Irish America
Irish America
Next year will mark six decades since celebrated Irish novelist and short story writer John McGahern was censored and banned in his own country. Now, another celebrated writer – Anne Enright, Ireland’s first-ever “laureate” for fiction – is commemorating McGahern’s life and career with fond memories as well as new revelations. Back in 1965, McGahern wrote The Dark, which … [Read more...] about Book Notes: Enright Honors McGahern
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 name is 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
On 6 October 1849, emigrants on board the Brig St. John, caught their first sighting of American land as their vessel approached the coast of Cape Cod. The vessel was carrying as many as 140 passengers from counties Clare and Galway, Their destination was Boston where they would disembark the following day. The voyage had been uneventful and, to celebrate their safe arrival, … [Read more...] about The Kindness of Strangers: Remembering the Tragedy of the Brig St. John in 1849
How A Solitary Tombstone in Wisconsin Solved the Mystery of His Irish Origins As a professional genealogist of half-Irish heritage, I’ve long embraced the opportunity to underscore the ties between Ireland and the United States, and one of the most obvious ways to do this is to trace the roots of high profile Americans to their place of origin in Ireland. This is trickier … [Read more...] about Tim Walz of the Tomhaggard Doyles
Tuatha Dé DannanThey came in the mist... Ireland is a land of sacred spaces but none as mystical as Newgrange in County Meath. Newgrange is a prehistoric monument, a collection of Stone Age burial mounds and kerbstones, enormous rocks carved with art. It is a place older than the pyramids, a place of spiritual, archaeological and historic importance, and a place that brings … [Read more...] about Miotas | The Ancients
