Hello and welcome
to this week’s Ireland’s Own

In this week’s cover story Tom McParland looks back on the life and career of one of Hollywood’s all-time greats, James Cagney, a hugely talented all-round actor who was best known for playing tough guys.
In ‘The Legacy of Ann Harris’ Paul Clarke profiles the Co. Antrim woman who created history in 1984 when becoming the first woman to win the Irish Grand National.

Sheila O’Kelly remembers the famous Irish painter, Louis Le Brocquy, on his anniversary of his death. In ‘Pteridomania’, Martyn Baguley looks back at the Victorian craze for ferns, with motifs appearing on everything from christening presents to gravestones and memorials. Con McGrath returns with his ‘Role of the Irish in WW2’ series, this week featuring Irish citizen Krystyna Szmidt, formerly Countess Skarbek of the Polish Resistance.

In ‘The Ballad Sheet’ Eugene Dunphy explores the Scottish origins of a popular Irish song, ‘Where Blarney Roses Grow’. Francis K. Beirne looks at the showbands who were booked regularly for ‘carnivals of dancing’, especially in rural areas. We explore the ‘History of Fore and its Seven Wonders’ – Harry Warren recently paid a visit to the Co. Westmeath landmark, the largest Benedictine ruin on the island of Ireland, dating back to the 13th century.

Our original short story is ‘Sunday at Devine’s’ by Wynn Cave while the GAA Year of 1978 is reviewed by Aidan Grennan. Read about Chester A. Arthur, the much-respected Irish-American President’. Eamonn Duggan concludes his study of the three US Presidents whose parents, or at least one of them, were actually born in Ireland, with the focus on Chester A. Arthur.

We have all this for you to enjoy alongside regular favourites Cassidy Says, Stranger Than Fiction, What’s In A Name?, Dan Conway, Pete’s Pets, Marjorie’s Kitchen, Song Words, Classic Films – Paper Moon, Reflective Perspective, Irish Folklore with Eugene Daly, Readers’ Memories, Classic US TV Favourites – The Bob Newhart Show, Waterways of Ireland – Grand Canal, Part 14, Lilt of Irish Laughter, Pen Friends, Irish Wildlife featuring the European Rabbit and much more.

I hope that you enjoy this week’s issue and I will talk to you next week, please God, when we will be bringing you the winners of our annual writing competition in the Winning Writers Annual 2024.

Best wishes, Seán Nolan, Editor, Ireland’s Own