Hell's Kitchen

January 1864 – At the Nexus of Black and Irish History

2012-02-25T10:44:00.000-05:00

By James Francis Smith

As February’s Black History Month fades into memory and March Madness for the Irish begins its ascendancy, there’s a brief moment where the black takes on a tinge of green.

(A cartoon claiming similar physical features for blacks, on the right, and Irishmen, on the left, both different from the Englishman in the middle. From a drawing by: H. Strickland Constable in, "Ireland from One or Two Neglected Points of View," 1899.)

Few realize that these two ethnic groups, African-Americans and Irish-Americans, who together make up one-quarter of the U.S. population, have aL historical connection that dates back to the Civil War.

Dennis O’Kane and his 69th Pennsylvania

Volunteers at Gettysburg, PA by Don Troiani.

At this point in our tale, we could venture off in great detail about the heroics of the Irish Brigade under the fervent prayers of Notre Dame’s Father William Corby at Fredericksburg (and Gettysburg). Or bring up Patrick O’Rorke and the 140th New York Infantry regiment saving the Union left on Gettysburg’s Little Round Top. Then there’s Dennis O’Kane and his 69th Pennsylvania Volunteers (of the renowned Philadelphia Brigade) preventing Lewis Armistead’s brigade from taking Bloody Angle on Cemetery Ridge.

Important to note that, for the 150,000 Irish who wore the Federal blue, the cause, by and large, was not freedom of the slave, but rather preservation of the nation. I’d like to highlight here heroism of a different kind, off the battlefield, exhibited by an Irishman who also distinguished himself with his intrepidness on many Civil War battlefields. This was Confederate Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne, born in Ovens, County Cork.

In January 1864, Cleburne, along with 13 other officers, petitioned the Confederate Congress to offer emancipation to any slave who would volunteer to serve in the Confederate military. It would emancipate the slave’s wife and children, as well.

The final, tragic, moments of Patrick Cleburne at
the Battle of Franklin, as painted by artist Don Troiani.

This request was considered a sacrilege by the Confederate leadership. And Cleburne sacrificed his here-to-fore unlimited prospects for advancement into the highest echelon of the army as a result.

Cleburne’s proposal would eliminate the one moral issue used to justify slavery. Southern whites would have to accept the black man as their equal … one culturally advanced enough to serve in the army. Cleburne recognized that the Southern soldier was “sinking into a fatal apathy, growing weary of hardships and slaughters,” and proposed a dramatic solution.

Cleburne, an attorney in Helena, Arkansas, never owned a slave, but volunteered to preserve the right of a state to determine the laws for its people. A brilliant commander, christened “Stonewall of the West,” Cleburne gave his life at Franklin, Kentucky, on November 30, 1864, his farseeing, controversial proposal unacknowledged publicly for decades.

Editor’s Note: These stories can all be found for the bargain sum of 99 cents (US) in James Francis Smith’s Kindle novel “Western Civilization.”

Building 'The Little Museum' That Could: Q&A With Founder Trevor White

2012-02-23T20:43:00.000-05:00

Dublin native TrevorWhite is a former publisher and food critic, and today a museumdirector. He grew up in on Raglan Road, in the capital’s Ballsbridgeneighborhood, toiling in the family business, operating famed White’s on theGreen restaurant in a Georgian townhouse on St. Stephen’s Green. Was thisintimate knowledge of the restaurant trade where he gained his spirit ofentrepreneurship? Read his book “The Dubliner Diaries” to find out more about thisdecidedly irreverent food critic. Meanwhile, TheWildGeese.com Community Manager Belinda Evangelista pinged a fewquestions to White via e-mail about his remarkable achievement in openingDublin’s new The Little Museum, within six months of the idea taking shape.

TheWildGeese.com: Ispreservation of the past a passion for you?

Trevor White: It's particularly importantthat a capital city such as Dublin has a museum of its own. A museum is notjust a tourist attraction, it's a repository of local knowledge and customs,and in remembering the past like that, a city museum serves an importantfunction. That all sounds very high-minded, I should probably stress thatpreserving the past can be a lot of fun, too. Many of our visitors love thefact that there are mischievous artifacts in the collection, alongside some ofthe more historic stuff, including the lectern that JFK used to address bothhouses of the Irish parliament in 1963.

