Notre Dame Archives.Father Peter Cooney

Father Peter Paul Cooney C.S.C. a priest of the Holy…

By James Doherty

BALTIMORE, COUNTY CORK, Ireland  — On the hillside above the town of Baltimore, faint sounds drifted toward William Harris, sleeping soundly in his bed. It was 2 a.m. when Harris awoke to the noises. The date was June 20th, 1631.…

The sun was getting low in the western sky on a sweltering hot Thursday, June 16, 1921, near Rathcoole, County Cork. The Irish Volunteers of what had been the 2^nd Cork Brigade, but was now the 4^th Cork Brigade, listened and watched intently to their east. “Paddy” O’Brien, who…

By Joseph E. Gannon

As hundreds of 'embedded' war correspondents traveled across Iraq in 2003, WGT remembered a 19th century Irish-American correspondent whose reports on a Turkish massacre shocked the entire world, compelling world leaders to place humanitarian concerns above geopolitical ones. Ohio native…

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;…

By Robert Cassidy

Special to The Wild Geese

It has been said that one of the traits the Irish brought to these shores was that of survival. Heavyweight champion James J. Braddock demonstrated that in life, as well as the boxing ring.…

William Thomas (Liam) Cosgrave was not one of the iconic figures of the early 1900s, nor indeed was he a man who had any real status of leadership in the 1916 Rising, although he was a chief adviser to Eamonn Ceannt during the 1916 Rising at South Dublin Union. It was an apt role because the vicinity was his home turf…

It was late afternoon of a warm day in June in Carrowkennedy, County Mayo. Irish Volunteer Jimmy O’Flaherty (right) heard the…

Unlike most other Irish and Irish-Americans who fought in the American Civil War, Philip Kearny was born into a prominent and affluent family in New York City on June 1, 1815. The Kearny name, quite appropriately, came from the Gaelic "O Catharnaigh," derived from the word "cearnach," meaning "warlike" or “victorious.”…

I got a chance to spend a magical 48 minutes this evening with a WG member who died a few weeks ago. It wasn't a supernatural experience, but it was sublime!

Himself was no less a man than …

Ernie O' Malley was born in Castlebar on the 26th of May 1897. His family moved to Dublin in 1906. He was educated at O'Connell's Schools and attended UCD, where he studied medicine.

He was a member of The Irish Volunteers and he joined the rebels on the Thursday of the Easter Rising in 1916 and was…

As Heavyweight Champion Gene Tunney and his challenger, former champion Jack Dempsey, heard the bell ring for the 7^th round of their 10-round championship fight on September 22, 1927, their plans for the remainder of the bout could not have been less similar. Both men knew Tunney had…

John L. Sullivan, heavyweight champion of the world, strode into the bar in the small town of Belfast in western New York state as if he owned it. He had done…

Hanna Sheehy-Skefffington, (above, center) born 24 May 1877, was one of Ireland’s most ardent promoters of women’s rights. She was an influential figure during the suffragette movement, tirelessly campaigning for the equal status of men and…

In the early evening hours of February 28, 1879, steam blasted up into the air as a train slowly pulled into the station, whistle blowing, in Washington, D.C., to be greeted by several thousand cheering people. Waiting on the platform to…

Constance Gore-Booth Markiewicz’s amazing life came into my purview on my second trip to Ireland in 1989.  My husband and I were browsing in a Dublin bookstore eager to buy as many books on Irish history as we could fit in our suitcases for our return to…

In the early part of the Irish War of Independence there had not been any major ambushes of Crown forces in County Mayo, unlike several other counties, notably County Cork. However, in May 1921, the Irish Volunteers began to escalate their attacks there. First, on May…

By Gerald A. Regan

Still, the Republic is peaceful, except . . . at moments when someone (either British secret service or Protestant Loyalist) has decided that the South should be reminded that the terrorist shouldn't have any sympathizers anywhere. Bloody Friday, May 17,…

Katharine O'Shea Click on image for a larger view.

By Joseph Gannon

“None…

Irish Blood and Gilt – Irish Heirlooms in Transatlantic Migration by Madi Preda

Stolen Irish Jewels, Emigration, and the Fragility of Inherited Memory

Historical Context Behind a Work of…