How I failed to make Ireland my home: Mary Mulligan's travels to Ireland and back to America Ever since I retired from teaching with the New York City Public Schools, I’ve thought about returning to my native Ireland for the remainder of my life. Through the years, I have enjoyed summer visits, and dance and writing workshops there. I looked at cottages near Galway, ancient … [Read more...] about Return to America
Immigration
A Trip to the Bountiful: Mary Beth Keane
The Irish immigrant experience is no stranger to the world of fiction, but in The Walking People, Irish American Mary Beth Keane captures the nuances of one woman’s journey in this promising first novel. Protagonist Greta Cahill, cast aside early in her life as a “simple girl,” is destined to face gross underestimation not only of her intelligence but of her ability to lead a … [Read more...] about A Trip to the Bountiful: Mary Beth Keane
The Mission Girls
UPDATE MARCH 2, 2012: The Irish Mission at Watson House Project intends to use the historical Mission premises for the permanent exhibition of Irish women’s emigration, a center to study the records which we plan to digitize, a family research center and a space for a regular series of symposia on Irish immigration and Battery Park area heritage. The exhibit was opened on … [Read more...] about The Mission Girls
100th Anniversary of Celtic Cross at Grosse Île
“Children of the Gael died in the thousands on this island having fled from the laws of the foreign tyrants and an artificial famine in the years 1847-48. God's loyal blessing upon them. Let this monument be a token to their name and honour from the Gaels of America. God Save Ireland.” - Inscription on Celtic Cross, Grosse Île, Canada August 15, the Feast of the Assumption, is … [Read more...] about 100th Anniversary of Celtic Cross at Grosse Île
The Polish Connection
Since Poland joined the EU in May 2004, two million people have left the country. An estimated 250,000 of them have come to Ireland where they now amount to five percent of the population. In fact, so large is the Polish contingent in Ireland that when the two countries recently met in a soccer match in Croke Park, penalty scorer Stephen Hunt remarked that it was like a home … [Read more...] about The Polish Connection