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
Past Irish American Heritage Month Profiles
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