"Quinn has a way of making ordinary things, the ordinary or wise or inadequate thoughts of many persons in many circumstances not only convincing but merely actual: an ability that can remind a reader of James Joyce in stories like The Dead and in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." – John Crowley (from a new addendum to his original review in the New York Times 27 … [Read more...] about Peter Quinn’s Novel Redux
Newsletter
DNA Links President Biden
to Galway
Galway joins Mayo and Louth as an Ancestral Home
Ireland loves to claim her own, so President Biden – who’s conspicuously proud of his 5/8 Irish ancestry – is a source of pride for many in the land of his ancestors. I first explored his heritage before he became Vice President, and later shared some of my findings in Irish America when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in … [Read more...] about DNA Links President Biden
to Galway
Happy 20th Anniversary,
Ellis Island Immigrant Database!
What a difference two decades make
By Megan Smolenyak
In April of 2001, a miracle occurred. Well, it certainly seemed that way at the time. The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation (SOLEIF) opened the American Family Immigration History Center (AFIHC), launching an online database — digitized and indexed — of the passenger records of millions of immigrants who … [Read more...] about Happy 20th Anniversary,
Ellis Island Immigrant Database!
Growing Unrest in
Northern Ireland
April 17, 2021
By Deaglán de Bréadún
Concern has been growing in Ireland, north and south, that the Troubles which caused so many deaths and injuries for thirty years from the late Sixties until the end of the Nineties might be on the way back. The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement was concluded in April 1998, with former US Senator George Mitchell chairing the negotiations, … [Read more...] about Growing Unrest in
Northern Ireland
Tom Deignan Interviews…
Tom Deignan is a teacher, author, and columnist. Tom has been a contributor to Irish America for 25 years on arts and entertainment, history and current affairs. He is currently working on a book about America during the Ellis Island years. His writing has appeared in newspapers such as The New York Times, Washington Post, Star-Ledger, and National Catholic Reporter, as well as … [Read more...] about Tom Deignan Interviews…