and findings to a committee of judges. Notable supporters of the tribunal include Professor Christine Kinealy, Professor Declan Kiberd, Irish artist Robert Ballagh, playwright Brian Friel, actress Fionnula Flanagan, writer Peter Quinn, Irish politician Frank McManus, and writer and producer Martin Lynch, among many others. – C.D. Visit www.irishfaminetribunal.com for details
Members of the Famine Tribunal committee, from left: Niall Mac Giollabhui, Jim Cullen, Siobhan and Christine Kineally, Robert Ballagh, Owen Rodgers, and Fionnula Flanagan.
Galway Toasts Anjelica
A
njelica Huston has an enduring connection to Ireland. She spent much of her childhood on her father John Huston’s estate in Galway, St. Clerans, and starred in his last film, an adaptation of James Joyce’s short story The Dead. On November 1, NUI Galway, home to the Huston School of Film and Digital Media, will honor Huston, who can currently be seen in in the hit TV show Smash, with a dinner in New York City, held by the Galway University Foundation.The 6th annual NUI Galway Gala dinner will also celebrate NUI Galway alum Michael P. Higgins, managing director and head of US Real Estate Finance at CIBC World Markets, and will feature a special performance by Moya Brennan and Clannad. Proceeds from the dinner will support the Huston School of Film and Digital Media, which was founded in 2003 under the patronage of the Huston family. For tickets and for further information visit www.guf.ie
A Month of Irish Theater in NYC F
or the last four Septembers, the end of summer has been an exciting time for lovers of Irish theater in New York, and this year might be the best yet. September 3 marked the start of the fifth annual 1st Irish Theater Festival, a month-long, city-wide festival that highlights the works of talented playwrights, directors, actors and theater companies from Ireland and the U.S. To date, 1st Irish has brought 72 productions to New York.This year, the festival features eleven shows (including the highly-anticipated U.S. debut of Pat Kinevan’s Silent at the Irish Arts Center), in addition to a screening and discussion of the film adaptation of Dancing at Lughnasa, and an exhibition, Photos of the Irish
24 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
Imagination, which features images of Irish artists at work. Founded by George Heslin of Origin Theatre Company, the 1st Irish aims to introduce contemporary Irish works to New York audiences. Other highlights this year include the Irish Repertory Theater’s production of New Girl in Town, a musical based on Eugene O’Neill’s Anna Christie; Fly Me to the Moon, a new play written and directed by Marie Jones (Stones in His Pockets) at 59E59 Theaters; and Hard Times, a musical by Larry Kirwan of Black 47. The festival runs through the end of September. For more information visit www.1stIrish.org
Untitled-4 1
9/4/12 5:22 PM
IA Hib26.qxd
9/15/12
12:18 AM
Page 26
{hibernia}
FROM CLARE TO HERE:
A Journey in Photographs
C
hristy McNamara, a photographer and traditional musician from Crusheen, Co. Clare, has been capturing images of Ireland for over 20 years. From up-close portraits of some of Ireland’s best-known musicians, including U2, The Pogues, and a number of traditional artists, to scenes from the annual Spancill horse fair and close-ups of life in rural Ireland, McNamara has a gift for capturing evocative, emblematic moments. His photographs will be featured in an upcoming solo exhibition at the Consulate General of Ireland in New York, from November 4 to December 21. With a particular emphasis on his photographs of musicians, the exhibition will include shots from his acclaimed book The Living Note, a collaboration with writer Peter Woods. For McNamara, the exhibition – and his photographs – are, at their essence, about telling a story of home and tradition. “I began this work almost 20 years ago as a matter of urgency,” he said. “Many of the older people featured in
this exhibition are now dead and gone. I was privileged to have grown up around them, to hear them play and to be part of this music family and community. They touched my heart, opened my eyes and revealed their soul in the music.” He also noted that the intimate quality of his photographs are a direct product of his being so close to the subjects. “I would never have been able to take these pictures without being part of it. This is a view from within and a celebration of those who played the music and passed it on,” he added. – S.L. Visit www.christymcnamara.com for more information.
Irish Architects Reach New Heights in Venice Biennale
I
rish architects, who enjoyed a bounty of work during the building boom of the Celtic Tiger, are among those for whom work has skidded to a near halt throughout the recession. With over 2,000 abandoned properties and ghost estates dotting the country, there isn’t much of a call for new building projects. Consequently, many Irish architects have been concentrating their talents elsewhere, on projects in mainland Europe and Latin America. But the industry got a great boost on August 29, when Yvonne Farrell and Shelly McNamara of the Dublin-based Grafton Architects took home the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale’s International Architecture Exhibition. The award is given to the firm showing the most promise. Now in its thirteenth year (it takes place every other year), Biennale brings together the world’s leading and emerging architects in friendly competition, as they submit work focused on a different theme each time. The director of the 2012 exhibition was British architect Sir David Chipperfield, who selected the theme of “Common Ground.” The Golden Lion for best project was shared by to Urban Think Tank; a Swiss firm, architects Justin McGuirk and Iwan Baan; and the people of Caracas, Venezuela for a community transformation project utilizing abandoned buildings. Japan, led
26 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
by architect Toyo Ito, won the Golden Lion for national participation. Japan’s exhibition centered on the design of a new community center in the region devastated by the 2012 tsunami. Grafton’s installation displayed their plans for a Utec, a technical university in Lima, Peru. Their design was inspired by the work of Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha, and by the surprising similarities between Ireland’s Skellig Michael (the Skellig Island topped by an abandoned monastery) and Peru’s Machu Picchu. They displayed their sweeping foam and papiermâché models for the university, in addition to stone pieces by Irish sculptor Eileen McDonagh. This is the second international award for Grafton, which won the World Building of the Year prize in 2008 for work with Bocconi University in Milan. Jimmy Deenihan, Ireland’s Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, congratulated Grafton and hailed their success as “a remarkable achievement [that] will highlight the dynamism and creativity of Irish architecture worldwide.’ The win marks a first for Ireland, which has participated in the Architecture Biennale since 2000. Farrell and McNamara summed it up to Frank McDonald of the Irish Times. “It’s an incredible honor for us, our team, and for Irish architecture,” they said. – S.L.
Fidelity Investments is proud to congratulate Kathleen Murphy and all the honorees of the Irish America Wall Street 50.
SlĂĄinte!
Fidelity, Fidelity Investments, Turn here, and Fidelity Investments and the Pyramid Design logo are registered service marks of FMR LLC. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC, 900 Salem Street, Smithfield, RI 02917 Š 2011 FMR LLC. All rights reserved. 591805.1.0
113802_01_AD_IRISH.indd 1
Untitled-4 1
8/23/11 7:08 PM
9/4/12 4:57 PM
IAHib 28.qxd
9/14/12
11:44 PM
Page 28
{hibernia}
Healing Hearts
on Rockaway Beach
ALL PHOTOS BY TRAVIS MITTERWAY
E
ight years ago, Rockaway Beach resident Flip Mullen, who served 18 years with the FDNY, his wife, Rita, and a group of former firemen called The Grey-beards, galvanized the support of local families in the Rockaway area and organized the first visit of wounded soldiers to the area for a fourday summer sports festival. The festival has grown in size and stature with more and more soldiers arriving for a weekend of adaptive water skiing, surfing and sailing, and this year was no exception. A parade on July 12 kicked off the weekend with supporters and volunteers lining the streets as 52 soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and their families, including three triple amputees and one quadruple amputee (19 out of the 52 were in wheelchairs) descended on the tightknit Irish-American neighborhood in Queens, New York. The Rockaway/Breezy Point community knows more than most about tragedy and loss. It was one of the hardest-hit areas on September 11, losing many of its young
men serving in the NYPD and FDNY, and was struck again two months later by the crash of American Airlines Flight 587. But joining forces with the Wounded Warrior Project, whose mission is to honor and empower injured veterans, “has helped our community to heal,” said Mullen, who traces his Irish roots to counties Galway, Sligo and Roscommon. Highlights of the weekend included the
annual dinner cruise to the Statue of Liberty, as fire and police boats gave a big salute, a chartered fishing trip, and the addition of surfing to the list of water-sports offered. “We were able to bring in 10 instructors from Amp-Surf in California, and they were unbelievable,” says Flip. “They say in Walter Reed that the word spreads around in a hurry in the early spring to get strong enough to get to Rockaway.” This year the group gave out the first Legend in Valor award, which went to the family of Army Staff Sgt. James McNaughton, 27, a New York City police officer serving in the Army Reserve, who was the first member of the force to be killed in action in Iraq (August 2, 2005). Sgt. McNaughton’s father, Bill accepted the award. Sunday, the final day the soldiers were in Rockaway, some 700 people turned out to celebrate mass at the Breezy Point 9/11 Memorial site, which was followed by a meet and greet with the soldiers. – P.H.
Top: The Wounded Warriors cross the bridge into Rockaway, Queens. Middle: Sgt. Travis Mills with his daughter, Chloe. Above: Flip Mullen with retired NYPD Officer John Tansy, the NYPD bandmaster; Wounded Warriors greeted by the NYPD band; Rockaway residents give cheers and thanks to the Wounded Warriors. 28 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
Serving a community For over 25 years, Irish America magazine has been committed to highlighting the best political and business leaders, organizations, artists, writers and community figures among the Irish in America. We are proud to congratulate our partner, Tim Ryan, and all the honorees at this year’s Wall Street 50 awards dinner. www.pwc.com
Š 2012 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership. All rights reserved.
Untitled-2 1 NY-13-0102-Irish American Magazine 50 Ad v3.indd 1
9/7/12 3:50 PM 9/7/2012 2:42:37 PM
IA.Quotes.qxd
9/14/12
9:26 PM
Page 30
{hibernia}
QuoteUnquote The Conventions
The Republicans “This election is about restoring the American Dream. The dream that led my grandfather, a poor farm boy, to leave Ireland 100 years ago and come to Ellis Island to begin his journey of freedom. My grandfather could have never guessed that his son would fight for this nation in World War II, his great-granddaughter would lead a platoon in Iraq and his grandson would grow up a middle-class kid in Fairfax County, serve in the Army, and now hold the same job as Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. What an incredible country we call home.” – Bob McDonnell, Governor of Virginia, on August 28.
“When I was waiting tables, washing dishes, or mowing lawns for money, I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. I was on my own path, my own journey, an American journey where I could think for myself, decide for myself, define happiness for myself. That’s what we do in this country. That’s the American Dream.” – Vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FL on August 29.
“For the sake of the cause of freedom, for the sake of people who are willing to give their lives so their fellow citizens can determine their own futures and for the sake of our nation – the nation founded on the idea that all people, everywhere, have the right to freedom and justice – we must return to our best traditions of American leadership, and support those who face down the brutal tyranny of their oppressors and our enemies.” – Senator John McCain, on August 29.
“Ten years ago, as chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, I flew to Salt Lake City – not to see the Olympics, but to meet the man who had saved them. I had a message from the grassroots: “Come back to Massachusetts. Our state needs you!” – Kerry Healey, former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts under Mitt Romney, on August 30. 30 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
IA.Quotes.qxd
9/14/12
9:26 PM
Page 31
{hibernia} Over the last week in August and the first week in September, the nation’s Republicans and Democrats held their conventions to formally establish their party platforms and nominate their candidates for the coming election – Mitt Romney and Representative Paul Ryan, and President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Each convention, held in Tampa, Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina, respectively, had its line-up of celebrity supporters and party endorsers, from a memorable appearance by Clint Eastwood and an empty chair to an impassioned, marathon speech by former president Bill Clinton. Here we present a selection of quotes from some of the key Irish Americans who spoke at the conventions – including both vice presidential candidates, each of whom have made frequent reference to their Irish roots. Come October, it will be interesting to see the two Irish Americans go head-to-head in the vice presidential debates.
“Look, I love our country so much. And I know we’re coming back. For more than 200 years, through every crisis, we’ve always come back. People have predicted our demise ever since George Washington was criticized for being a mediocre surveyor with a bad set of wooden false teeth. And so far, every single person that’s bet against America has lost money because we always come back. We come through every fire a little stronger and a little better.” – President Bill Clinton, on September 7.
The Democrats
“Four years ago, when my mom was still with us, sitting in the stadium in Denver, I quoted one of her favorite expressions. She used to say, ‘Joey, bravery resides in every heart, and the time will come, when it must be summoned.’ Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m here to tell you, bravery resides in the heart of Barack Obama. And time and time again, I witnessed him summon it. This man has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart, and steel in his spine. And because of all the actions he took, because of the calls he made – and because of the grit and determination of American workers, and the unparalleled bravery of our special forces – we can now proudly say Osama Bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive.” – Vice President Joe Biden, at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC on September 8.
“Barack Obama is the kind of leader my father wrote about in Profiles in Courage. He doesn’t just do what’s easy. He does what’s hard. He does what’s right. My father couldn’t run for a second term. It was left to his brothers, our family and the generation they inspired to fight for the America he believed in. Now, it’s up to a new generation, our children’s generation, to carry America forward.”
“We are Americans. We must act like Americans. We must move forward, not back. My parents, Tom and Barbara O’Malley, like so many of yours, were part of that great generation that won the Second World War. Dad flew 33 missions over Japan in a B-24 Liberator. He was able to go to college only because of the GI Bill. Our parents taught us to love God, love our family and love our country. Their own grandparents were immigrants. Their first language may not have been English, but the hopes and dreams they had for their children were purely American.”
– Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, September 8.
– Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland, September 6. OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 31
IRISH AMERICA would like to extend a special thank you to our annual sponsors
Mutual of America The Coca-Cola Company House of Waterford Crystal Tourism Ireland Quinnipiac University UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School The American Ireland Fund Cashs Ireland CIE Tours International 1-800-Flowers.com
Go raibh mile maith agaibh
Sponsor page.indd 1
8/29/12 11:01 AM
An Emerald Isle Golf Trip to Remember
Five Days of Golf in Ireland’s Southwest and a Day of Football in Dublin. Photos and story by Robert Schroeder
I credit my brother-in-law Tom Coyne for inspiring my golf trip to Ireland. Not too long ago, Tom completed what can only be called THE ultimate Irish golf trip – a whole summer circumnavigating the entire country, on foot, with his clubs on his back, playing the legendary links courses as one continuous round of the best golf Ireland has to offer. Tom’s epic journey has been captured for posterity in his best-selling book, A Course Called Ireland. For my own great Irish golf trip, I took a slightly different approach – I wouldn’t be alone, it would not be nearly as long and I’d have a few more creature comforts.
Irishgolf_rs090912.indd 33
9/14/12 8:23 PM
Inset photo: my father-in-law, Raymond Luck Jr. attacking a par 3 at Waterville. Large photo: the back nine at Ballybunion.
Irishgolf_rs090912.indd 34
9/14/12 8:24 PM
I was travelling with my father-in-law and a couple friends and we put our trust in the experience and expertise of Celtic Golf, specialists in golf vacations to Ireland. Its owner, Jerry Quinlan, has been bringing American golfers across the pond for the thrill of Irish golf for more than 25 years. Our 6-day trip was centered in Killarney with accommodations at the beautiful 5-star Killarney Park Hotel. Each day we set out for a different course, beginning with the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, followed by Waterville, Tralee, Ballybunion and finally, Old Head. As if golf wasn’t enough, the trip also included a day trip to Dublin for the Emerald Isle Classic, an American football game featuring Notre Dame vs. Navy.
Day 1: We Played In Our Sleep
Well, at least it felt that way. Our flight was a sleepless redeye to Shannon. After we finally arrived at the Killarney Park Hotel, we had only enough time to change clothes before heading to our morning tee time at The Killarney Golf and Fishing Club’s Killeen Course. The Killeen Course hosted the Irish Open in 2010 and 2011. It was the only parkland course we played on the trip. And like all the courses we experienced, this one delivered with amazing scenery and a challenging layout. A large lake was visible from just about every hole, and beyond it in the distance, majestic mountains were bathed in patches of sunlight and passing rain clouds. Sleep? Who needs sleep? The hole I will remember most is the par 3 No. 10 with its green that seemed to float on the lake. A fierce Irish wind was blowing straight at me and it blew my 6 iron shot just short and into the water. This must happen to many unsuspecting golfers – right under a tree beside the green, there was a kind gentleman in high boots holding a water retriever. I didn’t notice him until he had already fished my ball from the water. He placed my wet ball onto the fringe of the green and at first I thought my ball had made it after all!
Day 2: Watery Waterville
This was my first-ever Irish links experience and for the first 6 holes at Waterville, it literally was water-ville. It was stormy and the fierce sea winds made the rain feel like hail or sleet upon our faces. These were the toughest conditions I had ever played golf in. And you know what? I absolutely loved it. It was the perfect storm to put my rain gear and golf game to the test. I learned at Waterville that the ground on an Irish links course is composed of earth and sand. This makes the playing surface firm, yet porous. Water doesn’t form puddles like it would in The States. When the rain slowed and stopped, the water was filtered away. Brilliant! If I were home I wouldn’t have played at all in such conditions. Instead, it was game on! My most memorable hole was No. 12. The par 3 “Mass Hole.” On this hole you have to play your ball over a deep hollow surrounded by high dunes. This hollow is where secret masses took place in the 18th century. Back then, the celebration of mass was punishable by death in Ireland. An errant golf shot, thankfully, is only punishable by a stroke or two. Our prayers were answered when my father-in-law and I both scored par.
Day 3: The Course that God Built
Arnold Palmer famously said about Tralee, “I may have designed the first nine, but surely God designed the back nine.” Tralee features views of the Atlantic Ocean from virtually every hole. On the front nine, we watched the tide come in by a 14th century castle tower that guards the third green. On the back 9, our jaws dropped in admiration of God’s handiwork. The highlights were holes 12 and 13. The approach shot on 12 was over a canyon and this was right before you had to hit over another canyon on 13. Those two back-to-back holes left you with the feeling that you were someplace special. My absolute favorite hole at Tralee was No. 18 – not for its beauty or splendor, but because I had a perfect chance at eagle for the first time in my short golf career. I didn’t make the eagle putt, but I was left with an easy birdie. A 2-putt birdie was the perfect ending to a great day.
Day 4: “We Survived.”
That was what my father-in-law and I were saying about our rounds at The Old Course at Ballybunion. The first hole features a graveyard to the right. Let’s call it an omen of what’s to come for your golf ball, and your scorecard if you aren’t careful. Ballybunion is among my brother-in-law Tom’s favorite courses in Ireland. And now OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 35
Irishgolf_rs090912.indd 35
9/14/12 8:24 PM
I can see why. The Old Course was the most challenging I had ever played and probably ever will play. As with every links course in Ireland, the fairways at Ballybunion are book-ended by monstrous hairy green mounds that simply devour golf balls. What’s different about Ballybunion is that it seemed to snake around much more. You find yourself playing balls up and down its twists and turns like a wild green ride at a theme park. The bus back to the hotel was quiet with sleeping golfers. We all survived.
Day 5: The Lads in Pads
Inset photos: American tourists (top) and the gametime at Aviva Stadium (bottom). Large photo: Old Head golf course, County Cork.
“Are you going to the match?” Many locals asked me that question during my stay in Ireland. My answer was “yes!” I was going to see the Fighting Irish take on Navy in Dublin. The “match” was a pilgrimage. In what can be regarded as the largest peacetime invasion of Ireland, 35,000+ Americans made the trip across the pond to take in the game. During both my flight and my entire stay, I saw more Americans decked out in Notre Dame and/or Navy regalia than I would if I stayed at home. The game brought the highest number of tourists to Ireland since they hosted the Ryder Cup at County Kildare’s the K Club in 2006. The Irish were grateful for the influx of an estimated 70 million Euro to help bolster the struggling economy. The night before the game, at a pep rally in Dublin’s O2 center, Taoiseach Enda Kenny made a very moving welcome speech: “You are our people, our distant cousins, you are a part of us because you are a part of who we were in past times. Difficult times in rebellion, in famine and emigration, while our people hoped and dreamed of a new life and better future. In the name of your forefathers, your foremothers, we welcome you home.” And what a welcome it was. Aviva Stadium is a beautiful, state-of-the-art venue and the weather and atmosphere were like golfing in Ireland, it wasn’t about the score of the game. It was about the experience. For many Americans it was about a return to their ancestral home to celebrate and share culture.
Day 6: Pinch Me
As if to honor us for surviving all that Irish links had to offer, the sky cleared, the winds subsided and the sun beamed for us all day long at Old Head in Kinsale, Co. Cork. It was a truly epic day. It was the perfect crescendo to a fantastic week of golf and football in Ireland. In a word, Old Head is special. It literally puts the game on a pedestal. The entire course sits atop 300 ft. cliffs that form a 2-mile promontory into the Atlantic. Only a small land bridge connects this golf sanctuary to the rest of the world. The par 5 No. 12 was the toughest hole. Its fairway narrowed to a green surrounded by steep, grass-covered, ball-hungry mounds on the right and a giant seaside cliff on the left. There was no room for error. I put my approach shot into those hungry hills. Just 4 more feet to the left and I would have been sitting pretty! But, that’s how it goes. After spending time digging in the tall grass searching for my ball, I was left with an awkward chip to the green and escaped the hole with a hard fought double bogey. I heard someone say if golf in heaven isn’t like Old Head, then I don’t want to go there. I have to agree. Hands down, there cannot be a more dreamy setting for the game than Old Head. All the courses I played in Ireland left me feeling like an explorer or a pioneer. I hiked long, winding journeys through canyons and over vistas that took me back in time, back to nature, and challenged my golf game like never before. The sights were unlike anything I have ever experienced and I cannot wait to return for more! IA
Irishgolf_rs090912.indd 36
9/14/12 8:24 PM
Irish America Wall Street 50 We are especially proud to recognize the accomplishments of our KPMG partners being honored: Robert P. Garrett New York Office Managing Partner Shaun T. Kelly Vice Chairman, Operations William J. O ’Mara Partner, Audit Bob, Shaun, and Bill – Your global knowledge, professional excellence, and ability to think beyond borders inspire us all. kpmg.com
Untitled-1 1
© 2012 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ( “KPMG International ”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. The KPMG name, logo and “cutting through complexity ” are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International. NDPPS 102758
KPMG LLP would like to congratulate all those being named to Irish America magazine ’s 2012 Wall Street 50.
9/7/12 11:41 AM
IA.Travel.qxd
9/15/12
2:45 AM
Page 38
The
of the
West Patricia Danaher explores the high season of Galway City and the delights of the western landscape.
NUTAN FOR TOURISM IRELAND
IA.Travel.qxd
9/15/12
2:45 AM
Page 39
Opposite page: A tree in Maimin, Co. Galway, in the heart of Connemara. Above: A view of Kylemore Abbey. The gigi restaurant at the Hotel g in Galway. The Espa spa at the g hotel. Below: Near Leenane, Co. Galway – the fjord which divides Galway and Mayo.
