Women from all walks of life, all over Ireland, were just as interested in Irish Independence as their male counterparts in the Irish Volunteers, The Citizen Army, and Sinn…

When it came to the grand plan of how the Irish, with their meager resources, could defeat the forces of the greatest empire on earth in the Irish War of Independence, Michael Collins was the great architect who drew up the “flying column” blue print. But no matter how great the architect, other men have to take that…

A controversial figure from a very early age in Irish politics and journalism, Arthur Griffith has been noted by some source’s in history, as a man who courted controversy.  While he was a great orator, and not a monarchist himself, he struggled to get people to embrace his concept of a dual – monarchy, to allow Ireland…

LUAIN -- On March 30, 1873, Richard Church (left), of County Cork, soldier, sometimes called the "liberator of Greece," died in Athens. Church was born in Cork in 1784. As a young man, he ran off to join the British army. As ensign in the 13th (Somersetshire) Light Infantry…

Fiction as Testimony: Writing the Stories Ireland Could Not Record…

It was two days before Christmas 1917, as James McCudden pulled gently back on the control stick of his British S.E. 5 biplane. He had spotted what appeared to be a German two-seat scout flying slightly higher, a little over 18,000 ft, to the west of him, over Peronne, about 90 miles north of Paris. As he got closer, he recognized it as a Rumpler.…

(Above: Celtic Park where Sheridan and other Irish American athletes trained.)

It is easy to think that we are in new territory with the pandemic, but a century ago, New York City was also gripped by a pandemic, the dreaded Spanish Influenza that killed 20 to 50 million people worldwide. Here in the U.S we lost by some…

Two miles east of Strokestown on Spy Wednesday at the dawn

These Gallant men assembled 'neath the crest of ol' Sliabh Bawn

T'was called the Scramogue Ambush where Captain Peek was shot

But Ashbrook was the venue, right well I know that spot

They conquered their oppressors and filled their hearts with…

By Pat Hickey

No textbook tells the story of James J. Shields, but his personal story and resume are among the most impressive of any American, in any era.

(Left: "Churubusco" by James Walker, 1819-1889. James Shields fought there during the Mexican War.)

Shields'…

If you ever drive down the south side of the beautiful and scenic Dingle Peninsula in Co. Kerry, as I did with my wife, brother and sister-in-law last June (and everyone should, at least one in their lives), you will pass through the small village of Lispole on N-86 a few miles before you get to Dingle town. As you make…

By Brian C. Pohanka

Now I like Garryowen,

When I hear it at home,

But it's not half so sweet …

Now rise up DJ Allman, arise and tell me true

Who fought at Headford Station that day along with you?

Who stood out on that platform board, who fired that signal gun?

Who fought to free old Ireland with you my darling son?

-- From “The Ballad of DJ Allman"…

They sought to wipe the column out,

From east to west, from north to south,

“Till at Crossbarry’s bloody rout

They woke from their day dreaming

Though ten to one they were that day

Our boys were victors in the fray,

And over the hills we marched…

The exhausted Irish boxer stood in the middle of the makeshift boxing ring in the smoke-filled La Scala opera house in Dublin. Sweat was trickling down his face, tinged scarlett with a bit of blood oozing from a cut above his left eye. His chest was heaving with a heavy breathing -- a mixture of fatigue and…

Those attending the Irish Cultural Society meeting in the Garden City Library on September 10, 2014 now know how baseball got its term “pinch hitter.”  When John McGraw was asked why he signed the over-the-hill player Mike (Turkey Mike) Donlon to the team, McGraw explained that Turkey Mike was good in a…

by Joseph E. Gannon

(Left: The final, tragic, moments of Patrick Cleburne, as painted by artist Don Troiani.)…

Tomás Séamus Ó Cléirigh (Thomas James Clarke) was born on the 11th day of March in 1858.  He was  one of the oldest members of the 1916 Rising.  Clarke was also known as Henry Wilson, an alias he used to counteract any publicity that his own name may attract in his role as…

In the early 14th century, the Clan O’Malley, a great seafaring family, rose to power in Mayo. They ruled the southern shore of Clew Bay and most of the barony of Murrisk for over 300 years. They were ruthless pirates and terrorised the ships to and…

Aidan MacCarthy crouched low in the air raid shelter he and the other prisoners of war had dug themselves. They had seen two American B-29 bombers flying toward the city of Nagasaki before they went into the shelter. A few POWs had stayed outside, though, wanting to see bombs fall on the Japanese for a bit of…

Publisher: Merrion…