Hello and welcome
to Ireland’s Own.

In this week’s cover story Cian Manning tells the story of ‘The Irish & The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906’. Cian shares fascinating stories of some of the Irish players in Californian society whose lives would be changed forever by one of the world’s most famous natural disasters. Over the coming months, Cian will be taking a more indepth look at these poeple, and their stories, in a brand new series.

Verdun Ball profiles ‘Ireland’s Famous Botanists’, taking a look at the men and women responsible for some of our spectacular gardens. To celebrate Australia Day, which falls on January 26th, the official national day of Australia is recalled by Helen Morgan.

In ‘The Ballad Sheet’, Eugene Dunphy tells the story of a Westmeath teenager and a rebel anthem, ‘The Rising of the Moon’. In his ‘Role of the Irish in WW2’ series, Con McGrath features Irish-American Diplomat Robert ‘Bob’ Murphy.

The Magic of the Musicals continues with Liam Nolan charting the stories of the world’s most loved musicals. This week Liam brings us No. 3, the much-loved ‘Annie, Get Your Gun’.

Pinocchio and other great film music by Leigh Harline is recalled by MJ Wells, while the book under review this month is ‘The Last Family in England’ by Matt Haig. Our original short story is ‘What He Wanted’, by Patsy Collins.

‘What Do You Know About January?’ Francis K. Beirne tests your knowledge of events that happened in the month of January. In ‘The Witness Statements’, the Deise join the Independence Struggle. This is part two of a three-part series on the role played by the men and women of County Waterford in the fight for Independence by Eamonn Duggan.

‘Hopalong Cassidy’ is the focus of our Classic TV series, while Marjorie is cooking up some delicious orange marmalade. Pete returns with more valuable advice for your pets, while Cassidy and Dan Conway impart more wisdom.

We have all this for you to enjoy alongside your regular Ireland’s Own favourites such as jokes, songs, puzzles, penpals, memories and lots more.

I hope you enjoy this week’s issue, and look forward to talking to you all again next week.

                                                                                                        Best wishes,

Seán Nolan, Editor, Ireland’s Own