Irish America

Irish America

Rosemary Rogers

Rockaway 1953: The Irish Riviera

Rosemary Rogers
October 2, 2021 Newsletter

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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

The Agitator: Leonora O’Reilly

By Rosemary Rogers

Summer 2021

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“You men say to us: ‘Your place is in the home,’ yet as children we must come out of the home at 11, at 13, and at 15 years of age to earn a living. We have got to make good or starve.” 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 … [Read more...] about The Agitator: Leonora O’Reilly

Lady Augusta Gregory

By Rosemary Rogers

December/ January 2021

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"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

By Rosemary Rogers

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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

Wild Irish Women: More Sinned Against Than Sinning

By Rosemary Rogers, Columnist
March / April 2020

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Pilloried by the press and railroaded to prison, she still managed to sail into the sunset. During the summer of 1965 in the East Bronx, the collective grief in Saint Raymond’s convent was almost palpable. The nuns learned that one of their students, a former Good Irish Catholic Girl, had brought shame on them and the rest of the tribe. Alice Crimmins was now fodder for … [Read more...] about Wild Irish Women: More Sinned Against Than Sinning