Letter to USA Today from Anti-Defamation Chair

June 14 is a special day for America and especially for the Irish in America. It is a day set aside to honor our national emblem - the stars and stripes. June 14 is flag day, a day when we should all be flying our flag in honor. Why is it flag day, what does it mean, and what is our flag anyway that it should have a day of its own? When you describe it in terms of material, it is only a piece of cloth, dyed with a little blue and red that makes a design symbolizes the United States. And that may be all that it is to some; to those who show it no respect, to those who make clothing from it, to … [Read more...] about A Little Green in the Red, White and Blue

On May 15, 1847, an Irish patriot died. He had been born in Kerry on August 6, 1775, the year America made her bid for independence, and he would bring a measure of freedom to Ireland. His name was Daniel O'Connell. Adopted by an uncle, he was forbidden, as a Catholic, to attend college in his own country, so after local preliminary education he went to France to study at the Jesuit College. He completed legal studies in England, and returned to Ireland in 1798 where he was admitted to the Irish Bar. It was a historic time, when Catholic and Protestant had combined in the United Irishmen to … [Read more...] about The Cyclone from the West

On several occasions in the past, we have denounced revisionists who alter the presentation of history to suit their own purposes. Equally provocative is anything that tends to support the Divide and Conquer tactics originated by the Brits ages ago to separate the Irish into quarreling communities to keep them from uniting against the Crown. No less culpable are those who unwittingly propagate such hypothetical theories without first determining the accuracy of their content. Their intentions may not be as malicious, but the results are certainly no less damaging. One recent example was … [Read more...] about How Long Must We Wear This?

Maj. Gen. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign at the outbreak of America’s Civil War was aimed at capturing the rebel capitol at Richmond. It was beaten back in June, 1862. Union forces made it back to relative safety, but suffered almost 16,000 casualties during a strategic retreat. Lee's army had taken the offensive, but lost close to 20,000. Convinced that McClellan no longer posed a threat to Richmond, Lee moved his army into northern Virginia and headed for Washington; in their path was the railroad town of Fairfax Station. Many Irish immigrants had signed on to build America's railroads, so … [Read more...] about Fairfax Station

On June 17, 1864, at the Washington Arsenal a staff of young Irish immigrant girls was busy crimping lead balls into shells of gunpowder for small arms use by the Union Army in the Civil War.  Just before noon, some shells placed outside a window to dry in the sun exploded throwing sparks through the open window into the arsenal’s east room. According to the Washington Star, Friday, June 17, 1864: A terrible catastrophe occurred at the Arsenal which has cast a gloom over the whole community.  While 108 girls were at work in the main laboratory making cartridges for small arms, a quantity of … [Read more...] about The Immigrant Girls of the Arsenal Memorial

He was a man admired and admonished.  He represented an age and a culture that many could relate to, yet just as many wished to forget.  To some he was the epitome of the rebel, born to the poverty of a Dublin slum, who rose to become an international literary figure.  To others he was the opposite of all that was noble about the Irish. In reality, he was a product of his environment, born in working class Dublin to Stephen and Kathleen Behan on Feb. 23,1923.  His mother's extensive repertoire of Irish ballads served him well in later years.  At age 16, Irish Republican principles led him to … [Read more...] about Brendan Behan

Ed and Grace Corrigan met at Crosby High School in Waterbury Ct in 1940. In 1946 they were married just as Ed was entering Boston College. They agreed that children would have to wait, but love changed that as Ed was entering his sophomore year. On Sept 2, 1948 - their first child was born.  They baptized her Sharon Christa Corrigan, and called her Christa. When she was only 6 months old, Christa contracted a severe illness that hospitalized her for 28 days. She recovered, but hospital and medical bills took the family's savings. Boston Mayor Michael J Curley, a legendary benefactor of the … [Read more...] about Christa Corrigan McAuliffe

On a hill in County Meath stands a monument to the early settlers of Ireland and their civilization.  The remarkable structure, built more than 5000 years ago, at first appears to be just a huge mound on a hilltop in the Boyne Valley, but closer investigation reveals a man-made structure surrounded by enormous standing boulders.  A magnificently carved kerbstone lies before the entrance to a 65-foot passage which runs to the center of the mound and three chambers formed of interlacing stones.  The passage is inclined at precisely the proper angle to align astronomically with the rays of the … [Read more...] about Newgrange

History is written by the victors and is not always as portrayed; one example of that is Thanksgiving.  According to the story that surrounds it, heroic Christian pilgrims arrived in America and shared what little they had with their poor Indian neighbors in thanksgiving for their successful arrival.  The truth of the matter is that the Indians weren’t poor, and if they hadn’t shared their bounty with the pilgrims, the pilgrims might not have survived.  After all, yams, corn, and the rest were all Indian dietary staples and the turkey was an American bird.  It was Chief Massasoit and the … [Read more...] about An Echo from Irish History

The Rising of 1798 was brutally put down so that the Irish might never think of rising again.  Although it succeeded in putting an end to the larger organized rebel societies like the Defenders and United Irishmen, the spirit of opposition to rents, tithes and taxes still prevailed among the oppressed Irish tenantry and smaller, clandestine societies continued to operate against the landlords. These local societies were called by many names such as Whiteboys, for the means they chose to identify themselves on night raids, to Levelers, for their tactic of filling in the ditches used by … [Read more...] about Origins