Michael Heffernan has always been a creator. For decades, he designed everything from medical devices to pots and pans. Today, after a near-death experience in 2018, he paints sweeping abstract landscapes and pens corresponding poetry inspired by his Irish childhood, and now, his life in the U.S. Southeast.

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Music: "Old Mother Flanagan:" American/Irish Traditional Tune; Performed by Chris Erswell; Courtesy of Chris Erswell, Internet Archive. Creative Commons License: Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share-alike.

The banjo may appear to be a long-time staple of Irish music, but the tenor four-string is a newcomer to the session.

Enda Scahill, 2022 winner of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize and founder of We Banjo 3, follows the instrument's unlikely journey from Africa to Appalachia and then, to the Irish spotlight.

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Music: "Old Mother Flanagan:" American/Irish Traditional Tune; Performed by Chris Erswell; Courtesy of Chris Erswell, Internet Archive. Creative Commons License: Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share-alike.

"Solider's Joy:" American/Irish Traditional Tune; Performed by Guy Wolff; Courtesy of Derek Piotr, Derek Piotr Fieldwork Archive. Creative Commons License: Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share-alike.

David Shanahan, Kerry native and punter for Georgia Tech, shares how the GAA helped him make it into Georgia football with a full scholarship.

Music: "Old Mother Flanagan:" Performed by Chris Erswell. Creative Commons License: Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share-alike.

"Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech:" Written by Michael Greenblatt; Arranged by Frank Roman; Performed by Georgia Institute of Technology Marching Band; Courtesy of Georgia Institute of Technology.