Irish America

Irish America

March April 1997 Issue

Charles Riley: Jesse Owens’ ‘Irish Father’

By Chuck Leddy

March/April 1997

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The fascinating relationship between Coach Charles Riley and his pupil, the legendary, Jesse Owens, is an engrossing human interest story about a gentle, selfless, Irish American school teacher who became a second father to a disadvantaged Black adolescent. From completely different backgrounds, Owens and Riley grew to love and respect each other at a time of overt racial … [Read more...] about Charles Riley: Jesse Owens’ ‘Irish Father’

Kenneally’s List

By Niall O’Dowd, Founding Publisher
September / October 1998

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Thomas Keneally is one of the world's great writers, an Australian who has revived the literary tradition in a country better known for shrimps on the barbie than the strength of its intellectual tradition. Schindler's List was the book which made Keneally's worldwide reputation, but long before that he had solidified his Australian roots when he explored the differences … [Read more...] about Kenneally’s List

Cockles & Mussels, Alive, Alive-o!

By Edythe Preet

March/April 1997

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"She wheeled her wheelbarrow through streets broad and narrow, crying "cockles and mussels, alive alive o." – From the song, "Mussels and Cockles" that remembers the street vendor, Molly Malone. The Irish have been eating shellfish since humans first set foot on the Emerald Isle. Huge shell piles called middens have been found at every seaside archaeological site, … [Read more...] about Cockles & Mussels, Alive, Alive-o!

Roots: The McCarthy Clan

By Liam Moriarty, Contributor
April / May 2006 Originally published in the

March/April 1997 Issue of Irish America

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The McCarthy clan traces its ancestry through an illustrious line of individuals and events reaching far back into ancient Celtic history and myth. The McCarthys claim descendants from the Eoghanachta, the rulers of the fifth province of Ireland, or Munster. The Eoghanachta were a people believed to have descended from Heber, the son of the mythical King Milesius of Spain. It … [Read more...] about Roots: The McCarthy Clan

The First Word: Our Evolving Heritage

By Patricia Harty, Editor-in-Chief
March/April 1997

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In this issue we celebrate the realization of the American dream by so many of our people, reminding us once again of the good fit this country has proved to be for the Irish. Not that it happened overnight. In the words of Robert Kennedy: "As the first of the racial minorities our forefathers were subject to every discrimination found wherever discrimination is known." The … [Read more...] about The First Word: Our Evolving Heritage