The above is a picture of Loftus and Mary Gray, my great-great grandparents. Jack Holt, the husband of Mrs. Billie Jo Holt (who provided the above photo) is also a descendant of Loftus Gray. Jack's maternal grandfather was Walter Gray. The picture was given to Mrs. Holt by Anne Holt and later verified…

I live in County Clare, Ireland. All my family originate from the West Of Ireland, My GGGrandad John Doherty was a pensioner in 1866. The only way he could have a pension is from the military. Does anybody know how to find this out? I know that most Irish fought for the Irish Brigade.

Regards Ray (Doherty)

Hello again, I know I am posting another great piece. This is about the Great Hunger in Ireland but its done in a totally new way - a graphic novel. I am hoping to get a copy for myself and give it a read.…

Two months after the ambush at the Burgery, on the 18th of May, the body of Pat Keating was disinterred for burial in Kilrossanty, at the request of his family.

Above: In the front, left to right, are Tommy Boyle, George Lennon, Michael Foley. In the rear…

DEARDAOIN -- On January 24, 1862, Miles Byrne, United Irishman and officer in Napoleon's Irish Legion, died in Paris. He was active in the 1798 Rising in Wexford and fought all its major battles, right through the rebels' climactic defeat at Vinegar…

The West, the American West, is the place in our souls where romance and reality meet head-on. Ironically it is also the place where reality and romance have always met head-on. Ever since “the West” was that ill-defined space on the map west of the White Mountains, west of the…

In 2011, I explored the farming area of Ardsallagh in the Clashmore parish of Waterford. My Hogan ancestors farmed in this area, which overlooks the Blackwater River. We enjoyed crossing the bridge to Youghal in County Cork and doing research in the Waterford library in Dungarvan, where my Whelan ancestors lived. Would love to…

The Irish Cultural Society has announced its annual writing contest for students in the 9^th through 12^th grades in Nassau County (NY) high schools.  The materials describing the contest have been mailed to the English Departments of the Nassau schools, public and private, and they have been posted on the…

(Above: Lt. Bourke saving bugler Elmer Snow in "Battle of the Rosebud" by Andy Thomas)

On June 17^th, on the…

Not many people in the United States or the world today know who Irish-American John Gregory Bourke was, and that is unfortunate. Few historical figures have ever had his rare combination of heroism in a major war; chronicling and participating in two decades of conflict with a fierce indigenous foe;…

I'm not hugely into sports. I watch the big soccer and rugby games when Ireland plays. I appreciate the skill in a good boxing bout and I sit in awe whenever the Olympics is on and I can watch those jaw-dropping displays the gymnasts put on. Other than that, I’m not that pushed. However, my…

Himself: A Civil War Veteran's Struggles with Rebels, Brits and Devils.  By William J. Donohue 319 pp., 2014 Buffalo Heritage Press www.BuffaloHeritage.com, softcover $19.99…

In early 1916, a young Irishman was making secret plans to travel from England to Dublin to take up arms in an insurrection to achieve Irish independence. This was Liam Parr, a singer and bagpiper who was sometimes known as the ‘The Minstrel Boy” after one of his favourite songs. He was a Dubliner who had been living…

In 1965, my father, at the age of 60, decided it was time to find his Irish roots. The only problem was that one of his daughters was to be married late that summer. My mother declared he could go, but to give her some relief, he would have to take their youngest child with him, which was their 11-year-old daughter. This is how…