Photographer David Monahan has been powerfully documenting the recent wave of Irish emigration in photographs taken just before their subjects' departures to different corners of the world. “It is my wish to photograph people of all nationalities, who have made the decision to move from Ireland for economic reasons[:] in and around the city, juxtaposed with landscapes that are … [Read more...] about Portraits of the Irish Leaving Home
Immigration
His Brother’s Keeper: Commodore John Barry
John Barry, the father of the American Navy, went to sea as a child to escape the Irish penal laws and rose to command the entire U.S. fleet. Tim McGrath writes that Barry's skills as a mariner and warrior were rivaled only by his heart. On a fine spring day in 1787, John Rossiter’s merchantman, the Rising Sun, glided towards the Philadelphia waterfront after a successful … [Read more...] about His Brother’s Keeper: Commodore John Barry
The Hannah: An Irish Odyssey
The story of The Hannah, an Irish famine ship that hit an iceberg in 1849, is now a documentary. John Kernaghan explains how it happened and how Irish America played a part. Paddy Murphy’s body is slowly being stilled by a degenerative disease, but his eyes are alive, bright and knowing as he struggles to form words to match his racing thoughts. He knows that the story he … [Read more...] about The Hannah: An Irish Odyssey
Return to America
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
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