TheWildGeese.com: What was the catalyst for the concept of The Little Museum of Dublin?

White: Iused to publish a magazine called The Dubliner and was always conscious thatDublin had no museum of its own. The Little Museum is an attempt to remedythat.

TheWildGeese.com: Howdid you go from concept to museum opening in six months?

White: Ihave a great many flaws, and only one asset: tenacity. To be fair, I am alsosurrounded by very smart people, chief among them the museum's curator, SimonO'Connor. He did most of the hard work.

TheWildGeese.com: Didyou receive any governmental assistance in getting it off the ground?

White:Yes, the project could not have happened without the assistance of three stateentities: Failte Ireland, Dublin City Council and the Dublin RegionalAuthority.

TheWildGeese.com: Whatadvice would you give to future curators of a business model like yours?

White:"Are you insane?"

TheWildGeese.com: Is there anything you'd like to add?

White:We've been particularly pleased by the response of Irish-Americans, who havereally taken to the museum in a way that is both surprising and delightful.Please keep coming.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This week we featured a video featuring the Little Museum of Dublin and presented by Trevor White. Check it out on our Irish History Youtube channel. There is a €5 admission charge for general admission. Children under 10,and those unemployed gain free admittance. An admission fee of €3 applies tostudents and senior citizens. See their website HERE. … WG

Writing Epic Tales of the Irish: Q&A with James Francis Smith

2012-02-10T20:09:00.000-05:00

James Francis Smith

Seattle-basedauthor James FrancisSmith, 78, found his current calling after he retired from acareer in industry and finance. He has been writing historical fictionfor the past 10 years, starting with “Western Civilization,” a collection ofshort stories. He has gone on to write “Druids, Celts and Romans,” “The Last ofthe Fenians: Ireland 1910-1923,” “The Life and Times of Liam O’Donnell,”“Robert Kennedy Befriends Rory O’Donnell,” and “Unholy Conspiracies.” Smithgrew up in Philadelphia's Incarnation Parish, and married a local gal,Elizabeth McGinty, in the city. He and his wife have two adult children, JosephConnell Smith and Mary Eileen Barr.

TheWildGeese.com: Jim,you've clearly got a lot of Irish interests. Tell us a bit about the genesis ofthem.

James Francis Smith: I took an interest in reading; lately the Internet is my major source. Ilook for stuff that others overlook. For example, JFK on PT-59 [thefuture Irish-American president’s second command during World War II].

TheWildGeese.com: Areyou yourself of Irish ancestry?

Smith:My grandparents were from Cavan, Mayo, Sligo and Galway; my wife's parents arefrom Donegal and Skibbereen [County Cork].

TheWildGeese.com: Howdid this ancestry come to shape your writing focuses, or not?

Smith: My writing took form when I retired from Weyerhaeuser Co. and went intofinancial planning. I wrote a book "The Path to a SuccessfulRetirement." Writing became more interesting than selling stocks, so Imeandered over to Irish history.

TheWildGeese.com: Haveyou done any significant research into your family's Irish antecedents, theirIrish experience, if you will?

Smith: Some-- I have an article from The Anglo-Celt, a Cavan paper, which states mygrandfather Matthew Smith lived within 200 yards of where [U.S. Army commander]Phil Sheridan was born. I can't get records from that time period, but myuncles claim their grandmother was a Sheridan. … I've been to Ireland 5 times.

TheWildGeese.com: What'sthe date of the Anglo-Celt article, Jim?

Smith: 1928. It began with a girl fromCavan, who entered the Franciscans, then went on to my Aunt Kitty, who receivedher veil the same day, then they brought up my grandfather returning to the oldhomestead.

TheWildGeese.com: Sothe focus of the article is about your Cavan family, then?

Smith:The Smiths of Cavan, upper Killenkere, Virginia. The focus of the article wasabout the nuns; my grandfather being in Ireland at the time was an add-on.

TheWildGeese.com: Sortof a news story about local women entering the convent?

Smith:Yes, the Smiths were blacksmiths for the O’Neill’s in County Down, migrated duringthe plantation. The ones in Cavan anglicized their name to Smith; the ones whowent down [Ireland's] west coast took Gowan or McGowan.

