Irish America

Irish America

Issues

The Origin of “The Fighting Irish” Nickname

By Murray Sperber

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This exchange in a novel about college sports in the 1920s catches the prejudices that many Americans of the time held toward citizens of Irish-Catholic descent. However, unlike other immigrant groups who tried to submerge their ethnicity into the American melting pot and considered such terms as "Polack" and "Bohunk" insults, Irish Catholics gloried in many of their nicknames, … [Read more...] about The Origin of “The Fighting Irish” Nickname

Endurance: A compelling story of survival that hinged on the leadership of one man

By Sarah Buscher
June / July 2000

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Frank Wild, the second in command, made his way through the ship as its planks buckled and heaved against the mounting pressure. Occasionally a loud crack rang out like a gunshot as the timber snapped under the strain. He worked his way from the crew's quarters to the engine room and down to the propeller shaftway where two crewmembers were trying to reinforce a cofferdam that … [Read more...] about Endurance: A compelling story of survival that hinged on the leadership of one man

Thomas Cahill: An Irish Gift to the Human Race

By Tom Deignan

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We mourn a writer who shed a light on Irish monks who kept the fires of Christian learning alight during the Dark Ages, and in doing so, helped banish some of the stereotypes leveled at our race. Best-selling author Thomas Cahill – who died on October 18 at the age of 82 – once described a bitter irony of history in this very magazine. “Ireland had been a place of fabulous … [Read more...] about Thomas Cahill: An Irish Gift to the Human Race

Grave Markers Installed for Two Fenian Rebels: Michael Harrington and Thomas Hassett

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On Saturday, October 15, at Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York, headstones were placed on the graves of Thomas Hassett and Michael Harrington to the tune of a bagpiper from the County Cork Association of NY Pipers. The pair, who had been buried in unmarked graves, were both from Cork. They, along with 61 other Fenians, including John Boyle O’Reilly, had been rounded up in … [Read more...] about Grave Markers Installed for Two Fenian Rebels: Michael Harrington and Thomas Hassett

Calling All Law Students With an Interest in Human Rights

By Emily Moriarty

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The Brehon Law Society of New York is inviting law students with an interest in human rights and activism, to apply for a summer internship with a law firm in Belfast. The society, composed of lawyers, judges, and other law-related personnel, takes its name from the ancient Irish law system. The Brehons were judges, close in importance to chieftains. Founded in New York in … [Read more...] about Calling All Law Students With an Interest in Human Rights