Irish America
Irish America
Finnegan is an Irish surname coming from the Gaelic Ó Fionnagáin, meaning “son of fair-haired.” James Joyce immortalized the name for all time in his 1939 novel Finnegans Wake. But literary giants aside, Finnegan is one of the most recognizable Irish surnames of our times. The Finnegan clan’s ties to America have only bound more tightly since the election of Joe Biden as … [Read more...] about The Finnegan Clan
By Patricia Harty Editor-In-Chief In the fall of 1995, Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, was back on the best-seller list with Beach Music. He talked to Patricia Harty about his work, his family, and his desire to find his Irish relatives. Pat Conroy was born on October 26, 1945, in Atlanta, Georgia, to a young career military officer from … [Read more...] about Pat Conroy: The Prince of Tales
Eileen Collins, the first female to command a space mission, is a determined down-to-earth woman who never let anything stand in the way of her dream. August 1999: NASA, Texas: Eileen Collins looks a little tired and it's no wonder. America's first female space commander has been caught in a whirlwind of publicity since she returned to earth some three weeks before, having … [Read more...] about The Right Stuff
How Flannery O’Connor’s upbringing and her Irish Catholic heritage impacted her writing.
O’Connor’s great-great-grandfather, Patrick Harty, came to Georgia in 1824 from County Tipperary, settling in Taliaferro County. His Irish-born daughter Johannah, who became Flannery O’Connor’s great-grandmother, married Hugh Donnelly Treanor in 1848. Hugh had also emigrated from … [Read more...] about Flannery O’Connor’s
Irish Roots
Munster is located in the southern part of Ireland and consists of six counties: Cork, Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford. Its main centers of population include Cork City, the country’s third-largest city after Dublin and Belfast; Limerick, the nearest city to Shannon Airport; and Waterford, on the southeast coast. It boasts a wide range of scenery, including the … [Read more...] about Magnificent Munster
