Irish America
Irish America
In 1863 President Lincoln proclaimed the first national designation of a date for Thanksgiving. He named the fourth Thursday in November and Lincoln's choice remained undisturbed for 75 years. In 1938 President Roosevelt essayed moving the day back a few weeks. He gave as his reason the complaints of merchants that Christmas and Thanksgiving were too close and the public spent … [Read more...] about Hibernia
Irish America speaks to Larry Kirwan about the Irish Famine's Musical Legacy. Think of any major event in Irish history and a song or two will spring to mind that describes the emotions of a people. Except, that is, for the Great Famine, which left its sufferers at a loss for words to describe their anguish and devastation. With the exception of “Skibbereen,” the musical … [Read more...] about New York Rock Band: Black 47
During the worst winter of the Famine, the American reformer Asenath Hatch Nicholson began her one-woman relief operation, organizing a soup kitchen, visiting homes of the poor and distributing bread in the street. In May 1844, Asenath Nicholson left New York aboard the Brooklyn to “personally investigate the condition of the Irish poor.” She had been a schoolteacher in … [Read more...] about The Good Samaritan
Some crimes are so terrible, an affront to humanity, that they are impossible to capture in a memorial. But it could be said that memorials are for the living, not for the dead, a way to comfort the survivors, a way to redeem the suffering through beauty, and a reminder that we have to care for the hungry citizens in the world today. New York Thousands suffering in … [Read more...] about Hunger Memorials in America
Hundreds of unmarked and forgotten mass graves scattered across the Irish countryside are a silent testimony to a human tragedy of appalling and unimaginable dimensions. In the late spring of 1985, I asked a local historian in Westport, Co. Mayo, if he knew of any burial places associated with the ‘Famine.’ He brought me to the outskirts of the town and pointed to what … [Read more...] about This Holy Ground
