Irish America

Irish America

Roots

“No Man Left Behind”

By Megan Smolenyak
IA Newsletter, June 1, 2024

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"No Man Left Behind" is so much more than a slogan to me. In a sense, I contemplate Memorial Day year-round due to my work with the Army. For the past 25 years, I’ve been assisting the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) with the identification of our soldiers who gave their lives in WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam but have not yet been accounted for. My role as a … [Read more...] about “No Man Left Behind”

Finding Our Roots

By Kara Rota
June / July 2010

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For many Irish Americans traveling to the Emerald Isle, the chance to track down family histories and conduct genealogical research is one of the largest draws. Failte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority, offers information on how best to prepare for genealogical research in Ireland. They recommend first gathering as much information as possible on known … [Read more...] about Finding Our Roots

How I Found My Elusive John Murphy

By Megan Smolenyak
IA Newsletter
April 6, 2024

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The Deadly Trail that Finally Revealed a Phantom Branch of My Family Tree My earliest American-born ancestor was my great-great-grandfather, Edward Murphy. It took a while to figure this out as the skimpy traces he left claimed both New York and Ireland as his birthplace, but then I stumbled across his baptism. To my delight, he was christened in the historic St. James … [Read more...] about How I Found My Elusive John Murphy

Irish Roots and Rituals

By Jim McCann
IA Newsletter
March 16, 2024

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Growing up in New York City, I lived in the heart of the American melting pot. There seemed to be a festival or parade celebrating the city’s nationalities and ethnicities nearly every weekend. It was a great way to meet new people and experience the cultures of my hometown. Every year on March 17, it was my family’s turn, and this kid from Queens was always amazed at how many … [Read more...] about Irish Roots and Rituals

Connecting After a Half-Century

By Enda Cullen
IA Newsletter January 13, 2023

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‘God bless Facebook’ That was the phrase that kept going through my head in Glasgow Crematorium. As I listened to the minister conducting the funeral service I was wondering if what I was thinking was blasphemy. This was the funeral of my first cousin John Cullen who I had just physically linked up with, after 58 years, a few weeks earlier in Turkey. I had often read of … [Read more...] about Connecting After a Half-Century