Irish America
Irish America
Like most Americans, my ancestry is mixed immigrant. Mom's people were Italian; Dad was a storytelling Irish rover. I inherited his wanderlust and his love of words. When I decided to dig up the family roots, Northern Ireland was my first stop. Arriving in Derry (birthplace of my grandmother) as sunset turned the River Foyle into a ribbon of molten gold, I checked into Beech … [Read more...] about Sláinte! A Visit to Derry
The families of McMahon and O'Mahoney are related only by the common derivation of their names from the Irish name Mahon (in Gaelic Mathuna) which was a personal name, meaning a bear. The O'Mahoney or Mahony family are derived from Mathuna, a grandson of Brian Boru. The family were the Eoganacht, the regal dynasty of Munster and were one of the most prominent of West Munster. … [Read more...] about Roots: O’Mahoney, McMahon and Vaughan
Although Ireland itself remained neutral during World War II, Irish Americans provided some of that war's most celebrated heroes. There were aviators Colin Kelly, Thomas B. McGuire, and Edward H. O'Hare, as well as infantryman Audie Murphy, the baby-faced Texan who went from being the most highly decorated American serviceman of the war to a career recreating his own exploits … [Read more...] about Saving Private Ryan
Sculptor Martin Milmore of Boston (1844-1883), admired for his Civil War sculptures and for his classical statuary and busts of famous men throughout New England, was born in Kilmorgan, County Sligo on September 14, 1844, the youngest of five sons of parents Martin and Sarah Milmoe (nee Hart). When the father died in 1851, Sarah emigrated with her five sons to Boston, where … [Read more...] about Boston’s Great Civil War Sculptor
"Imagine co-authoring a book with someone who's been dead for 130 years," laughs Ipswich, Massachusetts native Marjorie Harshaw Robie. "Well, that's exactly what I'm doing and I'm enjoying every minute of it." Robie's co-author, whose work she is revising and collating in the hope of finding a publisher, is County Down farmer James Harshaw, who died in 1867. Long before Anne … [Read more...] about Diary of an Irish Farmer
