Irish America

Irish America

Window on The Past

Window on the Past: Where Shall We Seek for a Hero?

By Michael Quinlin

Fall 2024

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180 years after his birth on June 28, 1844, the lessons of legendary Irish rebel, patriot, poet, and activist John Boyle O'Reilly deserve to be remembered and cherished. In today’s society of discontent and distrust mingled with guarded hope and optimism, O’Reilly would be hailed simultaneously as a disruptor of the status quo, a man unafraid to speak truth to power, a uniter … [Read more...] about Window on the Past: Where Shall We Seek for a Hero?

Arthur O’Shaughnessy: Reluctant Herpetologist, Ardent “Music Maker”

By Ray Cavanaugh

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He is best known for one part of one poem he published in 1873. Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s “Ode” (which is also referred to by its opening line, “We are the music makers”) actually consists of nine stanzas, but the first three stanzas are the ones of enduring popularity; the rest of the poem, in fact, is typically omitted when appearing in anthologies. But the three opening … [Read more...] about Arthur O’Shaughnessy: Reluctant Herpetologist, Ardent “Music Maker”

Window on the Past

The Irish Bambino

By Ray Cavanaugh, Contributor
March / April 2020

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In late 1990s baseball, home runs were everywhere. The balls were allegedly juiced. The sluggers were definitely juiced. Players who had been lanky rookies would later display cartoon-sized muscles, thanks to a regimen of syringes in the posterior. Even hitters of mediocre power were expected to belt 15 home runs per season. About one century earlier, however, 15 round-trippers … [Read more...] about Window on the Past

The Irish Bambino

Window on the Past: Stampede of a New York Cowboy

By Ray Cavanaugh, Contributor
October / November 2019

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Calgary, nicknamed “Cowtown,” is home to the largest rodeo in the world, the Calgary Stampede, which annually draws millions of visitors. The first Calgary rodeo in 1912 was organized by a New Yorker with Irish roots, as Ray Cavanaugh explains.Cowboys seem like a self-assured lot. But Guy Weadick was more than self-assured; he was a bold visionary, and the … [Read more...] about Window on the Past: Stampede of a New York Cowboy

Window on the Past: The Triumph of a Sad Clown

By Ray Cavanaugh, Contributor
August / September 2019

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The extraordinarily gifted Emmett Kelly, who turned clowning into an art form. Though he was most certainly a clown, Emmett Kelly’s performances were wistful rather than slapstick. Instead of wearing cheerfully bright clothes and having a prominent grin painted on his face, Kelly flouted clownish convention, wearing dark-colored rags and having a face forever contorted … [Read more...] about Window on the Past: The Triumph of a Sad Clown