Patrick Gallagher was born in Derrintogher, County Mayo Ireland on February 2, 1944. At the age of eighteen, as so many you Irish men and women before him, Patrick immigrated to the United States and the promise of a new life filled with opportunity. He quickly started on the immigrant dream: studying law while working in real estate; even getting involved in local politics as a campaign worker for Senator Robert Kennedy. In 1966, Patrick was drafted for service in Viet Nam. Despite pleas from a heartsick sister living in the states to avoid the horrors of war by simply returning to … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Patrick Gallagher, USMC
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Sergeant Major Daniel Daly, USMC Recipient of two Medals of Honor and Nominated for a Third
In the history of the Medal of Honor, the United States Highest award for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty", only 19 men have been awarded the medal twice. Among them is Marine Sergeant Major Daniel Daly, one of only two marines to receive the Medal of Honor Twice for separate acts of heroism and nominated for a third. Daly was born in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, on 11 November 1873. He was slight of stature, only 5’ 6" in height and weighing 132 lbs, yet enjoyed an early reputation as a fighter, a reputation he would prove … [Read more...] about Sergeant Major Daniel Daly, USMC Recipient of two Medals of Honor and Nominated for a Third
Irish American Heritage Month: Commodore John Barry
Did you know that the first flag officer and founder of the United States Navy was an Irishman? His name was John Barry and Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, said in his eulogy at Barry's graveside, "He was born in Ireland, but America was the object of his devotion and the theater of his usefulness." Barry was born in Co. Wexford, Ireland in 1745 and grew up with a great love for the sea. As a young man, he emigrated to the Crown colonies in America and by 1760, he was employed in a shipbuilding firm in Philadelphia. In 1766, at the age of … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Commodore John Barry
Irish American Heritage Month: Colonel Eileen Collins, A Descendent of Immigrants Who Attained the Stars
On July 30th, 1999, 30 years and two days after the first successful moonwalk, Irish American Colonel Eileen Marie Collins became the first woman to command a U.S. spacecraft. Eileen Collins was one of four children born to a family that traced their heritage to immigrants from County Cork who had settled in Elmira New York. At an early age Eileen expressed an interest in flying, the skies around her home a frequent home to sailplanes and Elmira was home to the National Soaring Museum. Her father would often take her to the local airport to watch aircraft take off and … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Colonel Eileen Collins, A Descendent of Immigrants Who Attained the Stars
Irish American Heritage Month: The Irish Brigade at Antietam
Did you know that the Irish had a major part in the victory on the bloodiest day in American history? It was at Antietam on September 17, 1862, and it was the victory that emboldened President Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. Foremost among Union forces was the Irish Brigade led by Irish-born Gen. Thomas F Meagher. Their story is an extraordinary chronicle of military valor in America’s cause; once when President Lincoln visited General McClellan’s Union camp, he lifted a corner of the Irish Brigade Flag, kissed it and said Thank God for the Irish! In early August, the Brigade … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: The Irish Brigade at Antietam
Irish American Heritage Month: Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, America’s First Superstar
A TV documentary on the St. Louis World Fair mentions how John Philip Sousa and his band dominated the entertainment, which included a young John McCormack singing at the Irish Pavilion. It brought to mind a forgotten era when American superstars were not individuals with a current hit record, but band leaders – people with the ability to not only play, but compose, arrange, and lead a musical organization. And, in the beginning, America’s first superstars were the leaders of America’s first bands – her marching Brass Bands and though Sousa was certainly one of them, he was not the … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, America’s First Superstar
Irish American Heritage Month: The Angel of Andersonville
Did you know that an Irish Catholic Priest Rev. Thomas O’Reilly threatened General Sherman with a mutiny by the Irish Catholics in his army if he torched the church district of Atlanta at the start of his infamous march to the sea and that General Sherman backed down and the entire church district was saved, including the City Hall which stood therein? However, Rev. Peter Whelan was just as courageous in another way. Rev. Whelan distinguished himself as a chaplain for the Montgomery Guards, an Irish company established in Savannah for the First Georgia Volunteer Regiment named for America’s … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: The Angel of Andersonville
