My wife and I are becoming regulars at our local, The Four Provinces in Falls Church, Virginia, where they host a Monday night session, or seisiún, of Irish traditional music.  We love hearing live music of all kinds and have…

Dear Friend,

The Dublin Dock Workers Preservation Society are a docklands-based history group who believe in digging where we stand. We believe that the history of Dublin Docks and the surrounding communities of East Wall, North Wall, City Quay, Pearse Street and Ringsend are so rich that the stories should be collected and preserved. We also believe in…

Ultonia Regiment of the Spanish army, toy soldiers by "The Warrior Irish."

LUAIN -- On August 11, 1744, during the…

From "The Wicklow Mountains High" by Jim McGonigle.

One of the things I'm always on the alert for while driving along the roads of Ireland is any sort of roadside historical marker. The Irish have populated their cities…

Hi Gary & Ryan

I felt less than satisfied with my performance during last Friday's open chat. However, I believe I'll make up for it by sending the nine who joined the chat copies of my latest historical novel, "Irish in American Revolution"plus a copy of my book, "The Irish-American Chronicle," which introduces the entire Irish-American Story series.." Would you like the books sent to you for distribution or I'll need the mailing addresses of the nine to forward to Firstchoice, the…

By Robert Doyle

He is one of the most iconic figures of the American Civil War and, as the commander of the Union Army’s Irish Brigade, Thomas Francis Meagher (right, from from Arthur Griffith's "Meagher of the Sword," Dublin, 1916) is probably the most famous of…

War in the Shadows: The Irish-American Fenians Who Bombed Victorian…

There are many Irish 'spots' in New York City that intrigue me, but perhaps none more so than St. Patrick's Old Cathedral. The edifice, today a parish church, is at turns historic, memorable, symbolic, poignant,…

Linen Hall Library A 17th century portrait of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.

MÁIRT -- On December 24, 1601,…

”They could take our land, starve our poor, destroy our homes and plunder our institutions; they could deny us education, but they could not destroy our music and song” No truer words were ever spoken. These are by Derek Warfield himself.

Derek Warfield is a singer, songwriter, mandolin player and a founding member of…

Our thoughts go out to the Navy families and personnel who have lost loved ones at the Washington Navy Yard today. The Irish have long had a rich heritage with the Navy. The situation is still unfolding, but if you are close to or interested in the Navy, below are some articles we have researched and curated over the years, while you await more details. …

Aodh Mór Ó Néill died on this date, 20th July, in 1616.

In his biography, 'The Great O'Neill', Seán Ó Faoláin portrays the exile O'Neill's last days in Rome as a period of despair and disillusionment.

This really was not how it was supposed to end. In 1598, after the Battle of the Yellow Ford, there was little…

Here's a great review for Michael Hogan's…

The story of…

The Battle of Stones River (February 14, 1863 Harper's Weekly)

By Brian D. Henry

The…

My father's uncle, Sgt. Lawrence Condon, died of shrapnel wounds in France two months before the Armistice ending World War I, "The War to End All Wars." His division, the U.S. Army's 27th, was known as "O'Ryan's Roughnecks." He was third generation American. One of his grandfathers was an Irwin, reputedly from Ballyjamesduff,…

The Curragh, County Kildare - It’s who you are. Your blood, your genes and, some would say, your personality, can be influenced by your ancestors, the family members that came before you. It should be essential knowledge for anyone to have and yet there is hesitancy by many to undertake what seems an onerous…

Thomas Ashe

DOMHNAIGH -- On April 28, 1916, as the rebels in Dublin were being squeezed harder and harder by the British and nearing the end of…

The Moylan’s, a merchant family from County Cork, were well off. They had Stephen educated by Jesuits in Paris, since Catholics were forbidden by the Penal Laws from obtaining an education in Ireland. He apprenticed in the family shipping business in Lisbon before immigrating to Philadelphia.…