JAMES FENNELL FOR TOURISM IRELAND
he west of Ireland has a quiet magic at most times of the year, a tranquillity that sneaks up on you, making tomorrow the soonest you could possibly consider doing what you were fully intent on doing today. It’s not that things don’t get done, it’s just that you’re on a different clock and things happen in more indirect ways, at a pace of their own. The great exception is Galway City, which bustles for most of the year as a mecca for lovers of culture and sport. July is the month when the city truly comes into its own, hosting the culmination of the international Volvo Ocean Race, the annual Film Fleadh, the Galway Races and the Galway Arts Festival. We arrived in the city at the pinnacle of the summer season: the day before the 24th annual Galway Film Fleadh opened and two days after the Volvo Ocean Race, the success of which seemed to have Galwegians walking on cloud nine. There was even more to celebrate, as the Film Fleadh had just been accepted by the American Academy of Motion Pictures as a qualifying festival for films vying to be nominated in the Oscars’ short film category. Galway offers a wide array of accommodation, and we decided to check out the g, a quirky and somewhat flashy 5star hotel just outside the city. Built at the tail end of the Celtic Tiger years, it was designed by milliner Philip Treacy, and has several idiosyncratic touches. The corridors are dark and have the feel of a bordello, but the rooms are bright and spacious and overlook the bay. The gigi restaurant is a gem, with excellent local food and very friendly service. It also features an impressive wine list. The highlight of the hotel for me was the spa, or the Espa, as it’s called, which deserves every award it has won. With dark stone, dim lights and an array of water treatments and features, it can either be delightfully romantic or revitalizing, depending on what you need. It’s easy to see why it is particularly popular with sports people and honeymooners. Leaving the busy, uber-modern g and driving through Connemara was a refreshing contrast, as time slowed down again after the hectic pace of Galway City. The mercurial west of Ireland skies do their Dance of the Seven Veils many times a day, revealing luscious light and the verdant topography of County Galway, then casting moody shadows that display the wares of the countryside in a totally other aspect. It is a landscape that is at once highly dramatic and deeply restful. Largely uninhabited, Connemara combines gorgeous lakes and silent mountains, with an ever dwindling population of indolent sheep. The Maamturk Mountains and the glacially carved Twelve Bens make you catch your breath, as
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 39
IA.Travel.qxd
9/15/12
2:45 AM
Page 40
Right: Patricia goes for the catch. Center photos: A peaceful ride with dogs on Doolough lake; Croagh Patrick, with its statue of St. Patrick. Below: Sheep near Delphi Lodge. Far right: Delphi Lodge. Sidebar: A crowd gathers outside the Galway Film Fleadh; musicians in Galway.
the sun and the clouds dance over the sepia boglands. We made our way towards the enchanted Kylemore Abbey and Gardens, stopping en route for tea and scones. The Gothic Abbey was built as a private home in the 1860’s by Mitchell Henry, after he and his wife fell in love with the area while visiting on their honeymoon. The Abbey was handed over to the St. Benedictine nuns in the 1920’s, and it was a girls boarding school until relatively recently. There are nuns still in residence, but much of the grounds are open to the public and the gardens are magnificent. At Leenane, where Jim Sheridan’s The Field was partly filmed, the fjord which divides Galway and Mayo along Killary Harbour is stunning, with its dark, fishabundant waters reflecting the Maamturk Mountains. We had an exquisite meal of locally caught fish at the Portfinn Lodge , which offers the best views in Leenane of the fjord. The high point of this trip was our stay across the fjord in Mayo at the Delphi Lodge, a spectacular country house and fishing lodge built in the 1830’s by the Marquis of Sligo. Tastefully transformed in the 1980’s into one of the most restful and elegant places to stay, by the former English journalist Peter Mantle, Delphi Lodge is rightly listed in the 1000 Places To See Before You Die best-selling book by Patricia Schultz. There are just 12 bed40 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
rooms in the lodge, none of which have locks, and the atmosphere in the house is more like that of a country house than a luxury hotel. Most of the people who we met there, from across Europe, return at the same time each year to relax and fish the bountiful lakes for salmon and trout. For the non-fishing spouse, there is a well-stocked, eclectic library overlooking the lake, and many lovely places to walk or just sit and read. There is also a spa next door. As you head further up the road into Mayo, it’s hard not to be struck by both the awe-inspiring beauty of the landscape, and also by the paucity of houses and habitation. This area was particularly hard hit during the Famine, and the desolation that was endured sometimes hits you when you turn a bend. These days, even the sheep are dwindling, as subsidies from the EU are discouraging farmers from breeding flocks. Emigration is again stalking the land, with young peo-
ple heading for Canada and the U.S. once again, now that the Celtic Tiger has beaten a retreat. The pristine beaches outside Louisburg, such as Silver Strand, are well worth taking a picnic to and lolling for a day. The lovely town of Westport, about 30 miles from Delphi, has many charms which have bewitched visitors for years. Matt Molloy of the Chieftains runs one of the most popular pubs in the town, where music is the chief currency. The iconic and doughty Croagh Patrick mountain towers over the town. Its peak, where St. Patrick is believed to have fasted for 40 days, draws tens of thousands of pilgrims all year round. Evenings at the Delphi Lodge are enchanting. Residents gather for hors d’oeuvres and pre-dinner drinks in the lounge before sitting down to dine at the long communal table. Before plates of scrumptious, organic local food such as lamb or fish, there was friendly conversation about the day’s fishing and other activities, in multiple languages and accents. For the solo traveler, this is a
IA.Travel.qxd
9/15/12
2:45 AM
Page 41
The Galway Film Fleadh he Galway Film Fleadh has become a very important market place for European film and television producers, who attended in significant numbers again this year. It’s also become a magnet for international stars, and this year was no exception.The French actress Isabella Huppert was the guest of honor and a retrospective of her work was shown. Fionnula Flanagan was there too, along with Belfast composer David Holmes, who has scored many movies for David Cronenberg and other major Hollywood directors; actress Kate O’Toole; the indomitable Lelia Doolan and assorted luminaries from the Irish Film Board, including CEO James Hickey. Steve Woods from Pixar introduced a special screening of its latest offering Brave. Irish short films have done very well in recent years, with several nominated through the Foyle film festival, including this year’s winner, The Shore, and Martin McDonagh’s Six Shooter, which won in 2006.This year’s winner of Best Short Drama, which is now eligible for an Oscar nomination, was Andrew Legge’s The Girl With the Mechanical Maiden. Legge is currently directing the upcoming documentary on Irish silent movie legend Rex Ingram. Among the interesting array of Irish movies were two quirky documentaries: Lon sa Speir (Lunch in the Sky), narrated by Fionnula Flanagan, which won best Irish Feature Documentary. It tells the story of the two Galway men among the eight workers famously photographed in 1932, eating their lunch on a steel beam 800 feet above the Manhattan skyline.The two Galwegians were identified as Matty O’Shaughnessy and Patrick Glynn, emigrants from Shanaglish, Co Galway.The documentary, made by Sean O’Cualain, is a touching meditation on the immigrant experience. The iconic black and white photograph was taken by Charles C. Ebbets during the Depression.To mark the launch of the documentary, a son of one of the workers helped recreate the photo on a steel girder in Eyre Square. The second documentary, Art of Conflict, was made by Valeri Vaughn and narrated by her actor brother Vince Vaughn about the political murals that decorate the gables of many houses in Northern Ireland. Shadow Dancer was the highlight and the closing film of the festival.The edge-of-the-seat thriller, starring Clive Owen and Andrea Riseborough, is set in 1990s Belfast during the worst of the Troubles, and features a woman who is bullied into spying on her family for the British secret services.
T
welcoming and easy place to break bread. One woman from Carmel in Northern California who has been coming to the Delphi Lodge by herself, on the same week every year for several years, caught her first salmon, much to her joy and that of the Delphi Fishery’s fly-fishing instructor, Peter O’Reilly. She joked that it was the most expensive salmon in history! The Delphi Lodge is a very welcoming and low key place, and handles all the small details with exquisite attention. After dinner, a fire is lit in the lounge, where guests repair for chocolate truffles and digestifs, just short of purring with utter contentment. There is an immense depth of silence and serenity that surrounds the house and the lake which it faces, which makes the cares of the rest of the world seem very remote and really not that important. As we sunk into the four poster bed, which was once occupied by Prince Charles (did I mention we were on our honeymoon?) I sighed with pleasure and looked forward to one more day IA in paradise.
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 41
IA.Adrian.rev6.qxd
9/14/12
5:02 PM
Page 42
42 IRISH AMERICA AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2008
IA.Adrian.rev6.qxd
9/14/12
5:02 PM
Page 43
50
WALL STREET KEYNOTE SPEAKER
ADRIAN
Jones After eight years in the Irish military and eighteen with Goldman Sachs, Adrian Jones understands what it means to be an effective leader. With his strong ideas about what needs to change in Ireland, he might be just the leader the diaspora needs.
N
ot many immigrants living in America are confronted with their country’s history on the way to work. But for Adrian Jones, a Roscommon native who has lived in the U.S. for 23 years, Ireland’s past is part of the morning commute. When he gets off the ferry that takes him across the Hudson River from New Jersey, where he lives with his wife and their two sons, to Manhattan’s Battery Park, Jones is faced with a meaningful juxtaposition. New York’s Irish Hunger memorial, a naturalistic and beautifully composed monument to the devastating effects of famine in Ireland, sits just beyond the waterfront. Above it rises 200 West Street, the sleek, demure and thoroughly modern headquarters of Goldman Sachs, the investment banking and securities giant where Jones is a managing director in the Merchant Banking Division and co-head of its Americas Equity investing business. In this position, he identifies various opportunities for his division’s Investment Committee and monitors the progress of funds and companies in which Goldman and its clients have invested. When we met in June, in a conference room on 200 West Street’s quiet, light-filled top floor, Jones reflected
BY SHEILA LANGAN
•
on the coincidence of his office’s proximity to the memorial (the building was completed in 2010; the memorial has been there since 2002). “There’s a famine museum, Strokestown, just a few miles from where I grew up. It’s a fabulous place, and I think anyone who visits Ireland should go. It was the house of a landlord, Denis Mahon, who was assassinated by some of his tenants during the famine. [Mahon’s killing didn’t halt the evictions, and eventually over 11,000 tenants were evicted from the estate.] It was a brutal time in that area, and the famine was the seminal event in Irish life over the last 300 years. When I pass the monument every day, I see his name and it brings it all together for me.” This is fitting for Jones, who exemplifies both the possibilities of the modern immigrant success story and the enduring concern for one’s homeland felt by many Irish living in America. At 48, he is calm and collected, with a posture and a no-nonsense attitude that indicate his background in the Irish army. In conversation, his expressive face reveals a lighter side, especially when talking about his family, a recent 30th reunion with his cadet school colleagues, and taking his older son, Danny, to a Bruce Springsteen concert in Dublin. Born in 1964 into a farming family, Jones, the eldest of seven siblings, learned early on what it means to work hard and be responsible. At a young age he was intro-
PHOTOGRAPH BY KIT DE FEVER OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 43
IA.Adrian.rev6.qxd
9/14/12
5:02 PM
Page 44
ABOVE: Jones, center, in Ireland with his siblings and their mother, Pauline. OPPOSITE: Jones, Liam, Christina and Danny in Maine.
duced to marketing, buying and selling at cattle marts with his father. There was little money around for higher education, but Jones was an excellent student. At seventeen, he earned a cadetship in the highly selective Irish Military College, which he describes as the most formative experience of his life. “It was basically zero-tolerance for anything other than excellence. The model was built around putting maximum pressure on us both physically and mentally, and testing us individually and as teams.” Two years later, as a junior officer, Jones began university at the National University of Ireland, Galway, majoring in economics and political science. His studies, combined with a trip to the U.S. in the summer of 1984, helped set him on the course of his future career. “It was a very interesting time over here, and that trip triggered a real interest in economics and markets,” he recalled. Jones had another reason to be interested in the U.S. – during his time at college in Galway, he met Christina, an American from Maine, who was doing her junior year abroad. The young couple married while Jones was still in the army, and lived in Ireland while he completed his duties. Eight years in the military provided Jones with skills and a perspective that have served him well, both personally and in the corporate world. As cadets, he and his classmates studied tactics and military theory for several months in their classroom in the Curragh, and were then sent to the Wicklow Mountains to put what they had learned into practice. “You would be 44 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
called upon to assemble a team on the spot, and the one choice you could make was who would be your second in command,” Jones explained. Though he didn’t quite realize its significance at the time, a pattern soon emerged in terms of who was chosen for that responsibility. “You saw over time that there was a subset of the class who were consistently better than the others. They just worked harder, they were better organized, they were more focused, and they were able to apply what they had learned in the classroom more effectively in the field. The interesting thing was that it wasn’t always the people you initially thought it would be – not the loudest guy, the funniest or the smartest, but the ones who you just knew could be relied on. It was an important moment for me, seeing that.” After graduating from Galway, Jones worked in the army in various capacities ranging from providing armed security (Ireland’s national police force is unarmed) and border security to confronting the internal threat of terrorism from the IRA. He was based in Cork and then in Dublin, where he earned a master’s degree in economics at night from University College Dublin. For seven months from 1987 to 1988, he served as part of the peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, fulfilling Ireland’s commitment to the United Nations. He was 23 and learned a lot. Along with soldiers from Africa and Northern Europe, the role of the Irish soldiers was to prevent Hezbollah from attacking the Israelis, and to protect the civilians caught in the middle when the Israelis launched an onslaught into Lebanon.
It was there, faced with the task of commanding both new recruits and seasoned veterans, that Jones fully learned what it means to be a leader. “One of the things you learn very early on in the army is the extraordinary power of teamwork versus people working for themselves,” he said. “In Lebanon, my role was, first of all, to achieve the mission and to protect the other men, but also to get the most out of them. There was a lot I didn’t know, so there were a lot of challenges along the way. As a leader, you have to ask yourself certain questions. Are you fair? Do you have mutual respect for the people you’re working with? Are you consistent? Are you honest? And you develop your style. You learn to deal with pressure, to deal with people, to achieve the right balance between ego and the objective. All that has been very helpful for what I do today.” Jones left the army in 1989 with the rank of lieutenant and returned to civilian life. He was 25 and ready to branch out from the military, but understood that he would likely need to look abroad. “Ireland was a pretty depressed place at the time. There was very limited opportunity to find an entry-level position in business unless you were really well-connected and part of the inner sphere, and I clearly wasn’t,” he recalled. “I qualified for a green card, and I was at an age when I was ready to take a chance.” He and Christina moved to Boston, where Jones found work at the Bank of Boston, in the derivatives sector. “I got to see enough of corporate banking, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity to know that was an area I found particularly interesting,” he said. He concluded that in
IA.Adrian.rev6.qxd
9/14/12
5:02 PM
Page 45
order to get the positions he was really interested in he would need to get an MBA. He was accepted at several schools and chose Harvard. Before his second year there, Jones was a summer intern at Goldman Sachs, and the following year, in 1994, he was offered a full time position with the firm in New York, as an associate in the Communications, Media and Telecommunication group. After some time in the Equity Capital Markets group, he got the chance to go to London, to work with the chairman of Goldman’s European business, Peter Sutherland (a fellow Irishman), an experience Jones describes as “very educational and hugely enjoyable. Peter is an extraordinary man. I learned so much working with him, and he has been a great friend to me since then.” In 1998, still in London, he joined Goldman’s Merchant Bank, and then returned to the U.S. in 2002, as a managing director in the Merchant Banking Division’s Principal Investment Area. He was made a partner in 2004, and serves on his division’s Global Investment Committee. At the time of our interview, Jones had recently been promoted to cohead of the Merchant Bank’s Americas Equity business. Deirdre O’Connor, an Irish Goldman Sachs colleague (and Wall Street 50 honoree) calls Jones “a quintessential Irish ambassador on Wall Street and beyond. On a personal level, Adrian has been a great mentor to me and was critical to my integration into Goldman Sachs. He is generous with his time, and many Irish graduates have been the direct beneficiaries of his invaluable career guidance.”
Jones’ role is primarily to work with his team in identifying attractive opportunities for Goldman Sachs to invest in, to work with those companies to help them become better (which can often mean bigger), and then, over time, to monetize the value that has been created. “The investors who entrust us with their capital expect that we will generate returns for them of 20%-plus per year. Ultimately, we need to be able to return them their money plus their appreciated capital,” he explained. “So, it could be that we take a public company private and eventually either return it to the public market or sell it to another company. Finding and evaluating the opportunities, presenting them to the Investment Committee, making the investment, working with the companies, and then realizing the value created, typically over a 5 to 8 year period. That’s what I do.” Of the financial crisis, the Volcker Rule, which bans proprietary trading, has had the most enduring impact on his work. Before the rule, which was introduced in 2010 as part of the Dodd-Frank Act and scheduled to go into effect this summer, it was typical for Goldman Sachs to invest in funds alongside their clients at levels of 15 to 30%. The Volcker Rule has limited the amount that the firm can invest to 3%, which means that less firm money and more client money will be used. Jones describes the change as manageable. “Fortunately we’ve performed well for our investor clients. They liked very much that they were investing alongside us as a firm, but we’ve had a good investment track record for our clients and they understand that this is the law; it’s not a strategic decision we’ve made.”
When it comes to the media’s portrayal of Wall Street over the last few years, Jones was diplomatic if slightly guarded. Goldman Sachs was the target of some particularly intense aquatic life vitriol from Rolling Stone magazine, which called the firm “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity.” “This has been a really tough period for so many people, in this country and in other countries, and there’s a fair degree of anger out there,” he acknowledged. “I think a lot of it is understandable, at least some of it is misdirected, and there’s a great deal of blame to go around. There have been a lot of actors and participants, and everyone has learned from what we’ve gone through – individuals, governments, institutions, regulators, and absolutely Wall Street as well. All of that is going to be reflected in our working environment, in the economy, in how people behave generally.” he reason for Jones’ return to the U.S. in 2002 was more personal than professional. While living in London, he and Christina had two sons: Danny, now 14, and Liam, now 13. When Liam was 2, he was diagnosed with autism. The family visited the States for diagnostic work, and it became immediately evident to them that the levels of care, awareness and support in the U.S. were much higher than those in the U.K. “When Liam was diagnosed we were told that the levels of prevalence were about 5 in every 10,000 kids. That was 10 years ago, and today the best data suggests that it’s as high as one in every 54 boys. When there was this perception that it was a rare and isolated occurrence, it was very easy for public health and public education bureaucracies to resist having to do something about it. A lot of those bridges were crossed much earlier here in the U.S. For instance, New Jersey is about the best place in the world if you have a child with autism.” They moved back to the U.S. and settled in Ridgewood, NJ, and Jones credited Goldman Sachs with being “amazing in terms of facilitating the move, absolutely remarkable.” He soon became involved with Autism Speaks, the country’s largest autism advocacy and research organization, and has been a board member for many years. He also sits on the boards of the American Ireland Fund and the Galway University Foundation, and last year he worked with all three to address the lagging levels of autism awareness and quality of care in Ireland. “It’s very different in Ireland, and
T
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 45
IA.Adrian.rev6.qxd
9/14/12
5:02 PM
Page 46
ABOVE, left to right: Jones serving as the Guard of Honor for Taoiseach Charles Haughey at Dublin Airport in 1988; being awarded UN Service Medal by UN Force Commander Hagglund (Finland) in Tibnin, Lebanon on St. Patrick's Day, 1988. BELOW: Adrian with three of his Goldman Sachs colleagues and fellow Wall Street 50 honorees: Deirdre O’Connor, Tom Connolly and John Daly.
what’s happening over there in terms of cutbacks is exacerbating an already challenging situation,” he said. “We wanted to refresh the discussion.” On behalf of Autism Speaks, he went to the Ireland Fund, and they agreed to underwrite the event, which became Ireland’s first-ever international conference on autism. “Jim Browne, the president of NUIG, is outstanding and has very strong views on the university’s role in Irish life, particularly life in the west of Ireland, and Galway is developing a terrific program for autism therapists,” Jones praised. “As soon as I raised the idea he immediately volunteered to host the conference.” The conference drew close to 800 people over the course of two days, and is now slated to become an annual event. Jones’ hope is that it will “really move things forward and improve the quality of care for kids and their families in Ireland.” Dr. Browne commended Jones’ work with the university. “Adrian is a distinguished business leader and an important voice in the Irish diaspora, and we greatly value [his] commitment to serve on the US board of Galway University Foundation,” he said. “He has worked with us to establish the USNI Basketball Scholarship, which sees talented US students undertake graduate study in Galway. His role with the Business School led to the Executive MBA class visiting New York last June, where they participated in a range of executive education seminars at Fordham and Goldman Sachs. And through Adrian’s 46 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
interest in autism, NUI Galway hosted an inaugural international conference on autism in January 2012. . . The second International Conference on Autism will be held in June 2013, and we hope that this will become a major established conference, attracting leading academics and clinicians in search of strategies to help the
families of those living with autism.” In turn, Jones is very passionate about his alma mater, where some of his siblings and both of his parents have studied. Jones is not the only one in his family to achieve big things; in fact, all of his siblings are remarkably successful. His sister Deirdre is a top plastic surgeon in Galway, having completed fellowships at NYU and SloanKettering, specializing in post-cancer reconstructive surgery; Niall is a pediatric surgeon in Australia; Hugh and Eithne have their own businesses, in Dublin and Amsterdam respectively; Declan runs a
property management company as well as the family farm; and Adrian’s youngest brother, Conor, who has an MBA from MIT, heads up McKinsey & Company’s business in Ireland. Aside from what appears to be a family trait of determination and hard work, the credit lies with the examples his parents, Bunny and Pauline, set. “We were very fortunate to have two parents who were enthusiastic about education and encouraged us. I don’t think they necessarily pushed us – the focus was never really on grades – but they did emphasize the power of learning and knowledge,” Jones reflected. His father (who passed away in 1984) had left school at age 12 to work on the farm, but he provided a strong model for his children when, in his 40s, he returned to school at night and earned his diploma in social sciences at NUI Galway (Ireland’s current president, Michael D. Higgins, was one of his lecturers). Jones’ mother, a retired teacher, possesses that same curiosity and drive for learning. A few years ago, in her mid-70s, she returned to school and received a diploma in archaeology, also from Galway. This fall, she will begin a new course in history. espite living and raising a family in America, Jones still considers himself primarily Irish, and it’s the small but crucial things that he references in making that distinction. “I’ve lived almost half my life outside of Ireland, but I am definite-
D
IA.Adrian.rev6.qxd
9/14/12
5:02 PM
Page 47
ly Irish in terms of the teams I support, the sports I watch, what newspaper and websites I read first. I check out RTE and the Irish Times pretty much every day. I definitely read a lot of Irish literature, and my wife says I watch way too many dark Irish movies,” he said, laughing. “Not having played American sports, as a father you’re also kind of struck by the limitations of what you can do beyond coaching soccer, which I’ve done for several years.” He credits living on the East Coast, near the Irish hubs of New York and Boston, with allowing him to remain so close to his home country. “I think it is such a great place for an Irish person to live,” he enthused. “You’re not that far from Ireland and you have a great perspective from here. It gives you an appreciation of what’s special about Ireland, but you’re close enough that you can stay well informed and actually go back and stay involved.” Jones has stayed very involved. He returns to Ireland at least once a year to visit family, but his commitment spreads much wider than that due to his work with the American Ireland Fund and the Galway University Foundation. He has also been a strong participant in the Global Irish Network (GIN), attending the Global Irish Forum (GIF) at Dublin Castle in October 2011 and interim conferences and events in New York.
down by their government and by their public servants,” he said. “You had a classic credit bubble that was allowed to build to epic proportions. There was a tremendous amount of groupthink, and it became an extremely difficult environment for somebody to go against the grain. I think one of the challenges of a very small country, particularly a cohesive, homogenous, small country, is that it is very difficult to speak out, particularly when there are so many vested interests who are focused on keeping things moving in one particular direction. And, unfortunately, that’s what developed in Ireland.” He is supportive of Ireland’s current government and austerity measures, and believes that if people think the Obama administration inherited challenges, they should look at the Irish situation. When it comes to the government’s recent emphasis on reaching out to the Irish diaspora, however, Jones has some candid and important insights. He praised the Irish agencies abroad, commending how effective they have been at building relationships and getting the diaspora involved – long before it was even referred to as the diaspora. The problems he sees began around 2009, during the late stages of the financial crisis, when “official Ireland – not the agencies but Dublin, government and public sector – started groping around
focused mainly on the E.U., but, Jones believes, the vast majority of the diaspora who can be of help right now are in the U.S. and the U.K. “You have a challenge in that you’ve got public sector, Europeanfocused official Ireland trying to figure out how to engage with private sector, U.S.based ex-pats,” he explained. “And official Ireland seems to me a lot more focused on how to control them as distinct from how to leverage and enable.” He traced this pattern through a number of events over the past few years, from the response to Irish America’s publisher Niall O’Dowd’s suggestion that he might run for the Irish presidency, to a minister from the previous government asking a room full of high-powered members of the GIN to be “cheerleaders for Ireland” and denying that anything was wrong, a week before the country formally requested a bailout. The most surprising instance he mentioned was the offer made by Craig Barrett, the former chairman and CEO of Intel, to sit – without pay – on any state board in Ireland. “Any other institution in the world within 20 minutes would have signed him up, but Craig Barrett is still waiting to get a call from Dublin,” Jones said, his eyebrows slightly raised. “There’s a reason for that, and to me it comes down to the fact that Craig Barrett isn’t part of the Irish system, so he isn’t beholden to anybody. He’ll call
“I’d like to see a more prominent role for those running global businesses from Ireland in driving the GIN initiative. These leaders face savage international competition every day; they know what needs to change in Ireland, and they understand the power of networks. They’re also in the business of getting things done.” Sean Lane, a Wall Street 50 honoree who has come to know Jones through the NUI Galway network in New York, spoke to his remarkable commitment to and passion for Ireland. “Despite his ongoing incredibly successful career on Wall Street, he has remained distinctly down to earth and is very Irish in many ways. He somehow finds the time to stay involved with a number of charities and Irish causes. He is soft spoken, unassuming, and always willing to provide a quiet word of excellent advice when requested.” Jones admitted that it was very frustrating for him to watch the endgame of the Celtic Tiger play out from over here, particularly since he had a strong view that it had been largely avoidable, and that it had as much to do with attitudes as it did with actions. “Over the ten years leading up to 2008, 2009, Irish people were very badly let
the idea of the diaspora,” which resulted in the first Global Irish Forum, at Farmleigh. Jones was unable to attend the first GIF, but he has participated in every forum since, and has taken note of the underlying elements at play. “It’s an interesting idea, but it needs to be handled delicately because I think Irish people, generally, are a little wary of their emigrants,” he said. “Emigration is so much part of Irish life. We speak very well of people who go away and do well. But we don’t like when those people come back and tell us how we could do things better. As Richard Harris tells Tom Berenger in [the film version of] The Field, ‘Be a good Yank. Turn around. Go home.’ There’s an element of that in Irish life, and it’s very understandable.” The other issue Jones highlighted is a contrast in focus and approach. For decades now, by necessity, Ireland has
it the way he sees it. I think official Ireland is anxious about that.” Still, Jones is hopeful that the government will navigate a way to work with and enable the diaspora, that it will make use of the tremendous goodwill he saw from “a lot of very busy people” at the GIF in 2011. Jones is also realistic about what this would mean. He isn’t of the belief that there is anybody in the diaspora or the GIN who could provide a quick fix, change the rules under which Ireland is operating, or implement a brand new strategy. But he does think that the diaspora has the potential to do a great deal of good at the micro level. “There’s an opportunity to help shape future government policy and future regulation, to provide help in governance and oversight on state boards. They can contribute by helping the universities provide world-class education, by helping Irish entrepreneurs, by sitting on the OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 47
IA.Adrian.rev6.qxd
9/14/12
5:02 PM
Page 48
boards of Irish companies and helping them expand into markets like this, which are brutally competitive and need local expertise,” he offered. “They can work with new immigrants – and there are going to be a lot more immigrants – to assimilate. There are huge opportunities like that for the network, but there has to be accountability and follow through. “I’d like to see a more prominent role for those running global businesses from Ireland in driving the GIN initiative. These leaders face savage international competition every day; they know what needs to change in Ireland, and they understand the power of networks. They’re also in the business of getting things done.”
