An ScáthánThe Celtic Mirror, restored
An Irish and Celtic-American monthly from the Pacific Northwest, 1995 to 2003. 95 stories brought back from the web archive, each with a note on what happened next.
The issues
All back issues- 'Days Like This' reviewed: Van Morrison walks a familiar road
- A fond farewell to a century of memories
- A gamble that paid off: 'Major' change averted in Britain
- A tribute to bravery: Irish Brigade remembered at Civil War battlefield
- Belfast talent walks familiar road: Ray Collins discusses career, new album
- Conservative Democrats will make the difference in presidential bid
- Answers given in great little book: Praises given where deserved
- Baseball in critical condition with fans
- Conference links women from around the world
- It's confirmed: Brad Pitt will star as Bobby Sands in film on the Irish Hunger Strike
- Samhain: A Celtic feast lives today as Halloween
- 'Belfast' records the city in new light
- Bruton criticized for talks refusal
- Celtic characters come to life through comic book artist
- An observation on Northern Ireland: What the troubles have brought
- Black 47 ... and the roots of Celtic rock in America
- Celtic Music: A blend of old and new
- A new chapter in Irish history unfolds
- Celtic Mythology: Kings, gods link Celts to supernatural
- Dick Gaughan: Celtic bard and hero
- A celebration of James Joyce: Bloomsday
- Celtic Mythology: Warriors and their weapons
- From the mouth of the lion: Culloden - graveyard of the clans
- Inside Outsider: ... times there were before and new voices at the door
- Morgan Llywelyn
- Morgan Llywelyn captures spirit of Easter Uprising in epic novel
Long reads worth the time
Full index
From the mouth of the lion: Culloden - graveyard of the clans
Alex Campbell traces the road to Drummossie Moor, where the Jacobite army broke on 16 April 1746, and finds his own clan on the government side.
Travel Guide: Search for ancestry; Return to Ireland to find your roots
A 1995 field guide to tracing an Irish family: write to Kildare Street, quiz the grandparents, read the signposts, and plan the trip as a homecoming.
Black 47 ... and the roots of Celtic rock in America
Larry Kirwan of Black 47 on Paddy Reilly's, Michael Collins, Bobby Sands and why St. Patrick's Day shows in America have to be all ages.
Scotland's blackest days: The Clearances
From Culloden to the Year of the Burning: a 1998 account of how the Highland chiefs traded their people for sheep, and where the emptied glens sent them.
Dick Gaughan: Celtic bard and hero
On tour in New Mexico in 1998, the Leith singer talked about Braveheart, Bonnie Prince Charlie, atheism and why he never plays from a set list.
Making the Book of Kells: When art was a labor of love and bookmaking no simple task
A Cork art dealer selling licensed prints in New York talked us through how monks on Iona and at Kells made the most famous Gospel book in Ireland.
By section
History & Culture
Kings, clearances, monks and the long memory of the Celtic nations.
- A gamble that paid off: 'Major' change averted in Britain July 1995
- Step back to the Civil War: Battle returns to Gettysburg July 1995
- A tribute to bravery: Irish Brigade remembered at Civil War battlefield August 1995
- Notes on Irish history: Interesting discoveries make for a 'potpourri' August 1995
- Making the Book of Kells: ...But before they could start September 1995
- Making the Book of Kells: Symbolism tells the stories September 1995
Myth & Legend
Gods, warriors, faeries and the feast days that outlived them.
North & Politics
Ceasefires, talks, riots and the long road to the 1998 agreement, as the paper reported it.
- Northern Ireland can never return to its past July 1995
- Prisoner release sparks riots in NI: Frustration spilled into the streets; Worst violence since cease-fire July 1995
- Peace brings dividend; NI receives EU funds August 1995
- Sinn Fein leader accuses British of missing opportunity for peace: IRA arms issue stumbling block August 1995
- Great Famine mural reflects Ireland's troubles: NI youths make statement during cultural festival September 1995
- McGuinness: British rule failed in Northern Ireland; Government must set date for peace talks September 1995
Music, Books & Film
Celtic rock, ballad singers, novelists, comic artists and the films that did or did not get made.
- 'Days Like This' reviewed: Van Morrison walks a familiar road July 1995
- A talk with Uris: 'Trinity' was the seed, 'Redemption' was the unplanned progeny July 1995
- Mary McSweeney's Ireland: Putting a land and people in perspective July 1995
- Belfast talent walks familiar road: Ray Collins discusses career, new album August 1995
- Limited edition: Book of Kells prints to be released August 1995
- Producers pull plug on Irish film: Bond between brothers subject of new release August 1995
Diaspora
Irish and Scottish America: brigades, coal towns, emigrants and the families who went home to look.
- A fond farewell to a century of memories July 1995
- History repeats as another Casey enters Pennsylvania political life July 1995
- Conservative Democrats will make the difference in presidential bid August 1995
- Irish Medal of Honor recipients honored at Pa. convention: New state officers elected August 1995
- PEC calls on Britain to apologize for famine: Petition drive initiated August 1995
- Conference links women from around the world September 1995
Sport
Gaelic football, Notre Dame, boxing and baseball through a Celtic lens.
- Kelly: Great QB and humanitarian August 1995
- Sportstalk: Irish fighter won't dent rusty Iron Mike August 1995
- Baseball in critical condition with fans September 1995
- Divulging Gaelic football's fine points: Game enjoys popularity on both sides of Atlantic September 1995
- Notre Dame: Bloodied but unbowed September 1995
- Sports talk: Goblins influence college football strategy at times September 1995
Table & Road
Corned beef, new Irish cooking, the great outdoors and the search for roots.
- Ireland's great outdoors: Travel plans should include outside activity August 1995
- Legal exchange offers getaway to Ireland August 1995
- Tradition keeps connection to past alive: Dancing, dreams and diversions found August 1995
- Travel Guide: Search for ancestry; Return to Ireland to find your roots August 1995
- Turn an elegant meal into a weeknight treat with deli corned beef: A traditional dinner for 90's lifestyle August 1995
- New cuisine born in Ireland: Chefs meld world flavors into modern taste; Recipes brought to American tables April 1998
Columns
Opinion, letters and the voices that filled the back pages.
- Answers given in great little book: Praises given where deserved September 1995
- Dole should seek voters' endorsement not Thatcher's September 1995
- Symons Says: End of summer musings; Expectations for Autumn September 1995
- Symons Says: Is there an easier way to get to cyberspace? November 1995
- Symons Says: What say we let the Irish go on holiday? April 1998
- A new chapter in Irish history unfolds May 1998
Why a newspaper from 1995 is worth reading now
The Celtic Mirror covered the Northern Ireland peace process as it happened, month by month, from the uneasy year after the 1994 IRA ceasefire to the referendums of May 1998. Reading those reports in order, without knowing how it ends, is a different experience from reading a history book that does.
It also kept a record of the Celtic revival in North America that few other papers bothered with: Irish dancers and their teachers, Black 47 and the roots of Celtic rock, a comic book artist giving Celtic characters a new life, a painter who found his subject in the Pennsylvania coal fields. Those stories are here too. More about the paper.