A view from faraway fields

Madam, - I just had to write to you and tell you how much I enjoy reading The Irish Times

Madam, - I just had to write to you and tell you how much I enjoy reading The Irish Times. A pen-pal of mine there in Dublin sends me several copies throughout the year. My wife and I have visited Ireland twice, in 1995 and 2003. My paternal grandfather, Denis Patrick Donovan, came to America in the 1880s from a small town in West Cork called Clonakilty. It's just a beautiful place!.

It is very educational just to read about news in Ireland, even if I don't understand it all. But Ireland does have a warm spot in my heart and always will. Perhaps you don't get many letters from readers living more than 4,000 miles away but I wanted to chime in and tell you how much The Irish Timesis enjoyed here in Middle America.

Who knows? If we get to make another trip to Ireland maybe I will get lucky and get to shake the hand of the Taoiseach? Keep up the good work. Oh, and congratulations on the victory in Croke Park on February 24th. - Yours, etc,

TIM and THERESA DONOVAN, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA.