CenterPieceNY

Niall O'Leary is best known as a performer of Irish dance in the New York area, and further afield. A lesser known fact about Niall is that he also has his own Manhattan-based architecture practice.
The amazing thing about Niall is how he has managed to satisfy his innate need to create and design in these two very disparate disciplines. To him there is barely a difference between them. Maybe every young person should be trained to think like Niall, so when they are asked what they want to be when they grow up, they'll transcend the usual labels and actually be able to distill what it is will actually make them happy! Wouldn't that make for an interesting world? And, case in point, Niall himself is a happy fellow, as anyone who knows him will attest. He's also a gifted musician.
Visit Niall's website at NiallOLeary.com.
Niall's alma mater: University College Dublin.
Thanks to Purple-Planet for Intro/Outro music, and to FreeSound for the sound FX, and some music too! Likewise, a thanks to Niall for providing his music for this episode, including sounds of his dancing and spoon playing!
Check out the Celtic Irish American Academy. Support its work by donating (in USD $, with tax exemption benefits) here: CIAA Scholastic.
Thank you to our sponsor, the Fox Lifestyle Hospitality Group. Pay a visit to one of their great restaurants.
A special shout out to Lochlainn Harte, Imaging Manager at Newstalk Radio, for extra, top class, audio mixing.

'Tis the festive season, and as yet another year ends, a time for self-reflection.
So we thought we'd take a moment this Christmas to have a closer look at this podcast, delivered in the words of creator, producer and host Paul Finnegan, to explain why he does it, and to give you a walk-through on how he goes about doing it. We hope you'll find it a relaxing and perhaps thought-provoking, and hopefully entertaining listen, worthy of your precious time.
It's a Christmas Carol, but by no means up to Dickensian snuff, not even in the same universe, so just a sort of Christmas Carol. (A bit of an owl' Christmas Carol, like.) We invite you to share it with good cheer this holiday season.
Here are links to the CenterPieceNY stories that are mentioned in this episode:

• S1E2: Mike Doherty
• S1E4: John Houlihan
• S1E10: Peter and Bryan Fahy, and a tribute to Galway City
• S2E6: Martin Nutty, the Pensive Podcaster
• S2E7: The Computer Club, Part I
• Season Three Introduction: A Conversation with John Lee

Here are links to just some of the other podcasts in the healthy community of podcasters that we have in the Irish community in New York:

• The Irish Stew Podcast
• Navigating New York
• The Long Hall Podcast
• It's Good To Talk

And here's a couple of sites worth an honorable mention:

• Shantalla
• The Irish Business Organization of New York

Learn more about our sponsor: Fox Lifestyle Hospitality Group.
A special shout out to Lochlainn Harte, Imaging Manager at Newstalk Radio, for extra, top class, professional sound editing.
Thanks to Purple-Planet for Intro/Outro and other music, and to FreeSound for the sound FX and also other music .
Check out the Celtic Irish American Academy. Support its work by donating (in USD $, with tax exemption benefits) here: CIAA Scholastic.
W: CenterPieceNY.com. Ratings & reviews here.
FaceBook/Twitter: @CenterPieceNY

Ray O'Hanlon is a long-standing journalist, author and editor of the weekly Irish Echo news service, which has been a pillar of the Irish American identity since 1928. That's a stretch coming up on 95 years, and Ray has been with the Echo for more than one third of that time!
Ray sees his work as stringing together elements, pearls he calls them, of larger stories, creating a broader context that transcends any particular incident or era. It can be said he has been the string itself, defining and chronicling enormous changes among the Irish in American, and their profound impact on Ireland too, these past decades, bringing all these pearls into proper alignment.
Coming to New York after seven years with the Irish Press in Dublin, Ray's work has placed him where it mattered when it came to the political turmoil and The Troubles in 1980's Ireland, the US impact on the Irish peace process, and the ongoing saga of US immigration law as it pertains to the Irish.
He has crossed paths with many influencers, from Charlie Haughey to Bill Clinton, leaving him with plenty of tales of his own. More recently he has authored Unintended Consequences–Irish US immigration, and how America's door was closed to the Irish.

Further Research
During this episode Ray makes reference to several historic situations, entities and people. Here are some links for further reading and research:

• The Irish Echo
• The Irish Press
• Éamon De Valera
• Charles Haughey
• GUBU, and the 2013 TV 3 Documentary: Part I / Part II
• Presidential Irish Forum 1992 - C-Span Archive
• Gerry Adams
• David Dinkins
• Irish Peace Process
• The Morrison Visas

The wonderful Wikipedia continues to be our primary source for research... give them your support!
Thanks to Purple-Planet for Intro/Outro music, and to FreeSound for the sound FX, and some music too! (And a shout-out to Frank Zappa–we couldn't resist!)
Check out the Celtic Irish American Academy. Support its work by donating (in USD $, with tax exemption benefits) here: CIAA Scholastic.
A special shout out to Lochlainn Harte, Imaging Manager at Newstalk Radio, for extra, top class, audio editing.

