Patrick Gallagher was born in Derrintogher, County Mayo, Ireland, on February 2, 1944. At the age of eighteen, like 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 merely returning to … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Patrick Gallagher, USMC
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Irish American Heritage Month: The Irish Brigade at Antietam
Did you know that the Irish played a major part in the victory on the bloodiest day in American history, the victory that let Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation? 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, … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: The Irish Brigade at Antietam
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 Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, America’s First Superstar
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: Margaret Haughery
When you visit the beautiful city of New Orleans, be sure to visit the old business part of the city where a statue of a woman overlooks a little square at the corners of Camp and Clio streets. The woman sits in a chair with her arms around a child. The woman is nither young or pretty and she wears a plain dress with a little shawl. She is a bit pudgy and her face is a square-chinned Irish face, but her eyes look at you like your mother's. It is one of the first statues ever erected in America to honor a woman, for this was a woman unlike any other. She … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Margaret Haughery
Irish American Heritage Month: Archbishop “Dagger John” Hughes
John Joseph Hughes was born on 24 June 1797 in Annaloghan, Co. Tyrone, to a poor farmer. As a Catholic in English-ruled Ireland, he couldn’t even receive a Catholic education. When John was 15, his younger sister, Mary, died and British law barred a Catholic priest from presiding at her burial; the best he could do was to scoop up a handful of dirt, bless it, and hand it to John to sprinkle on her grave. Hughes never forgot that and dreamed of ‘a country in which no stigma of inferiority would be impressed on my brow, simply because I professed one creed or another.’ Fleeing poverty and … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Archbishop “Dagger John” Hughes
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 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
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: 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 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
Irish American Heritage Month: Michael McGovern, the ‘Puddler Poet’
Michael McGovern was born in the townland of Castlefield, near Williamstown, County Galway to John Govern and Bridget Flynn in October 1847. We don't know a lot about his early life. We know that he was educated at a Hedge School. As educating Irish children was often not permitted, secret schools were organized by itinerant teachers. These schools were usually held outdoors among the hedges; hence they were known as Hedge Schools. McGovern received an education in the basics, including Latin. He also learned Irish history by the fireside listening to the older … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Michael McGovern, the ‘Puddler Poet’
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: 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: 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 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 Chaplain Corps … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: The Parachuting Padre
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: The Catalpa Rescue
In 1858, the Fenian brotherhood was founded in America and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) in Ireland to work for Irish independence. Britain declared membership in that organization a crime punishable by deportation to her penal colony in Freemantle, Australia. Seldom in history can one find a story to rival the adventure that brought embarrassment to England and freedom to six Fenians who had been sentenced to that harsh penal colony for life. John Devoy, Fenian and leader of Clan Na Gael It all began in 1871, when John Devoy, Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, and other … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: The Catalpa Rescue
Irish American Heritage Month: The Sheas, Three Generations of Olympians
Since the ancient past, societies have honored athletes. Athletic competition may have developed out of pragmatic concerns such as training warriors, but it was soon realized that certain individuals were gifted with exceptional talents. In the Ancient Olympic Games winning competitors were awarded Olive Wreaths and honored as human incarnations of Apollo; in modern times they are honored with some of the highest salaries in the world. These honors are given in recognition of how exceptional athletic prowess is in on one individual; what then would be the likelihood of finding world class … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: The Sheas, Three Generations of Olympians
Irish American Heritage Month: Nellie Bly, Pioneering Journalist
There was a time when mouse clicks and tweets did not drive reporters; they actually went out, sometimes at great personal peril, to find the news. One such reporter and a pioneer of investigative journalism was Irish American Nellie Bly. 21-year-old Nellie Bly as she appeared while reporting from Mexico Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Cochrane on May 5, 1864 in Cochran's Mills, now part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her father, Michael Cochran (Elizabeth would add the 'e' to the last name later), was the son of an immigrant from Derry who has started as a laborer and had … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Nellie Bly, Pioneering Journalist
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.”