Chicago River Dyed Green for St. Patrick's Day

[Cross-Post from Chief O'Neill Blog]

What would Chief…

The story of Chief O'Neill owes a great debt to his great-granddaughter Mary Lesch. It was Mary who followed through on family stories and hunted down her famous ancestor's unpublished manuscript. Then, with the aid of Chicago historian…

Down the hill from Francis O'Neill's homeplace of Tralibane, County Cork, is an 18th century stone bridge. If you closely read O'Neill's work, Tralibane bridge turns out to be personally very important to him, as a place and a tune. He wrote about the spot a number of times, particularly the "Pattern Dances" the community held there. No doubt this experience at a…

In a sense (of history), I have a personal recollection of General Phil Sheridan and his arrival at the battlefield at Cedar Creek  on October 19, 1864 when he rallied a beaten Union Army and launched…

Orphan trains were a social experiment which transported the unwanted child and street kids from New York City, Boston, Chicago, and other crowded Northeastern cities to the Midwest U.S. for adoption. The genealogy of many of these 200,000 orphaned and abandoned kids who were moved…

On Wednesday, April 30, 2014 the City of Chicago City Council and Mayor Rahm Emanuel presented Colleen Marie Nolan, the 2014 Chicago Rose with a Resolution to congratulate her on being selected to participate in the Rose of Tralee selection in Ireland and for representing our fine city!

Colleen Nolan was selected as the Chicago Rose on April 5, 2014 at the Irish American…

High bridge of the South Side Railroad across the Appomattox. Capture of this bridge allowed Union troops to catch up to Lee at Farmville

LUAIN --…

My maternal Grandmother was a Corcoran from Knockaderry in County Kerry.  Knockaderry is just around the corner from the Kerry Airport in Farranfore.  One of thirteen kids, Grandma could not wait to get off the island.  Thankfully, she waited until a few days after the 1911 census!  She emigrated to the United States, settling in Chicago where other family members had already…

Dinning Finishing Documentary

Writer and producer, David Dinning (right) is preparing for his next trip to Northern Ireland later this month.  David is finishing up a documentary he has been working on for the past four…