Library of Congress Richard Busteed

DOMNAIGH --…

Today the iconic claddagh ring is, along with the harp and shamrock, one of the most widely recognized and most iconically “Irish” symbols in America. The commercial value of the claddagh ring design is enormous -- and probably impossible to…

By Joseph E. Gannon (originally published in 2006)

Millions of people across the world were horrified when they heard reports of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. One such group was far from home and surely more horrified than any other: the men and women of the Louisiana Army…

Born near Kill, County Kildare, in 1842, John Devoy would go on to become a man described by the London Times as ‘the most dangerous enemy of this country [Britain] Ireland has produced since Wolfe Tone’. His republican career began when, as a teenager, he met the Young Irelander John…

A war movie, particularly a war movie that is the true story of a real group of men and women, is hard to make and hard to watch. Anything short of the truth is disrespectful, but the truth is hard to define, hard to acknowledge, hard to understand.…

National Museum of Ireland The 'Cuba 5.' From the left: Devoy, Charles Underwood O'Connell, Henry Mulleda, Rossa, and John McClure.

DOMHNAIGH -- On Jan. 5, 1871, the British…

There were a number of Irishmen in Trenton, NJ prior to the Revolutionary War.  Among them were Paddy Colvin and Sam McConkey, who ran two Delaware River ferries; Paddy Lamb, who resided near Quaker Bridge…

(Left, left to right, Brendan Barry and new recruit and County Meath native Conall Finn with County Kildare native Emmet Gallagher, owner of McMahons Irish pub in Warrenton, Virginia.)

NEW YORK – Just prior to a recent reception for the soon-to-launch Dingle Distillery at the Irish Consulate General in…

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial on September 21, 1897. The response by Francis Pharcellus Church, a former Civil War correspondent, has since become history's most…

(First published in 1998) Joseph Gannon's review of Terry Golway's book

Revolution has usually been a young man's game. John Devoy was definitely an exception to this rule; -- a man who lived to a very old age, through times…

The following is a transcript taken from the LIVE Community Chat chat hosted here at TheWildGeese.com on Friday, December 6, 2013.  The focus for the discussion was bygone Christmas traditions in Ireland with writer / historian, Kevin O'Beirne of Buffalo, New York.  Some…

Smithsonian Institute James Hoban and George Washington inspect the unfinished White House in 1798. Washington would never live in it.

DEARDAOIN -- On…

Former South African President Nelson Mandela has drawn quite a bit of attention at The Wild Geese, and not only within the past 24 hours since this legendary leader's passing.

Here are some of the tributes members have posted:

*…

We have a dynamic collection of members' own special Irish Christmas recipes building…

Part 1 of 2: Early War In the Irish Brigade

By Kevin O'Beirne…

Hulton Deutsch Erskine Childers in his British army uniform, c. 1900

LUAIN -- On November 24, 1922, during the Irish Civil War,…

The following is a transcript taken from the LIVE Community Chat chat hosted here at TheWildGeese.com on Friday, November 22, 2013 -- the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination.  Some editing has been applied for clarity.

The Wild Geese:  Céad míle fáilte, a chairde! So glad to see…

The image to the left is the first page of a hand-written letter from Jacqueline Kennedy to Eamon De Valera in January of 1964.  In the letter, Mrs. Kennedy expresses how much her late husband's trip to Ireland the previous summer had impacted him, and how much his Irish heritage meant to him.  

You can download the full letter in PDF format by clicking…

Articles

What JFK Meant to the Irish ... Worldwide

Bruton: JFK's…

By John Bruton

In 1963, when President John Fitzgerald Kennedy visited Ireland, I was 15 years of age.

To understand the impact of President Kennedy, one has to understand that the Ireland of 1960 was a very different place, even to the…