Who was "General O'Reilly," and how did a man with such an Irish name become the "Spanish Governor of Louisiana?"

While on a consulting assignment in August of 2000, I was bicycling through the streets of New Orleans and randomly came across a historic marker that read: "Fort St. Charles On Oct. 25, 1769, under Gen. O'Reilly, Spanish governor of…

Lance Corporal William Devine, 5th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers

The 5th Battalion, The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was raised at Omagh in August 1914, part of Kitchener's First New Army.…

My grandmother’s small flat was usually crowded on Sunday morning after mass. My father, uncles and aunt talked noisily as the room filled with cigarette smoke (almost everyone smoked in the 1950’s). Seated in the armchair between the…

Pictured at right is Paul Vincent Carroll, born in Dundalk, County Louth.  He was a friend of my parents, Michael and Lilian (Power) Quinlan, when they were all members and actors of The Dundalk Drama Society in the early 1930s.  Paul's best known play was "Shadow and…

When I first heard the phrase "boutique hostel," I figured it was a bit of marketing gimmickry at work. I mean, hostels were bottom-of-the-barrel, right? I suspected the word "boutique" was in line to replace "charming" and "lots of character" for describing accommodation that wasn't quite up to par.

Well, this summer I got a taste of modern hosteling,…

General John Alexander McClernand, born May 30, 1812, Kentucky, self- educated lawyer at age 20 and private in Blackhawk War with Abraham Lincoln as his Captain. Son of Dr. John, immigrant from Antrim, Ireland and Fatima Cummins (her ancestors were part of the Jamestown…

I have been researching the history of Irish martial arts - styles of wrestling, boxing and stick-fighting - for about 30 years now. To the best of my knowledge, Glen Doyle of Newfoundland, Canada is the only person on earth who still practices a living style (not one recreated through books or manuals) of Irish stick-fighting. He learned and inherited…

Did you know that Ireland is a fly through for millions of migrating birds en route to North Africa and other parts of the Middle East?

Spiral Journeys will…

Creevykeel Court Tomb is made up of a long, trapeze shaped cairn which encloses an oval court, and a burial chamber that is…

So who the **** was Guillermo (William or Liam) Brown?

Guillermo (William or Liam) Brown (1777 - 1857) was an Irishman acknowledged as the “father of the Argentine Navy.” That’s right, an Irishman founded the Argentine Navy. The Argentine Navy Destroyer,…

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.…

As we were heading north on R-702 in Kiltealy, County Wexford during our recent vacation to the southeast of Ireland, my eye caught sight of some sort of plaque on the wall along a driveway to the right. There was a beautiful horse farm that seemed to run along both sides…

We cannot believe that Christmas is a mere 5 months away and so for this post we asked our Founder, Lisa McGee to put together a list of her top 10 Irish Food & Drink…

The Great Shame: And the Triumph of the Irish In the English-Speaking World

By Thomas Keneally (of "Schindler’s List" fame)

Reviewed by John Edward (Ed) Murphy

Overall a good book and a very scholarly work. Great Shame covers significant historical events in 19th century Ireland,…

The Healy family is an interesting Irish-American and and African-American family.  I did the following book review a couple of years back:

Passing for White: Race, Religion, and the Healy Family, 1820-1920

by James M. O’Toole

Reviewed by John Edward “Ed” Murphy

I first learned of the Healy family in January 1959, when I paged…

If you’re concerned that modernity has caused the Emerald Isle will lose its rural charm, set your compass to County Tipperary for a taste of "the real Ireland."…

It was a very exciting weekend auditioning for "The Last Torch." Both tiring and exhilarating. Casting has been a very tough job, but we have our cast -- all except Brian O'Rourke, but he will appear!

BUAGH!…

This is part four in a series of articles on "Searching for Your Irish Ancestors" written by Ireland-based professional genealogist Nicola Morris of Timeline Genealogy. You can find…

Long Island City, N.Y. – How we try, and often fail to communicate, and how we ultimately and triumphantly can bridge that chasm came across as the focus of two extraordinary and allegorical films that screened Saturday night in Queens at New York Irish Center's…