Pictured above: The Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment is a bronze relief sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. You aren't in Boston long before realizing what an Irish city it is: Logan Airport, Callahan Tunnel, the McCormack, Kennedy, Moakley and O'Neill federal buildings, plus numerous parks, boulevards and squares honoring Irish … [Read more...] about Landmarks Tell The Boston Irish Story
Irish in America
New, Expanded Categories in the 2020 Census Questionnaire
American citizens who check “White” on the U.S. Census will be allowed to expand on their ethnicity for the first time in the upcoming 2020 census. In an effort to establish a more comprehensive understanding of American heritage, the Census Bureau has announced the addition of a write-in box in which citizens can fill out their origins and cultural associations more precisely. … [Read more...] about New, Expanded Categories in the 2020 Census Questionnaire
300 Years of Scots-Irish Immigration to U.S.
This year marks the 300th anniversary of the first great wave of Scots-Irish migration to the United States, and over the next 12 months, several towns in Northern Ireland and the U.S. will be celebrating. In Aghadowey, County Derry, the Ulster History Circle will unveil a blue plaque to honor Reverend James McGregor and those that followed him to New England. In the U.S., … [Read more...] about 300 Years of Scots-Irish Immigration to U.S.
An Irish Artist’s American Odyssey
William James Hinchey traveled throughout America’s Southwest frontier and Missouri capturing images of life, the ravages of war, and beyond. Cormac McCarthy’s novel Blood Meridian (1985) depicts the rough, perilous place that was the American Southwest of the 1840s and ’50s. One of the earliest close-up views of the California-Arizona desert of the period is provided by … [Read more...] about An Irish Artist’s American Odyssey
Shamrocks and Salsa
Jerry Cox spent a lifetime ministering to California’s Mexican immigrants, and found similarities between Irish and Mexican cultures. ℘℘℘ Shortly after Jerry Cox was ordained a priest in San Francisco in 1950, the Irish American visited his relatives in Skibbereen, County Cork. That’s when great aunt Elizabeth Casey told him: “Welcome home, Father Jerry!” Noticing he was … [Read more...] about Shamrocks and Salsa