Before the decade was over, America would be a vastly different nation, thanks in no small part to Irish Catholics. Nineteen hundred and twenty-eight was a dark year for Irish Catholics in America. It was, of course, the year Al Smith ran for president and lost. The anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant Ku Klux Klan played a major role in bringing down Smith, who lost “because of … [Read more...] about The 1930s: When Irish Catholics Changed America
History Archives
Casey Returns to Galway
Former Bishop of Galway Dr. Eamonn Casey returned to Ireland at the start of February following 13 years in exile. Dr. Casey, 78, lived and worked in the U.S., Ecuador, Mexico, and England and has retired to the parish of Beagh near Gort in Co. Galway. "I regret that in the past I let a number of people down," he said in a rare interview with the Irish media. "It caused great … [Read more...] about Casey Returns to Galway
The Irish Scrubwoman
In the days when "No Irish Need Apply," my maternal grandmother, Margaret McCabe Ackerson, was lucky to find work scrubbing office floors to support her five children. My aunt remembers sitting as a little gift on the curb in front of their East 29th Street, Manhattan tenement until her widowed mother came home around midnight. This was not the American dream Margaret's father, … [Read more...] about The Irish Scrubwoman
Proudly We Serve
September 11 has become this generation's "Day of Infamy." The terrorist attacks forever changed the way we live, and have made our daily lives more difficult. A secure environment can no longer be presumed. Some post 9/11 changes, however, have been positive. Is there anyone who doesn't now have a greater appreciation for our police and firefighters, or greater respect for … [Read more...] about Proudly We Serve
President Reagan Remembered
From Ballyporeen to the White House, Niall O'Dowd looks at President Reagan's Irish background, and recalls an interview with the President's brother, Neil. "Today I come back to you as a descendant of people who were buried here in pauper's graves." Thus did President Ronald Wilson Reagan announce himself when he visited the Irish village of Ballyporeen Co. Tipperary. It was … [Read more...] about President Reagan Remembered