 Recognizing a 1990s interval of cultural Hibernophilia, Frank McCourt wrote "The Irish… and How They Got That Way", which premiered in 1997 at the Irish Repertory Theatre, where McCourt had previously acted.The play combines primary documents, such as news, letters, photos, paintings, and journals, either in spoken words or in projections upon the backdrops to illustrate the Irish-American struggle over the prior 150 years.Press notes described it as an "irreverent but affectionate history of the Irish in America that mingles laughter and sentiment in a tapestry of classical songs and stories.