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Irish America

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Yankee Doodle with a Brogue:
The Irish in the American Revolution

By Thomas Fleming

Originally published in July / August 1998

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In Virginia's Shenandoah Valley there is a gravestone that reads: Here lies the remains of John Lewis, who slew the Irish lord, settled in Augusta County, located the town of Staunton and furnished five sons to fight the battles of the American Revolution. Those words are an apt summary of the Irish role in the Revolution. They responded en masse to the call for resistance to … [Read more...] about Yankee Doodle with a Brogue:
The Irish in the American Revolution

Smiling Mickey Welch:

 Hall-of-Fame Pitcher • Occasional Poet • Lifelong Fan of the Game

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By Ray Cavanaugh It was surprising that Mickey Welch had such a successful pitching career: He didn't have much size (the Society for American Baseball Research describes him as “generously listed” at 5-feet-8 and 160 pounds); his fastball was nothing special; and he also had control issues (at times leading the National League in walks surrendered). However, he … [Read more...] about Smiling Mickey Welch:

 Hall-of-Fame Pitcher • Occasional Poet • Lifelong Fan of the Game

Bobby Kennedy Has Been Turned into an Impossibly Perfect Hero

By Brian Dooley

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He deserves a better judgment As Bobby Kennedy lay dying on a hotel kitchen floor, we’re told his last words were of concern for those around him who had also been shot. “Is everybody okay?” Kennedy asked. These noble, altruistic last conscious thoughts chime with how many people see him – a champion of the poor, “a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, … [Read more...] about Bobby Kennedy Has Been Turned into an Impossibly Perfect Hero

Black and Green Today

By Brian Dooley

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More than 20 years ago I wrote a book about the links between the U.S. civil rights movement and the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. Black and Green (published in 1998) did okay, reviewers were kind, and some schools and universities in the U.S. and Europe forced their students to read it. What’s surprised me is that two decades on it’s enjoying a mini-revival. Its … [Read more...] about Black and Green Today

The Amazing Role Gay Women Played in the 1916 Rising

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Historical accounts of the gay movement in Ireland usually omit women, yet they had a remarkable part to play in the 1916 Rising as just one example and as lifelong advocates for human rights as another example. Mary McAuliffe, a lecturer in women’s studies at University College Dublin, points out that Elizabeth O’Farrell, who was famously airbrushed out of the historic … [Read more...] about The Amazing Role Gay Women Played in the 1916 Rising