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Irish America

History Archives

The Irish Who Signed the Declaration of Independence

By Brendan Patrick Keane, Contributor

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The Declaration of Independence is a physically beautiful document and when I was a kid I had an image of it on my wall. There were Irish names, including "McKean" on that original parchment, and that gave me the story I needed to feel at home here like a native. My love of country, the United States, and my heritage (Irish) converge in that document because I acknowledge the … [Read more...] about The Irish Who Signed the Declaration of Independence

The Grey Nuns at Quinnipiac

By Matthew Skwiat, Contributing Editor
June / July 2015

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A new exhibit on the Grey Nuns hosted by Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University opened April 1. A private event launching the exhibit took place on March 31 with the Canadian Consul General, Quebec Delegate to New England, and the Irish Consul General of New York all in attendance. The long overdue exhibit shines a light on the untold number of English and … [Read more...] about The Grey Nuns at Quinnipiac

150 Years of Yeats’s Sligo

By Deborah Schull, Contributor
June / July 2015

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On the 150th anniversary of W.B. Yeats’s birth we look at some of the places in Sligo that inspired his best-loved poems. 1. BENBULBEN and DRUMCLIFFE CHURCHYARD: At his request, Yeats’s body was laid to rest in France and later removed to the churchyard in Drumcliffe, under Ben Bulben mountain, where his great-grand- father had served as rector. St. Columba founded a … [Read more...] about 150 Years of Yeats’s Sligo

The Rebel Countess

By Rosemary Rogers, Contributor
June / July 2015

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Rosemary Rogers, continuing her series on Irish women of note, profiles Constance Georgine Gore-Booth, the social agitator and revolutionary who took part in the Easter Rising of 1916. Revolutionaries are, almost by definition, romantic – what else could explain the fact that the iconic image of Che Guevara (whose Grandma Lynch, incidentally, was from Galway’s Lynch tribe) is … [Read more...] about The Rebel Countess

Roots: Is Oscar Irish?

By Peter Garland, Contributor

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Oscar Wilde, the playwright, novelist, poet, and critic of world renown, has long been labeled Anglo-Irish, but an examination of his roots puts the question of Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde’s Irishness to rest once and for all. All Irishmen must feel a little defensive when someone points out that some of our famous writers are Anglo-Irish – as if they are just … [Read more...] about Roots: Is Oscar Irish?