There in New York, we see from this article how the Irish Regiments were remembered and the parades…

Up to 1971 Memorial Day was known as Decoration Day, and Decoration Day has been celebrated each year to remember the Fallen, officially from 1868 in Arlington Cemetery. In a speech that day on May 30, 1868, by future President James A.Garfield, a former General, addressing a crowd of 5000 he said - "Hither our children's children shall come to pay their…

Hello America,

Two days ago this radio documentary was launched by RTE in Ireland to great applause about P. S. Gilmore, 1829-1892, with the help of great historians like TheWildGeese.irish's own Gerry Regan; New York Irish History Roundtable's…

Click HERE to access the podcast from RTE 1 , Sunday 17th January . 

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/the-history-show/programmes/2016/0117/760893-the-history-show-sunday-17-january-2016/?clipid=2077794

Over the next two Sundays, RTE Radio 1 in Dublin will broadcast programmes on the legacy of the Irish in the American Civil War . Programme 2 will feature the importance of P. S. Gilmore as the unofficial 'bandmaster general' of the Union Army and the role that music played in the propaganda of the war.  The programs will…

I'm seeking some background on John Boyle O'Reilly and his life in Boston, particularly his involvement with the Irish community then (including the Catalpa Affair). I have uncovered some wonderful inks between…

Meeting with Mr Eamon Gilmore TD , Pat Gilmore Ballygar , and Historian Author and Broadcaster Turtle Bunbury about the progress on the P S Gilmore story . Mr Gilmore emphasized that he was most impressed with the story and its potential in America and promised his support for the project at all levels . Turtle Bunbury felt that the story would be a catalyst to visit the…

P S Gilmore never felt that America was properly served by her anthem and so composed his own Anthem called Columbia based on the short history of this new country . In January and February 1880 he went on tour playing the anthem and measuring its popularity . Unfortunately typical of Gilmore , he had been to honest to history and mentioning the "Redman" in the first verse was not popular in 19th…

For anyone in Ireland or visiting in February , please note the following seminar on Emigration in the Famine .

Seminar on Irish Emigration in the 19th Century

Edenderry Historical Society in county Offaly will host a seminar on Irish Emigration in the 19th century on 13 February 2015. Taking place in the Town Hall, the event will focus on ‘Where did they all go? Irish emigration in the nineteenth century and will feature Damian Sheils, Fidelma Byrne, Jarlath McNamara, Regina…

Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore grew up in a town called Ballygar, County Galway -- today a lovely place on the road from Roscommon to Galway. In the 1820s, the Landlord decided he would build a town because he had a large estate and much produce. This would produce more income and give…

Sometimes we hear doubts about whether there was food in Ireland during "The Great Hunger." Please look at the whiskey production published in the Athlone Sentinel on April 25th in the report brief report below:

"The quantity distilled in Ireland for the year ending Jan. 5th, 1849 was of malt: 34,897 gals; malt with unmalted grain: 7,957,000 gals;…

Tralee Thursday - Death from insufficiency of food and from dysentery are so numerous in this neighborhood that the funds in the hands of the relieving officers for providing for the living , in cases of sudden and urgent necessity are now absorbed into purchasing coffins for the dead. ......... "there were no cases of cholera today but the medical officer in charge states that the exhalations from the accumulated filth on the floors of the houses of the poor in the lanes of the town , and…

While P.S. Gilmore prepared for his departure from Athlone in September of 1849, the papers are filled with example of the depraved…

Dear Mr MacNamara,

Thank you for your email in response to recent newspaper articles around Hungry, a recently commissioned script from Dublin-based writer Hugh Travers. The script is in the development stage and is not currently planned to air.

As a broadcaster, we always ensure that any programme or series produced on our behalf, complies with guidelines set down by the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.

Finally, please be assured that your concerns around the proposed content…

As someone who is working on the story of one of the most famous of those Famine Refugees Patrick S Gilmore who escaped the famine in 1849 , and as someone who knows this man as well as most did in his life I can say without doubt that he would be disgusted that 150 years later we would be working on a comedy about the people he saw dying in Ballygar ,Athlone ,in Dublin , in Boston, on the ships ,being thrown overboard . From Roanoke Island Battlefield he wrote back to his editor " I eat as…

Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (or P.S. Gilmore), from Ballygar, County Galway, was an emigrant like a million others fleeing the famine in 1849. By 1872, Gilmore was Ireland's best-known face in America. Musician, Conductor and Bandmaster; he was a household name to Americans across the young country.  He led the most famous…

Hello and Happy Paddys day to all . I havent been online for a while and this issue has probably been discussed but Im reminded by an article from CANADA where they announce that they are to erect a monument (Left: An artist's rendering of the new monument) to the Canadians who participated in the US Civil War  see    …

Hello from Ireland to all . I havent posted anything till now and so I better introduce myself , as Jarlath MacNamara  origonally from a little town called Ballygar in Co Galway , where the Mr P S Gilmore { whose picture of 1869 is posted } {1829-1892 } origonated . For the last 6 years I have researched , collected , talked and presented his story to all that would listen here and in NYC {last year } But at some stage I stumbled across a group called the Wild Geese and Gerry Regan . Little…