Frank McCourt, rest in peace

Frank McCourt dead at 78

I learned of Ireland from my mother (Monaghan) and father (Sligo), and read the histories of Ireland. I never really understood what the experience of all those 20th century immigrants from Ireland to the U.S. was until I read Frank McCourt, and later his brother Malachy McCourt. From what they wrote it began to make sense in my head: God's providence had given the English, and later the Americans, an empire. God has loved the Irish in a different way and given them the sense of humor to appreciate that.