In this episode, Helen McNamara O'Shea tells us of the brave leap she made from a career as an accomplished doctor to that of a singer/songwriter. Given that Helen describes herself as 'ancient', which she is not by any means, it seemed, on the face of things, a switch that didn't make a whole lot of sense.
But that's on the face of things, because both careers, to Helen, have something fundamental in common. Healing.
And that's what Helen is at heart, a healer. She just does it now through the power of music, no longer through the power of medicine.
Follow along as Helen tells us of her remarkable upbringing in Ireland, her life in Montreal and in New Jersey. And how she got the spiritual permission she needed, from a hugely important person in her life, to follow a passion that had long been locked away, and the pivotal moment where it all came together.
And what's with the long name? We'll let Helen tell you that story too.
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You can help Helen produce her first a cappella album, about grief for the grieving, by contributing to her crowdfunding campaign.
And a thanks to our centerpiece, Helen herself, for her songs heard in this episode, some of which are cover versions. Here they are in order, and the albums they appear on, where applicable:

• Someone Is Waiting (from Know You're Enough)
• Hey Darlin' (from Know You're Enough)
• Cover Me Up (from Know You're Enough)
• Stay Here Now (from Know You're Enough)
• The Hereafter (with Jude Johnstone)
• Simple Man (from Mama Told You)
• Moments (from Mama Told You)
• Fairytale of New York (with Mike Montrey)
• Prinetime (from Know You're Enough)
• For Me And You (for Cornelia)

and

• Beautiful You (with Yancyabril)

You can hear all of Helen's music on Spotify. Search under Helen O'Shea.
A great big Thank You (a veritable Go Raibh Míle Maith Agat) to MacDara Ó Conaola for allowing us to use his recording of Céibh Chill Rónáin which demonstrates the ancient Gaelic art of Sean-nós singing. MacDara's music in general can be found here:
The Love Token by Macdara on Amazon Music Unlimited

and you can follow MacDara on Twitter @MacDaraMusic

A special shout out to Lochlainn Harte, Imaging Manager at Newstalk Radio, for extra, top class, professional sound editing.
Thanks to Purple-Planet for Intro/Outro music, and to FreeSound for the sound FX.
Check out the Celtic Irish American Academy. Support its work by donating (in USD $, with tax exemption benefits) here: CIAA Scholastic.
W: CenterPieceNY.com. Ratings & reviews here.
FaceBook/Twitter: @CenterPieceNY

County Cork, on Ireland's southern shore, is its biggest county, bigger than all the rest, all thirty one of them. Corkonians, as the people of Cork are known, are intensely proud of their heritage. They often claim, in all sincerity, that Cork City, not Dublin, is the true capital of Ireland. And they might be right. One need only ask the British about their experiences dealing with 'the rebel county'.
By the time the centerpiece of this episode, musician and singer Donie Carroll, left his native Cork for New York, he'd already experienced many twists and turns on the botharín* of life, including a plunge with alcoholism to the depths of despair, before rising again on the crest of the freedom that sobriety has given him.
But sobriety is no guarantee of a 'happy ever after', and even this year alone Donie has faced down further challenges, including the loss of his good friends John Browne, and music man Mick Moloney.
But through all the ups and downs of his life, music has been his sweetest friend.
This episode will also school you in the Cork accent, which, if you're not familiar with it, is as unique in the basket of Irish accents as Corkonians are among the Irish people.
*boreen in English.
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More info:

• Donie Carroll
• Mick Moloney
• The Dubliners
• Mercy Centre
• De Valera stands up to Churchill
• Irish Rep
• Sober St Patricks' Day

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Many thanks to our centerpiece, Donie Carroll himself, for his music heard in this episode. Here are those tracks in order, and the albums they appear on:

• The Cottage By The Lee ( from Down The Slippery Gap )
• The Night the Goat Broke Loose on Grand Parade (Down The Slippery Gap )
• The Army of Today's All Right (Divil of a Noise–contains De Valera speech excerpt)
• Beautiful Dreamer (Down The Slippery Gap )
• Up The Coal Quay (Down The Slippery Gap )
• Are Ya Right There, Michael? (Divil of a Noise,with Mick Moloney )
• Off to Philadelphia (Divil of a Noise, with Mick Moloney )

and

• If I Were a Blackbird (live recording, in Donie's home. )

A special shout out to Lochlainn Harte, Imaging Manager at Newstalk Radio, for extra, top class, professional sound editing.
Thanks to Purple-Planet for Intro/Outro music, and to FreeSound for both music & sound FX.
Check out the Celtic Irish American Academy. Support its work by donating (in USD $, with tax exemption benefits) here: CIAA Scholastic.
W: CenterPieceNY.com. Ratings & reviews here.
FaceBook/Twitter: @CenterPieceNY