The first Rose Garden ceremony of President Obama’s administration occurred this April 28 and honored Irish American Anthony Mullen, who was lauded as the 59th National Teacher of the Year for 2009. The National Teacher of the Year Program began in 1952 and is the oldest, most esteemed national program to honor excellence in teaching. Mullen, who teaches ninth through twelfth … [Read more...] about Irish American Named Teacher of the Year
Hibernia
My Goodness My Guinness!
By Andrew Phillips, Editorial Assistant
Tradition. A word that embodies Guinness, a brand which celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2009. In 1759, Arthur Guinness set the stage for the iconic brand by signing a 9,000-year lease at St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin. Guinness provided his workers with wages that were 10 to 20 percent higher than the local average, provided paid holiday vacations, and offered free … [Read more...] about My Goodness My Guinness!
Sisters of Charity: After All These Years
By Marilyn Coles Lownes
St. Patrick’s Day is always an important day for the Irish in New York and the 2009 St. Patrick’s Day Parade was a very special one for the Sisters of Charity. Not only was it the first time that they marched in their own congregational contingent, but the 248th parade was dedicated to the Sisters in recognition of their “200 years of dedicated service to the Poor of New York … [Read more...] about Sisters of Charity: After All These Years
Lincoln’s Watch Holds Message from Irishman
By Kara Rota, Contributor
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History opened Abraham Lincoln’s pocket watch in March 2009, and discovered a secretly engraved message that turned an unsubstantiated family story into a confirmed historical event. Jonathan Dillon, a watchmaker who immigrated to Washington, D.C. from Waterford, Ireland, repaired Lincoln’s gold watch in 1861 and engraved the … [Read more...] about Lincoln’s Watch Holds Message from Irishman
Holyoke’s Irish Heart
By Patricia Harty, Editor-in-Chief
Patricia Harty was honored at the St. Patrick’s Day festivities in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and decided that if there is a place called Irish America, this could be it. Its heart, Holyoke, Massachusetts, is still Ireland Parish, which is what it was known as back in the 1800s when immigrants, mainly from the Irish-speaking area of Dingle, Co. Kerry, settled there and found … [Read more...] about Holyoke’s Irish Heart