ABOVE: Jones, his sister Deirdre, and their mother Pauline at an NUI Galway dinner in New York City in November 2011. LEFT: Jones with his wife, Christina.
J
ones places a strong emphasis on education as the most important thing for Ireland right now. “The competitive dynamic in which Ireland is operating has changed enormously in the 20 years since I left. Other countries, particularly in Eastern Europe and Asia, have read the Irish playbook, and we need to constantly be able to reinvent ourselves and re-test assumptions that have worked in the past,” he explained. “Ultimately, Ireland will be competitive if we can continue to generate high caliber graduates who can do worldclass work, in Ireland or somewhere else.” His advice for young people in Ireland today is, essentially, to not take the opportunities that they have for granted. “It might seem easy for me to say this because I don’t live there,” he acknowledged, “but I would say that Ireland has seen much worse times than this. Ireland today is a much better place than the Ireland I grew up in, even with all of these challenges that it faces now, economically. And you, as a young person growing up in Ireland, are better equipped than almost any of your predecessors to acquit yourself well in the world.” Far from a ‘when I was your age…’ spiel, Jones’ advice is both refreshingly direct and optimistic. When he looks at Ireland, he sees the negatives and the financial challenges, and he appreciates their significance, but he also sees all of the positive changes that have developed since he left. “When I was growing up, there were two issues that dominated the news every day: Northern Ireland and the economy,” he recalled. “We had, nationally, very low self-confidence and we set low expectations for ourselves and for each other. There were still Irish jokes on British TV, emigration was really bad, and 48 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
grants’ perspectives to the discussion and getting to better answers.” From his vantage point here, with Ireland never too far away, Jones has certainly developed some ideas and opinions worth listening to. His success in finance, insights into Ireland’s problems, and his realistic views on how to tackle them mark him as a diaspora leader for Ireland at a time when leadership is badly needed.
J
it was a very difficult time for Irish emigrants in Britain because of Northern Ireland.” Now, he sees a country that is undeniably hurting but still full of opportunities his generation knew nothing of. “You have world-class employers and a work force that’s three times the size it was when I was a kid. You have peace in Northern Ireland and we have the best relations we’ve ever had with the British – and that matters. Notwithstanding what we’re dealing with right now, there’s a sense of confidence. A few years ago that confidence had crossed the line into smugness, and now it’s being tested again. But I think Irish people are going to stay a much more confident people as a result of the progress that has been made,” he added. When asked whether he would have the same take if he were still living in Ireland, Jones was quick to answer in the negative. “I actually don’t,” he said. “Because your perspective truly changes when you see things from a distance, and in many ways it’s a lot clearer. I suppose that’s the potential of the diaspora initiative; adding emi-
ones shared some words of advice that Goldman’s former CEO Hank Paulson gave him in 2004, when he called to tell Jones that he had been made a partner: “Be expansive in how you define your role.” “He probably said that to a lot of people that day, but it resonated with me and I’ve come back to think about it many times since,” he said, modestly. “It sounds simple, but there’s a lot to it. Inside organizations – be it business or any kind of institution – there is always the risk of allowing others to define and limit your role, to constrain what you can do. But the fact is, you have a vote in that as well. Certainly play by the rules and be a good citizen within the institution, but always look for a situation in which you can add more, do more. Be creative and thoughtful in terms of how you can expand beyond your defined tasks.” In the corporate world and beyond, that’s exactly what Jones does. IA Endnote: Jones dedicates this article to the memory of Mary Jo O’Sullivan, who passed away as the magazine was going to press. Mary Jo was one of the first women to graduate from the Irish Cadet School, and was greatly loved and admired by classmates and friends for her courage and generosity of spirit.
IA.cover final3.qxd
THE 15TH
9/14/12
4:34 PM
Page 49
Wall Street 50 CELEBRATING THE IRISH IN FINANCE
Adrian Jones KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Wall.St50.INTRO.qxd
9/14/12
4:51 PM
Page 50
IRISH AMERICA’S ANNUAL
WALL STREET
T 50 TWO THOUSAND AND TWELVE
Celebrating the Irish in the Financial Industry
his year, Irish America is proud to be celebrating fifteen wonderful years of the Wall Street 50, honoring the best and the brightest Irishborn and Irish-American leaders in finance. The endurance of the Wall Street 50 speaks to the continued success and advancement of the Irish within the financial industry. Our 2012 Keynote Speaker,Adrian Jones, managing director in Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking Division and co-head of its Americas Equity Business, embodies this achievement. After eight years of service in the Irish Army, he took a chance on a new country and a new career, and has consistently risen through the corporate ranks since joining Goldman in 1994. All the while, he has remained dedicated to his home country, demonstrating – as so many of the Wall Street 50 honorees do – not just what it means to be an immigrant, but what it is to be a member of the diaspora. The fifty honorees featured here represent an exceptional and diverse group of rising stars and Wall Street veterans, of new faces and longtime friends of Irish America, from as many different firms and sectors of the industry as the various counties in Ireland from which their ancestors came. Needless to say, their ancestors would be proud.
~ Mortas Cine ~
Ancestral Links: 4TH GENERATION AND BEYOND
14%
IRISH-BORN
28% 2ND GENERATION
28% 14%
1ST GENERATION
16% 3RD GENERATION 50 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
Education:
Top Counties of Origin:
MOST MENTIONED COLLEGES:
Cork Dublin Roscommon Mayo Tipperary
Boston College University of Pennsylvania New York University St. John’s University Trinity College Dublin
Capital | Strategy | Intelligence | Restructuring
Teneo congratulates
Adrian Jones and all of the
2012 Wall Street 50 honorees
BEIJING NEW YORK
Untitled-4 1
DUBAI
DUBLIN
SÃO PAULO
HONG KONG WASHINGTON D.C.
LONDON ZURICH
9/4/12 5:15 PM
Wall.St50.52-54.qxd
9/14/12
50
WALL STREET
6:20 PM
Page 52
“The values my parents and grandparents instilled in me during my early years have kept me grounded, curious, loyal, kind, compassionate and hard working.” – Colleen Casey, Angelo, Gordon & Co
Suzanne Curran Aquino UBS
James R. Boyle
Suzanne Curran Aquino is an executive director at UBS in the Supply and Demand Management Global Outsourcing and Offshoring Group, which is responsible for establishing and executing the bank’s sourcing strategy, identifying ways to improve performance and the effective transition of the bank’s outsourced portfolios. An expert in her field, she is a frequent guest speaker at many industry conferences. Suzanne was born in Belfast and holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Portobello College, Dublin. She is an active member of the UBS All Bar None Women’s Network, the UBS Cultural Awareness Network, the National Association of Professional Women and the Irish Business Organization. Suzanne – whose father and mother hail from counties Armagh and Tyrone, respectively – credits her Irish upbringing for her “strong work ethic, honesty, integrity and passion for challenges.” Having grown up overlooking what is now the Titanic Quarter,Suzanne is “extremely proud” of Belfast’s “best regeneration project.” She is married to Joseph Aquino.
John Hancock Financial Services
Michael Brewster
John Cannon
Credit Suisse Private Banking USA
Deutsche Bank
Michael Brewster, who joined Credit Suisse Private Banking USA as a managing director in 2008, has spent the past 18 years managing investments for high net worth and institutional clients. He began his career in ledger accounting at Bally’s Park Place and Casino Credit at Trump Castle Hotel Casino, and prior to joining Credit Suisse he worked at Lehman Brothers for 16 years. Born in Ireland, Michael graduated from Athlone Institute of Technology with a higher diploma in Management Finance and earned his B.S. from Thomas Edison State College. He is a member of Enterprise Ireland’s Advisory Council; serves on the board of the Irish International Business Network, and is chairman of “HAVEN” (USA), a charity set up in Ireland by Leslie and Carmel Buckley, focused on house building in Haiti. He is also on the U.S. board of University of Ireland, Galway. Michael, who was recognized in 2010 and 2011 as one of Barron’s Top 1,000 Advisors, lives in New York with his wife, Margaret. His father’s family come from Co. Fermanagh; his mother’s family, the Hegartys, hail from Co. Longford. 52
John Cannon is a managing director of the Equity Sales Trading Group at Deutsche Bank in New York. He covers institutional accounts and is responsible for the New York Equity Sales Trading Team at Deutsche Bank. John has worked on Wall Street as a sales trader for 22 years: two years at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette’s Pershing division, seven years at DLJ’s Autranet division and thirteen years at Credit Suisse. A proud first-generation Irish American born in New York to Carmel Kelly from Crinkle, Co. Offaly, and John Cannon from Roscommon and Mayo, John earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from St. Peters College in 1989.He is married to Dublinborn Barbara Reeves and is the proud father of three children, Lorcan, Saoirse and Blathnat.
James R. Boyle is president of John Hancock Financial Services, the U.S. division of Torontobased Manulife Financial Corporation. He is a member of Manulife’s Executive and Management committees and serves on the board of directors of John Hancock Trust and John Hancock Funds. Jim’s career began at Coopers & Lybrand; he went on to join Manulife in 1992. Before assuming the position of president in 2009, he was president of U.S. Insurance. Prior to that, he was president of U.S. Wealth Management. Based in Boston, Jim directs all phases of John Hancock’s operations. The company’s core businesses include: Life Insurance, Long-Term Care Insurance, Mutual Funds, 401(k) plans, Annuities, and John Hancock Financial Network. The John Hancock unit comprises one of the largest life insurers in the U.S. A fourth-generation Irish American whose paternal ancestors hail from Carlingford,Co. Louth, Jim received his B.S. in accounting from Boston College. He is a member of the American Ireland Fund.
Colleen Casey Angelo, Gordon & Co Colleen Casey joined Angelo, Gordon & Co. in 1998. She serves as managing director. In this position, she focuses on institutional client development and consultant relations. Prior to joining the firm, Colleen was a national sales manager for The St. Regis, Aspen, a Starwood Resort. Colleen was born in La Grange, Illinois, to John and Bridget (née Sullivan) Casey. She received a B.A. degree from Villanova University. A fifth generation Irish-American (she has Irish roots on both sides of her family), Colleen is grateful for her Irish heritage. “It has been the foundation for my personal and professional life,” she says. “The values my parents and grandparents instilled in me during my early years have kept me grounded, curious, loyal, kind, compassionate and hard working.”
WHAT IS investing in the community where we all live and work
WORTH? At U.S. Trust, we believe people are a vital part of a community’s worth. That’s why we’re proud to congratulate Irish America magazine’s 2012 Wall Street 50 honorees.
Comhghairdeas!
ustrust.com
U.S. Trust operates through Bank of America, N.A., and other subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation. Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC. © 2012 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. | ARR4V1S4 | AD-08-12-0364
1 AD-08-12-0364.indd Untitled-4 1
PM 3:40PM 8/13/12 9/4/12 5:23
Wall.St50.52-54.qxd
9/14/12
50
WALL STREET
6:22 PM
Page 54
“My mother named me Ryan Patrick after my grandfather. She taught me to be a God-fearing, loyal citizen who respects country and his fellow man.”
Mike Cavanagh J.P. Morgan Chase Mike Cavanagh is co-CEO of J.P. Morgan’s Corporate & Investment Bank, an industry leader in investment banking, trading markets and investor services such as cash management, clearing and prime brokerage. He is also a member of the firm’s Operating Committee and Executive Committee. Previously, Cavanagh was CEO of the firm’s Treasury & Securities Services division, which included businesses such as trade finance, cash management and transactional services. From 2004 to 2010, he was the CFO of J.P. Morgan Chase and part of the senior management team that steered the company through the peak of the financial crisis. Prior to the J.P. Morgan merger, Cavanagh held various roles between 2000 and 2004 at Bank One, including head of Strategy and Planning, treasurer, chief administrative officer of Commercial Banking and chief operating officer of Middle Market Banking. Before joining Bank One, he spent seven years with Citigroup and its predecessors. Cavanagh holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Yale University and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago. He lives in Westchester, New York with his wife and their three children.
– Ryan Fennelly TD Securities
Thomas Connolly
Tony Dalton
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Thomas G. Connolly is the global head of the Principal Debt Group within Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking Division. He oversees the leveraged loan and mezzanine investing strategies, which include GS Loan Partners and the GS Mezzanine Partners Family of Funds. Tom is also a member of the firm’s Partnership Committee. Tom began his career at Bankers Trust Company in 1990 and joined Goldman Sachs in 1996. He worked in High Yield Capital Markets in New York for two years before moving to London to serve as the head of European Leveraged Finance from 1998 – 2002. He was named managing director in 1999 and partner in 2004. A Bronx native, he earned a B.A. from Union College in 1989. His father, John, was born in County Monaghan and is the proprietor of the popular midtown Manhattan pub and restaurant, Connolly’s. His mother, Mary, hails from County Mayo. Married with three children, Tom also serves on several boards, including the board of Jumpstart, which promotes literacy and reading skills among underprivileged preschoolers.
Tony Dalton is managing director of FX Prime Brokerage at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York, a position he has held since 2010. The global FX Prime Brokerage business is dedicated to providing customized FX structures to institutional investors. Tony joined Bank of America in 2000 and has played a major role in successfully building FX Prime Brokerage businesses from the ground up, first at Barclays Bank in the mid 1990s, and subsequently at ABN AMRO in 1998. He began his career in financial services at MBIA. He was a senior advisor to the Foreign Exchange and Investments Markets Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as it developed Best Practice Recommendations for FX Prime Brokerage in 2005. Born in Dublin, Tony is a former member of the Irish Junior Olympic Basketball team. He holds a BS in economics and finance from Manhattanville College. He and his wife, Jeanette, have four children.
John Daly Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Terrence A. Duffy CME Group
John Daly is head of the Americas Equity Capital Markets Group. He joined Goldman Sachs’ Investment Banking Division in 1989, became a Managing Director in 1998 and a Partner in 2000. He has held various positions at Goldman Sachs, including responsibility for Energy and Power transactions in the Equity Capital Markets Group in New York, a threeyear period in Hong Kong as co-head of Capital Markets for Asia ex-Japan, and, subsequently, co-head of the Industrial and Natural Resources Financing Group in New York. Prior to attending business school he spent 4 years as an engineer at GE. John earned an MBA from Wharton, a BAI in engineering, and a B.A. in mathematics from Trinity College Dublin. He is a member of Trinity’s Foundation Board, the Trinity School of Business Advisory Board and the Financial Services Advisory Board of Enterprise Ireland. A Clontarf native, he lives in New York City with his wife, Norah, and their four children: Claire, Grace, Jack and Harry.
Terrence A. Duffy has been executive chairman and president of CME Group since 2012. Previously, he was executive chairman since 2007. He was chairman of the board of CME and CME Holdings since 2002 and executive chairman since 2006. He is vice chairman of the CME Group Foundation, serves on the board of directors of World Business Chicago, the board of trustees of Saint Xavier University, and the regional advisory board of The American Ireland Fund. He is also co-chair of the Mayo Clinic Greater Chicago Leadership Council. In 2002, Duffy was appointed by President Bush to serve on a National Saver Summit on Retirement Savings and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2003 to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. A third-generation Irish American, Duffy attended the University of WisconsinWhitewater. In 2007, he received a Doctor of Humane Letters from Chicago’s DePaul University.
54 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
IA.TourismSupp.REV.qxd
9/14/12
11:51 AM
Page 55
The Gathering Ireland 2013 is a yearlong celebration of everything unique and great about Ireland and its people. It is the unprecedented opportunity for Irish people or those with Irish links, both at home and abroad, to play their part in supporting renewal and to lay the foundations for a better future in Ireland.
Join in the many festivals, events and gatherings that fill the 2013 calendar, all focusing on Ireland’s vibrant, living culture and entrepreneurial spirit. This is the year of Irish Connections and it will be an action-packed celebration of a country steeped in history and natural beauty.
A special supplement to Irish America magazine in cooperation with Tourism Ireland.
IA.TourismSupp.REV.qxd
9/14/12
11:51 AM
Page 56
bepartof it The Gathering Ireland 2013 is a new and unparalleled initiative to bring together millions of the Irish Diaspora from around the world, and you’re invited! It is a call to the global Irish tribe to come home to Ireland in 2013 to be part of the largest family reunion in history. There are 70 million people worldwide who can claim Irish descent. But we know that Irishness is not only defined through territorial limits – there are millions more who simply connect with the richness of Irish culture and heritage and who are Irish at heart. So whatever your connection may be, whether you are Irish by birth or blood or just Irish in spirit, the land of One Hundred Thousand Welcomes can’t wait to welcome you to the place where it all began—Ireland.
Bring your family, friends, and colleagues and play your part in Ireland’s renewal. Now is the time to plan that family reunion, conference or get-together, because 2013 is Ireland’s yearlong party of a lifetime! This is your chance to connect not only with your own clan but also with a greater extended community to celebrate a shared love of all things Irish.
Whether your journey is to uncover your roots, renew your love for Ireland, or discover it for the first time, 2013 is the year to make it happen. Use our resources to track your own genealogy, tour around the towns and villages of your ancestors, take in the vibrant culture of the bustling cities, and explore beyond Top right: The colorful costumes city limits to the countryof the St. Patrick's sides that make Ireland a Day parade in Dublin. place of magic. Center:
Come take part in
Exploring a sweets shop in Kilkenny. Bottom: Croke Park, the heart of Irish sporting life for over one hundred years.
the year’s program of festivals and parades, from St. Patrick’s Festival in Dublin to the Galway Arts Festival in the West; discover the weathered wonders of an ancient land and take in the vast landscapes and natural beauty that have for centuries taken our breath away and inspired artistic and literary expression; escape to Ireland’s golf courses with your friends or business associates and learn why Ireland is truly the home of golf champions; and enjoy a pint and good times in the world’s friendliest Irish pubs.
The Gathering 2013 is the ultimate celebration of what it is to be Irish and what makes Ireland great. And with this line-up, you won’t want to miss it.
discoverireland.com/thegathering
IA.TourismSupp.REV.qxd
9/14/12
11:51 AM
Page 57
what to expect Throughout the year, Ireland will celebrate hundreds of gatherings, for music, arts, heritage and most of all–fun.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF TOURISM IRELAND
New Year’s Eve Dublin
Temple Bar Trad Fest
St. Patrick’s Festival in Dublin
DECEMBER 30, 2012
JANUARY 23, 2013
MARCH 15, 2013
Kick off the Gathering and 2013 in the nation’s humming capital. Dublin, home to Ireland’s bustling city life and a cultural hub of Europe, boasts of this three-day citywide festival to ring in the New Year with a little something for everyone.
Taking place in Ireland’s most legendary pub scene, the Temple Bar Trad Fest will be a five-day festival with the best of Irish traditional music. This spectacular fest brings Irish music to the setting we all love, the corner of a warm pub surrounded by friends.
Is there really anywhere better to spend St. Patrick’s Day than Ireland? The St. Patrick’s Festival in Dublin lights up the city with a barrage of colorful dancers, marchers and artists coming together to celebrate.
Cork International Choral Festival
All Ireland Fleadh in Londonderry
Galway Arts Festival
MAY 1, 2013
MAY 1, 2013
JULY 1, 2013
Hundreds of thousands will gather in Cork City for the annual Cork International Choral Festival. A celebration of music for singers and audiences, choirs from around the world come together for a series of concerts and competition to showcase the best choral talents.
A trad music fan’s dream, the All Ireland Fleadh is a gathering of the best musicians in the world. 2013 will be an unparalleled time for this “feast of music,” complete with concerts and street seisuins and all the craic that comes with them!
One of the most legendary arts festivals in Europe, over 150,000 people flock to Galway every year to see over 150 performances and festivities promoting the arts from every corner of Ireland. Turning the city into a big carnival, this is a gathering to top them all.
Untitled-2 1
169132_1Schweitz_v2.indd 1
9/6/12 1:50 PM
8/29/12 2:06 PM
Wall.St50.59-62.qxd
9/14/12
6:25 PM
Page 59
50
“I loved hearing stories of my Irish ancestors and their challenges. It motivated me to be the best person I can be.”
WALL STREET
– Jennifer Fitzgibbon, Royal Bank of Scotland
Mary Callahan Erdoes
Ryan Fennelly TD Securities (USA) LLC
J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Ryan Fennelly is a director of U.S. Rates on the U.S. Treasury Trading Desk at TD Securities. The Toronto Dominion bank is the second largest bank in Canada by market capitalization and based on assets. It is also the sixth largest bank branch network in North America. Born and raised in New York, Ryan is a graduate of Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in applied economics and business management. Ryan was previously the head U.S. agency trader at RBC Capital Markets. Ryan, whose maternal grandparents came from Kerry and whose father’s grandparents emigrated from Kilkenny, is an avid golfer and makes annual trips to the Emerald Isle. He appreciates his Irish heritage and uses it to instill hard work and discipline in everyday life. He says, “I can remember my grandmother, who was proud to be an Irish Catholic. My mother named me Ryan Patrick after my grandfather. She taught me to be a God-fearing, loyal citizen who respects country and his fellow man.” Ryan and his wife, Helen, live with their three children in Rockville Centre, New York.
Mary Callahan Erdoes is CEO of J.P. Morgan’s Asset Management division, a global leader in investment management and private banking with more than $2.0 trillion in assets under supervision. Prior to being named CEO in 2009, she held a number of senior management positions, including CEO of the Private Bank, and chairman and CEO of Global Wealth Management. She joined J.P. Morgan in 1996 from Meredith, Martin & Kaye. A graduate of Georgetown University (B.S.) and Harvard Business School (MBA), Mary was recognized by Forbes and Fortune magazines for their “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” and “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” lists, respectively. An Illinois native, she is a fourth-generation Irish American. Her greatgrandparents emigrated from Co. Cork on her father’s side and Co. Tipperary on her mother’s. She lives in New York City with her husband and three daughters.
Mark R. Fetting Legg Mason & Co., Inc. Mark R. Fetting is chairman and CEO of Legg Mason & Co., Inc., a global asset management firm. He also serves on the board of governors of the Investment Company Institute (the national association of investment companies) and was a presidential appointee to the White House Summit on Retirement Security. Born in Baltimore to John and Mary Fetting, Mark holds a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School of Business and an MBA from Harvard University. He serves on the boards of Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School and of Mercy Hospital. He is a member of the Hibernian Society of Baltimore. Mark and his wife, Georgia Smith, have three children. For ten years, the couple ran Camp Brightside, an outdoor program for urban at-risk children. Mark is a fourth-generation Irish American with roots in Cork and Roscommon. Of his heritage, he says, “I am driven by my Irish roots. My ancestors, who came here during the Famine, lived lives centered on faith, family, and profession. I carry their heritage with pride.”
Jennifer Fitzgibbon Royal Bank of Scotland Jennifer Fitzgibbon is managing director and the Americas treasurer for the Markets and International Banking Division of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). She is also the Americas co-chair of Compass, the M&IB internal women’s network, and was instrumental in the development of the group’s regional presence. Previously, she held positions in Treasury, Finance and Risk Management at Barclay’s Capital, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and HVB. Jennifer holds an MBA in finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University. She also earned B.S. degrees in mechanical engineering and psychology from Old Dominion University. Prior to her career in banking, she was an aerospace design engineer for The Boeing Defense and Space Group. A fourth-generation Irish American with paternal roots in Limerick, Jennifer is proud of her heritage. “As a child,” she says, “I loved hearing stories of my Irish ancestors and their challenges. It motivated me to be the best person I can be.”
Anne M. Finucane Bank of America Anne M. Finucane is Global Strategy and Marketing officer at Bank of America and is also a member of the company’s executive management team. She oversees public policy, government affairs, consumer policy, corporate social responsibility, communications, marketing, and directs the largest community development and investment goal ever established by a U.S. financial institution ($1.5 trillion over 10 years). In addition, she oversees a 10-year, $2 billion philanthropic goal through the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, one of the largest corporate philanthropic organizations in the world. Listed on American Banker’s 2012 list of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking, Anne is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on numerous boards including the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Partners Healthcare, and the American Ireland Fund. She has roots in Co. Cork on both sides of her family, most notably through her grandfather, Michael Finucane, who came to the United States as a young boy.
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 59
Wall.St50.59-62.qxd
9/14/12
6:30 PM
50
Page 60
“My Irish heritage provides me with a solid foundation built on family, hard work, community, faith, and friendship.”
WALL STREET
– Bob Garrett, KPMG, LLP
Bob Garrett KPMG, LLP
Paul Geaney Avolon Aerospace
Bob Garrett serves as the New York office managing partner for KPMG. He is responsible for overseeing the delivery of high-quality client service, driving cross-functional quality growth efforts, attracting and retaining key resources, and representing KPMG in the New York marketplace and community. He has over 25 years of client service experience within the financial services industry and has served many of KPMG’s largest financial services. Bob is a member of several organizations including the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the Cardinal’s Committee for Charity, the American Ireland Fund and the KPMG NY Foundation. Bob is a second-generation Irish American with roots in County Mayo on his father’s side. Of his Irish ancestry he says, “My Irish heritage provides me with a solid foundation on how I choose to live my life. A foundation built on family, hard work, community, faith, and friendship.” Bob lives in New Jersey with his wife, Trina, and their two children, Robert and Alexandra.
