Irish America

Last Word

The Last Word: Frontiersman Curtin


By Dr. Eoin McKiernan

January 2000

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His birthplace claimed by two states, Jeremiah Curtin, son of Irish immigrants, shed glory upon the state to which he was brought as an infant -- Wisconsin. Something of his indomitable nature was evident in his triumph over frontier conditions to become the first Wisconsinite to earn a degree from Harvard College and to go on to become one of the greatest linguists the world … [Read more...] about The Last Word: Frontiersman Curtin

Last Word:
A Touch of the Irish

By Chris Matthews, Contributor
June / July 2018

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The seeds of Robert F. Kennedy’s compassion lay in his understanding of the past struggles of his Irish ancestors. ℘℘℘ On March 17, 1964, Robert F. Kennedy traveled to Scranton, Pennsylvania, to address the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. His address that evening was rich in purpose but also in sentiment. It was his first speech since Dallas. He had chosen this Irish American … [Read more...] about Last Word:
A Touch of the Irish

Last Word: Leadership Lessons of Grandma Bridget

By Martin Dempsey
April / May 2018

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Retired General Martin Dempsey on the lessons he learned from his Irish grandmother. ℘℘℘ Bridget Jennings was my diminutive, Irish immigrant grandmother. In 1922, as a 16-year-old, she left her parents and siblings in County Mayo and came to the United States. At 21 she married John Devenney of County Donegal, and at 41 she was widowed. I was her first grandchild. Both my … [Read more...] about Last Word: Leadership Lessons of Grandma Bridget

Last Word:
Lessons on Leadership

By General Martin Dempsey (ret.)
December / January 2018

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General Martin Dempsey on what he learned from the writings of W.B. Yeats. ℘℘℘ I first became interested in the poetry of William Butler Yeats in graduate school. By that time I had accumulated enough life experience to help make sense of this prolific poet who wrote of folklore, history, romance, heroism, and mysticism in the years between his first published book of verse in … [Read more...] about Last Word:
Lessons on Leadership

The Lessons of Division

By Laura Farrell, Contributor
June / July 2004

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This past March I traveled through Northern Ireland as part of a group of 19 students and administrators from New York University's Gallatin School. We had come to Northern Ireland to gain a better understanding of human rights issues. What I gained an understanding of, however, was how large the gap had become between what I thought I knew and the reality of Northern Irish … [Read more...] about The Lessons of Division