Irish American Heritage Month: John Philip Holland, Inventor of the Modern Submarine

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

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

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

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

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

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.”

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”