Irish American Heritage Month Project

When Americans think of the naval heroes of the American Revolution, the name usually comes to mind is John Paul Jones. Yet there was another officer—an Irish immigrant from County Wexford—whose service was longer, whose seniority was higher, and whose influence extended beyond the war itself to the very creation of the United States Navy. His name was Commodore John Barry. As we mark Irish American Heritage Month and approach the 250th anniversary of American independence, Barry deserves to be better remembered. He was not a colorful footnote in the founding of the Republic. He was one … [Read more...] about Commodore John Barry: The Irish Father of the American Navy

Across the Revolutionary War, five Butler brothers—sons of an Irish immigrant gunsmith—served as officers in the Continental Army. They fought in some of the most important campaigns of the war and continued their service into the early years of the American republic. Their story reminds us that the struggle for American liberty was strengthened by immigrants who carried with them a deep tradition of resistance to tyranny. General Richard Butler, one of the five Butler Brothers who served America's cause during the Revolution and after From Ireland to the Pennsylvania Frontier The … [Read more...] about Band of Patriot Brothers: The Fighting Butlers

Long before the Irish were welcomed or celebrated in American life, they were already fighting for the country’s liberty. In the spring of 1775, in the small frontier settlement of Machias on the Maine coast, the son of Irish Catholic immigrants from County Cork led a band of lumbermen and fishermen against a British warship. His name was Jeremiah O’Brien, and the bold action he commanded would produce the first naval victory of the American Revolution. Jeremiah O’Brien was born in 1744 in Kittery, in the district of Massachusetts that would later form the state of Maine, the eldest of six … [Read more...] about Before the U.S. Navy, There was O’Brien

When John Boyle O’Reilly arrived in Boston in 1869, he was not a celebrated poet or civic leader. He was a Fenian exile who had escaped from a British penal colony in Western Australia after being transported there for revolutionary activity. Within twenty years he would become one of the most respected voices in the city: editor of The Boston Pilot, a widely read poet, and a civic leader whose influence extended far beyond the Irish immigrant community. O’Reilly rebuilt his life in America without abandoning the convictions that had sent him into exile. He remained committed to Irish … [Read more...] about John Boyle O’Reilly: The Fenian Who Became Boston’s Voice

On April 24, 1832, 57 Irish immigrants from the counties of Derry, Donegal and Tyrone boarded the barque John Stamp at the port of Derry to begin their voyage to Philadelphia. They had all taken different roads to arrive at this literal and emotional departure. John Ruddy was just 18 when he hugged his parents goodbye, knowing it was unlikely that he would see them again in this life. Catherine Burns was 29 and had already experienced a lifetime of sadness; she was a widow and traveling with her Father-in-Law, hoping for a better life in America. What united them all was their … [Read more...] about From Donegal to Duffy’s Cut: The Forgotten Massacre of Irish Immigrants