Paul Geaney is head of Americas for Avolon Aerospace, an Irish headquartered commercial aircraft leasing company. Formed in 2010 and backed by a number of large investors including the government of Singapore, Avolon now has a fleet of over 160 aircraft and committed capital in excess of $4.5bn. In addition to Paul’s overall responsibility for the Americas region, he is also a member of the company’s portfolio and risk committees. Paul began his career in investment banking with Merrill Lynch in both New York and London before becoming part of the team that turned RBS Aviation Capital into one of the world’s largest aircraft finance companies with a $13bn portfolio. Paul then created and ran the bank’s international business jet finance division. He left RBS to join private equity company Claret Capital, returning to the US in 2008 to establish the company’s US operations. Born and raised in Dublin, Paul’s grandparents hailed from Cork, Kerry, Wexford and Down. He now lives in New York with his wife, Lynne, and their four young children.
William Gillen
Matt Gorman
Eaton Vance Investment Counsel
Credit Suisse
William M. Gillen is vice president of Eaton Vance Investment Counsel, where he is responsible for business development, marketing, and selective client advisory relationships. EVIC provides investment counsel services and custom wealth management solutions to high net worth individuals and families, trusts, charitable organizations, and institutions. Prior to joining Investment Counsel, Bill was a senior vice president for Eaton Vance Distributors. A trustee of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Bill also serves his local community as the president of the North Andover Scholarship foundation and sits on the board of North Andover Youth and Recreation Services. Bill received a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell; he is also a certified financial planner and certified investment manager analyst. He and Lynn, his wife of 25 years, have three children: Kelsey, Brooke and Hayley. Bill is a third-generation Irish American with roots in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary on his mother’s side.
Matt W. Gorman is a managing director of Credit Suisse and New York regional office manager of Private Banking USA. He joined Credit Suisse First Boston in 2000 when the firm merged with Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette, where he was a producing manager and a recipient of the Super Achiever Award in 1999. Prior to joining DLJ in 1994, he worked for Kidder Peabody in Private Client Services. He graduated from Princeton in 1978 with a B.A. in economics, and spent two years working in public accounting with PriceWaterhouse prior to attending the Wharton Business School for his MBA. Matt is a third-generation Irish American. His paternal great grandfather, William Gorman, emigrated from Co. Clare in 1855 when he was 18 years old, and settled in Connecticut. Matt’s maternal ancestors, the Moroneys, emigrated in 1842 and settled outside of Cleveland, Ohio. He and his wife of 30 years, Lorri, live in Pelham Manor, New York. They have five children and two dogs.
60 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
Kathleen Hughes Goldman, Sachs & Co. Kathleen Hughes is the managing director and head of the Global Liquidity Sales team in Goldman Sachs Asset Management. She joined the firm as a managing director in September 2010, having previously worked with J.P. Morgan Asset Management, where she was head of global liquidity sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Kathleen, who serves on the board of directors of the Institutional Money Market Funds Association (IMMFA), was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Finance by Treasury and Risk magazine in 2011. She earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Richmond in 1989. A second-generation Irish American, Kathleen obtained her Irish citizenship in 2005. Her ancestors hail from Belfast on her father Edward’s side, and from Castletownbere, Co. Cork on her mother Patricia’s side. For Kathleen, her Irish heritage means family. “I visited my family in Ireland as a young girl. Now I have the opportunity to do business in Ireland, and it still feels like family, wherever I am in Ireland.” Kathleen is married to Bruce Bettencourt and has two step sons, Julien and Alexandre.
Untitled-4 1
9/4/12 4:48 PM
Wall.St50.59-62.qxd
9/14/12
6:32 PM
50
Page 62
“[At an early age] I gained a true appreciation for the world famous warmth and incredible wit of the Irish people.”
WALL STREET
– Sean Kilduff, UBS Private Wealth Management
Joseph Jordan
Denis Kelleher
MetLife
Wall Street Access
Joe Jordan is senior vice president of MetLife, responsible for Behavioral Finance Strategies. He is a financial services industry veteran, known for his speeches and advocacy programs that inspire financial professionals. The American College recently published his book, Living a Life of Significance, which chronicles his life experiences and his passion for helping others achieve financial security. It has been translated into several languages, and Joe was also recently featured on the cover of Life Insurance Magazine as part of their industry legend series. Joe is a graduate of Fordham University where he is a member of the Athletic Hall of Fame for his achievements in football. The Jordan family motto is “Percussus Resurgo” which means “When stricken I will rise again” and Joe, whose roots are in Court Town Harbor, Co. Wexford on his father’s side, says, “I have always felt that this was a great motto to live by and to apply to my personal challenges.” Joe, his wife, Geraldine, and their two children live in New York City.
Denis Kelleher is founder and CEO of Wall Street Access, which combines an independent, entrepreneurial culture with a powerful platform to build and operate a diverse set of successful financial services businesses. He began his career in 1958 as a messenger with Merrill Lynch, where he rose through the company ranks until 1969 when he founded Ruane Cunniff and its Sequoia Fund. In 1981 he founded Wall Street Access. A native of County Kerry, Ireland, he is a graduate of St. John’s University, where he served on the board of trustees. He is director of the New Ireland Fund, a member of the board of trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a member of the Staten Island Foundation. In 2005, Denis was Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City. He received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and was inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame. He lives on Staten Island with his wife, Carol. They have three children and eight grandchildren.
Sean Kilduff UBS Private Wealth Management As senior vice president of Investments at UBS Private Wealth Management, Sean focuses on managing risk and delivering objective based solutions to high net worth individuals and families. He serves as a senior portfolio manager in the Portfolio Management Program concentrating on developing customized investment strategies that utilize strategic and tactical allocations. Born and raised in New York, Sean is a graduate of St. John's University with a B.S. in Finance. He began his career at Lehman Brothers and spent nine years at Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management before moving his team and practice to UBS Private Wealth Management. Sean's mother was born and raised in Dublin and his father is from Westmeath. He notes, “Having visited my grandmother in Dublin often, Ireland became a big part of my life from and early age. As a result, I gained a true appreciation for the world famous warmth and incredible wit of the Irish people.” Sean lives in Rockville Centre, New York with his wife, Jean, and their four children. 62 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
Shaun Kelly KPMG, LLP Shaun Kelly is vice chair – operations for KPMG LLP, responsible for the execution of the firm’s financial plan. In October 2010 he was appointed chief operating officer, Americas. In this position, he works with the leaders of the KPMG International member firms to align their respective strategies, structure and plans. A native of Belfast, Shaun joined KPMG International’s Irish member firm in Dublin in 1980 and transferred to the U.S. San Francisco office in 1984. He was admitted to the U.S. partnership in 1999. He earned a bachelor of commerce, first class honors from University College, Dublin and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and a certified public accountant. He is treasurer and member of the executive committee of Students in Free Enterprise, co-chair of KPMG’s Disabilities Network, and a member of KPMG’s Diversity Advisory Board. Shaun lives in Connecticut with his wife, Mary, who is from Donegal, and their four children.
Barbara G. Koster Prudential Financial, Inc. Barbara G. Koster is senior vice president and chief information officer for Prudential Financial, Inc,. head of Global Business and Technology Solutions and a member of Prudential’s Senior Management Committee. In addition, she is chairman of the boards of Pramerica Systems Ireland, Ltd., a subsidiary of Prudential Financial, Inc. In 2011, NJ Biz newspaper named Koster one of the “Fifty Best Women in Business.” She was named CIO of the Year in 2008 by the Executive Council and listed among the top Executive Women of New Jersey. Koster received the 1999 Women in Science and Technology award from the Smithsonian Institute and she serves on the boards of trustees of Liberty Science Center in New Jersey and St. Francis College. She also is a member of Executive Women in NJ and Research Board, an international think tank. A third-generation Irish American with roots in Cork and Tipperary, Koster has a BS in business administration and an Associate of Science degree in computer technology from St. Francis College. Barbara and her husband, Robert, have two daughters, Kathryn and Diana.
NFP is honored to congratulate Anne Long, president of NFP Life, on being recognized in Irish America magazine’s 2012 Wall Street 50! We are proud of Anne and all of this year’s honorees.
Untitled-4 1
9/4/12 5:03 PM
Wall.St50.64-75.qxd
9/14/12
6:34 PM
50
Page 64
“What my Irish heritage means to me is to live with optimism and to see the possibilities, not the obstacles!”
WALL STREET
– Annemarie V. Long, NFP
Sean M. Lane U.S.Trust, Bank of America
Joan Lavin Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts
Sean Lane is a senior vice president and private bank team leader at U.S. Trust, Bank of America. He is responsible for growing and managing client relationships and identifying, formulating and delivering wealth management solutions to high-net-worth individuals, families, and non-profit clients. Prior to joining U.S. Trust, he held a number of senior positions at major financial institutions including head of U.S. Private Banking at Bank Hapoalim, director of Wealth Management at HSBC, and director of Philanthropic Business at Deutsche Private Bank. Sean holds an honors post-graduate diploma in business and a B.A. in French and English literature from the National University of Ireland, Galway, and is a board member of the University’s foundation. He holds both the Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Financial Planner designations. A first-generation Irish American born in New York, Sean is a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the AOH, and the American Ireland Fund. He also holds a blackbelt in Judo. His mother hailed from Co. Mayo; his father from Galway. Sean lives in Garden City, N.Y. with his wife, Cielo, and their two children, Sarah and Ryan.
Joan Lavin is the chief learning officer for Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts. She is responsible for the professional development of KKR executives over the course of their careers, and enhancing capabilities within the firm to address expanding leadership demands. From 2006 – 2009, Joan owned an executive coaching practice in Europe. Prior to that she served as Vice President of the Goldman Sachs Pine Street Executive Leadership Development Group in New York. Joan was born in Sligo, Ireland, to parents Patrick and Joan (née O’Shea). Before moving to New York, she worked for Guinness Brewing Intl. in London. A graduate of Baruch College, where she earned a B.A. in psychology, Joan is a member of the Irish Network – NYC. She is a Linkage Incorporated certified executive coach, and is a qualified practitioner of the Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator and the 16PF behavioral instrument. She says, “Given that my career to date has demanded much global travel, I am proud to be Irish – a well respected and embraced heritage around the world.” Joan and her husband, Philip, live in Westchester County, New York, with their three daughters.
Ann Mulcahy Limberg U.S.Trust,
John Manley Wells Fargo Advantage Funds
Bank of America Ann Mulcahy Limberg is managing director and Northeast division executive for U.S. Trust. She oversees the wealth management business, delivering investment management, wealth structuring, trust estate and philanthropic planning, custom credit and cash management solutions to high and ultra net worth individuals and families. A graduate of SUNY Stony Brook, Ann began her career at NatWest and Citibank, where she held senior leadership positions. In 1996, she joined Fleet and went on to join Bank of America when it merged with Fleet in 2004. She served as New Jersey state president for BAC and as U.S. Trust regional executive for NJ, PA and DE. Her numerous honors include United Way’s Women United in Philanthropy Award and NJBIZ’s Top 25 Women of Influence. A third-generation Irish American with ties to Cork and Tipperary on her father’s side, Ann appreciates Irish culture for its “salt of the earth values, steeped in family, laughter, and history.” She and her husband, Thomas, have a daughter, Kerry.
Annemarie V. Long NFP Annemarie Long is president of NFP Life, a financial services distribution company based in Austin, Texas. Anne is a nationally recognized business strategist, specializing in revenue growth strategies for the distribution of insurance and financial services products. Prior to NFP, Anne worked for Merrill Lynch and John Hancock (formerly Manulife Financial). Anne attended Temple University where she earned a B.A. in political science and her master’s in public administration. Born in Philadelphia to an Irish woman from Co. Carlow, Anne was adopted by Larry and Bonnie Long, who helped foster a love of her Irish heritage. She says, “What my Irish heritage means to me is to live with optimism and to see the possibilities, not the obstacles! Just as my birth mother came to this country in search of more opportunities and had to overcome adversity, I too always look for what is possible in life.” Anne is a strong supporter of The Women’s Sports Foundation, Meals on Wheels and Safeplace, a shelter for women and children. She lives in Austin, TX, and is a member of the Austin Celtic Association.
64 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
John Manley, chief equity strategist at Wells Fargo Advantage Funds, has over 30 years of investment experience. John grew up in Scranton, P.A. and earned a B.A. in history from Stanford University. He went on to Boston College Law School, from which he graduated in 1979. John spent the first part of his career with Smith Barney and its successor firms, where he took on roles including chief quantitative strategist, and was voted “Most Popular Analyst” in the Smith Barney Financial Advisor poll for several years running. John, who has served on the Board of Directors at Iona Prep, is a third generation IrishAmerican. His father, John, and mother, Marjorie (née Hetherson), both had roots in County Mayo. He says his Irish heritage “made me a better American. My ancestors came here for a better life; all of us have worked to achieve it.” He and his wife, Victoria, have two sons.
T:7 in
Prudential is proud that Barbara Koster, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Prudential, has been named one of
PROOF#: 1 OPERATOR: PS
DATE: 7/25/12 -
10:24 AM JOB#: MIXB-A4099 DESC: Irish America PUB: Wall Street 50 PUBDATE: 9-2012
IrIsh AmerIcA mAgAzIne’s 2012 WAll street 50! We congrAtulAte BArBArA And All of thIs yeAr’s honorees.
LIVE: TRIM: 7x9.875 BLEED: GUTTER: GCD: CD: AD: CW: AE: TRAFFIC: PROOF:
T:9.875 in
© 2011. Prudential, the Prudential logo and the rock symbol are service marks of Prudential financial, Inc. and its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Prudential is an equal opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and is committed to diversity in its workforce. 0205991-00001-00
Untitled-4 1
MB _IrishAmerica WS50_7x9.875.indd 1
9/4/12 5:10 PM
7/25/12 12:13 PM
Wall.St50.64-75.qxd
9/14/12
50
WALL STREET
6:38 PM
Page 66
“Loyalty to friends and family are always at the heart of the Irish tradition.” – Rosemary McDuffee, Bank of America
Robert J. McCann UBS Group Americas
Rosemary McDuffee Bank of America
Bob McCann is the CEO of UBS Group Americas and Wealth Management Americas. He is also a member of the Group Executive Board of UBS AG. Bob leads a workforce of over 22,000 people across the region and is responsible for executing a cross-divisional strategy to fully integrate UBS’s platform for the benefit of individuals, corporations, institutions and governments. Bob is involved in several charitable organizations, with a focus on those fostering education. He serves on the Executive Committee of the board of directors of the American Ireland Fund, is vice chairman of the board of trustees of Bethany College, and is a member of the board of trustees of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. He also serves on the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy and is a member of the President’s Circle of No Greater Sacrifice. A third-generation Irish American with roots in Co. Armagh, Bob received his B.A. in economics from Bethany College and an MBA from Texas Christian University. He is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Ireland. Bob and his wife, Cindy, have two daughters: Meredith, who lives in New York, and Madeline, a senior at Bucknell University.
Rosemary McDuffee is currently a director and head of Alternative Investments Distribution for U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. Prior to joining the team in 2006, Rosemary was a vice president within Bank of America Securities’ Debt Capital Markets group, responsible for origination, structuring and syndication of multi-million-dollar corporate debt financings. She has earned both the CFA and CAIA professional designations. A first-generation Irish American on both sides, Rosemary earned an MBA in finance and accounting from NYU’s Stern School of Business and a B.S. in economics from Binghamton University. Rosemary’s parents, who came to the U.S. from counties Meath and Roscommon “built their lives on the principles of hard work and perseverance. They instilled in their children the importance of education and service to others. Loyalty to friends and family are always at the heart of the Irish tradition.” Rosemary and her husband, Bill, proudly pass on these values to their daughter, Madelyn, who was born on St. Patrick’s Day.
Thomas E. McInerney Bluff Point Associates Corporation Thomas E. McInerney is the CEO of Bluff Point Associates, a private equity firm based in Westport, Connecticut. Prior to Bluff Point, Tom worked as a general partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, as president and CEO of Momentum Technologies Inc., as president of Automatic Data Processing’s (ADP) Brokerage Services Division and as group vice president of ADP’s Financial Industry Services. He also cofounded and served as president and CEO of Dama Telecommunications Corp. A graduate of St. John’s University with a B.A. in literature, Tom attended New York University Graduate School of Business and began his career at the American Stock Exchange, serving as senior vice president Operations and Technology. He is on the board of trustees at St. John’s University, and in 2001, St. John’s awarded him an honorary doctorate of commercial science. He also received the University Gold Medal, St. John’s highest alumnus award. Tom is a board member for the Institute for Catholic Schools and is on the board of IrishCentral. A second-generation Irish American with roots in Clare and Cork, he believes that “the contributions that Ireland has made to the world are astounding for a nation of about four million people.” He and his wife, Paula, have five children. 66 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
Brian Moynihan
Conor Murphy
Bank of America Corp.
MetLife
Brian T. Moynihan is the chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Bank of America, one of the world’s largest financial institutions. Bank of America serves people, companies and institutional investors with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. Brian joined Bank of America in 2004 following the company’s merger with FleetBoston Financial and became CEO on January 1, 2010. He is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Notre Dame Law School. In 2010, he was elected a trustee of the Corporation of Brown University. A fourth-generation Irish American whose ancestors emigrated from Ireland to upstate New York in the 1850s, in a 2009 interview with Irish America he said, “There’s no sense of entitlement, no sense of placement – you’ve got to go out and work hard to get there…I think that’s deeply embedded in the culture of the Irish.” In May, Brian received the American Ireland Fund’s Leslie C. Quick Junior Leadership Award.
In 2012, Conor Murphy was named senior vice president and CFO of MetLife’s Latin American Operations. MetLife is the largest life insurance company in Latin America. He was concurrently named CFO of MetLife’s new PanAmericas Direct Marketing division. Conor joined MetLife in 2000, where he has had 12 bosses in 12 years. He previously spent seven years with PricewaterhouseCoopers, in New York. Prior to PwC, he spent five years with Grant Thornton in Dublin, Ireland. Conor is a founding trustee of Cristo Rey New York High School in Harlem and a past president of the Association of Chartered Accountants in the U.S. He is a member of the Massachusetts Society of CPAs and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. Conor is a native of Donegal, where the third generation of Murphys still runs the family store, Murphy of Ireland. He lives in New York with his wife, Ani, and sons, Jack and Aidan.
proudly congratulates
Paul O’Reilly-Hyland CEO and Managing Partner
and all of the 2012 Wall Street 50 honorees
ON12_Ounavarra.indd 1
9/14/12 5:42 PM
Wall.St50.64-75.qxd
9/14/12
7:20 PM
Page 68
50
“It binds me to a history and people with a deep devotion to God, family and country.”
WALL STREET
– Daniel Murphy, Scotiabank
Daniel Murphy Scotiabank
Kathleen Murphy
Dan Murphy, managing director, Scotiabank, has a Wall Street career spanning over 30 years. He is a member of Scotia Capital USA, Inc.’s board of directors and is responsible for strategy and business execution for the Global Equity business. Prior to joining Scotiabank, he was the chief operating officer at Wachovia Global Securities and Lending. From 1985 to 1999, Dan worked for the Merrill Lynch group of companies and held various senior management positions. Dan earned his B.S. in finance from Manhattan College and his MBA from Pace University. A secondgeneration Irish-American with ties to counties Kerry and Waterford, Dan lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey with his wife, Deirdre, and their three children, Ryan, Kellyann and Mackenzie. Of his Irish heritage, Dan says: “It forms the foundation of much of who I am. It binds me to a history and people with a deep devotion to God, family and country.” Both he and Deirdre are active supporters of Table to Table, a community based organization dedicated to connecting excess food supplies with people in need. Dan and his family are also involved with the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.
Fidelity Investments Kathleen Murphy is president of Personal Investing, a unit of Fidelity Investments – the largest mutual fund company in the U.S., the largest retail brokerage company and the number one provider of workplace retirement savings plans. Kathy assumed her current position in January 2009. Her business serves nearly 13 million accounts and she is responsible for over one trillion dollars in assets. Prior to joining Fidelity, Kathy was CEO of ING U.S. Wealth Management. She received her B.A. summa cum laude from Fairfield University and earned her J.D. with highest honors from the University of Connecticut. Fortune magazine named her one of the top 50 women in American business. Kathy serves on several boards, including America’s Promise, the Smurfit School of Business at University College Dublin, and the Securities, Investment and Financial Markets Association. Kathy’s father’s family is from Cork and her mother’s is from Kerry. A third-generation Irish American, she is married with one son.
congratulates the 2012 Wall Street 50 honorees
ConsulCapital is an international merchant banking firm with a special focus on Iraq. The firm operates from Baghdad, and New York, providing strategic advisory services to medium and large enterprises pursuing or conducting business in Iraq using its on-the-ground expertise, understanding of government decision-making and strong commercial and political network. The firm acts as lead investor in select transactions.
W W W. C O N S U L C A P I T A L . C O M
68 IRISH AMERICA JUNE / JULY 2008
Wall.St50.64-75.qxd
9/14/12
7:20 PM
Page 69
Orla Nallen
John Nidds Citi
BNY Mellon
John Nidds is a Director of Cash Equities for Citi. As a senior producer, he covers institutions and hedge funds on behalf of Citi, and is based in New York.. John has been a Citi employee for 18 years, and is heavily involved in recruiting. He runs the Boston College recruiting group for sales and trading. John himself attended Boston College, graduating in 1989 with a B.A. in economics. He grew up in Huntington, New York to two parents of Irish descent. His father, John (Jack), has roots in County Monaghan, while his mother, Ellen Catherine (née Fenlon), is a first generation Irish American whose mother hailed from Dunganstown, New Ross, County Wexford. Her father was born and raised in Newtown, Co. Carlow. John and his wife, Amy, have three children: Jack, Colin, and Catherine. He credits his Irish heritage with “truly helping me understand who I am.”
Orla Nallen is managing director of BNY Mellon’s Alternative Services Business. Prior to her current position she worked as head of the bank’s Hedge Fund Corporate Banking Group. Orla began her career in the Securities Industry Banking Division and spent two years in the International Division. A native of Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, Orla attended the Shannon College of Hotel Management and Cornell University’s Executive Program. She joined BNY Mellon while completing her MBA at Northeastern University. She is a member of the Woman’s Bond Club and is on the Steering Committee for the Bank’s Women’s Initiative. Orla coauthored “The Hedge Fund of Tomorrow: Building an Enduring Firm” with Casey, Quirk and Associates. Orla and her husband, Peter Sweeney, have two children, Breanna and Aidan. She has roots in Offaly on her father’s side and in Waterford on her mother’s side.
Declan O’Beirne John Hancock Declan O’Beirne is vice president and CFO of John Hancock’s broker/dealers in the U.S., including Signator Investors, Inc., John Hancock Funds LLC, and John Hancock Distributors LLC. In addition, he serves as the CFO of two of John Hancock’s distribution companies: Signator Insurance Agency, Inc. and John Hancock Financial Network. Prior to joining John Hancock, Declan was CFO of GunnAllen Holdings, Inc. and also held the posts of executive vice president and CFO of GunnAllen Financial, Inc. A graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Declan holds a B.S. degree in Accounting and has a FINRA Series 27 license. Born in Ireland, he now resides in Tampa, Florida with his wife, Leighanne, and two children, Colin and Ciara. Declan notes, “I am proud of my Irish heritage. It gives me a profound connection to a wonderful people and dynamic culture, and it is something I cherish sharing with my children and family.”
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 69
Wall.St50.64-75.qxd
9/14/12
6:53 PM
50
WALL STREET
Page 70
“Being Irish is being part of a proud people of faith, courage, and humility.” – William O’Mara, KPMG LLP
Deirdre O’Connor Goldman, Sachs & Co.
James O’Donnell Citi
Deirdre O’Connor is a managing director in the Investment Management Division (IMD) at Goldman Sachs. She is the controller of Goldman Sachs Investment Strategies, including Goldman Sachs Investment Partners hedge fund and private equity funds. Deirdre is a member of the Goldman Sachs Asset Management valuation committee and is co-chair of Finance Women’s Network at Goldman. She is also a fellow at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Deirdre was born in Cobh, Co. Cork and studied accounting at the Cork Institute of Technology. She is a board member of the Women’s Initiative for self employment and is an advisory board member for GOAL USA. She lives in New York City with her husband, Feargall, and their three children, Cliona, Colin and Ava. Deirdre says that she is “extremely proud” of her Irish heritage, and calls it “the foundation for how I approach life and work. Key values engrained in the Irish culture are hard work, building long term relationships, and sharing lessons learned with the next generation.”
James O’Donnell is a managing director and global head of investor sales and relationships at Citi. He joined Citi in 1999 and served as head of U.S. equities for four years. Afterwards, he was cohead of global investor sales, and was appointed to his current position in 2008. He is responsible for the distribution of Global Markets products to Citi’s Equities, Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities clients. Prior to joining Citi, Jim was president and CEO of HSBC Securities Inc. in New York. His responsibilities included all equity, debt, futures and investment banking operations for HSBC in the U.S. He was also CEO of HSBC James Cape, HSBC’s global equity business. Before his tenure at HSBC, Jim was president and CEO of NatWest Securities in the U.S. He also held various roles at Drexel Burnham Lambert. Jim received his B.A. in comparative religion from Princeton. He is second-generation Irish American, with his father’s family hailing from Dublin and his mother’s from Galway. Jim credits his Irish heritage, along with his family and his faith, as being the foundation of his life.