Irish American Heritage Month: Andrew Higgins, the ‘Noah’ of WW II
“The Jaws of Death.” A photo by CPHOM Robert F. Sargent, USCG. A Coast Guard-manned LCVP from the USS Samuel Chase disembarks troops of Company E, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division on the morning of June 6, 1944, at Omaha Beach It is an iconic image of WW II, a photo taken on June 6, 1944 showing American soldiers exiting a landing craft coming ashore at Omaha beach. A few months later on October 20th, another photo captured the moment General Douglas MacArthur “returned” to the Philippines, wading ashore from a landing craft. Neither of these historic moments would have been possible … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Andrew Higgins, the ‘Noah’ of WW II
Irish American Heritage Month: The Irish Whales
Did you know that the first Gold Medal winner in modern Olympic history was the son of Irish immigrant parents and that Irish athletes dominated Olympic track and field events for the U.S. for the first two decades of the 20th century? The first to win was James Connolly, and he was born on October 28, 1868, in an impoverished section of South Boston. He grew up with a love of sports and when an International Olympic Committee resurrected the ancient Olympic Games to be held in Athens in April 1896, Connolly requested a leave of absence from Harvard to participate and left for Greece. After … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: The Irish Whales
Irish American Heritage Month: The Sullivan Brothers
DID YOU KNOW that in the annals of America's heroes, there is scarcely a brighter entry than that of the fighting Sullivan brothers? Born in Waterloo, Iowa to Railroad conductor Tom Sullivan and his wife Alleta, George, Francis, Albert, Joseph, and Madison grew up the best of friends in the closeness of an Irish family and matured into patriotic Americans. It was no surprise, therefore, that when Pearl Harbor was attacked, the Sullivan brothers headed straight for the nearest U.S. Navy recruiting office. Navy policy discouraged family members from serving together, but the Sullivans … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: The Sullivan Brothers
Who is St. Patrick?
Each year around March 17, the name of St. Patrick appears in every major publication in the civilized world - sometimes with honor and sometimes with scorn - often due to the conduct of those who celebrate his memory at affairs which bear his name. Of the many things written about this holy man, some are true, some misleading, and some false. St. Patrick was Italian; St. Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland; St. Patrick was the first to bring Christianity to Ireland - all of these statements are false! Let’s take them one at a time. Some claim St. Patrick to be Italian … [Read more...] about Who is St. Patrick?
Irish American Heritage Month: Annie Moore, First Trough the Golden Door
The statue of Annie Moore and her brothers at Cobh, Ireland During its period of operation from 1892 till 1954, over 12 million immigrants entered through the immigration station at Ellis Island, a name that was to become synonymous with the “Golden Door” and the “American Dream”. It is estimated that today over forty percent of the United States population can trace their ancestry to an immigrant that entered Ellis Island. On New Year’s Day Morning 1892 on the deck of the steamship Nevada stood three adolescents, Annie Moore and her brothers Phillip and Anthony. They were perhaps … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Annie Moore, First Trough the Golden Door
Irish American Heritage Month: Col. Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy
The recent HBO Mini-Series The Pacific has brought a long overdue recognition to the sacrifices and hardships endured by the U.S. Marines in the Second World War. These battles were fought on isolated islands that one would struggle to locate on a map: Guadalcanal, Roi-Namur, Saipan-Tinian, Peleliu, Okinawa. Combat was often at point blank range; not only did the men involved battle the enemy, but poisonous snakes, insects, disease and the climate. Nowhere was the fighting harder than the Battle of Iwo Jima, a battle where Admiral Nimitz later observed “Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue.” No … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Col. Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy
Irish American Heritage Month: The Irish Contribution to America’s Independence
DID YOU KNOW that when America was born, the Irish were there? The Irish, both Protestant, and Catholic, were a major part of Washington’s volunteers from foot soldiers to high ranking officers. When increased Crown exploitation drove the colonists to protest, among the loudest were the Irish who had no great love for the Crown, to begin with. And there were many Irish in America’s colonies. Among them were those who fought the English theft of their Irish lands and ended up hunted men; they were followed by those Catholics and Presbyterians who fled persecution by the Church of England. Some … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: The Irish Contribution to America’s Independence
Irish American Heritage Month: “Wild Bill” Donovan, “The Last Hero.”
