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 before the “light” attracted the unwanted attention of  those more interested in plunder than … [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 this is Irish American Captain Myles Keogh. Keogh was born on March 25,1840 in Leighlinbridge, … [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 fact ever was, but the basic themes of the importance of values and friendship still speak to us.  … [Read more...] about John Ford, father of “The Quiet Man”

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 Hope”. However, often overlooked is another Island that figures prominently in the story of Irish … [Read more...] about Grosse Ile

The coming of winter and the lengthening nights have always been times where people have traditionally consider their place in the universe. Certainly this was true of the ancient Celts who built the oldest known observatory on the banks of the Boyne at Newgrange where for over 5,000 years the sunrise on the day of the winter solstice floods the normally darkened inner chamber … [Read more...] about To Reach for the Stars