TheWildGeese.com: Whatare the other three Irish surnames among your grandparents then? Perhaps someof our readers might be relatives.

Smith: Meehanfrom Sligo, Munnelly from Mayo and Keane from Galway.

TheWildGeese.com: SoJim, tell us about your muse. How do you go about a new project, for example,your current manuscript, "Irish Slaughtered Irish"? Where did theidea come from?

Smith: Ibegin by choosing my characters, I write in 3rd party limited [a writingconvention that dictates that characters present that which they experience].Among the characters are Phil Sheridan, Patrick Ronayne Cleburne, O'Kane and anumber of Scots-Irish, like Jeb Stuart. This enables me to cover all the[American Civil War’s] battles. I also included three characters fromSkibbereen and a pair of Smiths from Cavan, fictional characters, of course.This enables me to put a human face onto history.

TheWildGeese.com: Sohaving populated the story, how do you go about creating the plot line?

Smith: Ibegin with a book from [U.S. Military Academy] West Point to outline thebattle, then [draw] from some 50 other books and the Internet to flesh it out.The fictional part comes from my imagination.

TheWildGeese.com: Allyour books, to date, have Irish major characters. Have you determined why thatis? Is this a conscious choice?

Smith:Since my retirement, I intended to highlight the Irish contributions. Mybook "Druids, Celts, & Romans" gave me the opportunity to tellabout the contributions of the ancient Celts. They brought iron and steelto Europe.

TheWildGeese.com: Whathave your Irish characters taught you about the Irish experience? What do theysay to you, as they take life on your pages?

Smith: Itry to be realistic. My books on the O’Donnell’s include all their good pointsand some of their bad traits … WG

Singer Promotes WW1 Music of Irish 'Tommies'

2012-02-02T20:51:00.000-05:00

Dubliner Brendan MacQuaile’s book and one-man show, bothtitled “March Away My Brothers,” may be reflective of a new objectivity theIrish are now able to evince about the experience of their ancestors and fellowcountrymen who served in the British military during World War I, when at homethousands of Irishmen and women were laying the groundwork for the militarystruggle against those same forces to subvert Ireland’s link to Britain.

MacQuaile, a baritone, has drawn upon his singing chops andinterest in the Irish experience during the war for his show, which dramatizesthe service of Lawrence Kelly during “The War to End All War,” when Kellyserved in the British army. TheWildGeese.com’s Gerry Regan ‘chatted’ with theSutton resident last week, via Skype, about the phenomenon of “March Away MyBrothers.”

TheWildGeese.com: Howdid you come to focus on the music of the Irish soldiers who fought for Britainin the Great War?

Brendan MacQuaile: I'm a classically trained singer,baritone myself, and I have always had the interest in songs and music, but Iadded to this with a group of friends who travelled to some of thebattlefields.

TheWildGeese.com: Did that travel occur because of a previousinterest in World War I history, and particularly its Irish context?

MacQuaile: The travel came on account of an interest in thepeople who served, rather than the history itself. I have a number of friendswho had a grandfather or other relation who was killed. We started tracinginformation about these guys and then travelled to find graveyards and graves.

TheWildGeese.com: Didyou have an ancestor who served during "The Great War"?

Brendan MacQuaile

MacQuaile: I had an Uncle Charlie! Well, we called him an uncle… He was a removed relation on my father’s side, but it was my friend’sgrandfather John Moyney, V.C. [a recipient of Britain’s Victoria Cross] who gotmy interest started. I have written a one-man show, called “March Away MyBrothers, the same name as my book, and the show tells the story of anotherfriend’s grandfather, Lawrence Kelly, just an ordinary guy who worked forGuinness [Brewery] in St. James Gate, Dublin. He was blown to bits atPasschendaele on the same day and almost in the same exact spot as FrancisLedwidge, the [Meath-born] poet.

TheWildGeese.com: Tell us a bit about the service of 'Uncle Charlie'? His full name,regiment, age when enlisted.

