Captain Molly was born Margaret Cochran on 12 November 1751 on the western Pennsylvania frontier to Irish immigrant Robert Cochran and his wife Sarah. When Margaret was five, her father was killed in an Indian raid and her mother was kidnapped. Margaret and her brother escaped and went to live with their uncle. At 21, she married a local farmer, John Corbin. When America’s Revolution began, John enlisted in the regiment that General ‘Light Horse’ Harry Lee called the Line of Ireland. Margaret accompanied him, joining other women in cooking, washing and caring for the wounded. Her forceful … [Read more...] about Irish American Heritage Month: Margaret Corbin, “Captain Molly”
Neil IAHM
Bravery Beyond Measure: The Heroic Story of Colonel Patrick O’Rorke
Patrick Henry O'Rorke was born in County Cavan, Ireland on March 25, 1837. His family emigrated from Ireland when Patrick was but a year old, eventually settling in the “Little Dublin” neighborhood of Rochester, N.Y. An excellent student, he earned one of two scholarships to the newly formed University of Rochester. However, his father’s sudden death required young Patrick to take a job as a marble cutter to support his family. Patrick’s talents were too considerable to go unrecognized for long. He came to the attention of Congressman John Williams, who recommended him for … [Read more...] about Bravery Beyond Measure: The Heroic Story of Colonel Patrick O’Rorke
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
An Irish American Angel in America’s West
There were many Irish women among the settlers of the American West, and one of the best known in her time was a lady from County Cork named Ellen Cashman. Ellen came to America, like so many others, fleeing the effects of the Great Hunger. She arrived in Boston in 1850 with her mother, Fanny, at the tender age of five where she grew up caring for a younger sister. An ambitious young lady, she worked as a bellhop in a well-known Boston hotel when she decided to follow the call of the American West with the idea of making her fortune. She moved to San Francisco and soon found … [Read more...] about An Irish American Angel in America’s West
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