William O’Mara
Timothy Ryan
KPMG, LLP
PwC
William J. O’Mara is a senior audit partner with KPMG. His over 30 years of experience include SEC reporting; mergers, acquisitions and divestures; reorganizations and restructuring; and other technical and reporting matters. Bill completed two rotations in KPMG’s national office Department of Professional Practice: once as a senior manager and later as a partner. He is a member of the Board of Directors of KPMG LLP and KPMG Americas. Bill earned a B.S. in business administration from Monmouth University. He is a licensed CPA in New York, New Jersey and CT, and is a member of the AICPA. He was the director of Corporate Audit for a Fortune 100 multinational industrial company, and the Senior VP of Acquisitions and CFO for a large international finance company. Bill is a fourth-generation Irish American, with roots in Tipperary on his father’s side. He says his Irish heritage means, “Being part of a proud people of faith, courage, and humility.” He and his wife, Linda, have three grown children and live in New Jersey.
Tim Ryan is vice chairman and the leader of PricewaterhouseCooper’s Assurance Practice. He has over 25 years of experience serving clients in the financial services industry, in the U.S. and internationally. Prior to his current position, Tim led PwC’s U.S. Financial Services practice. He has served on the U.S. Board of Partners and Principals and its Admissions Committee, the Management Evaluation and Compensation Committee, the Clients Committee and on the firm’s Global Board of Directors. He has also served several of the firm’s major financial services clients, has been published or quoted in numerous publications and is a frequent contributor to industry events. A certified public accountant, Tim is a graduate of Babson College, where he received degrees in accounting and communications. A second-generation Irish American and a Boston native, he joined the firm after graduation. Tim is the proud father of six children.
Paul O’Reilly-Hyland Ounavarra Capital Paul O’Reilly-Hyland, managing partner of Ounavarra Capital, LLC, has 30 years of experience in the investment industry. He began his career in London with Charles Stanley, a London stockbroking firm, before joining Kleinwort Benson in 1986, as an institutional equity salesman. He transferred to Hong Kong in 1990 as general manager for Kleinwort Benson Securities (Asia). In 1993, Paul moved to New York, where he would become head of international equity sales for Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. After overseeing the growth and expansion of DrKW’s international equity presence, Paul joined J.P. Morgan as managing director and head of international equity sales. In 2001, he became a partner of Trinity Funds LLC, a global macro hedge fund, and currently serves as its managing partner. With his wife, Joelle, Paul established Ounavarra Capital in June 2007, to market select third party hedge funds globally. A native of Dublin, Paul graduated with a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Trinity College Dublin. His father’s family is also from Dublin, while his mother’s family comes from Liverpool and the U.K. Paul is a Knight of Grace and Devotion of the Irish Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He and Joelle have three children: Oliver, Ogden and Louisa. To Paul, being Irish means to “always expect the unexpected.”
70 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
PRUDENTIAL DOUGLAS ELLIMAN
IS PROUD TO CONGRATULATE
Suzanne Curran Aquino AND ALL THE HONOREES OF
IRISH AMERICA WALL STREET 50
The Retail Group
Untitled-4 1
9/4/12 5:04 PM
Wall.St50.64-75.qxd
9/14/12
7:23 PM
50
WALL STREET
Page 72
“I learned the principles of life from ancestors who were simple, honest, hardworking people with fortitude, strong faith and a focus on love of family.” – George Scanlon, Fidelity National Financial
Sharon T. Sager
Anita M. Sands
UBS Financial Services, Inc.
UBS Financial Services, Inc.
Sharon T. Sager is a senior vice president and private wealth advisor at UBS Private Wealth Management. A CIMA, she began her career in financial services in 1983 with Kidder Peabody & Co., which was acquired by Paine Webber Inc and then by UBS. Barron’s has named her to its Top 100 Women Financial Advisors each year since its inception in 2006. She has appeared on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street and Closing Bell. A native New Yorker, Sharon began her career in textiles and fashion upon receiving a B.A. from The College of Mount Saint Vincent. She is co-chairman of the Board of Overseers for the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, secretary of the board of directors of Careers Through Culinary Arts, a member of the Chairman’s Circle of the James Beard Foundation, and an active member of The Economic Club of New York and the Financial Women’s Association. Sharon is a mentor with the CEO-UBS Small Business Advisory Program. Sharon is a second-generation Irish-American. Her father’s family, the O’Tooles, are from Galway, while her mother’s family the Carrolls, hail from Cork. She and her husband, Loring Swasey, live in Manhattan and in Remsenburg, Long Island.
Anita M. Sands is group managing director and head of Change Leadership at UBS Wealth Management Americas, and is responsible for technology and operations along with designing and executing the organization’s transformational strategy. Previously, she was managing director, head of Transformational Management for Global Operations and Technology at Citigroup. Before moving to the U.S., Anita was at the Royal Bank of Canada, where in 2007, she was appointed as the youngest ever senior vice president in the history of the company. Anita was recently named one of “ The TEN to Watch” by Registered Rep. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in atomic and molecular physics and a first class honors degree in physics and applied mathematics from Queen’s University of Belfast. She attended Carnegie Mellon University where, as a Fulbright Scholar, she graduated with a master’s in public policy and management. She is also a graduate of the London School of Music, and a former all-Ireland public speaking champion. She was born in Drogheda, Co. Louth. In June, Anita traveled to Haiti with Concern Worldwide, the Irish relief organization, and received the 2012 Women of Concern Award.
72 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
The secret to success can be summed in one word – excellence. At BNY Mellon, we are proud to recognize the outstanding accomplishments and success of the best and the brightest Irish-American and Irish-born leaders of the financial industry. We extend our congratulations to all honorees, for their hard work and dedication. And, we proudly congratulate Adrian Jones of Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division on his accomplishment.
www.bnymellon.com
Untitled-4 1
9/4/12 4:49 PM
Tog et h er, we h a ve even m ore to ce le b rate Invest Northern Ireland offers congratulations to all the 2012 Wall Street 50 honorees and to Irish America magazine on the 15th Anniversary of the Wall Street 50.
www.investni.com/invest
Untitled-1 1
smart at work
9/10/12 12:58 PM
Wall.St50.64-75.qxd
9/14/12
7:27 PM
Page 75
George Scanlon
Kevin Sherlock
Fidelity National Financial
Deutsche Bank AG
George Scanlon is CEO of Fidelity National Financial and brings nearly three decades of management expertise from diverse industries to this role. He joined Fidelity as COO in June 2010 from Fidelity Information Services, where he served as EVP – Finance. Prior to the FIS acquisition of Metavante in October 2009, he served as the CFO for FIS. George received his B.A. in accounting from the University of Notre Dame, and his MBA from the University of Miami. He serves on the board of Ceridian Corporation and is the chairman of the Audit Committee, and he also serves on the board of Remy Corporation, American Blue Ribbon Holdings, and Duval Holdings. He is involved in a number of civic activities, and also serves on the boards of Jacksonville University and Leadership Jacksonville, and is a member of the Gator Bowl Executive Committee and the Jacksonville Civic Council. Born in Chicago, George is a first-generation Irish American with Irish ancestry on both sides: his father has roots in counties Roscommon and Sligo, and his mother was born in Ennistymon, County Clare. He says of his Irish heritage: “I learned the principles of life from ancestors who were simple, honest, hardworking people with fortitude, strong faith and a focus on love of family.” George and his wife, Dianne, have two children and reside in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.
Kevin M. Sherlock is managing director and head of Loan and High Yield Capital Markets at Deutsche Bank AG. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank in June 1999, Kevin worked as vice president for BT Wolfensohn’s Financial Services M&A Advisory Practice. He is a chartered financial analyst and a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts. A native of Queens, NY, Kevin graduated from SUNY Albany with a bachelor’s in finance and management information systems. He then went on to earn his master’s in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Kevin, who has roots in Sligo on his father’s side and in Mayo and Roscommon on his mother’s side, is a second-generation Irish American. He is a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. Kevin and his wife, Amy, have three children, Erin, Timothy and Meghan, and Kevin says, “I do my best to tell my children all our family stories so they have the same connection as I do to our heritage.”
50
WALL STREET
John J. Sullivan ConsulCapital, LLC John J. Sullivan is a partner at ConsulCapital, LLC, an international bank in Washington, D.C. with a focus on emerging markets and merchants in the Middle East. He is also a partner in the global law firm Mayer Brown LLP and has been featured on the Irish Legal 100. John began his career in law as a law clerk to Judge John Minor Wisdom and to Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter. He went on to hold a number of senior positions in the U.S. Departments of Justice and Defense. John served as the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce from 2007-2009, shaping trade and investment policies. John attended Brown University for his bachelor’s and graduated from Columbia University School of Law as Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar in 1985. A second-generation Irish American with roots in Kerry on his father’s side and Cork on his mother’s side, he says,“I am proud of my Irish heritage and the opportunities I have to promote Irish culture.”
PARK AVENUE CONCIERGE MEDICINE congratulates the 2012 Wall Street 50 honorees
Dr. Joseph Mulvehill graduated with a BS in biochemistry from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and earned his medical degree from SUNY Stony Brook in Stony Brook, NY. He completed his residency at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, and is currently an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine on the staff of Mount Sinai Medical Center and an Attending Physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and is a member of The New York County Medical Society, The American Medical Association, The American College of Physicians, The International Society of Travel Medicine, and The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
10 East 78th Street, Suite 1B, New York, NY 212-737-3136
IA SilverKings.qxd
9/15/12
2:48 AM
Page 76
The Silver James C. Flood
William S. O’Brien
James G. Fair John W. Mackay
The Comstock Lode in Nevada, uncovered in 1859 by two Irish laborers, ultimately produced more than $500 million worth of silver, a large share of which went to the Irish-American “Big Four” – James C. Flood, William O’Brien, James Fair, and John Mackay – who had left New York for the bigger opportunities of the Far West. Dr. Roger D. McGrath tells their story. 76 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
IA SilverKings.qxd
9/15/12
2:48 AM
Page 77
Clockwise from above: James Harrington’s painting of the Comstock Lode, 1875; seven Comstock miners, ca. 1880s, photographed by Frances. S. Osgood; miners prepare to descend into the mine. This 1868 photo by Timothy O’Sullivan is one of the first flashlit photos ever made. THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
G
rinding poverty, the Great Famine and other lesser famines, and thousands of evictions, caused millions of Irish to immigrate to America during the 19th century. A good number of these Irish found their way onto the frontier, especially the mining frontiers. Wherever there was a rush to a new strike, the Irish were sure to be on board. John Mackay, James Fair, William O’Brien and James Flood were four such Irishmen. They were destined to become partners and to be known worldwide as the Silver Kings. John W. Mackay was the engineering genius of the Silver Kings. One of four children, he was born in Dublin in 1831 and immigrated with his family to New York in 1840. He reached the California gold fields in 1951; by then he was a striking figure – tall, lean and muscular, ruddy-faced, blue-eyed, and darkhaired. He enjoyed hard physical work and mining camp life. He had almost no formal education and had stuttered badly when he was young, but he was blessed with extraordinary intelligence. Nothing escaped his keen mind and no engineering
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
problem was beyond him. He could explode with rage, but he usually kept his temper in check. For relaxation he loved music and drama. James G. Fair was self-serving and egotistical. However, he was a mine superintendent without peer and a shrewd financier. He had enormous energy, a trenchant mind, and a natural aptitude for all things mechanical. He regularly took advantage of the latest innovations in mining machinery. Born in Ireland in 1831, he immigrated with his family to Illinois during the early 1840s and joined the rush to California in 1849. Unlike his name, Fair had brown eyes, a dark complexion, and wavy black hair. He was handsome, powerfully built, and had a way with words. “The Blarney of his race had not been omitted from his makeup,” said the San Francisco Chronicle. “When it suited his purpose… his compliments could charm a robin off a fence post.” William S. O’Brien was a large man of erect carriage with a head of prematurely white hair. His size, posture, and hair gave OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 77
IA SilverKings.qxd
9/15/12
2:48 AM
Page 78
Top: Virginia City, Nevada, which sprang up because of the discovery. Photo. ca. 1880s. Right: Miners of the Comstock working underground. Opposite page: Mule train. Photos by J. H. Crockwell, are courtesy the Library of Congress.
him a dignified appearance. Unlike his partners, he was soft-spoken and mild-mannered with an avuncular, kindly quality about him. He was the least forceful of the Silver Kings but his gregarious and genial nature made him the most popular. Although he did not carry his share of responsibilities in the partnership, he contributed more than he was usually given credit for. Born in Ireland in 1826 he was brought to New York as a small child and arrived in California in 1849. James C. Flood was the only Silver King not to have been born in Ireland. He was born in New York in 1826, the son of Irish immigrants. In 1849 he sailed around the Horn to California. Below medium height, Flood had a ruddy complexion, a short neck and massive shoulders. He was so impressively muscled that strangers often thought he must be a gymnast or wrestler. He had a quick wit, a shrewd mind, a volatile temper, and a powerful drive to succeed. He was a genius in trading stocks and finance. Mackay, Fair, O’Brien, and Flood all spent the early 1850s prospecting and mining in California, and each had a degree of success. With his earnings from the diggings, O’Brien opened a 78 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
marine supply store in San Francisco. Flood, with the money he had made, opened a livery and carriage shop just down the street from O’Brien. Both lost their businesses, though, in the Depression of 1855. They then joined forces and opened a saloon. O’Brien reasoned that the only thing that did not go down in the depression was the consumption of alcohol. He was right and their saloon thrived. By the early 1860s, Flood and O’Brien were dabbling in mining stock, buying and selling shares in mines that had tapped into the great Comstock Lode. (Two Irish prospectors, Peter O’Riley and Patrick McLaughlin, had discovered the Comstock Lode, the Unites States’ first major source of silver ore, in 1859. Virginia City, Nevada, sprang up as a result of the discovery.) Flood proved to have uncanny ability in stock trading. He made one smart decision after another and within a few years he and O’Brien
had amassed a small fortune. In 1868 they opened their stock-brokerage office in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Mackay and Fair had been prospecting in California and Nevada. Mackay and his partner in those early days, Jack O’Brien (no relation to William O’Brien), crossed the Sierra to Nevada upon hearing of O’Riley and McLaughlin’s strike. By the time they reached the Great Divide, above Virginia City, they were nearly broke, having only a 50-cent piece between them. O’Brien pulled the coin from his pocket, looked at it, and then threw it down the mountainside toward Virginia City. Now without a cent to their names, Mackay and O’Brien strode into town. Mackay worked as a pickand-shovel miner for four dollars a day, then as a timber man for six. Soon he developed his own business, excavating and fortifying tunnels. Much of the pay was in the form of stock certificates. Most of these proved worthless but a few profitable ones gave him enough money to buy the Kentuck, a mine whose ore had supposedly been exhausted. Mackay got a loan from fellow Irishman James Phelan (his son James Duval Phelan would later become mayor of San Francisco and a U.S. senator) and sank a new shaft in the Kentuck. Just before Phelan’s note was due, Mackay hit a small but rich deposit. During the next several years the Kentuck paid over a million dollars in dividends. Mackay had always said he would retire as soon as he had $25,000 in the bank. He now had considerably more than that, but his appetite had only been whetted for new adventures and enterprises. James Fair arrived in Virginia City in 1865 after a number of successful mining ventures in California. Less than a year after his arrival he was made superintendent of the Ophir, one of the true bonanza mines of the Comstock Lode. In 1868 he entered into a partnership with Mackay, and shortly afterwards the Comstock miners joined forces with San Francisco stockbrokers Jim Flood and Bill O’Brien. The famous partnership was now in place.
IA SilverKings.qxd
9/15/12
2:48 AM
Page 79
By the early 1870s, through wise investments and daring gambles, the four Irishmen were challenging “Ralston’s Ring” for control of the Comstock. The ring was headed by William C. Ralston, the president of the Bank of California, and his henchmen in Virginia City, led by William Sharon. Sharon was the most hated man on the Comstock. He was a cold, embittered and treacherous financier who was wreaking vengeance on
Sharon looked the part of the ruthless scoundrel. He had black, beady eyes, a jet-black mustache, and an expressionless face that a professional gambler might envy. He wore a long, black frock coat and a big, black hat. Sharon hated “those Irishmen,” as he called Mackay, Fair, Flood, and O’Brien and decided to see to it that the audacious upstarts were crushed. In February 1872 the Irishmen bought a controlling interest
The Irishmen had discovered the heart of the Comstock Lode – “The Big Bonanza.” For the rest of their lives they would be known as the Silver Kings.
Virginia City businessmen and speculators for the loss of his own fortune in 1864. By working with Ralston he had regained far more than he had lost, but his desire for vengeance was insatiable. Ever shrewd and calculating, Sharon made loans through the Bank of California to mines on the Comstock, and then delighted in foreclosing on them when harsh repayment schedules were not met. In addition, he got control of all the important mills by processing ore at a loss in the Bank of California’s Union Mill and then buying the other mills one by one as they went out of business.
in the Consolidated Virginia for $100,000 from Ralston’s Ring. Sharon was ecstatic. He gleefully reported to Ralston that the Irishmen had been taken. The Consolidated Virginia, said Sharon, was worthless, “a bankrupt piece of property.” Over $1,000,000 had already been wasted in fruitless exploration of it. Nonetheless, the Irishmen had a hunch that if they cut a new tunnel at a deeper level they would hit a vein of ore. For several months they tunneled, pouring $200,000 into the Consolidated Virginia, but hoisted up nothing but worthless rock. Sharon and Ralston, and the Ring,
laughed heartily. Then one day Mackay and Fair, who were supervising the actual work in the mine, hit a delicately thin vein of ore. They tried to follow it but it disappeared. Then they found it again, and again it disappeared. Then they found it once again and this time the vein began to widen; to more than a foot, then to several feet, to a half-dozen feet, to twelve feet. At this point, Mackay and Fair sent word of the discovery to Flood and O’Brien in San Francisco who quickly bought up as much outstanding Consolidated Virginia stock as they could. Meanwhile, the deeper the new tunnel was sunk in the Consolidated Virginia the wider the vein became. At the 1,500foot level the vein was more than 50 feet wide. The ore was so rich that waste rock had to be added to it in order to put it through the stamp mill. The Irishmen had discovered the heart of the Comstock Lode – “The Big Bonanza.” For the rest of their lives they would be known as the Silver Kings. By 1875 the Silver Kings had become fantastically wealthy. The Consolidated Virginia was paying monthly dividends of a million dollars, equivalent to 20 million in today’s dollars. From 1873 through 1882, the Consolidated Virginia yielded some $65 million in gold and silver, and paid almost $43 million in dividends. The Silver Kings all lived riotously well and died with multi-million-dollar estates. William O’Brien supported all his close relatives, especially the McDonough and Coleman families of San Francisco, and he left an estate of $12,000,000 at his death in 1879. O’Brien loved to spend his afternoons in McGovern’s saloon on Kearney Street in San Francisco. There he conversed with old friends and played endless games of poker. At his elbow he always kept a tall stack of silver dollars. It was understood that any regular customer of McGovern’s saloon who happened to be down on his luck was welcome to help himself. Whenever the supply dollars began to run low, O’Brien would summon the bartender, pass him a $20 gold piece, and the stack of silver dollars would be replenished. James Flood bought San Francisco real estate, erected numerous buildings, funded new business ventures, and estabOCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 79
IA SilverKings.qxd
9/15/12
2:48 AM
Page 80
PHOTOS THIS PAGE: COURTESY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
lished the Nevada Bank, which later merged with Wells Fargo. He also made regular and large contributions to various charities and to orphan asylums and old people’s homes. He and his wife, the former Mary Leary of County Wexford, raised their children on a fabulous 35acre estate at Menlo Park. James Fair was elected to the U.S. Senate from Nevada. Although he was faithful in his attendance during the first session, soon, being a man of action, he grew bored with tiresome Senate deliberations and thereafter was mostly absent. He apparently had plenty of time to pursue women. Mrs. Fair, the former Theresa Rooney, divorced him on grounds of “habitual adultery” (he was the first senator to be so charged). She received the family mansion and nearly $5,000,000 in cash. At the time it was said to have been the largest divorce settlement ever awarded. Fair continued his wild ways, and upon his death a halfdozen women who hoped to share in his estate came forward and claimed to have been wives or mistresses. By the time of his death in 1894 he had accumulated an estate estimated at some $40,000,000. Rents from the property he owned in San Francisco averaged $250,000 a month. He was the city’s largest taxpayer. Before he died, he also found time to establish two banks, Mutual Savings and Merchant’s Trust, and to build a railroad. John Mackay created the Commercial Cable and Postal Telegraph Company, laid cables across the Atlantic, and broke the Western union monopoly. He made 80 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
Top: The James C. Flood mansion (now The Pacific-Union Club) in San Francisco, said to be the first brownstone constructed west of the Mississippi River. Left: The interior of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. The hotel was conceived and financed by Tessie Fair Oelrichs, the daughter of James G. Fair. In early 1906, before the hotel had opened, Ms. Fair traded it for other property. The 1906 earthquake damaged the hotel almost beyond repair. One of the new owners, Herbert Law, determined to repair the hotel, hired New York architect Stanford White, who was shot and killed a few weeks after being hired. Mr. Law then hired a young woman architect named Julia Morgan.
more millions. His estate was estimated at some $50,000,000 when he died in 1902. During his lifetime he had given away more than $5 million in gifts. He had also torn up IOUs worth more than $2 million. He could never say no to a friend or even a casual acquaintance. When the great fire of October 1875 destroyed the central part of Virginia City, including the town’s only Catholic church, St. Mary’s of the Mountains, Mackay donated much of the money to have St. Mary’s rebuilt bigger and better than ever. During a slow period on the Comstock, Mackay secretly paid a Virginia City grocer to supply provisions to any miner out of work. He also was the largest contributor to the Sisters’ Hospital, requiring only that his donations be kept confidential. Mackay remained vigorous and athletic nearly until the day he died. While he lived in Virginia City, he boxed nightly at the local gymnasium. Later, in San Francisco, he had a gymnasium built in the basement of the Silver Kings’ bank. One of those who learned to box there was an American-born Irishman, James J. Corbett, known as “Gentleman Jim,” who later became the heavyweight champion of the world when he defeated another American Irishman, the famous John L. Sullivan, in 1892. In his 60s Mackay could still pin nearly any man he met in arm wrestling. At 60 he pummeled a wealthy Englishman who had offended him. As one observer noted,
Mackay had “a marked hostility to Englishmen.” On another occasion, James White, a member of Parliament from Brighton, England, attended a stockholders’ meeting of the Consolidated Virginia on behalf of British shareholders. When White claimed the Silver Kings were not dealing honestly with the shareholders, Mackay sprang to his feet in a rage and exclaimed: “It seems odd to hear an Englishman charge anyone with dishonesty.” Mackay hated pretense and artificial social distinctions. In England and France, where his wife visited frequently, Mackay loved to play the role of the uncouth miner from the American West, especially when being entertained by English nobility who hoped that some of this wealth would rub off. He took malicious pleasure in recounting his boyhood in Ireland where the English had insured that there was seldom enough to eat. He delighted in telling of the pigs and cows that shared his family’s oneroom cottage. While the English sycophants surrounding him ordered French delicacies, Mackay, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world, ordered corned beef and cabbage without batting an eye. John Mackay, James Fair, James Flood and William O’Brien were only a few of the larger-than-life characters, many of them Irish, who played major IA roles in the opening of the West.
