Irish America
Irish America
The man on the horse is my paternal grandfather, Patrick Francis Quinn. The date is September 5, 1904. Pat is about to take his place as Grand Marshal of the New York City Labor Day Parade. The horse was rented for the occasion. I have the sash he is wearing in the photograph, a piece of faded blue silk embroidered with gold lettering: P. F. QUINN — PRESIDENT — CENTRAL … [Read more...] about The Perils of Pat
Irish runner Eamonn Coghlan is heading a team of runners in the New York City Marathon who have more than winning as their goal. He talks to Frank Shouldice. When Eamonn Coghlan steps onto the starting line at the Verrazano Bridge this year it will be the second time he has taken part in the New York City Marathon. It was Fred Lebow, a co-founder and current director of the … [Read more...] about Chairman of the Boards
The 1993 Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans also carries a section on "Great Family Fortunes." Unlike a similar list of the European great family fortunes, which would be top heavy with royalty and titled nobility, the American experience shows the true strength of a "bottoms up" society where, in the first instance, wealth was earned rather than bestowed. Put … [Read more...] about First Word: All in the Family
Survival, we are told, is the first law of nature. If so, the Irish are the most law-abiding citizens in the world. That they survived centuries of English occupation and oppression is legend, but it was a recent trip that illustrated this in a very different way. It was my first trip to Ireland. To my knowledge I was the first descendant of James Burke, my mother's father, to … [Read more...] about The Stones of Gallarus or Two Pounds For a Pint
Rabble-Rousers with a Social Conscience "Free Joe Now," the song by Black 47, the Irish American group spearheaded by Larry Kirwan and Chris Byrne in 1990, became the anthem for those seeking political asylum for Joe Doherty, the Belfastman fighting extradition to the UK. These were early days for Black 47, the gigs were mainly fundraisers for one Irish cause or another — … [Read more...] about Black ’47