MacQuaile: I don't have very much about him, He was PrivateCharlie MacQuaile, and he fought with the Dublin Fusiliers in Gallipolli,Turkey. I met him only once when he was dying in a Dublin hospital. I was onlya small child at the time. There is very little family history I can find.Unfortunately, if you didn't actually die in the war, there is not muchofficial information available.

TheWildGeese.com: Isthis dearth of information reflective, perhaps, of Irish attitudes toward thoseIrish who fought for the Crown during The Great War, that the service was farfrom exalted, but rather often seen as unfortunate at best, shameful at worst?

MacQuaile: During my education in the 60s and early 70s, welearned little or nothing of this period of Irish history. We knew the color ofPadraig Pearse’s eyes, but little else seemed to permeate through. Ireland hadone of the first railroads in Europe, but we didn't hear about that.Unfortunately, the 'local' situation of Easter 1916 seemed to blot out anyother history.

TheWildGeese.com: Canon Charles O’Neill penned the lyrics of "The Foggy Dew" in1919, after watching an early session of Dail Eireann. He famously wrote,"‘Twas far better to die ‘neath an Irish sky, Than at Suvla or Sud elBar." Is that attitude indicative of that carried forward by the familiesof the 200,000 men who served Britain in the war, in your view? Indeed, by theirish nation, too?

MacQuaile: Yes, ofcourse, we had a 'local' problem to deal with, and this was bound to focus ourattention in the years after the war. It's just a pity that it also served toeclipse a very interesting time in European history and made us, at least ineducational terms, a bit parochial. I believe we are only now moving toward amaturity that will allow us to discuss these matters more openly. World War Ihas now truly moved into history, as there are no survivors left. Having saidthat, I have been amazed and, indeed, shocked to hear the anger expressed bysome of the people I spoke to while researching the book. Anger at 'why' theirancestors should have gone to war when they 'had no need to go.’ I believe,however, that Ledwidge got it right when he said he did not want other fellowsfighting for freedoms that he would enjoy later on.

TheWildGeese.com: Weask because we are wondering if you could have written this book, and performedthis show prior to, say, the Good Friday Agreement. Has there been a watershedin Irish attitudes that now creates the market for these stories, or has theshift in attitudes been incremental? How long have you been working compilinginformation for the book and show?

MacQuaile: It's difficult to know exactly. Opinions havenever been entirely one way or the other. I'm not sure the [1998] Good FridayAgreement would have made any seismic change in attitudes to theatre orliterature here in the South, and I'm not sure how my book and show will dotoday in the North. But the modern reality, in both the north and south ofIreland, is a growing appetite for this past, and the Queen’s visit to Dublinhas helped to focus that a little on the First World War. But we are all nowinterested in the centenaries … Titanic, [the iconic song] “It's a Long Way toTipperary,” World War I and, indeed, [The Easter Rising of] 1916.

TheWildGeese.com: When did you decide to write a book on these songs, and create a show?Which decision came first?

MacQuaile: I startedover a year ago after listening to Cormac McConnell’s wonderful song “Christmas 1915” and thinking that it wasfactually incorrect, as the truce he spoke about in the song really happened in1914. He tells me he used 1915 because it sounded 'softer' in the context ofthe song. I started with the book. I wanted to tell some stories from theordinary men who served in an extraordinary situation. The book is not a volumeof The Great War but anecdotes about some of the guys who served. I wanted totell readers a little about the places I have visited -- Gallipolli, The Somme,Ypres … and I wanted to tell them also about how much the music of the timeinfluenced the guys in the trenches. Music can be so personal and private thesedays, with mp3s and iPods … . Back then, songs had to be sung out to be heard,and they were very public . The show came just after the book, and it is anattempt to put this historical information into a format easily accessible tothe 'man in the street.' It's something along the lines of what [actor] AidanDooley has done for Tom Crean in [his one-man show] “Antarctic Explorer.”

TheWildGeese.com: Didthe Irish in the trenches of France and the Dardanelles sing the same songs astheir English confreres, or did they manage to find some uniquely Irish twiststo the music on offer?

