Irish America

Irish America

Weekly Comment

Weekly Comment: How the Irish Saved the Pilgrims and Started Thanksgiving

By John Cusack
November 22, 2017

by 7 Comments

In 1621, the pilgrims, just arrived in the New World, had no idea how wild their new frontier could be. Winter arrived and with it came starvation, death, and the idea that maybe it was time to give up and go back to Europe where the strict confines of politics were easier to deal with than the utter randomness of Mother Nature. The real story of what happened next is all but … [Read more...] about Weekly Comment: How the Irish Saved the Pilgrims and Started Thanksgiving

Weekly Comment:
Grandfather’s War Years

By John Fay
November 10, 2017

by 3 Comments

What's in a photograph? Writer John Fay reflects on an image of a grandfather he never knew as he's being sent to World War I. ℘℘℘ My grandfather, John Fay, was born in Finavarra, County Clare in 1896. The youngest of twelve children, he grew up on a farm that juts out into Galway Bay. Family lore has it that he had an almost idyllic childhood – trapping lobsters and playing … [Read more...] about Weekly Comment:
Grandfather’s War Years

Weekly Comment:
Punk and the Peace Process

By Olivia O'Mahony
September 22, 2017

by 3 Comments

In 1978, Northern Irish punk rock band The Undertones released their debut single, “Teenage Kicks.” The track opened with the punchy and iconic lyric, “Are teenage dreams so hard to beat?” The answer was a resounding yes, and the song became an instant anthem for the followers of Northern Ireland’s punk movement. With a new exhibition at the American Irish Historical Society in … [Read more...] about Weekly Comment:
Punk and the Peace Process

The Irish Role in the American Labor Movement

By Irish America Staff

by 2 Comments

As you celebrate Labor Day weekend, consider the contribution that the Irish have made, and continue to make to the American labor movement. Peter "P.J." McGuire the Father of Labor Day It was Peter "P.J." McGuire who first proposed a national holiday for workers. Born to Irish immigrants on the Lower East Side, New York City, in 1852, Peter became the breadwinner for his … [Read more...] about The Irish Role in the American Labor Movement

Weekly Comment: Francis Sheehy Skeffington’s Granddaughter to Retrace her Grandmother’s U.S. Tour

By Irish America
July 21, 2017

by Leave a Comment

Irish activist re-creating grandmother's 1917 tour of United States in documentary film, Hanna and Me. During Easter Week 1916, Irish pacifist Francis Sheehy Skeffington was shot without trial by British firing squad. A year later, his widow, Hanna, escaped to the United States under a false passport, giving speeches across the country exposing the truth about her husband's … [Read more...] about Weekly Comment: Francis Sheehy Skeffington’s Granddaughter to Retrace her Grandmother’s U.S. Tour