Posts by Michael Quinlin

Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson has been a voice of fairness, justice and change throughout her career. She is one of the most influential public figures in Ireland.  As first female President of Ireland (1990-’97), she spoke forcibly for women’s contraception and equal rights.  As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (’97-2002),…

Robert J. Savage Rob Savage, professor of history at Boston College, has done extensive academic research on 20th century Irish politics and media. The BBC’s Irish Troubles, combines his expertise in both areas with a nuanced, detailed examination of the BBC’s role in reporting on Northern Ireland (NI) from 1968-’88. The story is replete with…

Helen Vendler For those who cherish great literature and the writers who create it, Helen Vendler’s new collection of essays, book reviews and auto-biographical prose is a treasure. The Ocean, the Bird and the Scholar contains over two decades of thoughtful and exquisite interpretations of American writers like Walt Whitman, Wallace Stevens and Elizabeth Bishop…

Íde B. O’Carroll Oral historian and writer Dr. Íde O’Carroll has conducted ground-breaking research on the lives of immigrant Irish women who came to the United States in the 1920s, 1950s and 1980s. Born in Ireland, O’Carroll lived in Boston in the 1980s, interviewing many of the women whose lives are chronicled here. She pays…

Edited by Michael Quinlin First published in 2005, this 10th anniversary edition includes 20 short stories and excerpts from a variety of master short story writers. In his Introduction, Michael Quinlin writes, “While other nations have cultivated visual arts, architecture or even cuisine to define their civilizations this race of storytellers has always used language…

Michael Coffey Michael Coffey’s first collection of short stories is a masterpiece of exquisite writing and daring revelations. His characters are overwhelmed by their inherited circumstances, poor life choices and lingering regrets, which they somehow rally to accept with poise and even grim humor. Lonely priests, rakish cognoscenti, and troubled teenagers frequent the pages, but…

Lorenz J. Finison This well-researched, well-written book traces the emergence of competitive and leisurely cycling, which was prompted by mass production of bicycles and the growth of sports in American life in the late 19th century. In Boston, African-Americans, Irish, Italians, Jews and old line New Englanders all took to the roads, strengthening ethnic and…

William E. Watson and Eugene J. Halus, Jr., Editors A broad collection of Irish-American achievement, this volume is divided into four categories: Irish-American emigration; political and economic life; cultural and religious life; and literature, the arts, and popular culture. It strives to balance historical and contemporary figures. Many Boston Irish names are included: President John…