It’s an iconic image of the building of America: Eleven construction workers on a break for lunch, happily chatting away on a girder balanced some 800 feet above New York City. The photograph, taken during the construction of the RCA building (now the GE building) in Rockefeller Center, ran in the October 2, 1932 edition of the New York Herald. For all its enduring popularity … [Read more...] about Galway Celebrates Photograph’s Irish Connection
August September 2012 Issue
An American Hero Buried in Ireland
William Tally Mallon, an American soldier who fought and died in WWI, was laid to rest in a small cemetery in Galbally, Co. Tyrone in 1922. He was the only U.S. solder of The Great War to be buried in Ireland, which was at that time in the midst of its own Civil War. But by the early 2000s, no one could recall how or why he came to be buried there. Plunkett Nugent, a local … [Read more...] about An American Hero Buried in Ireland
Philanthropist Chuck Feeney Winds Down ‘Giving While Living’
Chuck Feeney, the Irish-American billionaire known for both his generosity and distaste for the limelight, has announced that he will bring his extraordinary charitable giving to a close by the end of 2016. Feeney, who made his fortune as the co-founder of the Duty Free Shoppers Group, founded Atlantic Philanthropies in 1982 as a channel for his donations. Since then, he has … [Read more...] about Philanthropist Chuck Feeney Winds Down ‘Giving While Living’
Honorary Degrees from Galway and Ulster
A number of very deserving Irish and Irish-Americans were selected by the National University of Ireland, Galway and the University of Ulster in the North to receive honorary degrees this summer. At Galway’s graduation ceremony on June 29, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd; Irial Finan, Coca-Cola’s executive vice president and president of Bottling Investments; novelist … [Read more...] about Honorary Degrees from Galway and Ulster
Quote Unquote: Commencement Addresses
A selection of quotes – some poignant, some hilarious – from commencement addresses by Irish and Irish-American speakers throughout the States. “We better understand that we are just part of a bigger whole and not divided by political labels or gender or race, but are stronger as a nation because of what binds us. Those differences are our heritage. Identities do matter and we … [Read more...] about Quote Unquote: Commencement Addresses