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The Wild American Tenure of Wicklow Native Matthew Lyon

By Ray Cavanaugh

IA Newsletter June 6 2026

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Matthew Lyon was a man on the rise. But not in a slick and ingratiating way. He was bold and brash. These traits apparently surfaced quite young in life. He may well have possessed them from the time he was born in County Wicklow on Jul. 14, 1750 (some sources say 1749).  According to The Journal of the American-Irish Historical Society, Lyon's father was executed for treason … [Read more...] about The Wild American Tenure of Wicklow Native Matthew Lyon

The Road to the White House

By Peter Quinn
June / July 2010

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Mastery of urban politics helped the Irish rise from huddled masses to the heights of political power. An Ghorta Mór, the devastating famine that drove over one-and-a-half million Irish to America, put in place the foundations of the Irish-American community for the next 120 years. The Famine immigrants were a deeply rural people. Endowed with few material resources or … [Read more...] about The Road to the White House