Best-selling author and New York Times columnist, Timothy Egan's latest book is called A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From to Canterbuy to Rome in Search of Faith. He talks to Tom Deignan about all that and more. Can you start by telling us why you wanted to write a book like this? And it's been out for a little while now. It's only just out in paperback. Can you tell us what … [Read more...] about A Modern Day Pilgrim
History Archives
The United Irishmen and the 1798 Rebellion
By Colin Lacey
March / April 1998
The Society of United Irishmen, founded in Belfast on October 26, 1791 by radical political thinkers, including Theobald Wolfe Tone, Hamilton Rowan, Samuel Nellson, Henry Joy McCracken and Thomas Russell, the organization's declared objective was "equal representation of all the people in parliament" and the establishment of a political system that would include all religious … [Read more...] about The United Irishmen and the 1798 Rebellion
Presidents & First Ladies of Irish Ancestry
By Carl Sferrazza Anthony
The backgrounds of America's First Families are diverse: Nancy Reagan and Lady Bird Johnson have Spanish forebears; Herbert Hoover was Swiss and Canadian; Mamie Eisenhower was part Swedish while Ike was German; Martin Van Buren and the Roosevelts were Dutch; James Garfield had a royal strain of French; Eliza Johnson's parents were immigrant Scottish sandal-makers; both Calvin … [Read more...] about Presidents & First Ladies of Irish Ancestry
Daniel Shays and the 1786 Protest Against Economic and Civil Rights Injustices
By Ray Cavanaugh
Though it was far from successful, Shays' Rebellion – which spanned several months during the latter part of 1786 and early 1787 – certainly captured everyone's attention. Some, such as Thomas Jefferson, felt that “a little rebellion now and then is a good thing.” But others, such as George Washington, considered it a serious threat to the stability of a nascent … [Read more...] about Daniel Shays and the 1786 Protest Against Economic and Civil Rights Injustices
Sarah Parker Remond
By Christine Kinealy
Continuing Christine Kinealy’s series on Black abolitionists who visited Ireland, we find, in Sarah Parker Remond, a woman who was remarkable and fearless. Frederick Douglass’s visit to Ireland 175 years ago—an experience that he described as “transformative”—has been commemorated on both sides of the Atlantic. However, Frederick was not the first or the last black … [Read more...] about Sarah Parker Remond