We proudly congratulate Anne Long of NFP and all of Irish America’s 2012 Wall Street 50 Honorees.
metlife.indd 1
9/5/12 5:43 PM
IA.Roots.qxd
9/15/12
2:50 AM
Page 82
{roots} By Sheila Langan
Keeping Up With the Joneses
T
he surname Jones, a holdover legacy are a credit to the name. from the patronymic naming James Earl Jones (b. convention, means “son of 1931), one of America’s most John.” Celtic Welsh in origin, esteemed and beloved actors, it emerged in the years following the is of Irish descent. Jones’ Norman conquest of England in 1066, as maternal grandfather, John the practice of using surnames was Henry Connolly, was the introduced into society. The first docugrandson of an African slave mentation of the name Jones is and an Irish indentured servant. found in the 1279 Hundred Rolls of He and his wife raised Jones and Buckinghamshire, which lists a Matilda his siblings on their farm in Jones in Huntingdonshire, England. Michigan, where Jones moved at the age Today, Jones is one of the most popular of 5. Jones got his start in acting at the surnames in the world, particularly in Ramsdell Theater in Manistee, MI. A star England and Wales, where it ranks as secof both the stage and screen, he is espeond and first most common. It is also, cially recognized for his Shakespearian according to the most recent census data available, the fifth most popular surname James Earl in the U.S. Jones In Ireland, however, it is far more rare. It was introduced into Irish culture as people by the name Jones began to migrate to Ireland, particularly after the AngloNorman invasion of 1170. Some early Joneses of note in Ireland include Lewis Jones, the Bishop of Killaloe from 1633 to 1646, and George Jones, the Bishop of Kildare from 1790 to 1804, both of the Church of Ireland. Today, the name is dispersed fairly evenly throughout the counties, and is also sometimes seen in Marie its Gaelicized form, MacSeoin. Jones One of the most famous Joneses is self-proclaimed hell-raiser Mother Jones (1837–1930), the Irish union and labor activist, once called “The most dangerous woman in America.” Born in Cork, Mary Harris Jones immigrated to Canada with her family as a teenager, and then worked as a Mother Jones teacher and dressmaker in Chicago and Memphis. After losing her husband, George Jones, and their roles and for lending his deep, sonorous four children to a Yellow Fever epidemic, voice to Darth Vader in the Star Wars and then losing her home and dress shop in films. the Great Chicago Fire, she joined the Another celebrity Jones of Irish descent Knights of Labor and later the United Mine is Catherine Zeta-Jones (b.1969). The Workers. She worked tirelessly and effecstar of many films including Entrapment tively to organize miners, as well as their and Chicago, Zeta-Jones is Welsh and has families, to protest. She was also a crusadIrish roots on her mother’s side. er for strengthening child labor laws. James Jones (1921–1977) was a prolifThough a Jones by marriage rather than ic writer, famous for his novels in response birth, her strength, courage and enduring to WWII. Born in Robinson, Illinois, he
82 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
went on to serve in the U.S. Army, where he witnessed Pearl Harbor and fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal. His war trilogy, From Here to Eternity, The Thin Red Line and Whistle, drew on his experiences in the war. From Here to Eternity won the National Book Award for fiction in 1952 and was made into a film, which won the Oscar for best picture in 1954. Marie Jones (b. 1951), a native of Belfast, is one of Northern Ireland’s leading playwrights, highly acclaimed for her expert use of humor to shed light on much darker themes of Irish life. After working in Belfast as an actress in the ’70s, Jones helped to found Charrabanc, a theater company for women. Her 1996 play Stones in His Pockets has been produced all over the world and won two Olivier awards in 2001, one for Best New Comedy. Northern Irishman Steve Jones (b. 1976) is making a name for himself in the world of soccer. He has played for 16 clubs in England, Ireland and Scotland, and been capped 29 times by Northern Ireland. He currently plays for Telford United. Roscommon-born Adrian Jones (b. 1964), managing director in the Merchant Banking Division at Goldman Sachs and co-head of its Americas Equity Business (and this issue’s cover story), is our 2012 Wall Street 50 keynote speaker. The Jones family holds a special place in the English language, as the subject of the phrase “Keeping up with the Joneses,” which comes from a comic strip by the same name, created by Arthur “Pop” Momand. For one year, from 2006 to 2007, the Jones clan enjoyed the distinction of holding the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people with the same surname. On November 3, 2006, 1,224 Joneses gathered together in Cardiff, Wales, vastly exceeding the previous record of 583, held by the Norbergs of Sweden. In September, 2007, the Gallaghers stole the title, with a group of 1,488 in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. But given the popularity and the perseverance of the Joneses, there’s a great chance they IA will re-claim the record once again.
Because when you’re Irish, Irish America travels with you. Cover NOFrame Smaller.TRIAL.qxd
THE 15TH
9/12/12
7:41 PM
Page 1
Wall Street 50 CELEBRATING THE IRISH IN FINANCE
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
CANADA $4.95 U.S. $3.95
THE CHARMS OF
IRELAND’S WESTERN COUNTIES
COPPERS THE IRISH AMERICAN POLICE OFFICER IN REAL LIFE & ON TV
“Ireland is a far better place today than it was a generation ago.” ADRIAN JONES - Goldman Sachs
GOLFING THE
IA.Adrian.rev4.qxd
9/11/12
7:40 PM
Page 42
42 IRISH AMERICA AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2008
0
74470 73334
8
1 1>
EMERALD ISLE
DISPLAY UNTIL NOV. 30, 2012
IRISH AMERICA M A G A Z I N E now available on your iPad Visit us online at www.irishamerica.com ON12_App promo.indd 1
9/13/12 4:21 PM
IA Coppers.qxd
9/14/12
10:06 PM
Page 84
THE IRISH
The Irish-American cop – By Tom Deignan
I
N the classic 1954 Looney Tunes cartoon entitled “Bugs and Thugs,” everybody’s favorite animated rabbit gets himself caught up with Rocky and Mugsy, a couple of bank robbers who flee the scene of the crime and head off to a rural safe house. Soon enough, Bugs Bunny fakes the sound of a police siren and affects an Irish brogue. “OK, Clancy!” Bugs yells. “Take the boys and surround the house!” There is nothing unusual about the brogue or, for that matter, the lumbering Irish cop who later shows up. That’s the point. In real life, the police departments in New York and other major cities were so
84 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
dominated by the Irish that countless radio shows, sitcoms and movies reflected this. One year after “Bugs and Thugs,” in the classic Honeymooners episode entitled “Funny Money,” ne’er-do-well bus driver Ralph Kramden (played by IrishAmerican legend Jackie Gleason) discovers a suitcase full of counterfeit cash. A knock on the door stirs fear that crooks have come calling in search of the money. However, it’s just “Officer Garrity,” a cop seeking donations for a police charity. From Looney Tunes to The Honeymooners, from Car 54, Where Are You? to Cagney and Lacey, the Irish cop has long been a TV staple. These days, police departments may no longer be dominated by the Irish. However, two shows airing this fall, Blue Bloods and Copper, actually manage to chronicle the entire 150-year evolution of
Irish law enforcement, as cops moved from local beats to top brass, from the grimy lanes of the famine-scarred Five Points in Manhattan, to tidy homes in the outer boroughs of New York City.
IRISH COPS: THEN AND NOW On Sunday evenings, BBC America is currently airing Copper, a 10-episode series about Kevin Corcoran (Tom Weston Jones), an Irish immigrant detective and one of the first to join the emerging police force in New York in 1864. Then, starting on September 28, CBS will kick off the third season of its highly-rated drama Blue Bloods. Featuring Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg and Bridget Moynahan, Blue Bloods chronicles the trials and tribulations of a large Irish-American family, including patriarch Frank Reagan (Selleck), who plays
IA Coppers.qxd
9/14/12
10:06 PM
Page 85
COPPERS
on TV and in real life New York City’s police chief, Frank’s father (Len Carlou), a former top cop and the three Reagan children (two cops and a prosecutor). Irish-American talent on Blue Bloods includes actors Bridget Moynahan and Donnie Wahlberg (older brother of Mark Wahlberg), as well as writers Thomas Kelly and Brian Burns, brother of filmmaker Ed Burns, whose father – fittingly – was an Irish-born New York City cop. Viewing both of these shows paints a vivid portrait of Irish-American life. They highlight the journey from the horrors of the Famine to the complexities of 21st-century crime fighting and family dynamics. And for all of the decades that separate the two shows (not to mention the exaggerations and dramatic license necessary
to create compelling drama), Blue Bloods and Copper share common themes. It is also interesting to note that the modernday Blue Bloods can tell us key things about the past, while the historical Copper reveals much about the present. “One of the fascinating things about working on Copper,” executive producer and director Barry Levinson has said,“is realizing that the issues our characters faced in America at that time are very much the same today. The friction between the haves, who live Uptown with all this wealth and privilege, and the have-nots, living in extreme poverty, was staggering.” Given the pervasive stereotype of the Irish cop on TV, it’s interesting to note that it was far from easy for an Irishman to land a job as a cop when the New York City Police Department was created.
Top left: The cast of Copper, including Tom Weston Jones, center, and Irish-born Kevin Ryan, far left. Above: The cast of Blue Bloods: Donnie Wahlberg (Danny Reagan), Bridget Moynahan (Erin Reagan), Tom Selleck (Commissioner Frank Reagan) and Will Estes (Jamie Reagan).
NO IRISH NEED APPLY Back in 1842, “a city council committee issued a report decrying the level of crime and the apparent level of ineffectuality of the official efforts to combat it,” write James Lardner and Thomas Reppetto in their excellent 2001 book NYPD: A City and Its Police. “Thousands that are arrested go unpunished and the defenseless and the beautiful are ravished and murdered in the daytime and no trace of the criminal is found,” declared the breathless city council report. Two years later, New York governor OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 85
IA Coppers.qxd
9/14/12
10:06 PM
Page 86
POLICING THE DRAFT RIOTS
William Seward created a unified force of 800 men, who would be appointed to their job by local aldermen. The problem for the Irish was that James Harper (of the famous publishing family) had just become mayor of New York City, running as a candidate for the infamous anti-Irish, anti-Catholic Know Nothing Party. “The Know-Nothings preferred to have [police officers] named by the mayor, since ward control, in parts of the city, meant giving immigrants lots of input,” according to Reppetto and Lardner. In other words, no Irish need apply.
JOINING THE FORCE Galway native Barney McGinniskin is generally acknowledged to be the first Irish-born cop in a major U.S. city. He was hired to police the mean streets of Boston in 1851, but he lost his job three years later when nativist Know Nothings took control of the Massachusetts state legislature and cleared precincts of many Irish Catholics. Try as the nativists might, however, they could not fight the radical changes under way in Boston, New York and cities across the country. So many Irish immigrants escaping the Famine meant that, eventually, they would come to dominate local politics, and police departments. In fact, when the infamous New York City Draft Riots arose in 1863, though many scholars have identified the rioters 86 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
Top: A scene of the Five Points, from Copper. Above left: Commissioner Ray Kelly, and right, John Alexander Kennedy, a native of Ireland, who in 1860 became the superintendent of the New York City Police.
as heavily Irish, it is less well known that many of the police who put the riots down were also Irish. Reppetto and Lardner estimate that as early as the Draft Riots, half of the NYPD was already Catholic, the vast majority of them Irish. Author Richard Zacks estimates that by the end of the 19th century, nearly 70 percent of the New York police force was Irish-born or first generation. The NYPD Emerald Society – the nation’s first – was formed in 1953, and even into the late 1960s well over 40 percent of the New York police force remained Irish. When Boston’s Emerald Society formed in 1973, half the city’s police force signed up.
The Draft Riots, the July 1863 violent, racially charged protests by lower-class New York men against the Civil War draft, play a key role in the first episodes of Copper. The series is set in the infamous Five Points neighborhood, which was also the setting of Martin Scorsese’s 2002 film of Irish immigration, Gangs of New York. In the opening scene of Copper’s first episode, Corcoran gathers at a crime scene with other Irish cops, including the corrupt Padraic Byrnes (David Keeley), as well as Corcoran’s partner and friend, Francis McGuire, played by Dublin-born actor Kevin Ryan. Much is made of tensions between the Irish and African Americans in 1860s New York, but the show also emphasizes moments of cooperation between the groups. Corcoran relies on the efforts of a black doctor named Matthew Freeman. Freeman’s wife, however, remains traumatized by the Draft Riots, which left several of her relatives dead, and has prompted the doctor to move out of the Five Points. Thus far, Copper has taken great pains to show the struggles of the Irish in New York on both sides of the law. Suffice it to say, there is a level of realism here that would not have been seen back when Irish cops were in The Honeymooners or Looney Tunes. A similarly silly look at Irish cops hit TV screens in 1961, when Fred Gwynne (best known as Herman Munster) starred as Officer Francis Muldoon in Car 54, Where Are You?, a sitcom set in a fictional Bronx precinct. The 1970s ushered in a more diverse era. Sitcoms like The Odd Couple and Barney Miller offered up big-city cops who were not Irish. Meanwhile, cop shows from S.W.A.T. and C.H.I.P.s to Barnaby Jones were more about action than ethnicity, though one officer in the show Adam 12 was named Pete Malloy.
FROM CAGNEY TO NYPD BLUE The Irish cop was reborn – in a groundbreaking way – in 1981, when CBS began airing Cagney and Lacey, a show about two ambitious female detec-
KitDeFever
9/15/11
10:20 AM
Page 1
IA Coppers.qxd
9/14/12
10:10 PM
Page 88
tives in a Manhattan precinct. Sharon Gless portrayed Christine Cagney, a second-generation cop who often butted heads with her Irish cop father. The show dramatically confronted the pressures of “the job,” alcoholism, family tensions and more, making it one of the more interesting depictions of IrishAmerican life on television. Subsequent long-running cop shows from the 1990s, such as NYPD Blue (David Caruso played John Kelly) and Third Watch (featuring Skipp Sudduth as John “Sully” Sullivan), brought new depth to the Irish TV cop, and that trend has continued into the 2000s. Most prominently, Dominic West (who attended Trinity College Dublin) memorably portrayed troubled Baltimore detective Jimmy McNulty on The Wire, which featured The Pogues’ song “Body of an American” when cops gathered to bury one of their own. Dean Winters, meanwhile, played Johnny Gavin, cop brother (and occasional sparring partner) to firefighter Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) on Rescue Me.
SEPTEMBER 11 Leary has long said he was inspired to create Rescue Me, in part, because he wanted to explore how firefighters and cops cope with the trauma of their grueling jobs in general, and the horrors of 9/11 in particular. More than any TV show ever could, 9/11 revealed the 21stcentury FDNY and NYPD to the rest of America and the entire world. Some viewers may well have been surprised at just how Irish New York’s first responders remained, even in the 21st-century. The sheer volume of Irish names, particularly among the FDNY’s fallen 343, is as shocking as it is heartbreaking. And no story that came out of this tragedy was more poignant than Moira Smith’s, a police officer and mother who was last seen escorting victims out of the burning towers. More broadly, an image that will always remain in the national consciousness is that of the police and fire department pipe-and-drum bands performing at every somber wake and memorial service held in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Then there was firefighter Mike Moran, shouting at Osama bin Laden to kiss his “royal Irish” backside at 88 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
Top: The police launch the Moira Smith, named for the police officer who died on 9/11. Above: A young viewer of the St. Patrick’s Day parade is given a boost by an Irish-American cop.
Madison Square Garden, managing to inject some much-needed levity during a terrible time. This glimpse into blue collar enclaves in Staten Island and Brooklyn and Queens suggested there was still plenty of drama, color and even humor to be found in the world of the Irish-American police officer.
TOP COPS In 1992, Raymond W. Kelly became New York City’s police commissioner. He was just the latest in a long line of Irish-American top cops, going all the way back to John Alexander Kennedy in 1860. The 1920s and 1930s saw commissioners named Whalen, Mulrooney, Bolan and O’Ryan. In fact, from 1900 -
1983, four men named Murphy served as New York’s top cop, and of the 32 men who held the post during that time, only half-a-dozen or so had non-Irish names. Ray Kelly, in many ways, embodies the long journey of the Irish, from street cops to top brass. But he was also first nominated to the post in 1992 by Mayor David Dinkins, an African American, illustrating that times had indeed changed. Kelly again was named top cop by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2001. Blue Bloods patriarch Frank Reagan seems modeled, in part, on Ray Kelly. Like Kelly, Reagan is a decorated war veteran, whose son also served in the military. Blue Bloods also shares common themes with Copper. Corcoran, for example, is also a veteran, of the Civil War. Both shows also make family a central theme. In Copper, Corcoran is driven to find out about his vanished wife and murdered daughter. Frank Reagan also suffered a tragic loss in Blue Bloods. He is a widower whose son, Joseph, was killed in the line of duty. His remaining children Danny (Donnie Wahlberg, a detective), Erin (Bridget Moynahan, a prosecutor) and Jaime (a Harvard grad and new cop) often work together, and always find time to talk things over at the dinner table. Overall, both Copper and Blue Bloods teach us valuable things about Irish America. During our current time of tension over religion, the show reminds us that Irish Catholics were often despised, and thus, that this is not a new problem. As for Blue Bloods, at a time when many believe the Irish have vanished into the great American melting pot, the show reminds us that they remain a strong presence in IA big-city uniformed civil service.
FamineEdition.indd 1
12/9/11 11:13 AM
IA.chaplin.REV.qxd
9/14/12
10:57 PM
Page 90
Here’s
Jimmy Jimmy Murphy, the Irishman behind the iconic Beverly Hills restaurant, a favorite among Hollywood’s elite for over twenty years, tells his story to Patricia Danaher. or more than 20 years, Jimmy’s was the place in Hollywood where the good and the great, the rich and the very famous came to let their hair down, secure in the attentions of Jimmy Murphy and his Mullingar-born wife, Anne. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were regulars, as were Maureen O’Hara, Mitzi Gaynor, Bob and Dolores Hope, Paul Newman, Henry Kissinger, Burt Lancaster, Farrah Fawcett, Roger Moore, Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and many, many others. To Marlon Brando, he was “Il Patron.” To Angela Lansbury, he was a regular dance partner. To Old Hollywood, Jimmy Murphy was the keeper of the most elegant salon and restaurant in Beverly Hills, where anything could (and did) happen. It was thanks to a combination of good taste, charm and serendipity that Kilkennyborn Murphy, who left school at the age of 14, found himself and his restaurant at the heart of where Hollywood came to do business and came out to play.
F
various small hotels and then at the Carlton, until he landed a seemingly fated job at the Savoy Hotel in London. This marked his first introduction to waiting on celebrities, including Charlie Chaplin and his wife Oona O’Neill, the
dancing. Her sister was a nurse in California, where they were looking for English-trained nurses. Anne was already planning to go to Los Angeles when we met in February 1963. We dated in London for three months and
The Salad Days “I never knew where the story was going to end, but I always felt from a young age that I was going to be a success,” he recently told me – 73 and as charming as ever. “I was one of eight children from an ordinary working class family. After I left school at 14, I went to Waterford and started my career in entertainment working in Dooley’s hotel.” In fact, he cycled to Waterford from Kilkenny to start work and learned the basics of catering and hotel management. After a couple of years he took the boat to England, where he worked in 90 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Jimmy and Anne Murphy with Bob Hope; Jimmy with Za Za Gabor; with Angela Lansbury; with Ethel Kennedy and friend.
daughter of Irish American playwright Eugene O’Neill. Murphy was happy in London and gained experience that was to open doors down the line for him in then unimaginable ways. Fate intervened further when he met his future wife Anne Power at a dance at the Café du Paris near Leicester. “Anne was a nurse and she loved
then she moved to LA and kept sending me photos of convertibles and bikinis and sunshine! We kept corresponding for about nine months and during the following winter, which was one of the worst in Europe in decades, I made the decision to go to LA.” Getting visas and Green Cards was pretty straightforward in those days, and
IA.chaplin.REV.qxd
9/14/12
10:57 PM
Page 91
with his Savoy training behind him, Jimmy quickly started working at the very high-end Beverly Wilshire Hotel in LA. “Hernando Courtwright [who headed the investment team that bought out the Beverly Wilshire and liked to hold court in La Bella Fontana, the hotel’s famed restaurant], was half Irish and half Mexican, and he loved the Irish. Within a couple of months, I was running the restaurant. I met a lot of famous people there including Billy Wilder and Frank Sinatra, who used to have to put his gun in the cloakroom. I also met Kurt Niklas, who owned one of the most famous restaurants in Los Angeles. He was opening a new place, the Bistro, and he obviously saw something in me because he asked me to come and work for him. I turned him down, saying I only worked in high-end places, not bistros, but eventually he persuaded me. This turned out to be a major stepping stone to the rest of my life.”
ABOVE: Jimmy and Anne with Ronald and Nancy Reagan. LEFT: Jimmy with Hillary Clinton.
The Main Course Jimmy and Anne married and had three children. He was a nearly permanent presence in the Bistro and so popular with its celebrity patrons that many people actually believed him to be the owner. Eventually they began to persuade him to go out on his own with their support and investment. The group bought a 10,000-squarefoot car park for $650,000 and Jimmy set about designing the elegant interiors with a French-themed restaurant, a cocktail lounge and rooms for private parties. Jimmy’s “opened in 1978 and was an instant hit with customers and the media alike. “People like Johnny Carson, Bob Newhart and Don Rickles kept telling me I should have a place of my own and they became some of the first people to invest their money in what became Jimmy’s. They became part of my following, which included about 60 wellconnected investors who brought their friends to the restaurant every night. They treated it like home away from home.
we are good drinkers, we are surrounded by water and none of us can swim! “Rogers and Cowan, the big international celebrity PR firm had their offices above Jimmy’s and CAA were down the street. Their head man, Michael Ovitz used to come to the restaurant about four times a week to entertain and do business with all the major celebrities he represented. It very quickly became the place to be seen, or if you were visiting from out of town, to see big talent. “People would spend the whole evening there, starting with cocktails, staying for dinner and then staying on to listen to jazz. You never knew who was going to come in. One night a group of customers were about to leave when
“I never knew how the story was going to end, but I
always felt from a young age that I was going to be a success.”
“It was a time when people really dressed up to go out, they would buy new dresses, get their hair done because they were going to have dinner at Jimmy’s. There was always glamour associated with it almost from day one. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were regulars. Burton said the Irish and the Welsh had three things in common:
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 91
IA.chaplin.REV.qxd
9/14/12
10:57 PM
Page 92
Chris Curtis, who began writing the music for Chaplin when he was the piano player at Jimmy’s.
Marlon Brando, Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood came in and started drinking at the bar. Everyone else sat back down, to see what would happen.” Los Angeles is a town dominated by cars and in 2000, Jimmy received an offer for Jimmy’s that he couldn’t refuse. After 22 years, he decided to sell his iconic restaurant and focus on the Chaplin project. The site is now a car park again. “I missed it of course after 22 years, and after a while I opened an upscale Irish pub called Jimmy’s Tavern. It did good business, but I sold it after a year and retired from the restaurant business. My new career is in show business.”
Rob McClure as Charlie Chaplin.
For anyone trying to break in to entertainment, Jimmy’s was a great place to be seen and heard. One night, a piano player from Boston called Chris Curtis showed up at the restaurant looking for work. “I already had three piano players, so I wasn’t looking for anyone, but I said I would try him out. Bob Newhart was there and he immediately saw how talented Chris was. Outside the restaurant every night, a character dressed as Charlie Chaplin would open the doors of the cars of the celebrities and walk the women into the restaurant, twirling his umbrella. I never hired him – he just showed up and worked for tips. “Chris happened to be doing a course on Chaplin at UCLA and became fascinated by his life. He started writing music about him and playing some of these songs in the restaurant.” Jimmy thought Curtis and his songs had great potential, and a number of his friends in the know agreed. Keen to help him develop them into a show about Chaplin, Jimmy hosted a cocktail party and raised half a million dollars in a single evening, with Chris performing his new music. Though the Chaplin project initially got off to a flying start, with interest from such big names as Irish producer Noel Pearson (My Left Foot, Dancing at Lughnasa), they soon encountered setback after setback, otherwise known as 92 IRISH AMERICA NOVEMBER / OCTOBER 2012
PHOTO: JOAN MARCUS
Just Desserts
“Development Hell.” People signed on to help develop the show and then dropped out; the money they had raised was misused in careless hands. Eventually, though, it all came together. Tan, fit, lively and still so well connected, Jimmy was able to raise another $1.2 million two years ago to help stage a production of Chaplin (then titled Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin) at the influential La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, which operates as a kind of clearing house for plays that make it to Broadway. Thomas Meehan, whose résumé includes Annie, Hairspray and The Producers, signed on to collaborate with Curtis on the show’s book, and they found their leading man in Rob McClure, an actor with little name-recognition but heaps of talent, and an affinity for Chaplin’s spirit and signature movements. Chaplin received strong reviews and played to packed audiences. Again, the show’s guardian angel (he is not listed as an official producer), Jimmy was able to go to a handful of investors, who raised the necessary $12 million to stage the show on Broadway. Chaplin: The Musical opened on September 10 at the Barrymore Theater, and Jimmy hopes its run will be both long and lauded. “I’ve been connected to show business all my working life, catering to people in the business, from actors to presidents. I remember when I was at the Savoy in London, Chaplin used to come in and I had no idea then as I waited on him that his story would come to form such a big part of my own life. It’s been fascinating and challenging and I love the way it’s all unfolded. I hope the show is going to run on IA Broadway for years.”
DooleyAD
3/2/11
10:15 AM
Page 1
IA.WAUL.qxd
9/15/12
2:52 AM
Page 94
{what are you like?} By Patricia Danaher
Pierce Brosnan s he approaches his 60th birthday, Pierce Brosnan has still got it going on in spades. Debonair, laconic and handsome as ever, the former James Bond and Remington Steele star is still pursuing a raft of projects through his company Irish Dreamtime, as well as making both Hollywood and independent movies as it suits him. He lives in Malibu with his wife, Keely Shaye Smith, and their sons, Dylan and Paris, and also spends part of the year living on Hawaii. Currently starring in Susanne Bier’s new movie Love Is All You Need, Pierce is about to begin filming a sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair, which he will also produce.
A
The 50th anniversary of James Bond is coming up. What’s life after Bond like? Fifty years says a lot for any character to live within the capricious world of filmmaking. It was a gift and a joy to do and it’s a gift that keeps on giving. Once you’re a Bond, you’re always a Bond; It doesn’t leave you. But now there’s only one Bond and that’s Daniel Craig, and he stands front and center on the stage. For me it was magical and I’m very proud of being part of it. The title of your latest movie is Love Is All You Need. Would you agree with that idea? There’s so much confusion and agitation in life nowadays and somehow our love of life seems to have gone by the wayside. But life is hard enough, so if you can find love, then that’s good. It’s good to have it, it’s good to share it and it’s good to give it away. Long may it last. Would you be prepared to share any secrets on how you look so well at 59? It’s simple. I have a great wife, Keely. She looks after me and the boys. I also drink a lot of water. Hydration and good Irish genes. Maybe I’ll wake up one morning and the door will hit me on the back of the head and the teeth will drop out and the hair will fall out – it’s getting thinner and greyer. But I play tennis twice or three times a week and I live
94 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
by the beach, so I paddleboard. I like my wine and I like the good food. I have to watch the bread and butter, but I suppose if I have any secrets, it would be the red wine and the hydration.
