Irish Stew Podcast

S6E9: Charles R. Hale - Untangling the Shadows at McSorley’s Old Ale House

• John Lee & Martin Nutty • Season 6 • Episode 9

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Is this one of our author episodes or should it fall into our Irish Drinks category because your co-hosts have grabbed a table by the pot-bellied stove at New York’s legendary McSorley's Old Ale House for a conversation with author, cultural creator, and impresario Charles R. Hale.

Charles is known for curating lively artistic salons, producing eclectic concerts, and presenting original performance pieces that blend music, imagery, video, and storytelling.

We focus on his deeply personal new book Untangling the Shadows: Searching for the Voices of my New York Irish Ancestors. Part memoir, part family history, and something of a detective story, the book traces his search in New York and Ireland for the clues to “untangling the shadows” of his family’s stories.

Over light and dark ale, we delve into his Irish roots, family history, his unlikely path to a creative life, and the diverse art forms he explores.

Why McSorley’s? Charles wrote parts of his book at the same table we’re sitting at, the place is dripping with Irish American history, and McSorley’s has been the muse of artists ranging from famed chronicler of New York Joseph Mitchell to Ashcan school painter John Sloan. Everyone from Abe Lincoln to John Lennon has passed through McSorley’s swinging doors since it opened in 1854. It remains a welcoming refuge where one good ale inevitably leads to another…if you follow their one golden rule:
Be Good or Begone.

We were—Sláinte!

Charles Hale Links:
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Book Purchase Link:

McSorley's Old Ale House