FAMINE COMMEMORATION - Ireland's first National Famine Memorial Day commemoration was held on May 17 in Skibbereen in west Cork, a town which lost up to 28,000 of its inhabitants during the greatest social calamity Ireland ever experienced. A mass grave at nearby Abbeystrewery Cemetery holds between 8,000 and 10,00 famine victims from between 1845-1851. The new National Famine Memorial Day commemoration will revolve between the four provinces on an annual basis.
 
IRISH VISIT - When visiting the "Five Guys" burger shop in DC last week, President Obama chatted with a woman visiting from Dublin and volunteered "I'm going to visit Ireland".
 
SKIN CANCER - 62% of Irish families are more conscientious about using sun protection when abroad than when in Ireland. As a result, nearly half of Irish children get sunburned in Ireland every summer. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in Ireland.
 
SISTER CITIES - The 2009 Sister Cities International Annual Conference is being held in Belfast from July 29-August 1, with sessions on economic development, Muslim World relations, youth, cultural diplomacy, as well as many other topics. For details, see Sister Cities International.  

 

IRISH MANUSCRIPT - A Latin manuscript missing for over 300 years has been translated into English for the first time by an 81-year-old Irish scholar. The manuscript, Zoilomastix, was written by Phillip O'Sullivan Beare, who was exiled from Ireland after the Battle of Kinsale in 1601. Lost for nearly 300 years, the handwritten manuscript was found at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, in 1932.

 

GUN CONTROL - Senior Gardaí (Police) may inquire into the physical and mental health of anyone applying for an Irish firearms license under new legislation which also requires applicants to submit character references and provide proof they have installed safes and other measures to ensure weapons are properly secured. The new Bill also introduces a blanket ban on any new handgun licenses.
 
BLOODY SUNDAY - A Co Tipperary footballer shot dead by English soldiers in 1920 was recently honored in his home village of Grangemockle, Co. Tipperary. 24-year-old Michael Hogan was one of 14 civilians killed when English forces opened fire on the crowd during a Gaelic Football game in Croke Park, a day that became known as 'Bloody Sunday' and was fictionalized in the 1996 film about Michael Collins.
 
GAELIC PSNI - A recent meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board in Derry was held primarily in Irish. The Assistant Chief Constable's remarks were translated into Irish by two Irish-speaking PSNI (Police) officers for the audience of about 30 people.
 
IRISH DANCE ADDICT - In 2001, a 28-year-old Japanese man with no dancing experience, prompted by a Riverdance performance he saw in Tokyo, was inspired to fly to Ireland to learn Irish dancing. Most dancing schools he contacted told him he was too old and he resorted to learning Irish dancing from a Riverdance video. After nine months, he finally found a dancing teacher and by 2005, was good enough to tour the Far East as a Riverdance cast member. Today, Taka Hayashi runs the Irish Dance Academy in Tokyo.
 
GENEALOGY HELP - For those getting started with their genealogical research, Cyndi's List has a comprehensive listing of Irish genealogy resources.
 
BICYCLE DUBLIN - Starting in July, 450 rental bicycles will be available at 40 bicycle "stations" in Dublin, available for pick up or drop off at a cost of €10 ($14) a year to join and the first half an hour rental is free. The bicycles are also available to tourists at a reduced joining fee.
 
DIASPORA OUTREACH - The Irish Government will this September host a major international conference to examine how the Irish diaspora - those of Irish birth or extraction living abroad - can contribute to Ireland's overall efforts at economic recovery.
 
TAX HAVEN? - At an America Ireland Fund dinner in Manhattan attended by 1,200 business and political leaders, Ireland's Foreign Minister stated that new US proposals to prohibit companies avoiding tax by shifting their operations overseas "should not pose any threat to Irish interests".
 
FINAL DEGREE - Nearly four decades after leaving college to work as a forklift operator for Guinness, Queen's University Belfast has awarded Liam Neeson an Honorary Degree. The Ballymena-born Oscar-nominated actor was an undergraduate at Queen's in 1971. 
 
1916 TRIVIA - A British officer who was present when his father accepted the surrender of Padraig Pearse on April 29 1916, went on to become a famous Hollywood actor. Maj. John Lowe, son of General W. H. M. Lowe, later became film-star John Loder, who numbered Hedy Lamarr among his five wives.