Do aging and the numbers on the clock bother you as you approach your 60th birthday next May? To grow old is a challenge for sure. I think it takes courage to live life at the best of times, but as you approach 60, it’s just amazing how fast it goes by. It goes with the speed of a flame. I’m still at the table physically, spiritually, mentally and enthusiastically looking forward to the work ahead as an actor and the work ahead as a father and as a man. You’ve got to keep the faith, if you have any, and whatever turns you on, you push through the days. What are the things you prize most in life? Friendship, family, my own Catholic faith. Being brought up in southern Ireland on the banks of the Boyne, and once a Catholic, always a Catholic. I’ve let go a lot of the mangled side of Catholicism. I find there are other ways to celebrate spiritual life or whatever you want to call it just to get by. Do you feel like you’ve accomplished all you hoped to when you moved to Hollywood? Sometimes you have choices and some-
times you have no choices, so I’ve always felt like an outsider within it all, even though I’ve kind of created a career for myself through the doors of Hollywood, through Remington Steele or James Bond. It would be great to be offered big studio films, and they come around, but it’s just the way it is. I don’t lose sleep over it or worry over it.
Do you feel like you are at home in the world of acting and Hollywood? How do you fit in, eh? I just keep showing up! I try to find work that’s interesting, and as I’ve said to my agents, I was trained as an actor and led to believe that I could play leading roles – any kind of roles, any kind of part. But then of course, you look a certain way and you give a certain performance and before you know it, you’ve painted yourself into a corner with your own artistic intentions. Could you imagine living anyplace else beyond Los Angeles now? I’ve given a good many years to Hollywood and the boys are getting older and I look forward to the day that I can travel with my wife and paint and make movies and just go and do the odd bit of character work here or there, whatever it takes. Keely and I are talking a bit more about going to live in Paris. I’d love to study with some painter there and do a bit of acting and use it as a base for traveling.
IA.WAUL.qxd
9/15/12
2:52 AM
Page 95
least the glaciers are melting, that’s for sure, and there doesn’t seem to be enough love in our lives. All of that keeps me awake if I let it. But I try to manage my mind.
Do you still do a lot of ads and endorsements for watches? For a time you used to be everywhere. No I don’t. My time with Omega is over; however, I love watches. I’ve always loved watches and I still have the first watch that I wore in a film with Michael Caine, The Fourth Protocol. After one of my first films, I went out and bought myself a great new watch, which I also still have. But after Bond, I don’t have that many endorsements now really. You can make a life of it and it’s very lucrative for an actor. I do travel to Tokyo and Prague and Russia for some endorsements, and it’s a fantastic way to survive and still keep your own art form as an actor. If you can blend the two, it’s just great.
Do you miss Europe? I’ve always missed Europe. Always. I’m always kind of yearning for it, but I’ve put in time and energy into Hollywood and I’m at a point now where they know where to find me if they want me!
Need and it was either learn French or learn the piano. And I learned how to play the piano. But then I went to Paris and I was just there like the silent Irishman, with nothing to say for myself, so I really have to get down to that!
How’s your French? Shockingly bad! I am acutely aware of how terrible my French is. I had eight months off before I did Love Is All You
What keeps you awake at night? Reading and listening to the media, we’re told constantly that the sky is falling, and in many respects it is. At
When you’re making movies, what do you hope for from audiences in terms of their response or experience? We have to share our feelings in life and try to be as open as possible. To be an artist, to be an actor, to make films is such a celebration of life. You hope that families will go in on a cold winter’s evening to see a film like Love Is All You Need. Because if they’re going through the tortures and rigors of something like cancer, I hope they will come out feeling joyful and hopeful. We all want to identify with the people on the screen, and when movies work the best, they work in that way so that when people come out [of the cinema] they can feel like Spencer Tracy or Cary Grant or Clint Eastwood or Steve McQueen or Meryl Streep. That’s our job. That’s the alchemy of what we do, and when it comes together, it’s just great. IA
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 95
IA.Books.qxd
9/15/12
2:55 AM
Page 96
{ review of books}
Recently published books of Irish and Irish-American interest.
Recommended The Graves Are Walking
here are plenty of books about the famine. But with The Graves Are Walking, John Kelly has done more than simply re-examine the facts and submit a new take on the disaster; which in itself would have been quite a feat, considering the mounds of previous academic study devoted to subject. Kelly has constructed a narrative in which the circumstances surrounding the Great Hunger mirror the U.S.’s current socio-political climate. The introduction, which takes us through Cork during the height of the famine, has a deliberately apocalyptic feel. Kelly recounts a brief interaction between an English colonel stationed in Dublin and a colleague in 1846. “There is an undefined notion that something terrible is about to take place. Men’s minds are in a very unsettled state.” The prophecies, the chaos, the eerie feeling that a storm, possibly a revolution, lingers in the nottoo-distant future – sound familiar yet? Just wait. This account speaks of mounting debts in the wake of the initial crisis, of a biased media, and of ideologues. Religious fanaticism and racial bigotry masquerade as political savvy. Kelly places much of the blame for the social disaster not on a crop fungus or a primitive infrastructure, but on what he claims was Britain’s purposeful attempt at social engineering. The Graves Are Walking will undoubtedly be the subject of some controversy. But the fact that Kelly has made this effort to remind us that “history” is alive, repetitive and relevant, is something we should all be able to agree on as a worthwhile endeavor. – Catherine Davis
T
(Henry Holt & Company / 397 pages / $32.00)
The Dream of the Celt
he idea of Mario Vargas Llosa, one of the star writers of the Latin American Boom and the winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature, writing about Roger
T
96 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER/ NOVEMBER 2012
Casement, one of the more controversial, and misunderstood figures of Irish history, is initially surprising. There’s something surreal about the vision of the Peruvian writer conducting research at the Kerry County Museum in Tralee; walking the beach at Banna Strand; visiting the family estate in Co. Antrim. But it also makes sense. Throughout his historical novels, Vargas Llosa has consistently been drawn to complicated subjects, such as the Brazilian religious leader Antônio Conselheiro, Peruvian revolutionary Alejandro Mayta, and the French painter Paul Gauguin. In Casement he has certainly found one. Born in Ireland in 1864, Casement was a British diplomat by trade. He became famous for his carefully researched human rights reports on the rubber trade and the exploitation of natives in the Congo and the Amazon, which shocked the world. As Vargas Llosa shows, Casement’s horror at the effects of colonialism led him to return to his Irish roots and take up the nationalistic cause with fervor, in spite of his failing health. After campaigning doggedly throughout Ireland and the U.S., at the start of WWI he became convinced that an Irish uprising would only succeed with support from the Germans. Right before the Easter Rising, to which he was opposed, Casement was caught trying to smuggle German arms from a submarine off the coast of Co. Kerry. He was hanged for treason at Pentonville Prison in August 1916. Casement makes for such an interesting subject because of how little is known about him personally, and how much of even that hinges upon the British campaign against him following his arrest. After searching his residence, the British authorities had segments of his diaries, known as “The Black Diaries,” leaked in the newspapers, and their graphic accounts of homosexual liaisons with young men in the Congo and South America sparked public outrage and damaged Casement’s plea for clemency. Whether he actually wrote the passages has been debated for years, and no conclusive answer
was reached when the British government declassified the diaries in 1959. Vargas Llosa’s interpretation – that while some of the encounters did take place, the majority of them were fantasies – is both highly literary and highly empathetic. Throughout The Dream of the Celt, Vargas Llosa’s understanding of Casement as not just a figure but a person is abundantly clear. The novel is divided into three sections – The Congo, Amazonia, and Ireland – and interspersed with flashes of Casement’s time at Pentonville: his visits from friends, including Alice Stopford Green, and his talks with the prison chaplain, Fr. Carey, and a surprisingly kind guard. While the excursions into Casement’s past tend to get bogged down in facts and repetition, these passages are meditative and finely wrought, and the last moments leading up to his execution have to be among the most delicate and heartbreaking in recent literary history. With this degree of sensitivity, Vargas Llosa has done Casement a greater credit than practically any Irish scholar or historian to date. – Sheila Langan (Farrar, Straus & Grioux / 368 pages / $29.00)
Fiction Radio Iris
nne-Marie Kinney’s debut novel Radio Iris has garnered a curious smattering of praise. Phrases like “The Office as scripted by Kafka” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) and “An astute evocation of office weirdness and malaise” (The Wall Street Journal) aren’t exactly compliments so much as stunned observations. Radio Iris is the story of a girl who has done nothing wrong: she is a loving, if somewhat distracted, daughter to her loving, if somewhat distant, parents; she has gone into debt to finish college and taken an executive assistant position to a highpowered businessman; she is deeply loyal and forgiving of her brother, Neil; she even cleans her apartment and returns stray dogs to their owners. Iris’s normality, her dutiful following of the path set out before her, rings of the promises made to a millennial generation, then broken when the country’s youth realized their student loan
A
IA.Books.qxd
9/15/12
2:55 AM
Page 97
burdens and line-toeing adolescence might mean nothing more than years of rejection from potential employers. Something in Iris shifts when she begins to experience holes in the fabric of her universe. The workers at her company disappear without warning and without reaction; her boss’s behavior and time away from the office become more erratic; she buys a black Sharpie and begins writing messages everywhere, as if communicating with the survivors of an impending apocalypse. “I will never be thirsty,” she inscribes on the wall behind the water cooler. A low-grade anxiety that builds from page one (“Iris feels goose bumps rising on her forearms, but hesitates to touch the thermostat”) is familiar to anyone who has sat under fluorescent lighting in an office, wondering what the point is. Kinney artfully and persistently raises the level of panic, building a surreality inhabited by Iris and a mysterious occupant of the office next door. When the water cooler ultimately disappears, along with most of the physical and metaphorical world that Iris depended on, we are not surprised. The novel is grounded by the trappings of real life: a believable backstory for Neil’s near-sociopathic unhappiness, a friend from college who tries to push Iris into a normal adulthood (her more pressing purpose, though, might be to clarify that Iris even exists). But Kinney, who is of Irish descent on her mother’s side, does not hold back from letting the walls fall away, leaving Iris in a landscape that is foreign to us, but seems to be what Iris has waited her whole life to see. – Kara Rota (Two Dollar Radio / 209 pages / $16.00)
Falling Glass
drian McKinty uses his native Carrickfergus as the backdrop for much of Falling Glass, his new crime drama about an Irish Traveller, or Pavee, introduced to us as Killian. An exenforcer for the IRA, Killian decided at 40 to turn his life around, enrolling in university and buying some real estate. But when the recession causes his only legitimate business venture to fail, Killian takes one final job as a gun-for-hire. Which, of course, leads to another job.
A
Falling Glass is fast-paced, violent, and sexy – in a removed, technical way. If you weren’t up on recent history and culture before reading this novel, you will be, halfway through. “Thirty years of low-level civil war had kept out the chains, but the peace dividend had brought them in with a vengeance,” McKinty writes. “Drugs, new houses and McDonalds – that was the post ceasefire Northern Ireland.” Killian gives the impression that he (like, McKinty seems to be implying, Northern Ireland as whole) is a bit of a latecomer, not only to higher education, but to the grip of Western corporate culture. Making him equally voracious for Dunkin’ Donuts as for architectural theory. A running joke is that the main characters all have terrible luck with transportation. Foulsmelling rental cars, rude airline passengers, unnecessary boat rides – McKinty has clearly had his share of negative travel experiences. Falling Glass, however, moves along smoothly, without any abrupt shifts or changes in direction, and it’s over sooner than you’d like. – Catherine Davis (Serpent’s Tail / 320 pages / $14.95)
Non-Fiction
Traditional Notes: A Celebration of Irish Music and Musicians
An impressive pictorial guide to contemporary traditional Irish music, Traditional Notes features some of the most important musicians to come out of Ireland in the last fifty years, including Martin Hayes, Noel Hill, Dennis Cahill and The Dubliners’ Barney McKenna, all the while celebrating classic trad instruments such as the fiddle, bodhran, accordion, banjo and many more. A guide book on any topic can run the risk of being insipid, but this is something award-winning photographer Stephen Power masterfully avoids. With informative and refreshing notes on both artists and instruments, Traditional Notes is easy and enjoyable to read. The photography is exceptional, and Power brings each two-dimensional picture to life with a warm, natural, and vivid quality – without the overuse of high contrast, heavy lighting or flashy filtering. Power stays true to the instrument and to the musician by capturing them – in the moment, in song, in creation – exactly as they are. You cannot hear the fiddle, the ‘thrum’ of the bodhran, nor the haunting Irish voice through the pages, but Power so brilliantly portrays them that you shouldn’t be surprised if you start to imagine those beloved Irish instruments and voices in your mind. This book is a definite must for any lover of Irish music. – Michelle Meagher (Liffey Press/DuFour Editions / 204 pages / $29.95)
Children’s Books
Sally Go Round the Stars Beautifully compiled and illustrated, Sally Go Round the Stars by Sarah Webb and Claire Ranson is a collection of Ireland’s most treasured nursery rhymes and favorite international rhymes.This enchanting picture book is a time capsule that will make adults relive the days of their childhood with their own children or any young ones. Webb and Ranson bring us classics like “Little Miss Muffet,” “Hey Diddle Diddle,” “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and “Jack and Jill,” and then there are the Irish favorites like “Janey Mac” and “Are Ye Right There, Michael?” Every page features charming pictures in a quirky, folksy style that will engage readers, young and old. This is a staple for any nursery bookshelf and is sure to be a choice bedtime read. With its engaging rhymes and songs like “Ring a Ring o’ Roses” and “Three Blind Mice,” which are great for young readers and perfect for interactive story time, this book is also a must in young classrooms. Sally Go Round the Stars will help continue the tradition of storytelling and nursery rhymes for generations to come. – Michelle Meagher (O’Brien Press/DuFour Editions / 64 pages / $23.95) OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 97
IA.Music.qxd
9/15/12
12:13 AM
Page 98
{music reviews} By Tara Dougherty
Nuala Kennedy • Noble Stranger uala Kennedy’s Noble Stranger, one of the newest releases from Compass Records, fluctuates between your typical trad album and a very new, innovative pop sound. Kennedy is an Irish vocalist and flute player with a voice that hits an intriguingly high pitch. This vocal peculiarity coupled with her bold and experimental arrangements make Noble Stranger a pop trad record of remark. On the album’s opening track “Gabriel Sings,” Kennedy implements the very exploratory side to her arrangements, striking bizarre highs and lows in her voice, which is worked into a somewhat combative style of instrumentation. It is a brave opening track, which may turn some trad listeners away but has enough of a hook and toe-tapping pull to keep most interested. “Lonely City” may be the song in which Kennedy truly excels vocally. Here the rhythmic guitar holds listeners steady while she explores, through vocal harmony, a different side to her own musicality. The record is a delight and refreshing to hear. Throughout, though, Kennedy never lets listeners forget that she is first and foremost a master flutist. The album was recorded almost entirely live, which is perhaps the best way to capture the spirit of Irish music. With a full fall tour stretching up and down the Eastern seaboard, Kennedy will likely be on the radar of Irish music fans, and Noble Stranger is certainly a record worth exploring a live show to understand.
N
Caitlin Nic Gabhann • Caitlín Newcomer Caitlin Nic Gabhann has arrived with purpose. The concertina player has independently released a debut that will demand dancing. The self-titled album, Caitlín, showcases Nic Gabhann’s obvious talent along with the perfectly complementing guitar work of Caoimhín Ó Fearghail. It is a record with bounce, and a must have for
98 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
dancers, who will revel in its perfected rhythm and simple performance. Exploring some classic favorites like “The Rookery” and “The Reel of Beryl,” Nic Gabhann is a dancer herself, formerly of the Riverdance troupe, and that is more than reflected in her mastery of these numbers. She is also a three-time winner of the All Ireland competition for concertina. Caitlín also features some of Nic Gabhann’s own compositions which have been performed in the Cork Opera House and National Concert Hall in Dublin. The young County Meath native has certainly made herself known with this debut, and readers should expect to see her name again, hopefully collaborating with more musicians and exploring more depth in her sound.
Cathie Ryan • Through Wind and Rain return to the trad stage after seven years, Cathie Ryan’s Through Wind and Rain is a folk triumph for the Michigan singer. After suffering setbacks she largely attributes to a grueling touring schedule, Ryan disappeared from the trad scene only to return, as the album says, Through Wind and Rain, with her trademark sweetness and a collection of fantastically whimsical tunes. One departure from the album’s very sullen tone is “I’m A Beauty.” Ryan called it “a song with healing in it. I heard it and wanted to sing it for me, and for others. They say the old bards – the Druids – used to sing people back to themselves.” The arrangement and Ryan’s strengthening vocal performance are a highlight of the album. The traditional piece “Oro, ‘Sheanduine Doite” showcases Ryan’s great ability to take traditional songs and inject them with a flavor of American folk that goes down as smoothly as she sings them. Through Wind and Rain is a moving return for Ryan and certain to be a staple of her career, not only as her return piece but also as IA one of her best albums.
A
Untitled-4 1
9/4/12 5:00 PM
IA.Victor.qxd
9/14/12
9:29 PM
Page 100
THE GREAT
Victor Herbert The Irish composer of such American favorites as “Naughty Marietta,” and “Sweethearts” is the subject of a five-month-long exhibition at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Jack Callahan tells Herbert’s story. efore George M. Cohan was packing the theaters, another Irishman’s star shone bright on Broadway. Victor Herbert, one of the most appreciated composers to ever work on the Great White Way, had a prolific career that embraced a variety of musical genres. In addition to forty operettas and two operas, he wrote the music for several Ziegfeld Follies, did musical scores for motion pictures, composed for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, and between 1900 and 1915, wrote 23 musicals. Born in Dublin on February 1, 1859, to Edward Herbert and Fanny Lover, Victor actually spent most of his life outside of Ireland. His father, a lawyer, died in Paris only two years after Victor’s birth, and Fanny and her young son moved to England to live with her father, Samuel Lover. Lover, a painter, musician and writer, best remembered for his novels Rory O’More and Handy Andy, was a fierce Irish nationalist, and his home was a gathering place for other Irish nationalists and members of the intelligentsia. At parties Fanny would play the piano and sing Irish folk songs to her young son. “She used to sing them before I could talk,” Herbert recalled in a 1921 interview. When Victor was seven, Samuel Lover encouraged Fanny to take her young son to Germany, where he believed the quality of the education was better. She did so, moving first to Langenargen, where she met and married a German physician, who moved the family to Stuttgart. As a schoolboy, Victor initially felt no strong urge to study music, focusing instead on academics. He only took up the
B
100 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
cello upon the encouragement of his mother and one of his school friends. However, he undertook the study of the instrument with such zeal and tenacity that his grades began to suffer. This same tenacity would characterize Herbert’s undertakings throughout his life, and combined with his natural talents, would ensure his success.
Although his mother did not want her son to become a professional musician, she had to concede to his prodigious talent and allowed him to commence studies with Professor Cossman, one of the best concert cellists of the day. Herbert’s talent flowered under Cossman’s tutelage and he soon gained enough expertise to be employed by several orchestras. Upon completing his formal education, Herbert performed as a soloist in Germany,
France and Italy, and in 1882, he was appointed first cellist of the Strauss Orchestra in Vienna. In 1883, he returned to Stuttgart to play with the Stuttgart court orchestra and study composition with Max Seifrittz. He wrote his performance-worthy “Suite in F for Cello and Orchestra” only four months into his study of composition. In 1886, Herbert married Therese Forster, a prima donna of the Vienna Opera, and the two immigrated to the United States at the invitation of Walter Damrosch, to join the Metropolitan Opera. They also became parents of a daughter, Ella, and a son, Clifford. Herbert quickly established himself as the preeminent cellist in the United States. He became first cellist with the New York Philharmonic, performing as a soloist in January 1887. He also embraced conducting. In 1891, he conducted the Boston Festival Orchestra. In 1893, he succeeded another Irish American, Patrick Gilmore, as the conductor of the 22nd Regiment Band in New York. He was the conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 1898 to 1904, and composed several pieces for that orchestra. Later, he served as a guest conductor for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The turning point in Herbert’s career came in 1893, when his friend William MacDonald, manager of “The Bostonians” asked him to write a light opera for his company. Herbert wrote “Prince Ananias” which was received with critical acclaim when it opened in New York City in November, 1894. Herbert had found his niche – he went
IA.Victor.qxd
9/14/12
9:29 PM
Page 101
{music}
on to write some 40 operettas. Some of his most popular include “The Fortune Teller,” “The Red Mill,” “Naughty Marietta,” and “Sweethearts.” The original Broadway run of “The Red Mill” lasted 274 performances, while a 1945 revival ran for 531 performances. His most famous and enduring operetta is “Babes in Toyland.” The original Broadway production ran for 192 performances. It has been presented twice on the movie screen; the first version stars Laurel and Hardy, while the second version features fellow Irish American Ray Bolger. “March of the Wooden Soldiers,” a favorite among televised Christmas specials, is based on “Babes in Toyland.” Two of Mr. Herbert’s operettas, “Naughty Marietta” and “Sweethearts,” were made into movies starring the famous singing duo Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald, and he is credited as being one of the first composers to create an original screen score – for the 1916 film Fall of a Nation.
German, Herbert would frequent Luchow’s on Fourteenth Street near Fourth Avenue in New York City where his favorite dishes were boiled beef with horseradish sauce and wine kraut, veal chops au naturel and sirloin steak fried over charcoal with grated horseradish, onions, and potatoes spread over it. Kaye claimed that Herbert could go into “rhapsodic flights over a dish.” Herbert had a keen memory and an even keener ear, so that if the second fiddlers played a G flat instead of an A, he would know it. While normally placid and genial, in rehearsal he could be tyrannical ,unleashing invectives laced with profanities. Still, he was well-respected among musicians as a master and the members of his orchestra strove to please him. He in turn was very generous to them, known for being an easy “touch.” Although he spent the greater part of his life outside Ireland, Herbert’s commitment to the country of his birth never wavered. He served as vice president of The Society
Cohalan’s eulogy of Victor Herbert which recounts how Mr. Herbert zealously advocated Irish freedom from England, even when it was a politically unpopular position to take. “He contributed in no small way to the creation of the great movement for Irish freedom which aroused the Race throughout the world and brought into existence the Irish Free State, “ Cohalan stated. In March, 1916, at the Irish Race Convention, Herbert was elected the first president of The Friends of Irish Freedom. Victor Herbert died on May 26, 1924, and was buried in New York’s Woodlawn Cemetery. Shortly after his death the music critic Deems Taylor praised Herbert in the New York World, saying that Herbert’s popularity as a composer exceeded that of any other in America: “Victor Herbert raised light opera music to a degree of harmonic sophistication that it had never before reached.” The city of New York erected a statue of Victor Herbert in Central Park. In
“Victor Herbert raised light opera music to a degree of harmonic sophistication that it had never before reached.” Many famous songs including “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life,” “Italian Street Song,” “Everyday Is Ladies Day With Me,” “Indian Summer,” “Toyland,” and “March of the Toys,” owe their score to Herbert. He also composed the stirring “Irish Rhapsody” and “Baltimore Centennial March.” In addition to his musical endeavors, Herbert was instrumental in the formation of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and he fought radio broadcasters who tried to use popular and classical music without paying royalties. In his biography of Herbert, Joseph Kaye describes the composer as “happy, deep-laughing, witty, appreciative of both cabbage and caviar, a good friend, a Rabelaisian story-teller. . . a man who ardently loved the good things in life.” A connoisseur of food, especially
of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and composed the group’s official song, “The Hail of the Friendly Sons.” He founded the organization’s glee club and accompanied the great tenor John McCormack in a performance to benefit the club. At the 1915 Friendly Sons of St. Patrick’s Day dinner, Herbert spoke of the fierce loyalty he and many Irish emigrants retained for their native home: “On this day when the hearts of Irishmen throughout the world are beating faster. . . we renew the everlasting love we feel for our old home across the sea.” Herbert’s commitment to Irish freedom resulted in his composition of such songs as “The New Ireland,” “God Spare the Emerald Isle,” and “Old Ireland Shall Be Free.” The American Irish Historical Society, which counted Herbert among its members, has a copy of Judge Daniel F.
