MeFi Projects

An events calendar for Minneapolis/St. Paul Irish events, with a community guide soon to be added and, hopefully, a monthly tabloid to follow. Events are also available via email.
posted by maxsparber on Mar 25, 2019 - 2 comments

I have been looking at existing literature and media regarding the small, very private Irish Traveller ethnic group in America. [more inside]
posted by maxsparber on Apr 15, 2015 - 4 comments

Just in time for St. Paddy's Day, an ongoing project looking at food that is explicitly Irish-American. With recipes! [more inside]
posted by maxsparber on Mar 16, 2015 - 14 comments

An ongoing project to identify Irish words used in American English, especially by members of the Irish-American community. [more inside]
posted by maxsparber on Feb 11, 2015 - 10 comments

I'm working my way through every single film made about Irish-American mobsters, gangsters, bootleggers, run-runners, and general thugs, offering commentary on the films, and comparing them with the actually history of Irish-American gangsterism.
posted by maxsparber on Jan 11, 2015 - 2 comments

I was adopted, and for most of my life all I knew was that my biological parents were English and Irish. A year ago I took a DNA test, and sudden I know a lot more: Who my biological mother was (and the amazing coincidences between our lives), what percentage of my DNA is Neanderthal, and the complexities of Irish identity, ethnicity and genetics.
posted by maxsparber on Dec 11, 2014 - 5 comments

In preparation for Halloween, I have been rounding up stories of Irish and Irish-American ghosts that are supposed to haunt parts of America, such as the ghosts of the Molly Maguires that are said to still hang from their gibter, the spirits of the Irish Brigade whose battle cry is still heard at Antietam, and the cries of the victims of Delphine LaLaurie which still echo from her haunted New Orleans mansion.
posted by maxsparber on Oct 1, 2014 - 1 comment