“Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.” Maybe she had too many gifts: she was a great beauty with a quick intellect; she could act, sing and, with little effort, was “discovered” and groomed for Hollywood stardom. In the early 1950s, she was a newcomer at 20th Century Fox, deemed so promising, she landed a plum showcase – a presenter at the 1952 … [Read more...] about Constance Smith: A Hollywood Tragedy
Rosemary Rogers
Rockaway 1953: The Irish Riviera
October 2, 2021 Newsletter
The image above was taken at Rockaway Beach on 115th Street, what was then the heart of the Irish Riviera. Irish immigrants flocked to Rockaway for a day at the beach, followed by Playland and an evening on the boardwalk. Lucky Irish families came here to spend their summer vacations, staying in boarding houses, usually in one room sharing a communal kitchen, bathroom and … [Read more...] about Rockaway 1953: The Irish Riviera
Wild Irish Women: Leonora O’Reilly
“I am not going to give you any taffy!” The charismatic and powerful public speaker who pushed for equal pay for equal work, better labor standards and overall empowerment for women , is profiled by Rosemary Rogers. Leonora O’Reilly was born in 1870 to parents driven out of Ireland by the potato famine only to live in poverty in New York’s Lower East Side. Her father … [Read more...] about Wild Irish Women: Leonora O’Reilly
Lady Augusta Gregory
"The Greatest Living Irishwoman" – George Bernard Shaw Writer, playwright, folklorist, and co-founder of The Abbey Theatre, Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory, née Isabella Augusta Persse, (born March 15, 1852, Roxborough, County Galway, Ireland – died May 22, 1932, Coole, did much to preserve Ireland’s forgotten history. Toward the end of the 19th Century, Queen … [Read more...] about Lady Augusta Gregory
A Multi-Generational
Family Trip Home
Rosemary Rogers shares her experience of traveling to Ireland with her daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren, and sister in 2017.
When I was 12 my mother took me to Ireland, her first trip home since she left 35 years earlier. In keeping with that tradition, I took my daughter, Nell, several times but in 2017 our group included Nell, her husband Christian, and their sons … [Read more...] about A Multi-Generational
Family Trip Home