Singer, showgirl, and queen of the speakeasy during Prohibition, Mary Guinan was a genuine Irish American wild woman. Larger (and louder) than life, she had an even bigger heart. During the wild and jazzy New York of the 1920s, Texas Guinan was the wildest and jazziest dame in town. Born Mary Louise Cecilia Guinan in 1884, her parents were immigrants from Ireland who settled … [Read more...] about Wild Irish Woman: “Hello, Suckers!”
History Archives
G.P.A. Healy, the Irish Painter of American Presidents
America’s most prolific 19th century portraitist, whose painting of Abraham Lincoln hangs in the State Dining Room at the White House, was an Irish American born into poverty in Boston. There are more portraits of American presidents hanging in the White House by George Peter Alexander Healy than any other artist, yet amazingly he remains a largely unknown figure to many … [Read more...] about G.P.A. Healy, the Irish Painter of American Presidents
300 Years of Scots-Irish Immigration to U.S.
This year marks the 300th anniversary of the first great wave of Scots-Irish migration to the United States, and over the next 12 months, several towns in Northern Ireland and the U.S. will be celebrating. In Aghadowey, County Derry, the Ulster History Circle will unveil a blue plaque to honor Reverend James McGregor and those that followed him to New England. In the U.S., … [Read more...] about 300 Years of Scots-Irish Immigration to U.S.
An Irish Artist’s American Odyssey
William James Hinchey traveled throughout America’s Southwest frontier and Missouri capturing images of life, the ravages of war, and beyond. Cormac McCarthy’s novel Blood Meridian (1985) depicts the rough, perilous place that was the American Southwest of the 1840s and ’50s. One of the earliest close-up views of the California-Arizona desert of the period is provided by … [Read more...] about An Irish Artist’s American Odyssey
The Irish Airman’s Grave:
From Padua to Kiltartan
The story of W.B. Yeats's tower, Lady Gregory's autograph tree, and the grave of Irish airman Robert Gregory, whose death inspired some of Yeats's most well-known poems.
January 23, 2018, marked the 100th anniversary of the death in Italy of Ireland’s most famous aviator, Major Robert Gregory. His grave stands in a quiet corner of Padua’s elaborate Cimitero Maggiore in a … [Read more...] about The Irish Airman’s Grave:
From Padua to Kiltartan