Irish America
Irish America
St. Francis of Assisi on West 31st Street may be the most sacred space in New York City. Long revered for its Franciscan ministry to the poor, the daily breadline for the homeless and, especially, for one extraordinary friar, Father Mychal Judge. Father Mychal was the FDNY chaplain who, on September 11, 2001, left the friary on 31st Street and rushed to the World Trade Center … [Read more...] about Father Mychal Judge
Maeve Brennan (1917-1993), the Dublin-born writer has been described as “Irish literature’s best kept secret,” was as striking in appearance as she was in talent – beautiful, chic and effortlessly witty. From 1949 to 1981, Maeve was a staff writer for arguably the greatest literary magazine in the world, The New Yorker. Yet like so many brilliant writers and artists, Maeve was … [Read more...] about Wild Irish Women | Maeve Brennan: Talk of The Town
Captain Charles Boycott, an ordinary man though in possession of a repellent personality, has gone on to immortality due to his behavior in 19th Century Mayo. Formerly an obscure officer in the British army, Captain Boycott was the land agent for an absentee landlord, Lord Erne, a position which afforded him a lush life on an estate outside the town of Ballinrobe. His lordship … [Read more...] about The Boycott Origination Story
On March 6, 1988, in the shadow of the rock of Gibraltar, British Special Air Services (SAS) gathered behind IRA members Sean Savage, Daniel McCann, and Mairéad Farrell as they were ascending the rock. When the three victims, all unarmed, turned around, saw the soldiers, and saw their guns, they put their hands up, the universal signal of surrender and “for the love of God, … [Read more...] about Mairéad Farrell: A Fanatic Heart
Nora Barnacle was 20 when she arrived in Dublin and met James Joyce in 1904. She had run away from Galway, her absentee mother, her strict uncles, and her friends, without goodbyes. She began work as a chambermaid in Finn‘s Hotel. Nora and Jim spotted each other on Dublin’s Nassau Street. Noting his nautical cap, canvas shoes and long frame, she thought he must have been a … [Read more...] about Nora Joyce: The Girl from Galway
