County Mayo family lauded for its many achievements. ℘℘℘ The O'Dwyer family was honored at a benefit for the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in New York City. Three generations of the O'Dwyers, both immigrant and American-born, have worked to improve the lives of citizens of New York City, and many of them have been in Irish America's Top 100. The oldest of seven children, … [Read more...] about Museum Honors the Irish
History
The Not So Great Escape
Ten years after robbers emptied an armored security van of $7.4 million at gunpoint, a former I.R.A. member has admitted in a memoir that he masterminded the heist. ℘℘℘ Sam Millar rues the fact that he is unlikely to set foot in New York ever again. He spent 16 years in the city, saw his four children born there, set up a successful comic book business in Queens and blew it all … [Read more...] about The Not So Great Escape
Joyce, Joce, Joass, Jorse, & Joyes
Although the surname Joyce may automatically be associated with author James Joyce, the name has an ancient past, with both Irish and Norman antecedents. Derived from the Brehon personal name Iodoc, which is a diminutive of iudh meaning lord, the name was adopted by the Normans in the form Josse. While some scholars believe that the name developed from the French Joie, which … [Read more...] about Joyce, Joce, Joass, Jorse, & Joyes
The Reagan Democrats
Say what you will about Ronald Reagan, but it can't be denied that he changed the face not of just American politics, but Irish-American politics. Since the time of the Famine, when shrewd political bosses such as New York's Boss Tweed saw votes in the desperate millions as they stepped off of coffin ships, Irish-Americans were loyally tied to the Democratic party in the … [Read more...] about The Reagan Democrats
Graduation Day
Seated at the right of this photograph is my mother, Elizabeth "Bess" Cashen when she was 13. She was valedictorian of the class of 1909 in St. Mary's School, Wharton, New Jersey. The other students in the photograph are (clockwise from left) Elizabeth Bobo, Leo Sodon, and Anna Harman. Bess was one of 11 children born to John J. Cashen, an iron miner, and his wife, Sarah … [Read more...] about Graduation Day