1939, Hollywood paid homage to him with the aptly titled biographical film The Great Victor Herbert. On May 13, 1940, the United States government also honored him by issuing a postage stamp bearing his likeness. Still, the most timeless legacy of this remarkable man remains the catalogue of his glorious melodies we IA carry in our hearts and heads. “The Musical Worlds of Victor Herbert” features items from the Library of Congress' Victor Herbert Collection, including original Herbert scores of both concert and show music, printed copies of his music, programs, publicity materials and photographs, as well as the composer’s death mask. The exhibition is free and open to the public, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, from Aug. 16, 2012 to Jan. 26, 2013. Visit www.loc.gov for more information. OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 101
IA.Crossword.qxd
9/14/12
9:39 PM
Page 102
{crossword} By Darina Molloy
ACROSS 1 6 9 10 12 13 14 16 19 21 22 24 25 26 28 30 33 34 35 36 37 39 42 43 44 45
An unwanted plant (4) Beware the Ides of _____ (5) See 41 down (10) (& 21 across) The ___ ___: inspiring library at Trinity College Dublin (4) A French night (4) (& 15 down) Boyband featuring Mullingar singer Niall Horan (3) To get clear or free of something objectionable (3) See 28 down (5) See 20 down (11) See 10 across (4) The advert for this Cadbury’s chocolate bar used to feature a cartoon bunny (7) (& 5 down) There is a statue of this Act of Union-opposing politician at College Green in Dublin (5) A short company (2) (& 11 down) Iconic astronaut who died in August (4) (& 38 down) She brought the house down by winning Irish gold at the Olympics (5) The Irish equivalent of high school (9) The word denoted in an email address by @ (2) Actor Martin _____ (5) ___ Maguire: This cup is awarded to the winners of the All-Ireland senior football final each year (3) See 18 down (7) __ said, she said (2) Pat Conroy book: South of _____ (5) See 40 down (2, 5) Sonny & _____ (4) Sneakers in Ireland (7) (& 30 down) This Bohola man was one of Ireland’s early Olympians, representing the U.S. in the early 1900s (6)
DOWN 2 Nickname for elevated rapid transit system, such as serves Chicago (2) 3 See 29 down (4)
4 Once known as Dublin’s Little Jerusalem (10) 5 See 24 across (7) 6 Minnesota, in short (1,1) 7 Once more (5) 8 Assassin movie starring Saoirse Ronan (5) 10 This Armstrong has been stripped of his Tour de France cycling titles (5) 11 See 26 across (9) 12 Voted Ireland’s favorite heritage site in a recent survey (9) 15 See 13 across (9) 17 ___ Capital: investment firm co-founded by Mitt Romney (4) 18 (& 36 across) Mountainous place of pilgrimage in County Mayo (6) 20 (& 19 across) The Boss still rules the roost on the Dublin gig scene (5) 23 Reflection of sound (4) 27 The ____: Anne Enright novel that won the Booker prize in 2007 (9) 28 (& 16 across) Benedictine monastery in Connemara (8)
Win a subscription to Irish America magazine Please send your completed crossword puzzle to Irish America, 875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 201, New York, NY 10001, to arrive no later than November 5, 2012. A winner will be drawn from among all correct entries. If there are no correct solutions, the prize will be awarded for the completed puzzle which comes closest in the opinion of our staff. Winner’s name will be published along with the solution in our next issue. Xerox copies are acceptable. Winner of the AUG./SEPT. Crossword: Catherine K. Winger, Scranton, PA 102 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
29 (& 3 down) His ‘Spasticus Autisticus’ was one of the songs at the Paralympic Games’ Opening Ceremony (3) 30 See 45 across (8) 31 Rush or hurry (4) 32 What you would be wearing if you put on a sweater in, say, Galway (6) 35 Ancient Gaelic harvest festival held in October (7) 38 See 28 across (6) 40 (& 42 across) Recently won his second major golf championship (4) 41 The winner of this year’s Rose of Tralee is from this county but represented 9 across (4)
August / September Solution
ConcernAd
7/7/11
11:08 AM
Page 1
IA.Slainte.qxd
9/15/12
2:58 AM
Page 104
{sláinte} By Edythe Preet
Where’s the Beef? Bird or game it’s all about carving against the grain, writes Edythe Preet, Irish Heritage Kitchen chef and Sláinte columnist.
A
n old Irish saying has it that “A dinner is not a dinner at all but only an excuse for one if it does not contain a plate of meat.” And meals starring meat have a long history. From tales of the saints’ lives and heraldic sagas we know that wealth was determined by one’s cattle holdings. Tain Bo Culainge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley) relates how a war erupted over the theft of a great black bull. Tributes to rulers were paid in cattle. Records show that the king of Leinster delivered a hundred head of each kind of cattle to his Munster overlord. Church tithes called “First-fruits” included the first calf born to every cow. Cattle also served as financial barter exchanges. The Brehon Laws stipulated that tenants pay their landholders an annual rent of two cows. Culdee monks charged a yearly fee for tuition, bed and board, of one calf, several hogs, three sacks of malt and a sack of wheat. Herding provided much of the protein that was eaten in ancient Ireland, but it was not the only source of the meat that came to the table. Hunting was not an occasional pastime but a Carving a delectable roast. productive pursuit. From drawings in illuminated manuscripts such as The Book of Kells we know that the domestic cock and hen were dietary mainstays, but unusual fowl which stayed in force until the death of Brian Boru in 1014, the such as the purple eagle, wild peacock and the barnacle goose also Ard-ri was granted a retinue of at least ten persons: a flaith (noble), found their way to the table. Wrens, ducks, cuckoos, ravens, para brehon (judge), a druid (in Christian times a bishop), a sai (doctridge, kites, hawks, sparrows, and storks are mentioned in Lives of tor), a poet, a historian, a musician, and three servants. That memthe Saints. In his 12th-century Topography of Ireland Giraldo ber of the royal household who demonstrated an aptitude to wield Cambrensis wrote of falcons, snipe, woodcock, pheasant, nightina blade at table was as valued as one who could deftly slice and gales, flocks of cranes, and “clouds of larks singing the praises of dice on the battlefield. God.” No medieval carver worth his salt cut meat on a dish. He speared When the Normans arrived, hunting took on new dimensions. the entire haunch or bird on the tines of a massive carving fork Like the Tudors after them, they hawked for birds, coursed hare, held in the left hand, lifted it in the air, and with an acrobat’s agiliand hunted deer and wild boar. To ensure there would be sufficient ty and a juggler’s timing, adroitly sliced away with a deadly sharp game to support their passion, new animals were introduced to the blade held in his right. The best could dismiss the use of a fork environment and new meats to the Irish table. Pigeons were bred entirely and cut with two knives, simultaneously slicing with one in large dovecotes, then stewed, spit-roasted, pot-roasted, or baked blade and then the other as the meat appeared to hang magically in pies. The native deer population had dwindled to a fraction of suspended in the air. Diners watched the performance intently, its original size and fallow deer were imported to augment the loudly criticizing ineptitude and heartily applauding flamboyance. herds. The carver’s role was a serious matter. Students practiced on In an ordinance decreed sometime around the 3rd century by the wooden forms simulating all manner of meat and fowl, with difmost famous of the ancient Irish High Kings, Cormac mac Art, ferent verbs assigned to carving each. One might alay a pheasant,
104 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
IA.Slainte.qxd
9/15/12
2:58 AM
Page 105
unbrace a duck, unlace a rabbit, disfigure a peacock, break a deer, spoil a hen, unmail a crayfish, splat a bream, or gobbet a trout. A hot meat pie was cut from the top edge, but a knife was inserted into the middle if the pie was cold. There were even requisite procedures for cutting fruit. The carver was one of the most important officers of the royal retinue. He wore a leather case much like a sword scabbard in which were stored the tools of his trade: two large knives, one each for bread and meat, plus smaller table knives for his lord’s exclusive use. And the knives were no ordinary blades. The handles were ornamented with precious metals, horn, ivory, and sometimes faceted jewels. While a carver’s dexterity and showmanship were of great importance, his true worth lay in whether he could make the toughest cuts of meat tooth tender, a most important skill at a time when even a king’s dentition was probably poor. The key was cutting the meat ‘against the grain,’ which transformed a dry fire-roasted haunch of wild game from tough-as-nails into an easily chewed delicious morsel. Finding any meat’s ‘grain’ is no easier today than it was a thousand years ago. For years, I sought this ‘holy grain’ to no avail. Inevitably my gorgeous roast turkeys, roast beefs and baked hams
morphed into ragged slabs and showers of crumbles on the serving platter. Then one day at the gym I solved the mystery. My trainer had explained that muscles are composed of long strings of tissue. While trodding the treadmill, planning an upcoming holiday meal, and dreading the prospect of yet another carving trial, I suddenly had the answer. The reason sliced meat can be a chewing challenge is that it has been cut parallel to a stringy muscle! Pursuing the thought a bit further I deduced that cutting ‘against’ the grain meant I had to hold the blade at a right angle to the muscle. Then my cuts would sever the long strings into short little bits my teeth would have no difficulty whatsoever masticating into the mouthy mush required for swallowing. In a flash my carving skill was raised to a height that in the Middle Ages would have earned me a royal reward. The next time you serve a roast haunch or fowl – say at one of the many winter feasts fast approaching – remember this: stringy slices or crumbles are clues that the angle you’re carving from is wrong. Once you find the grain, every slice you carve will be pure chewing joy. Not only will meat be the starring element on your table, your fellow diners may even give you a standing ovation. IA Sláinte!
RECIPES Holiday Standing Rib Roast (personal recipe) (Note: There’s no need to search for the ‘holy grain’ on a standing rib roast. Cutting slices through the ribs automatically cuts ‘across the grain’.)
2 2 2 2 2
Rib Roast (7-8 pounds) w/ 3-4 ribs, trimmed of excess fat teaspoons dry mustard teaspoons sugar teaspoons Dijon mustard coarse salt & black pepper tablespoons flour cups beef stock
If your butcher has not already done so, cut through the ribs and tie together again with kitchen twine. In a small bowl, combine dry mustard, sugar, and Dijon mustard. Brush mixture over the fat and cut surfaces of the roast. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Set the roast, fat side up, in a heavy, shallow roasting pan. Let stand until it comes to room temperature, 30 minutes to 1 hour. Score the fat with a paring knife. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 min-
utes. (Add potatoes – see potato recipe) Roast another 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue to roast (basting with pan juices every 15 minutes), until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 115 degrees for rare (or 125 for medium rare) on an instant-read thermometer (about 1 hour). Remove roast to a platter. Cover with tin foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving. While roast is resting, pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the roasting pan. To make gravy, set pan on stove over medium heat. Simmer until juices begin to darken, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in flour and cook, scraping up caramelized bits, until flour is deep golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil, stirring until thickened. It should very lightly coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt and pepper. Strain gravy and serve with oven roasted potatoes, horseradish sauce, and your choice of vegetables. Makes 6-8 servings.
Oven Roasted Potatoes (personal recipe) 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and halved lengthwise 1 ⁄2 teaspoon salt (scant)
Put potatoes into a large pot of water. Bring to a boil, add salt. Cook 5 minutes. Drain. Score lines lengthwise in potatoes using a fork. Add potatoes to roasting pan after meat has been cooking for 15 minutes and continue cooking according to Rib Roast recipe. Turn potatoes every 30 minutes so they will brown evenly all over. When golden brown, remove to a serving platter and keep warm while roast is resting and gravy is cooking. Serves 6-8.
Horseradish Sauce (personal recipe) 2 cups sour cream 1 ⁄2 cup grated peeled fresh horseradish, or prepared horseradish 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or more to taste salt & pepper In a small bowl, stir together sour cream, horseradish, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Makes 2 1/2 cups. Refrigerate any left over sauce as it’s excellent on cold roast beef sandwiches. Note: Use more horseradish if you prefer a spicier sauce.
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 IRISH AMERICA 105
IA.Those Lost..qxd
9/15/12
12:04 AM
Page 106
Those We Lost write, but very few of us do it. We simply sit there until closing time talking about it. In England, if you tell someone you’re going to write a book, the next time they meet you they’ll ask how the book is going. That was good for me.” Binchy published her first novel, Light a Penny Candle, in 1982, when she was 42. She went on to write sixteen others, including Echoes, The Lilac Bus, and, most recently, Minding Frankie. Tara Road became a runaway success when Oprah Winfrey declared herself a fan and Binchy appeared on her show in 1999. Tara Road, Circle of Friends, and a short story titled “How About You” were all made into films. Though Binchy had announced that 2000’s Scarlet Feather would be the last of her big novels, she completed 5 more – in spite of a heart condition and arthritis. Binchy is survived by her husband, Gordon, with whom she wrote every day, at their own desks in the same room in their modest house in Dalkey. She is also survived by a brother, William, and a sister, Joan. Binchy’s final novel, A Week in Winter, will be published in October. – S.L.
Malcolm Browne 1931 – 2012
Maeve Binchy 1940 – 2012
One of Ireland’s most successful and beloved novelists, Maeve Binchy passed away on July 30, following a brief illness. Taoiseach Enda Kenny praised Binchy, author of such bestsellers as Circle of Friends and Tara Road, and mourned Ireland’s loss of “a national treasure.” Binchy was born in Dalkey, a Dublin suburb, on May 28, 1940, the eldest of four children of William Binchy, an attorney, and Maureen, a nurse. After graduating from University College Dublin, Binchy found work as a teacher, and at 23 went to Israel to spend some time in a kibbutz. It was William who gave his daughter a nudge towards writing when he passed all of the letters Binchy had written from Israel on to the Irish Times. Binchy returned to Ireland and found herself a published writer. In 1968, she became the Women’s Editor of the Irish Times, and in the early ’70s she moved to England to become the paper’s London correspondent. Her insightful prose and delightfully unselfconscious style garnered both praise and loyal readers. In London, she met and married BBC correspondent and children’s book author Gordon Snell. Though Binchy missed Ireland, she also credited her fourteen years in England with leading her to write fiction. “We have too good a time here [in Ireland],” she said in a 2007 interview with Irish America. “We sit in bars talking about our plans to 106 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
Malcolm W. Browne, a reporter best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the Vietnam War, died on August 27 in New Hampshire, from Parkinson’s disease-related complications. He was 81. Browne was born in Manhattan in 1931. He was given the middle name Wilde after his grandfather’s first cousin, the Irish writer and wit Oscar Wilde. A seasoned reporter, Browne got his start in writing during his service in the Korean War, when he was assigned to write for the Stars and Stripes, the newspaper of the U.S. Armed Forces, despite his lack of journalistic experience (Browne had previously worked as a chemist and, in the war, operated a tank). After the army he found work with the Associated Press, and in 1961 he was named chief of their Saigon bureau. He later worked for the New York Times and Discover magazine. In 1964, he shared the Pultizer for international reporting with David Halberstam of the New York Times. Earlier that year he had famously photographed the self-immolation of a Buddhist monk protesting the South Vietnamese government. Many U.S. newspapers chose not to print the graphic image, but it nonetheless created a wave of awareness and outrage throughout the States and the world. Browne chronicled his experiences in Korea and Vietnam in an autobiography, Muddy Boots and Red Socks. He is survived by his wife, Le Lieu, whom he met in Saigon. He is also survived by a son, Timothy; a daughter, Wendy; and two grandchildren. – S.L.
theMErrion
1/12/11
8:11 AM
Page 1
IA.Those Lost..qxd
9/15/12
3:41 AM
Page 108
{those we lost} Robert Hughes 1938 – 2012
The art critic and historian Robert Hughes died August 6 at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx after a long illness. He was 74. Hughes, a native of Australia, worked for over three decades at Time magazine, where he was the chief art critic. In addition to a keen critic – unsparing and insightful – Hughes was also a master of the English language. The Fatal Shore, his 1987 history of his homeland, Australia – which he left in 1964 – became an international best seller. Throughout his career, Hughes wrote extensively on his favorite subjects, which included Goya, Lucian Freud, fishing, and himself. He continued writing despite suffering a near-fatal car crash in Australia in 1999 that left him with numerous health problems. Among his many works as an art critic and author, Hughes also created an eight-part documentary, The Shock of the New, which was seen by more than 25 million viewers when it first ran on BBC and then on PBS. His spin-off book to the show was also hugely popular. In 1997, the writer Robert S. Boynton called him as “the most famous art critic in the world.” Robert Studley Forrest Hughes was born July 28, 1938 in Sydney, Australia to a family of Irish descent. His father, Geoffrey Forrest Hughes, was a pilot during WWI, and died when Robert was 12. Hughes studied art and architecture at the University of Sydney. He had a son, Danton, now deceased, with his first wife, Danne Patricia Emerson. In addition to his present wife, Doris Downes, he is survived by two stepsons, Freeborn and Fielder Jewett, and two brothers and a sister. Though his accident in ’99 slowed Hughes down, he continued to study and travel. The longevity of Hughes’s career is something of a marvel, but even more profound wad its quality. – M.M.
Mark O’Donnell 1954 – 2012
Tony Award winner Mark O’Donnell passed away on August 6 in Manhattan. The 58 year old co-author of the book for the Broadway musical Hairspray collapsed suddenly in the lobby of his apartment building. The cause of death was unknown, according to his agent, Jack Tantleff. Prior to Hairspray, O’Donnell had published cartoons and poetry and written Off Broadway plays, but had never written a Broadway musical. The first draft was a long process that took O’Donnell and his co-writer, Thomas Meehan, years to complete, but the show would be well worth the wait. Hairspray opened in August 2002 and was a huge hit, winning eight Tonys, including best book of a musical. Its success was praised by Hairspray’s original creator, John Waters, who made the 1988 film of the same name. O’Donnell would go on to adapt anoth108 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
er of Waters’ films, Cry-Baby, for the stage. Though the musical received mixed reviews, O’Donnell’s work was honored with another Tony nomination in 2008. O’Donnell was born in Cleveland on July 19, 1954. He and his twin brother, Steve, were the youngest of 10 children in an Irish-American family. His father was a welder and his mother a homemaker. O’Donnell graduated from John Marshall High School in Cleveland, where he was active in the local theater scene as a teenager, and then received a scholarship to Harvard, where he worked with the humor magazine the Harvard Lampoon. His other works for the stage include That’s It, Folks!, Fables for Friends and Tots in Tinseltown. He also wrote two novels, Getting Over Homer and Let Nothing You Dismay, and published two collections of stories. In addition to his twin, O’Donnell is survived by his eight other siblings. – M.M.
John Phelan 1931 – 2012
John J. Phelan Jr., the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, who introduced computerized trading technology to the Big Board in the 1980s, died on August 4 of complications from prostate cancer. He was 81. Phelan, who was known by those he worked with as soft-spoken and private, first served as president of the exchange from 1980 to 1984, and then as chairman and chief executive from 1984 to 1990. His true claim to fame, however, was his reaction to the stock market crash of October 1987, known as Black Monday. According to the New York Times, John, with his calm disposition, became “the public face of the stock exchange,” in the crash’s aftermath, “seeking to assure a nervous country that confidence in the markets was justified.” Phelan was born in New York City in 1931. Instead of finishing college, he enlisted and served as a staff sergeant in the Marines during the Korean War. He later joined his father’s financial firm, Phelan & Co, and became its head when his father died in 1996. In 1970, he graduated from Adelphi University with a degree in business administration, after 6 years of night classes. He served as Chairman of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, and was a Knight of Malta. Phelan is survived by his wife, Joyce, and three sons, John, Peter and IA David. – C.D.
IRISH TREASURES GIFT GUIDE Whether you are looking for the parian china, knitwear, collectibles, books or travel information, here are some of the finest Irish treasures available for any season. WISE IRISH WOMEN
A Jour�ey of Love, Loyalt�, and Friendship to Inspire the Irish Spirit. Available in paperback ($19.95 plus shipping and handling). Also available in e-book format. For more information or to place an order visit www.WiseIrishWomen.com. Also available from www.Amazon.com.
Pub
Guide
Everyone feels at home in an Irish Pub! Now IrishCentral has your one-stop online guide to finding that perfect place to sit back, have a pint and unwind, wherever you may be!
www.IrishCentral.com/Pubs
t PIERCING THE IRISH CEILING
The Story of a BOSTON IRISH CATHOLIC Who Reached the Top of the American Investment World
Roisin Fitzpatrick Artist of the Lidht Artist of the Light®
ROBERT E. RILEY
One man. Historic prejudice against Boston Irish Catholics. And an unbelievable rise to the top of the Boston financial world. Piercing the Irish Ceiling is the true story of how Putnam Investments’ CEO Robert E. Riley faced formidable odds—and won. HC, 6 x 9, 978-0-615-48538-6 $26.95 E-book, 0-615-48538-3 $8.99
‘A great example of contemporary Irish art’ H.E. MICHAEL COLLINS, AMBASSADOR OF IRELAND TO U.S. ‘Mesmerizing, beautifully exquisite art’ LORETTA BRENNAN GLUCKSMAN, CHAIRMAN AMERICAN IRELAND FUND ‘Inspiring!’ DEEPAK CHOPRA ‘Simple elegance’ FORBES ‘Uplifting’ WALL STREET JOURNAL Aisling Gallery, Hingham, Massachusetts, en route to Cape Cod On view by appointment at Officesuites, 20 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2
ArtistoftheLight.com
TO PLACE AN AD IN THE IRISH TREASURES SECTION, PLEASE CONTACT TARA DOUGHERTY AT TARA@IRISHAMERICA.COM
212-725-2993 EXT. 150
ON12 IT.indd 1
9/5/12 2:13 PM
IA.PhotoAlbum.qxd
9/14/12
11:50 PM
Page 110
{photo album} Family Pictures
Understanding
John Hughes
T
his is a picture of my grandfather, John Thomas Hughes, born January 1891 in Dundalk, Co. Louth. He died in May of 1954, so I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but I have garnered information through stories from my father, my visits with relatives in Ireland, and from my own genealogical research. My dad and I spent a very poignant day in October 2003 at Calvary Cemetery in Long Island City, paying respect to this man. We said our prayers and talked of his life, in hushed tones. John Thomas Hughes married Mary Halpin in October of 1919 at the Church of Jonesboro in Co. Armagh. Ironically, on their marriage certificate, my grandmother was listed as a ‘spinster’ at ‘full age’ because she was 26 years old at the time! My grandfather was not discreet about his membership in the Old IRA. That alliance takes up most of his headstone, and left very little room for mention of my grandmother, who died in 1969. His brother-in-law Sean Halpin was shot and killed on October 9, 1922 by Free State Police in Ravensdale, Co. Armagh. Sean and my grandfather were both ‘diehard’ Republicans. I’ve heard several stories of the Black and Tans kicking in their doors in search of guns but could never find them. Neighbors in Dundalk would occasionally see him standing on window ledges, avoiding detection. By the late 1920’s, my grandfather decided to hang up his IRA hat and come to America to raise a family. It’s difficult to blame him for making the journey considering the type of jobs he had in Ireland. The main one that comes to mind is that of a Bullockman. His job was to stay in the belly of a transport ship and prevent the cattle from tipping over as they journeyed between Ireland and England. He arrived in New York in 1926 and found employment, initially as a trolley conductor. He was known to never have charged the clergy when they boarded his car, no matter how much they insisted. He soon sent for his wife and daughters, who arrived in late 1926. They took a ferry to Liverpool, and then their ship took two and a half weeks to arrive in New York harbor. They were ushered to their new home in Harlem and quickly joined St. Paul’s Parish at 118th Street. My uncle Frank, after many years in the NYPD and further education, went back to St. Paul’s and later became its Principal. My dad, John Peter, pictured here, was born in December 1931, went to St. Paul’s and on to Rice High School. He was eventually drafted into the Korean War and, upon returning, joined the New York City Police Department. He served hon-
Above: John Thomas Hughes in his conductor’s uniform. Left: The author and his father, John Peter Hughes, at John Thomas Hughes’ grave in Calvary Cemetery, Long Island.
orably in both endeavors, spending 20 years with the NYPD. He did his immigrant father proud. In my grandfather’s photograph, I see so much confidence and determination. I know that he had just barely started his life in the New World and that it was not without many obstacles. They moved often, money was tight, and jobs came and went. Providing for a wife and four children in their apartment in that tough Harlem neighborhood was challenging, to say the least. My dad remembers his mom protecting him and his three siblings on the bed as my grandfather chased after the rats in the apartment with a broom. After piecing his life together for years, trying to get an impression of the man in the picture, I’ve been able to get a sense of him. The stories demonstrate his quick thinking and humor. As a child, my dad had gotten in trouble with a neighbor and she insisted that he be punished. My grandfather promised that my father would get his comeuppance. He closed the door to the apartment and told my father to scream every time my grandfather slapped his belt against a chair, making it sound like John P. Hughes got what their neighbor thought was coming to him! I am very proud of my heritage, and I get a stronger sense of my grandfather when my dad exhibits the same acts of kindness as his IA father did. May God bless them both. – John Hughes, Bellmore, NY
Please send photographs along with your name, address, phone number, and a brief description, to Sheila Langan at Irish America, 875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 201, New York, NY 10001. If photos are irreplaceable, then please send a good quality reproduction or e-mail the picture at 300 dpi resolution to submit@irishamerica.com. No photocopies, please. We will pay $65 for each submission that we select. 110 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012
Create a harvest of smiles
Autumn is on the way, bringing an abundance of reasons to send smiles: birthdays, anniversaries, back to school, or any get-together of family and friends. 1800Flowers.com® makes it easy with hand-designed flower arrangements, the freshest bouquets and more truly original gifts.
For over 35 years, we’ve been lucky enough to be in the business of not only helping people connect, but also delivering smiles. Let us arrange one for you today —guaranteed. Jim & Chris McCann
Call 1-800-FLOWERS® (1-800-356-9377), Click www.1800flowers.com or Come in. Untitled-4 1
9/4/12 4:47 PM
©2012 The Coca-Cola Company. “Coca-Cola,” “open happiness” and the Contour Bottle are registered trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company.
36946 Irish American Magazine2ai.pdf
1
7/31/12
2:11 PM
A tip of the cap to you
Congratulations to the 2012 Wall Street Honorees
No artificial flavors, no added preservatives. Since 1886.
Untitled-1 Untitled-4 11
9/14/12 3:28 PM 9/4/12 4:54