I just want to note the passing of Brian Friel; dramatist, playwright, author, and friend of Seamus Heaney. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the British Royal Society of Literature, and the Irish Academy of Letters. His works are well known and loved on both sides of the Atlantic, having won Tony and Olivier awards. 'Philadelphia Here I Come,' and 'Dancing at Lughnasa' were made into films, the latter starring Meryl Streep. Over the course of his life, he wrote 30+ plays, and even had one of them adapted into an opera. He was a big part of the Irish arts scene for as long as I can remember. I can almost imagine him and Seamus knocking back a pint of the black stuff in Tir na Nog.
I'm unfamiliar with the man, but the mention of Tir na Nog was nostalgic since I watched Into The West many times as a child. Nice movie.
