Joe Gannon's Blog (123)

Pals to the End: Every Dog Has His Day

Six weeks later, Stubby, the canine hero of the 102nd, was healed. The little scamp of a dog who had fought to survive on the streets of New Haven was was not easy to kill. He was sent back to the ranks, though the hospital staff and patients, who had been enjoying Stubby’s perky and therapeutic presence there, probably…

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Added by Joe Gannon on September 25, 2015 at 8:00am — No Comments

Pals to the End: A War Dog and His Irish-American Doughboy

" It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.” 

                                                                          - Mark Twain

On April 25th of 1919 in…

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Added by Joe Gannon on September 22, 2015 at 10:30pm — 13 Comments

Ongoing Effort To Identify War Memorials Throughout Ireland

I found this website a while back and was able to note the location of several interesting monuments and find them while I was in Ireland in June. This is by no means all the war memorials in Ireland, far from it, but it's an attempt to catalog them.

The site…

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Added by Joe Gannon on September 10, 2015 at 11:00am — 1 Comment

Friends Until the End: Ambush at The Burgery, Part 2

(Pictured: The field in the hills north of Dungarvan where Sgt. Michael Hickey's body was found)

(Read  Part 1 - 'Nigh Comeragh's Rugged Hills')…

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Added by Joe Gannon on September 1, 2015 at 10:00am — 4 Comments

'Nigh Comeragh's Rugged Hills': Ambush at The Burgery

When silence overcomes me

My dreams they seem to fill

Of my dear native happy home

Nigh Comeragh's rugged hills

 -- From a poem by Pat Keating

My wife, Lindy, and I have just completed…

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Added by Joe Gannon on August 27, 2015 at 9:00am — 18 Comments

'Jimmy’s Hall' Gralton in Long Line of Irish Working-Class Heroes

As I watched Ken Loach's newest film, “Jimmy’s Hall,” I was struck by how, as had also been true in “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,” Paul Laverty’s writing and Loach’s directing of that writing is free of pretension.

Loach (pictured, foreground) doesn’t need fantastic sound tracks or the latest and greatest special…

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Added by Joe Gannon on August 20, 2015 at 4:30pm — No Comments

In the Footsteps of Bridget: A Titanic Connection

In 2013 our annual trek to Ireland brought us to a pleasant small cottage in the little village of Lahardane, County Mayo. The choice had been more about it being a centrally located base…

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Added by Joe Gannon on July 24, 2015 at 12:00pm — 3 Comments

Chillin' in Tipp's Nearly 900-Year-Old Kilcooley Abbey

One day during our just completed two-week vacation to Ireland my wife, Lindy, and I had another of those thoroughly enjoyable “only in Ireland” experiences that make traveling there such a joy. We stayed in a 200-year-old cottage in the little town of Ardfinnan…

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Added by Joe Gannon on July 8, 2015 at 9:00pm — 3 Comments

The 'Wild West': Sailing to Slieve League, County Donegal

In 2011 my wife, Lindy, and I spent two weeks in Donegal, staying in a cottage near Killybegs. One of our most enjoyable days during that two weeks included a boat trip to see the cliffs at…

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Added by Joe Gannon on May 18, 2015 at 4:00pm — No Comments

1798: The Year of Liberty

What have you got in your hand?

A green bough.

Where did it first grow?

In America.

Where did it bud?

In France.

Where are you going to plant…

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Added by Joe Gannon on May 13, 2015 at 10:00pm — 2 Comments

Irish Rebels and the Baltimore Riots

Avenge the patriotic gore

That flecked the streets of Baltimore,

And be the battle queen of yore,

Maryland! My…

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Added by Joe Gannon on May 3, 2015 at 10:00pm — No Comments

This Week in Irish History - April 12 - April 18

SATHAIRN -- On April 12, 1816, Charles Gavan Duffy (right) was born in County Monaghan. Self-educated as a journalist, …

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Added by Joe Gannon on April 14, 2015 at 9:00am — 1 Comment

Fighting the Vampire: Irish Commandos in the Boer War

(Above: The Irish Brigade who fought alongside the Boers against the British army in the Anglo-Boer War. Col. John Blake is sitting in the front row 2nd to the left of the concertina player.

In far-off Africa to-day the English fly dismayed…

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Added by Joe Gannon on December 31, 2014 at 8:00pm — 7 Comments

Wexford's Diehard Revolutionary Father

As we were heading north on R-702 in Kiltealy, County Wexford during our recent vacation to the southeast of Ireland, my eye caught sight of some sort of plaque on the wall along a driveway to the right. There was a beautiful horse farm that seemed to run along both sides…

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Added by Joe Gannon on July 28, 2014 at 11:30pm — 2 Comments

'And To Watch the Sunbeams Dancing O’er the Wicklow Mountains High'

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…

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Added by Joe Gannon on July 17, 2014 at 9:00am — 6 Comments

Follow Me Down Past Carlow (to Shillelagh)

We arrived at Dublin Airport to some fairly typical Irish summer weather, i.e. cloudy with off-and-on showers and temperatures of about 18 (about 65 back in the…

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Added by Joe Gannon on July 7, 2014 at 3:00pm — 3 Comments

On Memorial Day, This Vet Asks 'What Is A Hero?'

Reading the blog post by Neil Cosgrove about LCpl Patrick Gallagher , "Courage Worthy of the Foremost Recognition," and this being the day in the US where we honor those who died defending our nation, gave me pause to consider something that…

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Added by Joe Gannon on May 26, 2014 at 11:30pm — 5 Comments

'One Great Irish Spot': Mizen Head Signal Station - History & Natural Beauty

In far southwestern Ireland, in fact the farthest southwestern point of Ireland, is the Mizen Head Signal Station and Visitor's Centre at the end of the Mizen Peninsula. Do not miss this if you are ever in western County Cork. The ride out to it and back would be worth the ride…

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Added by Joe Gannon on March 12, 2014 at 8:30pm — 1 Comment

Century Ireland: 1913 - 1923 from RTÉ & Boston College

Excellent history site website here from RTÉ & Boston College. From their "about" page:

The Century Ireland project is an online historical newspaper that tells the story of the events of Irish life a century ago.

(left: John Redmond, the leader of the Irish Parliamentary…

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Added by Joe Gannon on May 11, 2013 at 11:00pm — 1 Comment

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