And on the 9th day (after a few pints and rest), God created "Irish Lasses".

I love Ireland. I love the Irish. And I love the Irish lasses - especially these lasses!


















My friend Maria McCann (left) - a very talented actress and mother of daughters, Grace and Gwyneth (my god daughter). She and her husband, Donovan, are my closest friends in California (seems I blog about them once a month, fer Christ's sake). Maria's father's parents came over from County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Maria's the female version of me. Yeah - exactly. Thought that may help in knowing who you're dealing with. Kristy Mitchell's (right), a Scottish actress. Saw her in A Shot At Glory with Micheal Keaton and Robert Duvall. Yeah - I know she's not Irish. Close enough. My blog...my rules.

Jean Butler (left), the original lead in Riverdance. She's married now. Too bad. Born in New York but her mother is from County Mayo. I remember seeing the original performance on PBS in 1995, I think of Riverdance - might have been after they won the Eurovision Contest in 1994. I was blown away. Introduced it - Riverdance - to all my theater friends who hadn't seen it before. I DID! Ask Damon. He's a trendsetter in Cedar Rapids. And (right) Sinead Noonan, Miss Ireland 2008.

Maureen O'Hara, seen here in John Ford's The Quiet Man. Look at her. Gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. And one tough bitch. Still is. She LOVED John Wayne - great friends those two were. If you don't particularly care for "Duke", you should appreciate him just 'cause Maureen did.

Don't know who this is, but she's some pretty Irish lass from the Irish equivalent of Match.com.

The Corrs (minus their brother - 'cause he's a "lad") - Sharon, Andrea and Caroline. I remember seeing them for the first time on the TODAY show singing their big hit, "What Can I Do?". Still - my favorite song of their's. And sickeningly talented these three are...4 if you count brother Jim. But I'm not. 'Cause Jim ain't a chick.

And last but not least, Nina, my close theater friend from Cedar Rapids. She's a "McKinney" - her paternal grandparents are from somewhere in Northern Ireland (land of "the troubles", just like Maria). Fits her, it does. Nina and I go way back to the Cedar Rapids' Follies of 1994. Sweetheart. Her three boys love me. So does she. Whoo!