When the dust settled on September 11, 343 firefighters were listed as missing, and later pronounced dead. In this excerpt from her upcoming book, Lynn Tierney, then a deputy commissioner at the Fire Department of New York, writes about the difficult task of eulogizing her colleagues. EulogiesThere came a time in my life, through the autumn of 2001, when I wrote roughly 100 … [Read more...] about “Be Not Afraid”
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Goodbye Columbus Hello St. Brendan
By Abdon Moriarty Pallasch St. Brendan the Navigator, early transatlantic voyager, died on May 16, 587. Tim Severin (d. 2020) who retraced the 6th century legendary journey of St. Brendan from Ireland to Newfoundland and talked the adventure with Abdon Pallasch.The idea that Irish monks in an ox-hide boat might have beaten the Conquistadors and the Vikings to America was … [Read more...] about Goodbye Columbus Hello St. Brendan
Magnificent Munster
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
The Catalpa Rescue
In 1876, a daring escape from an Australian prison colony by six Fenian prisoners was masterminded by the revolutionary and journalist John Boyle O’Reilly.The sailing triumph of the Catalpa and the daring escape of six prisoners from an Australian prison dates back to 10 years earlier, 1866, to the failure of the Fenian rising in Ireland, when they were among those arrested and … [Read more...] about The Catalpa Rescue
An Ordinary Woman Who Lived An Extraordinary Life
A profile of Bridget H. Murray, my mother.Bridget Harriet Collier filled the world with many things since she came into it on Tuesday, September 9, 1924: humor, kindness, love. Perhaps the only thing she was short on was complaints about the hardships she faced while raising her family. It’s why her birthday remains a day of celebration and remembrance among the Murray clan she … [Read more...] about An Ordinary Woman Who Lived An Extraordinary Life