MacQuaile: Mostlythey sang 'Popular' music. This amounted to songs that were both English and,indeed, American. They parodied the words for these songs, “It's a Long Way toTipperary” became “That’s the Wrong Way to Tickle Mary,” and “If You Were theOnly Girl in the World” became “If You Were the Only [German] Bosch in theTrench.” In some instances, there were actual Irish melodies, such as the veryfamous “Mountains of Mourne, “which became “Old Gallipolli's A WonderfulPlace.” I have recorded some of these trench songs, and they are available asdownloads from www.londubh.ie, [the website of the publisher of] my book.

TheWildGeese.com: Sothey took popular songs, and reworded them? The English and Scots and Welsh,all the troops did this, or did the Irish do more of it?

MacQuaile: Yes, pretty much, the Scots had some of their ownsongs, also. The famous singer Harry Lauder, who was too old to serve himself,beseeched the British army to allow him to travel and entertain the troops atthe front line. After losing his own son, John, a captain, in France, he wrote“Keep Right On to the End of the Road.”

But the music and songs seemed to split into two groups. Onebeing the existing songs well known and sung by the troops in the trenches, andthe other being the more evocative songs or even the recruiting songs sung tothe relatives who remained at home.

This was especially noticeable in the U.S., which had a fewyears of war going on before they entered, so the songs reflected the attitudesof the time, some for [the war], some against.

TheWildGeese.com: What's your favorite moment in your show, in your portrayal of LarryKelly, the most iconic moment, perhaps, typifying the Irish experience in TheGreat War?

MacQuaile: Undoubtedly, the Christmas truce, in the linenear Messines there were many Irish present and when they emerged from thetrenches into ‘No Man’s Land’ to 'chat' with the Germans and bury their dead.Of course, I have likened it to being put out of class into the corridor atschool when you were a kid. Standing there and seeing a familiar place, but ina very strange situation. You notice things that maybe pass you by on a regularbasis, but, of course, there is always the feeling of foreboding in the back ofyour mind!

TheWildGeese.com: What did you portray Larry doing in this scene?

MacQuaile: Having a fag [cigarette]! Talking toa German about the German’s girlfriend in London and his 3-1/2 horsepower motorbike,which he had to leave behind. ... Irreplaceable!

'Time and Tide': Q&A With Poet, Writer and Sociologist Jean Tubridy

2012-01-26T23:54:00.000-05:00

Jean Tubridy

Waterford-based poet, writer and sociologist Jean Tubridy writes about her Irish experience, often in lyrical, charming terms, in her blog, Social Bridge. In the following excerpt, she describes a recent night in her home town of Tramore: “At about ten o’clock on New Year’s Eve, my son and I make our way out to Newtown Cove to cast what we call our wishing stones. Usually we’re lucky and the moon is bright, allowing us to choose the stones which we feel are just right for us – it’s all about size, colour, texture and finding a stone that feels as if it symbolises those elements of life that are fundamentally important to us. Then in turn, we each cast our stone as far as we can out towards Brownstown and make a secret wish for the year ahead.”

Tubridy recently experienced the loss of both her elderly parents, and has written extensively on the experience on Social Bridge. Desirous of exploring that dolorous but inescapable part of the Irish experience with her, we recently found her at her home, and questioned her about it.

TheWildGeese.com:Your writing about your life in Tramore evokes an idyll for me. How do you feelabout your life there? Is it where you grew up?

Jean Tubridy: Iwas born here and moved back in 1986. I had been in Dublin for 20 or so yearsbefore that and Tramore has proved to be a very peaceful place to live and hasall the amenities one could want nearby, or almost all!

TheWildGeese.com: Youdescribe in most romantic terms a ritual you enacted with your son, skippingrocks along the sea. Does Tramore, and its proximity to the sea, seem as much apart of the fabric of your life as does your family and neighbors?

Tubridy: The seais hugely important to me and was always a central part of life growing up. Inchildhood and teenage years I lived in a lot of different places as my father[Frank Tubridy] was in the [Bank of Ireland], but we always made a point ofgoing to the sea as often as we possibly could. The saying 'Time and tide waitfor no man' seems to be instilled in me since infancy.

TheWildGeese.com:Do you live in the home you grew up in?

Jean Tubridy's father

Tubridy: No,because my father was in the bank we didn't have a 'real' home, as such, untilthe 1980s. Now I live around the corner from where my parents retired to.

