Irish America

Irish America

1998

Mrs. O’Leary Exonerated

Abdon Moriarty Pallasch
March/April 1998

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The truth would have made a great story: Catherine O'Leary, successful Irish immigrant businesswoman. She had five cows in her dairy and her husband Patrick was gainfully employed as a lathe-worker. As Catherine and Patrick slept on that dry October night in 1871, someone started a fire in their barn. The blaze grew into the Great Chicago Fire, killing 300 people, leaving … [Read more...] about Mrs. O’Leary Exonerated

Flannery O’Connor’s
Irish Roots

By Joe Zenter

Originally published in March / April 1998, republished with edits in 2015

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How Flannery O’Connor’s upbringing and her Irish Catholic heritage impacted her writing. O’Connor’s great-great-grandfather, Patrick Harty, came to Georgia in 1824 from County Tipperary, settling in Taliaferro County. His Irish-born daughter Johannah, who became Flannery O’Connor’s great-grandmother, married Hugh Donnelly Treanor in 1848. Hugh had also emigrated from … [Read more...] about Flannery O’Connor’s
Irish Roots

The United Irishmen and the 1798 Rebellion

By Colin Lacey

March / April 1998

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The Society of United Irishmen, founded in Belfast on October 26, 1791 by radical political thinkers, including Theobald Wolfe Tone, Hamilton Rowan, Samuel Nellson, Henry Joy McCracken and Thomas Russell, the organization's declared objective was "equal representation of all the people in parliament" and the establishment of a political system that would include all religious … [Read more...] about The United Irishmen and the 1798 Rebellion

Yankee Doodle with a Brogue:
The Irish in the American Revolution

By Thomas Fleming

Originally published in July / August 1998

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In Virginia's Shenandoah Valley there is a gravestone that reads: Here lies the remains of John Lewis, who slew the Irish lord, settled in Augusta County, located the town of Staunton and furnished five sons to fight the battles of the American Revolution. Those words are an apt summary of the Irish role in the Revolution. They responded en masse to the call for resistance to … [Read more...] about Yankee Doodle with a Brogue:
The Irish in the American Revolution

Remembering the Champ

By Marilyn Cole Lownes

May / June 1998

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The history of boxing must be rewritten. It is officially recorded that the legendary Jack Dempsey, Heavyweight Champion of the World from 1919-1926, was KO'ed just once in his great career. He was knocked out in the first round in 1917 by fireman Jim Flynn. The truth is that he actually suffered two KO's. The second one was outside the ring in 1956 when he first laid eyes on … [Read more...] about Remembering the Champ