"Every civilization in this world built on top of the one they conquered. You go to Rome or Jerusalem or Paris, France, and it's cities stacked on top of towns, stacked on top of villages, stacked on top of one man's house built on top of one man's…

Father Felix Varela became the advocate for the Irish immigrants in New York from the 1830s to 1850s. including the famine period.  There will be a celebration of his life at the Church of the…

New York looms large in the history of the Irish. For the Irish-American -- particularly the 19th century Irish-American -- New York City was, in almost every way possible, the gateway city of America. Vast, foreign, dangerous, the city consumed migrants and emigrants alike. Decade after decade the people…

On September 11, 2001, I was at work in my newly remodeled office at the State Department.  Following my normal routine, I was at my desk looking at the morning newspaper for any story that might require attention or action on my part for the noon press briefing that…

I desire silence. I want to be free from the noise that humans make. I fear I will never be free from this noise. I'm often in the woods and I still hear a car that is miles away or a plane flying overhead. And even my own sighing and thoughts can become too noisy. The sounds of…

This was originally posted at artofneed, Blog for the Auld Irishtown trilogy here.

The history of …

Things that have started running through my mind, such as why so many people have started to bash Gabriel Byrne so harshly. Bash him over what his thoughts are over the Catholic Church. Which indeed Mr. Byrne is right about in terms of the fact that, the Catholic Church is as a whole, a corrupted institution no?! The Catholic Church indeed remains a corrupt institution--I mean if one looks at things like "The Tudors," "The Borgias," "Pillars of the Earth," or indeed even the current…

WOODSIDE, N.Y. -- With these words, Col. Patrick Kelly's family and comrades-in-arms…

REVIEW: 'The Gangs of New York' by Herbert Asbury

By Patricia Jameson-Sammartano 

Special to The Wild Geese Today

To buy Herbert Asbury's book, click on the cover.…

This five-part series on the 69th New York Irish Brigade at the 1st Battle of Bull Run is drawn from the book "The Irish Brigade and Its Campaigns," by Tipperary native David P. Conyngham, published in 1866. Conyngham served during the Civil War, for a time with Meagher's Irish Brigade, and finally as a correspondent for the New York Herald. In Part 2 of 5 drawn from D.P. Conyngham's account of the 69th at Bull Run, the 69th New York marches out of Fort Corcoran and faces a…

This five-part series on the 69th New York Irish Brigade at the 1st Battle of Bull Run is drawn from the book "The Irish Brigade and Its Campaigns," by Tipperary native David P. Conyngham, published in 1866. Conyngham served during the Civil War, for a time with Meagher's Irish Brigade, and finally as a correspondent for the New York Herald. In Part 1 of 5 the 69th New York departs triumphantly for Washington and prepares for war.…