Irish America

Irish America

Newsletter

London’s Irish Mozart: Sir Arthur Sullivan

By Ray Cavanaugh

Fall 2025

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If asked to name a writer of Irish background, many of us could rattle off a half-dozen names like we were reciting our date of birth. But if asked to name an Irish composer, then most of us would begin to hesitate. Our eyes would blink, our lips would curl, our heads would tilt while the brain struggles to process the mustier files in our index of knowledge. Surely there must … [Read more...] about London’s Irish Mozart: Sir Arthur Sullivan

On Famine and Native Americans: President Higgins leads Ireland’s Commemoration

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By Turlough McConnell The President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins paid tribute to the First Nations of Canada and Native Americans for their contributions to Irish Famine relief in 1847 at the National Famine Commemoration Day ceremony held in Kilmallock, County Limerick, on May 17th. Speaking at the event, he acknowledged donations from the Choctaws and Cherokees in the United … [Read more...] about On Famine and Native Americans: President Higgins leads Ireland’s Commemoration

A Pilgrimage of Repair

By Colum McCann

May 3, 2025 Newsletter

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In January 2025, to open the Jubilee of the World of Communication in Rome, the Dicastery for Communication at the Vatican, Colum McCann, author of numerous works and co-founder of Narrative 4 – a global non-profit which uses storytelling to better communities, stressed the importance of stories in his address to an audience that included Pope Francis. “The shortest distance … [Read more...] about A Pilgrimage of Repair

Pope Adrian IV, King Henry II and
The Siege of Ireland

By Rosemary Rogers

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On December 4, 1154, Nicholas Breakspear, the first and only Englishman to ascend to the papacy, was unanimously elected the Catholic Church’s 107th pope.  He chose Adrian IV, a posh name for a pope who proved deadly for the pesky isle across the sea, Ireland. Quite unfairly, in 12th-century Europe, Ireland, a country steeped in spirituality, learning, and illuminated … [Read more...] about

Pope Adrian IV, King Henry II and
The Siege of Ireland

Nellie Bly: “The Best Reporter in America”

By Darina Molloy

November 1999

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Nellie Bly’s biographer, Brooke Kroeger, captured the essence of his admirable subject when he wrote: “In the 1880s, she pioneered the development of ‘detective’ or ‘stunt’ journalism, the acknowledged forerunner to full-scale investigative reporting.” Born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864 to Michael Cochran and Mary Jane Cummings, both of whom were of Irish descent, Bly … [Read more...] about Nellie Bly: “The Best Reporter in America”