Irish America

Irish America

History Archives

The Kindness of Strangers: Remembering the Tragedy of the Brig St. John in 1849

By Christine Kinealy
IA Newsletter, October 12, 2024

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On 6 October 1849, emigrants on board the Brig St. John, caught their first sighting of American land as their vessel approached the coast of Cape Cod. The vessel was carrying as many as 140 passengers from counties Clare and Galway, Their destination was Boston where they would disembark the following day. The voyage had been uneventful and, to celebrate their safe arrival, … [Read more...] about The Kindness of Strangers: Remembering the Tragedy of the Brig St. John in 1849

Miotas | The Ancients

By Rosemary Rogers

Fall 2024

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Tuatha Dé DannanThey came in the mist... Ireland is a land of sacred spaces but none as mystical as Newgrange in County Meath. Newgrange is a prehistoric monument, a collection of Stone Age burial mounds and kerbstones, enormous rocks carved with art. It is a place older than the pyramids, a place of spiritual, archaeological and historic importance, and a place that brings … [Read more...] about Miotas | The Ancients

Campaign for Justice 50 Years On

By Brian Dooley
IA Newsletter, October 5, 2024

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Guildford Pub Bombs Continue to Haunt Victims and the British Criminal Justice System 50 years later.  Exactly 50 years ago, on Saturday night October 5, 1974, IRA bombs exploded in two pubs in the Surrey town of Guildford, south of London.  But despite a series of trials, appeals, an official inquiry and a coroners inquest, the full story of the attacks is still not … [Read more...] about Campaign for Justice 50 Years On

MacGahan: Liberator of Bulgaria

By Joe Farrell

November/December 1998

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How journalist Januarius Aloysius MacGahan, the son of Irish immigrants, helped cause a shift in the European balance of power that made the liberation of Bulgaria possible. "Since my letter of yesterday, I have supped full of horrors. Nothing has yet been said of the Turks that I do not now believe; nothing could be said of them that I should not think probable or … [Read more...] about MacGahan: Liberator of Bulgaria

British Government Finally Grants
Finucane Family an Inquiry

By Brian Dooley
IA Newsletter, September 14, 2024

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Back in February 1989, George H.W. Bush had just succeeded Ronald Reagan as U.S. president. Margaret Thatcher was the British prime minister, and the conflict in Northern Ireland had another decade to run. Pat Finucane, a 39-year-old human rights lawyer living in Belfast, was shot dead in his home by members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) on 12 February of that year. … [Read more...] about

British Government Finally Grants
Finucane Family an Inquiry