Traditional Song Forum
I gave a presentation on Francis O’Neill at the recent online meeting of the Traditional Song Forum. TSF was founded in the U.K. in 1997 as a community of people Read More …
Tag: Chicago
Article in Treoir Magazine
Treoir is the official magazine of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann. CCE is a wonderful organization and I was delighted when they agreed to publish an article of mine in their recent Read More …
From Cork to Chicago: A Fascinating Journey
[This is a cross-post from The Bookshop.ie Blog] As a child in the Eighties, I came across Francis O’Neill’s 1001 Gems: The Dance Music of Ireland in our local book Read More …
Bringing The Past To Life
I have joked before about making a movie about Francis O’Neill, imagine my surprise when I was able to bring the famous chief of police and music collector to life Read More …
A Merry Christmas
Looking back on 2020 like Scrooge from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, there is much cause for gloomy reflection: a global pandemic wreaked (and is still wreaking) havoc all around the Read More …
Chief O’Neill: Second Excerpt
Continuing the theme from the previous post: here is the next excerpt from my forthcoming novel, Chief O’Neill. This second excerpt has also already been published by the Celtic Junction Read More …
Chief O’Neill: First Excerpt
I would like to start a new series on the Chief O’Neill blog. The next few posts will excerpt portions of the forthcoming book. Some of these excerpts have already Read More …
Sketchy Recollections of an Eventful Life in Chicago
The above image is of my personal copy of Chief O’Neill’s memoirs, collected and extensively annotated by his great-granddaughter Mary Lesch and Chicago historian Ellen Skerrett. I was fortunate enough Read More …
The Sherlock Holmes of Chicago
Francis O’Neill was a Chicago detective for many years before his appointment as police chief. His memoirs outline several interesting cases: how he helped upset confidence schemes and violent crimes Read More …
Francis O’Neill Irish Arts Week 2020
2020 has been a tough year in so many ways, and yet people are adapting like never before. Take for example, the Irish Music School of Chicago. For ten years Read More …