How two generations of O'Neills left their mark on California's history To the newly arriving immigrants of the mid-19th century, America was a "dream waiting to come true." Depending upon a combination of the industrial skills they possessed, the locales they chose to call home, the energy they exerted in trying to succeed, and simple chance luck, many eventually realized … [Read more...] about Home on the Range with the O’Neills
1997
The First Word: A Great Deal Left to Do
Reflecting on the past year, it appears to be a great time to be Irish. And if we Irish are being perceived as "great" at the moment, our creative artists are largely responsible. Time magazine's "Best of 1996" picked Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes as the best nonfiction book of the year, and it's been on the best-seller list for weeks now. Remember that wonderful review that … [Read more...] about The First Word: A Great Deal Left to Do
This Holy Ground
Hundreds of unmarked and forgotten mass graves scattered across the Irish countryside are a silent testimony to a human tragedy of appalling and unimaginable dimensions. In the late spring of 1985, I asked a local historian in Westport, Co. Mayo, if he knew of any burial places associated with the ‘Famine.’ He brought me to the outskirts of the town and pointed to what … [Read more...] about This Holy Ground





