Recent passings in the Irish and Irish-American communities. Katie Beckett 1978 – 2012 In 1981, Katie Beckett, at the age of 3, helped bring about major healthcare reform. On Friday May 18, at the age of 34, she passed away due to complications from a digestive disorder. Born Mary Katherine Beckett in 1978, Katie contracted viral encephalitis four months later. The disease, … [Read more...] about Those We Lost
August September 2012 Issue
Irish Eye on Hollywood
The latest in Irish and Irish-American film and television. 1. A husband-and-wife political team in which the man is a womanizing former president and the woman is currently serving as Secretary of State. . . Sound familiar? Well, if you’re thinking of the Clintons, you’re only partially right. Because just such a family is also at the center of the USA cable network’s new … [Read more...] about Irish Eye on Hollywood
Joe Duffy Made Me Famous, Dingle Saved Me
When Mary Tolan’s backpack – containing her wallet, passport and six months of writing – was stolen in Ireland, she thought all was lost. Over the course of five weeks on the Dingle Peninsula, she found something even more important. "So you’re the American who lost everything, are you?” asked Vincent O’Gormain, who with his wife, Sile, owns a Dingle Peninsula bed and … [Read more...] about Joe Duffy Made Me Famous, Dingle Saved Me
Running Rings Around the Empire: The 1908 Olympics
As Britain hosts the Summer Olympic Games in London, we look back on the first great modern Olympic confrontation between the United States – most of whose top athletes were Irish – and Britain, which took place in London in 1908. Notably, they were the last Olympic Games at which the judging committee was made up entirely of people from the host country. In 1908, as the … [Read more...] about Running Rings Around the Empire: The 1908 Olympics
An Irishman’s Civil War Diary
Michael Dougherty, a young Irish soldier in the American Civil War, kept a diary of his experiences, including the horrendous conditions endured in Confederate prison camps. Michael Dougherty, born in Falcarragh, County Donegal, on May 10, 1844, immigrated to America with his family at the age of 15 and went to work as a “Boots” in a Philadelphia hotel. On April 12, 1861, the … [Read more...] about An Irishman’s Civil War Diary