On February 7, 1854, America lost one of her greatest adopted sons; his name was Thomas ‘Broken Hand’ Fitzpatrick. Born in 1799 in Killeshandra, County Cavan, into a Catholic family of eight, he had some education which he later showed as a skilled writer. However, at 17 he left home to seek his fortune in…

On August 19, 1876, 140 years ago , the whaling ship Catalpa  was given a tumultuous welcome as it sailed into New York harbor. She had no whales…

Although the first census of the United Kingdom was held in 1801, it was not until the 1841 census that respondents were asked to state their country of birth, thereby enabling us to see the size of the Irish population in Britain. We cannot, therefore, accurately judge how many Irish refugees had flooded into England, Scotland…

I leave for New York this week in preparation of the film screenings that take place from New York to Detroit through Philly, Baltimore, Hamilton in Canada and Rochester. We have produced two feature films based on true stories from the Famine era. The first, "The Minnitts of Anabeg," will screen in the Aisling Center in Yonkers on Wednesday, July 15. "The Cormack Brothers" screens on July 22.

We are screening to an Irish-American audience at this stage, taking the films and their…

This very interesting post from Claire Fullerton inspired me to write this one.

In the last 5 years or so my Dad has done a ton of work on genealogy. He has done both his side and my Mom's side. It's been…