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With this being St Patrick’s Day, I wanted to remind people that there once was a soap that would be celebrating the holiday in the most festive way possible. Even when the show, Ryan’s Hope (1975-1989), after 13 years, went off the air. Who could forget the show’s matriarch, Maeve Ryan (Played by Broadway legend, Helen Gallagher) singing the song, “Danny Boy” as the last frame faded to black.
When Tom Lisanti’s book, Ryan’s Hope: An Oral History of Daytime’s Groundbreaking Soap, came out last fall, I requested a copy, as someone with Irish roots, I started watching the show with my mom in 1976, and became an avid fan in 1980. I chatted with Lisanti’s through email this past week.