How the British Government Responded to the Great Hunger In January 1847, the Nation published a poem entitled ‘The Stricken Land.’ It was a searing indictment of the policies of the British Government in the wake of the second failure of the potato crop only a few months earlier. It was written by a young woman, Jane Elgee, who was drawn from the Protestant … [Read more...] about The Spoilers of Our Land
Issues
The Irish Role in the Viking Discovery of America
As the thousandth anniversary of the Viking discovery of America will soon be celebrated in the year 2000, Thomas J. Martin and Donald V. Mehus examine the role that the Irish, with their own long seafaring tradition, played in those daring Atlantic voyages of exploration and discovery. A thousand years ago one of the most remarkable discoveries of the European peoples came … [Read more...] about The Irish Role in the Viking Discovery of America
Angela’s Ashes Loses Its Voice
Anyone who has read Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes -- and by now that probably takes in about half the planet -- knows that what makes McCourt's memoir of an impoverished Irish childhood so magical is the unique "voice" the author uses to tell the story. McCourt struggled for many years until he "started writing in the voice of a child, immediate, urgent and without hindsight … [Read more...] about Angela’s Ashes Loses Its Voice
The Boy from Southie
Michael Patrick MacDonald was in the third grade when the anti-busing riots broke out in South Boston in 1974. In his first book, All Souls, he harks back to that chaotic time. He talks to Lauren Byrne about growing up poor in Southie, that most Irish of enclaves. There's a certain grim thrill in meeting a writer around whom reports are swirling that he is having to lie low … [Read more...] about The Boy from Southie
Have the Irish Made It in America?
Sociologist and best-selling author Andrew M. Greeley looks at the various immigrant waves of Irish to this country and how they fared. Have the Irish made it in America? That the question is still asked shows that the Irish are still insecure about their success in this country. In fact, Irish Catholics are the most successful gentile ethnic group in American society and … [Read more...] about Have the Irish Made It in America?