I have my roots in Ireland but my feet are now firmly planted here in the United States.

I was born in Cork City, Ireland, into a family of 10 (eight boys and two girls). We grew up under poor conditions in a one bedroom house where we shared bedrooms until our teens. I have worked in various jobs such as shoe manufacturing and bagging manure on the docks for CIE. I became a musician--a professional drummer at 17--and played with bands but most noteably, Sunset. Then, I began promoting concerts-the Chieftans, Dire Straits, Clannad, Loudon Wainwright III and many more before emigrating to NewYork in 1982.

I worked as a bartender on Second Avenue for six years before joining the Irish Voice in sales. I moved up to the position of Advertising Director before resigning in 1986 to open an establishment, Nevada Smith's. Eventually, I joined the World of Hibernia Magazine as Advertising Director. But I always envisioned having my own publication.

Now, thanks to Kenny Granville, Hank McQueeney and Gerry McKeon, I have been able to achieve that goal.

Recently I had heard the quote. "A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people." The quote was from Mahatma Ganhdi, but it might as well have been written by a number of Irish people I know. This magazine is about the heart and soul, a magazine for the next century-about the people I grew up with and I am a part of their success and the story behind their achievements.

With roots dug deep in the soil of Ireland, millions of Irish have blossomed here in America. Our magazine is an upscale magazine targeting to the most prosperous, prominent and challenging segments of the Irish-American community. And it's about such a community as well.

We not only expect our subjects to be the newsmakers, celebrities, sports figures, business leaders, software execs, professional women, artists, actors, film makers, musicians, and trend setters, but we expect them to be our readers as well. These are the people of affluence, ideas, power, prestige and of the future.

So we make as our promise that Irish Connections Magazine is committed to informing our readers about who's who, what is happening now and who will be happening. This magazine will be your sourcebook for those in the know and the people to know in the American Irish community and the Irish community worldwide. We will provide you with a guide to the successful, the creative, and the influential; it will be your lifestyle guide as well. It will include the unique, the unexpected, the dramatic, and the winners and trend setters. We will do it by offering exciting profiles, in depth interviews, rich photography and noted writers contributing material chronicling the best of the Irish worldwide.

But this magazine is not just for Irish people, it is for everyone who enjoys the achievements by people from Ireland, of Irish descent and of the Celtic historical tradition.

--Paddy McCarthy