William James Hinchey traveled throughout America’s Southwest frontier and Missouri capturing images of life, the ravages of war, and beyond. Cormac McCarthy’s novel Blood Meridian (1985) depicts the rough, perilous place that was the American Southwest of the 1840s and ’50s. One of the earliest close-up views of the California-Arizona desert of the period is provided by … [Read more...] about An Irish Artist’s American Odyssey
History Archives
The Irish Airman’s Grave:
From Padua to Kiltartan
The story of W.B. Yeats's tower, Lady Gregory's autograph tree, and the grave of Irish airman Robert Gregory, whose death inspired some of Yeats's most well-known poems.
January 23, 2018, marked the 100th anniversary of the death in Italy of Ireland’s most famous aviator, Major Robert Gregory. His grave stands in a quiet corner of Padua’s elaborate Cimitero Maggiore in a … [Read more...] about The Irish Airman’s Grave:
From Padua to Kiltartan
Photo Album: Dad and J.F.K.
My father Cyril DeFever grew up on a dairy farm near Detroit, Michigan. His parents had immigrated to the U.S. from Belgium. My mother, Marie Clancy, the daughter of an insurance man, was Irish. Her grandfather grew up on Turbot Island off Connemara. Her uncle Robert Clancy was a U.S. senator. Dad boxed as a young man (Joe Louis’ manager wanted to manage him). He won the … [Read more...] about Photo Album: Dad and J.F.K.
Weekly Comment: How the Irish Saved the Pilgrims and Started Thanksgiving
By John Cusack
November 22, 2017
November 22, 2017
In 1621, the pilgrims, just arrived in the New World, had no idea how wild their new frontier could be. Winter arrived and with it came starvation, death, and the idea that maybe it was time to give up and go back to Europe where the strict confines of politics were easier to deal with than the utter randomness of Mother Nature. The real story of what happened next is all but … [Read more...] about Weekly Comment: How the Irish Saved the Pilgrims and Started Thanksgiving
Micheline’s March
This September, Micheline Sheehy-Skeffington, the granddaughter of Irish patriot Francis Sheehy-Skeffington (who was executed without trial by a British firing squad during the Easter Rising) and his wife Hanna, arrived in New York City on board the Queen Mary II. She is embarking on a 12-week tour of the United States, following in her grandmother’s footsteps when she escaped … [Read more...] about Micheline’s March