History

While the rest of Europe plunged into darkness with the fall of the Roman Empire, the light of learning and western civilization was kept flickering in Ireland, preserved in the monasteries established by the followers of St. Patrick.   However, it would only be a matter of time … [Read more...] about Brian Boru, the only true Ard Ri of Ireland

Few moments in American history are more mythologized or more debated than those of the Seventh Cavalry at the Little Big Horn.  Myth has the power to preserve the names of people who would otherwise be forgotten, but often at the price of losing the true person.  One example of … [Read more...] about Myles Keogh, A True Hero Hidden in Myth

For many Irish Americans, the watching of John Ford’s ‘The Quiet Man” is as much a part of the tradition of St. Patrick’s Day as Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” is a part of Christmas.  Both movies, depict an idealized time and place that was much simpler than today, or in … [Read more...] about John Ford, father of “The Quiet Man”

They came in the thousands, stolen from their homeland and crowded into the dark, fetid hulls of ships. They were taken to a distant country and sold like cattle into brutal servitude to owners who had the complete power of life and death over their “property.” Many of us will … [Read more...] about In Slavery to Barbados ….. the Irish Slaves of the Americas

When most people think of immigration, our images are of smiling immigrants standing on the decks of ships clutching children and looking with hope as they sail past the Statue of Liberty. We think of the immigration center of Ellis Island as the “golden door” and the “Isle of … [Read more...] about Grosse Ile