As we commemorate the 157th anniversary of the start of The Civil War, Matthew Brennan remembers the shining role of The Irish Brigade. Irish American actor Martin Sheen commented in an interview published in Irish America that he loves his Irish heritage in part because the Irish have never planted their flag on the soil of another nation. He loves the Irish because Ireland … [Read more...] about The Irish Brigade: Heroes of The Civil War
History Archives
His Brother’s Keeper: Commodore John Barry
John Barry, the father of the American Navy, went to sea as a child to escape the Irish penal laws and rose to command the entire U.S. fleet. Tim McGrath writes that Barry's skills as a mariner and warrior were rivaled only by his heart. On a fine spring day in 1787, John Rossiter’s merchantman, the Rising Sun, glided towards the Philadelphia waterfront after a successful … [Read more...] about His Brother’s Keeper: Commodore John Barry
The Hannah: An Irish Odyssey
The story of The Hannah, an Irish famine ship that hit an iceberg in 1849, is now a documentary. John Kernaghan explains how it happened and how Irish America played a part. Paddy Murphy’s body is slowly being stilled by a degenerative disease, but his eyes are alive, bright and knowing as he struggles to form words to match his racing thoughts. He knows that the story he … [Read more...] about The Hannah: An Irish Odyssey
Corner of Ireland in America
The Irish Mansion in Greeneville, Tennessee. William Dickson left County Antrim, Ireland at the age of 16 for a better life in Greeneville, Tennessee. He succeeded. By 1796, when he was 21, he was commissioned by President George Washington to be the town’s first postmaster, a lifetime appointment. He also amassed a considerable fortune as a merchant. This mountainous region … [Read more...] about Corner of Ireland in America
The Muses of W.B. Yeats
By James Flannery, Contributor
The women who influenced the poetry of W.B. Yeats. It will come as no surprise to admirers of W.B. Yeats that this greatest of modern poets was a celebrant of the art of love from the beginning to the end of his long and immensely productive career. But now, thanks to W.B. Yeats and the Muses, a brilliant and magisterial work of scholarship by Joseph M. Hassett, we can fully … [Read more...] about The Muses of W.B. Yeats