Irish America

Irish America

By Megan SmolenyakIA NewsletterApril 6, 2024

How I Found My Elusive John Murphy

By Megan Smolenyak
IA Newsletter
April 6, 2024

by Leave a Comment

The Deadly Trail that Finally Revealed a Phantom Branch of My Family Tree My earliest American-born ancestor was my great-great-grandfather, Edward Murphy. It took a while to figure this out as the skimpy traces he left claimed both New York and Ireland as his birthplace, but then I stumbled across his baptism. To my delight, he was christened in the historic St. James … [Read more...] about How I Found My Elusive John Murphy

Lost Irish

By Holly Millea
IA Newsletter
March 16, 2024

by Leave a Comment

Last week I was taste-testing whiskeys prepping for my St. Patrick’s Day party, listening to Willie Nelson croon “Whiskey River”, when the whiskey did, in fact, “take my mind”. The next thing I knew, I was on the Sotheby’s auction website bidding on The Richard Gooding Collection. Who is Richard Gooding you ask? He was the scion of the Pepsi Cola Bottling Company, which his … [Read more...] about Lost Irish

News Roundup March 16, 2024

By Mary Cucinell
IA Newsletter
March 16, 2024

by Leave a Comment

Ireland’s Passport to be Updated in 2025 The St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be led up Fifth Avenue by the “Fighting 69th” accompanied by two Irish Wolfhounds, the official mascot of the regiment. Beginning in 2025, a sketch of the Irish Wolfhound, inspired by a three-year-old wolfhound named Boánn from the Boyne Valley will also appear on millions of Irish passports. The … [Read more...] about News Roundup March 16, 2024

Malachy McCourt, “Death Need Not Be Fatal”

by 2 Comments

Author Mark Twain once famously quipped about the great exaggerations fueling rumors of his death. But the legendary Malachi McCourt topped even Twain, by noting that - exaggerated or not - death “need not be fatal.” That was the title of one of McCourt's many books. And, in some ways, it was the guiding principle of his extraordinary life - acting on stage and screen, telling … [Read more...] about Malachy McCourt, “Death Need Not Be Fatal”

A Historic Irish Win at the Oscars

By Tom Deignan
IA Newsletter
March 16, 2024

by 1 Comment

“I'm a very, very proud Irish man standing here tonight." The Irish didn’t have a lot of nominations at this year’s Academy Awards - but they walked away with one of their biggest wins ever. And this time next year, Cillian Murphy may well be up for another Best Actor statue, for an upcoming film based on an Irish novel, by an Irish writer, about some of the darkest shadows … [Read more...] about A Historic Irish Win at the Oscars