Born in South Boston October 28, 1868 James Brendan Connolly was the sixth son of childhood sweethearts John Connolly and Ann O'Donnell from the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. But in 1895, Jim Connolly's parents were far from pleased. At the age of 27 their son gave them a great sense of pride when he entered Harvard to study engineering. Less than a year later, he … [Read more...] about The First Irish American Olympic Champion
Issues
Ireland: Culture and Heritage
When summer comes, Ireland's in her glory. Lazy sunsets linger for hours in a softly glowing night sky. Every nook and cranny of the land turns lush and green. Roses ramble wildly up cottage walls and over stone stiles. Towering hedgerows turn country lanes into fragrant flowering tunnels. Music wafts on breezes everywhere. Fairs and festivals spring up like mushrooms after a … [Read more...] about Ireland: Culture and Heritage
Mothers United
Tara Stackpole read Football for Dummies from cover to cover. She needed to know the difference between a fullback and a halfback. Her husband, Timmy, had been a football player on the FDNY team, a coach for the kids' league and a huge sports fan. Tara wanted to get up to speed on the intricacies of the game so that she could be more than just a fan at her kids' games, and just … [Read more...] about Mothers United
The Old Irish Neighborhood
It is the fall of 1961. I am with my father. He has returned to his homeland for the first time after thirty-five years in America. The two of us stand silently under a sullen Irish sky in the high, dry grass among the fallen stones of the old country farm house in County Sligo where he was born and raised. He is quiet for a long time, shakes his head, and then leads me down a … [Read more...] about The Old Irish Neighborhood
Flying Boats
Hundreds of misty-eyed villagers gathered at Foynes' harbor on October 22, 1945, to watch Capt. Charlie Blair make American Overseas Airlines' final scheduled flying boat departure from the small seaport that had once been the focal point for air traffic between the United States and Europe. Today, six decades after those "glamorous days" ended, a Flying Boat Museum reminds … [Read more...] about Flying Boats