Half of the population born in Ireland since 1820 have emigrated, some to win great fame and success around the globe. Their descendants— Irish Americans, Irish Australians, Irish in Britain, Irish in Patagonia or wherever - form part of the 70 million people worldwide who claim Irish ancestry. Imagine the 70 million as a shamrock chain, starting in Ireland, linked to New … [Read more...] about The First Word: The Shamrock Chain
Niall O'Dowd
The Greening of the White House: Clinton’s Irish Agenda
On record with the strongest statement on Irish issues of any President of modern times, President-elect Bill Clinton is already catching flak from the British government and media. But what is he really likely to do on Irish issues in the White House? On the mid-November day that Bill Clinton arrived in Washington, D.C. on his first visit as President-elect of the United … [Read more...] about The Greening of the White House: Clinton’s Irish Agenda
40 Years & Growing
By Niall O'Dowd
Fall 2025
Publisher Niall O’Dowd reflects on the life of Irish America magazine over its four decades. March 14, 1996, was the most surreal and satisfying day of all my days in America. That evening, I stood in a small holding room at the back of the stage at the Plaza Hotel, located off Fifth Avenue in New York, waiting to walk on stage with the most powerful man on earth – President … [Read more...] about 40 Years & Growing
The Man from Hope
Irish American of the Year, 1996 It was an evening that dreams were made of, a crystal clear Belfast night, the winter air crackling with anticipation. On the sound stage adjacent to City Hall, Van Morrison was blasting out his There'll Be Days Like This, the unofficial anthem of the peace. A huge and enthusiastic crowd, later numbered at 100,000 was rocking along to the … [Read more...] about The Man from Hope
Freedom’s Sons and Daughters
IA Newsletter, February 17, 2024
The Stories of the Irish and George Washington INTRODUCTION There is no doubt that Ireland's sons and daughters played a major role in the battle for American independence from the British Crown. As leading Revolutionary War historian Thomas Fleming has noted, the Irish "responded en masse to the call for resistance to England. With more than 300,000 of them in the … [Read more...] about Freedom’s Sons and Daughters