At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, for the first time in over four years, the guns fell silent across the trenches that scarred the face of Europe during the First World War. America had been latecomers to the conflict but at a tremendous cost had tipped the scales in what had been a murderous stalemate. No division had sacrificed more than the 42nd Division, nicknamed the "Rainbow Division," as it had been formed from National Guard Units whose origins stretched across the country. No unit in the Rainbow Division fought on more fronts, nor suffered more … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: “Wild Bill” Donovan, “The Last Hero.”
Irish American Heritage Month: The Emmets, an Irish and Irish American Story
Robert Emmet Thomas Emmet in Later Life On the surface, the brothers Thomas Addis Emmet and Robert Emmet were the most unlikely of revolutionaries. They were born (Thomas Addis 1764, Robert 1778) into an affluent family of Ireland's Protestant ascendency. Their father was the State Physician of Ireland; firmly positioning the family as members of the British establishment. Yet the spirit of the enlightenment ran strong in the Emmet family; they were sympathetic to the struggle for independence of the American Colonies during the Revolutionary War and critics of the disenfranchisement … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: The Emmets, an Irish and Irish American Story
Irish American Heritage Month: Kathleen McNulty, an Irish American “Hidden Figure”
Kathleen Rita McNulty was born in the village of Creeslough on February 12, 1921, the third of six children of Anne Nelis and James McNulty. Her father was Commandant of the Doe Battalion of the Irish Volunteers. On the night of her birth, he was arrested and imprisoned in Derry Gaol for two years for his republican activities. On his release, the family emigrated to the United States and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where James worked as a stonemason and went on to establish a successful construction business, frequently working with Irish American John B Kelly, the father of … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Kathleen McNulty, an Irish American “Hidden Figure”
Irish American Heritage Month: The Foley Brothers “No greater love than to lay down your life for another”
At the young age of 32, Thomas Foley was already an 11-year decorated veteran firefighter of the FDNY and a legend. He was a larger than life individual who embraced life to the fullest and seemed to excel at everything he tried from powerlifting to skydiving. Having learned to ride horses on visits to his grandfather's farm, he even excelled as a competitor on the rodeo circuit. With boyish good looks, Thomas Foley was featured twice by People Magazine and appeared in the FDNY's "2003 Calendar of Heroes." However, being a firefighter was Thomas Foley's first passion; it was all he wanted to … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: The Foley Brothers “No greater love than to lay down your life for another”
Irish American Heritage Month: John Philip Holland, Inventor of the Modern Submarine
Did you know that an Irishman invented the first modern submarine? His name was John Philip Holland and he was born in Liscannor, Co. Clare, Ireland, on February 24, 1841. He experienced the Irish potato failure suffering poor eyesight as a result. His father was a member of the Coast Guards, and young John inherited a love of the sea. Although his poor eyesight prevented him from following in his father’s footsteps, he developed an interest in ship design. John attended the Christian Brothers School where he came under the influence of Brother Dominic Burke, a science teacher, who encouraged … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: John Philip Holland, Inventor of the Modern Submarine
Irish American Heritage Month: The Parachuting Padre
As an Army chaplain, Fr. Francis L. Sampson saw combat in two wars and earned the nickname of "the Parachuting Padre." His actions during the D-Day campaign would be adapted as part of two major motion pictures, though in both his actions would be attributed to others. Fr. Sampson was born in Cherokee, Iowa, the descendant of Immigrants from County Cork. Fr. Sampson graduated from Notre Dame before entering St. Paul's Seminary in Minnesota. He served briefly as a parish priest. When the U.S. entered the war, Fr. Sampson sought and was granted permission to join the … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: The Parachuting Padre