“Immigration policy should be generous; it should be fair; it should be flexible. With such a policy we can turn to the world, and to our own past, with clean hands and a clear conscience.” – John F. Kennedy This past Thanksgiving, as I made my way to a friend's for a home-cooked meal, I thought about my early years in New York when I worked most holidays at my waitressing job. … [Read more...] about A Nation of Immigrants?
John F. Kennedy
Irish Film Institute Brings the Past Online
The Irish Film Institute has digitized over 1,200 minutes of Irish cinema, documentary, and public information films dating back to 1910. The free online archive (available at ifiplayer.ie) also includes a number of rare Irish-American reels. “We wanted to make sure we represented as many parts of the collection as possible,” head of the archive Kasandra O’Connell told the … [Read more...] about Irish Film Institute Brings the Past Online
2016 Kennedy Summer School
The annual Kennedy Summer School took place in September in New Ross, County Wexford. Over 30 guest speakers, including the U.S. Ambassador Kevin O’Malley, attended a series of ten debates relating to Irish and American politics in President John F. Kennedy’s ancestral hometown. “It is quite remarkable to think that 53 years after President Kennedy stood on the quay here in New … [Read more...] about 2016 Kennedy Summer School
The Real Life Story of Bridge of Spies Lawyer James B. Donovan
The Irish American New York lawyer who defended a Russian spy, and negotiated on behalf of the thousands of prisoners captured after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, is remembered by his daughter Jan. It can often appear that the lives of individuals depicted on the silver screen are too fantastic to be real. For James B. Donovan, an Irish-American lawyer from New … [Read more...] about The Real Life Story of Bridge of Spies Lawyer James B. Donovan
Terrorists Plotted Against Kennedy and Hill
Irish Sunday Independent journalist Alan Murray unearthed a plot by loyalist terrorist Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair to assassinate Courtney Kennedy, daughter of Robert Kennedy and her husband Paul Hill when they were in north Belfast in 1994. Adair had planned to attack the couple with a rocket-propelled grenade while they were driving in their car. Hill and three others spent 15 … [Read more...] about Terrorists Plotted Against Kennedy and Hill