How the ongoing pandemic has motivated people to forge ahead by keeping a positive attitude. Tom Deignan interviews members of the Irish America community on their experience. Kathleen Donohoe, writer Quarantine made things feel awfully cramped in the Brooklyn apartment Kathleen Donohoe shares with her husband, Travis, and 10 year-old son, Liam. “We dreamed of … [Read more...] about Coping During the Pandemic
Eileen McDonnell
Fathers of Influence
By Irish America Staff
In honor of Father's Day, a collection of remembrances from Irish and Irish-American daughters on their fathers, many of which came from Irish America interviews. ℘℘℘ Eileen Murray, co-chair of Bridgewater Associates “My dad was in WWII, and Korea. He wanted to go to Vietnam, but did not. He felt that when the country needed you, you better stand up and go … [Read more...] about Fathers of Influence
Cheerleader-in-Chief
Eileen McDonnell, the Chairman & CEO of Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, discusses her Irish heritage, breaking the glass ceiling, and the way forward. ℘℘℘ When parents tell their children that they can do anything, it’s all too often taken with too many grains of salt. But Eileen McDonnell believed her parents. She had no reason not to. And it served her well. … [Read more...] about Cheerleader-in-Chief
Roots:
The Mighty McDonnells
By Mary Gallagher, Assistant Editor
January / February 2019
The name McDonnell accounts for a widespread group of individuals of Irish or Scottish heritage. Categorized as a patronymic (a name labelling by male ancestor), McDonnell is an anglicization of the Irish Mac Domhnall, meaning “son of Domhnall” (pronounced DOH-nal). Domhnall is conclusively of Scottish origin, deriving from the migration of Donald of Islay’s (d. 1423) … [Read more...] about Roots:
The Mighty McDonnells
Celebrating thePast and Present
By Patricia Harty, Editor-in-Chief
Niamh Hyland sang “Silent Night” in Irish, and a hush fell over the room – a splendid room with tall windows, looking out over Central Park. So often at Irish events, music is the thread that holds it all together, acting as the link to the ancestors across the generations, and this occasion was no different. It was December 12, and some 250 Irish and Irish Americans were … [Read more...] about Celebrating thePast and Present