Irish America

Irish America

History Archives

Ira Aldridge: An ‘AFRICAN ROSCIUS’ in Ireland

By Christine Kinealy
IA Newsletter October 30, 2021

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If you had been in London on 15 May 1835, you could have heard Daniel O’Connell, Ireland’s Liberator, speak at a large Anti-Slavery meeting in the prestigious Exeter Hall. O’Connell, the hero of Catholic Emancipation, had established himself as the leading transatlantic opponent of enslavement and as a thorn in the side of American enslavers. But if you had been almost 300 … [Read more...] about Ira Aldridge: An ‘AFRICAN ROSCIUS’ in Ireland

Ira Aldridge: African Tragedian in Ireland

IA Newsletter, May 13, 2023

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The National Famine Museum, Strokestown Park, and Irish Heritage Trust have released Ira Aldridge: Black Tragedian in Ireland in collaboration with Professor Christine Kinealy from the African American Irish Diaspora Network and Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University, as part of its Great Famine Voices 2023 season which is funded by the Government of Ireland … [Read more...] about Ira Aldridge: African Tragedian in Ireland

Salute to Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum

Turlough McConnell
IA Newsletter October 23, 2021

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Committee to Save the Museum plans street art, live music, other festivities to salute institution unexpectedly closed by Quinnipiac University. The Committee to Save Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum will host a salute to the museum on Saturday, Oct. 30, from 1–5 p.m. on Woodruff Street at Whitney Avenue. The event is free and open to the public. The committee was created in … [Read more...] about Salute to Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum

A Late Encounter with the Enemy


By Joseph McBride

January 2000

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Few things are sadder than a missed opportunity. The story of the San Patricios, the Irish emigrants and their comrades of other ethnic groups who fought for Mexico during the U.S.-Mexican War of 1846-48, is rich and underexplored dramatic material. Complex and stirring issues of loyalty and heroism resound throughout the saga of the Saint Patrick's Battalion, which consisted … [Read more...] about A Late Encounter with the Enemy

Mrs. O’Leary Exonerated

Abdon Moriarty Pallasch
March/April 1998

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The truth would have made a great story: Catherine O'Leary, successful Irish immigrant businesswoman. She had five cows in her dairy and her husband Patrick was gainfully employed as a lathe-worker. As Catherine and Patrick slept on that dry October night in 1871, someone started a fire in their barn. The blaze grew into the Great Chicago Fire, killing 300 people, leaving … [Read more...] about Mrs. O’Leary Exonerated