Geoffrey Cobb writes about Thomas Crawford, who sculpted the figure of Liberty and Freedom on top of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. People around the world recognize the massive, iconic statue of freedom majestically standing atop our nation’s capitol building in Washington, D.C., yet few people know that a New York Irish American, Thomas Crawford, created it. … [Read more...] about The Forgotten Irish American Artist of the Capitol Building
Issues
Mother Teanga
The Irish language has roots stretching back at least 5,000 years and shares words with Sanskrit, the ancient classical language of India. Almost all of us can speak a little Irish and often do. Words like “galore” and “brogue,” for example, or “smithereens” have all passed directly from Irish into English, often with little change to their original pronunciation. So the … [Read more...] about Mother Teanga
Roots: The Lynches of Galway
The name Lynch, which is ranked among the 100 most common names in Ireland, originates with several different clans, and is most frequently traced back to the anglicization of the old Irish name Ó Loinsigh, and the less-numerous Norman de Lench family. The de Lench arrived in Ireland from France during the 12th century and became the most prominent of the 14 Norman families … [Read more...] about Roots: The Lynches of Galway
Window on the Past:
The Georgia Healys
In antebellum Georgia, the Healy children, born legal slaves to an Irish immigrant father and his black common-law wife, had to be smuggled out of the state to avoid being sold into slavery. Several would go on to become some of the first mixed-race high-ranking members of the Catholic Church.
Nineteenth century Georgia saw a remarkable phenomenon called the Healy family. The … [Read more...] about Window on the Past:
The Georgia Healys
What Are You Like?
Allen Leech
The former Downton Abbey star makes his American stage debut.
℘℘℘
ong before Allen Leech drove himself and the Crawley family into American hearts in a 1920 Renault for the surprise 2010 PBS Masterpiece hit Downton Abbey, he was on stage in Killiney, County Dublin, playing the Cowardly Lion in a grade school production of The Wizard of Oz.
“I was 11 and I was hooked,” the now … [Read more...] about What Are You Like?
Allen Leech