Paging Barry Fitzgerald
Just to get it out of the way: a Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all from the obvious Hibernians on the Reason staff: the Cavanaughs, the Dohertys, the Gillespies, etc. And since everybody's Irish on St. Paddy's Day (relax, it's only one day a year), from the rest of the masthead, too. We'll be indulging our private Victor McLaglens and secretly admitting that Sean Connery made a damn fine mick in Darby O'Gill and the Little People; we'll be cursing the damn bees at the Lake Isle of Innisfree, praying that the roads rise up to meet us, and indulging every other Irish cliche we can remember between virtual tours of Bushmill's Distillery and quaffing green beer while listening to Van Morrison.
And, because we appreciate the sad, bitter ironies of history, we'll be rereading Michael Valdez Moses' fascinating review essay about the most surprising event in recent Irish history: the inflow of migrants (and not just Vikings or British soldiers) into Ireland. To be Irish American is to know one thing: You were indebted to whatever ancestor left the old sod behind for the tuneless shores of America. But in the days of the Celtic Tiger, we're left asking if we were indeed the lucky ones?