TheWildGeese.com:‘Time and tide wait for no man' -- that seems a contemplation of humanmortality itself. Does living by the sea quicken an awareness of the passing oftime, of the end of days that we all face.

Tubridy: Yes, Isuppose it is but when growing up it was used in the sense of make the mostevery moment.

TheWildGeese.com: You'vewritten extensively on your blog, "Social Bridge," about losing yourparents, and how that experience both shaped you and pained you. Do you have asense from talking to your parents, from living with them, from being with themin their final years, how Ireland shaped their lives?

Tubridy: I wasfortunate to have a very close relationship with both parents and they lived togreat ages. Mother [nee Patricia McKeever] was 89 when she died and Father was91. They talked a lot about their lives and I think it would be quite difficultto find two people from more different backgrounds. Father was from Kilrush inCounty Clare; a Catholic who went to the [Christian Brothers school] and did his schooling through Irish. Mother, onthe other hand, was from County Meath and was from a Church of Irelandfamily. Her schooling up to the age of14 was with governesses. They came from very different Irelands

TheWildGeese.com: Sohow did a Catholic from Clare meet a Protestant woman from Meath taught bygovernesses? I gather they didn't meet at Mass.

Jean Tubridy's mother

Tubridy: Theyboth found themselves leaving school just as WW2 broke out and career optionswere quite limited. They got jobs in the bank - Father in the Bank of Irelandand Mother in the Provincial Bank and their paths crossed in Kilkenny in theearly 1940s.

TheWildGeese.com:Was there opposition to the match by your respective grandparents, each fromdistinctly different cultural, and perhaps even political, milieus?

Tubridy: Father'smother had died when he was in his early teenage years and his father diedbefore the relationship between Mother and Father had developed very far. So,it was more his siblings who were involved and they embraced Mother fully.Mother's father died a few years before Mother and Father married, and Motherwas a bit concerned about how her marrying a Catholic would be received. As ittranspired, Father got on well with Mother's family, especially her brotherwith who he developed a very close relationship through shared interest innature and sport.

TheWildGeese.com: Jean,what then might you say your parents taught you, either by word or by example,about the experience of being Irish in the 20th century?

Tubridy: Father talked a lot about the very highlevels of emigration from Co. Clare and described 'American Wakes' with greatvividness. He also talked of how TB was absolutely rampant during his childhoodyears. Father considered that he had a privileged background as his father wasa vet.

Mother's experience was more related to living on a bigfarm, about 30 miles from Dublin [Duleek] and she was keenly aware that beingeducated by governesses up to the age of 14 had kept her secluded from the'outside' world. However, she had a huge love of reading and literature as wellas nature and inspired that in me.

Mother died in May 2009 and Father died in September 2010.Father was from Kilrush and Mother from near Duleek in Co. Meath. She spent herchildhood in Annesbrook House which has a long history associated with it.

TheWildGeese.com:Final question, then: Do you believe there is a peculiarly Irish way ofgrieving the loss of one's parents, a way perhaps shaped by a mix of Celticspirituality, religiousity, even perhaps fatalism? What's your experience beenin the Irish context of your life.

Tubridy: That's a difficult question to answer. Iwould say that everyone grieves in their own unique way. However, there areaspects of religion surrounding death that one becomes aware of when parentsare of different religions. For example, there is still a strong emphasis amongCatholics to have what is called a Month's Mind -- a Mass four weeks aftersomeone dies. That doesn't happen in the Church of Ireland. Also, anniversariestend to be more ritualized in the Catholic Church than the Church of Ireland.There are also Catholic rituals around blessing of graves, etc. In the case ofmy parents, both were cremated, which is somewhat unusual but becoming more thenorm here. They chose that because there were issues -- up until very recently --about people of mixed religions being buried in the same grave.

TheWildGeese.com:Neither parent changed their religious affiliation, then? They remained true tothe faiths of their parents?

Tubridy: Neitherchanged in terms of 'converting,' which meant that us children were reared asCatholics. However, neither were really into 'organised' religion. WG

An Excess of Abominations – Ireland’s Three ‘Bloody Sundays'

2012-01-11T20:54:00.001-05:00

by Neil Cosgrove

'Black and Tans' on the streets of Dublin, 1920

A recent post on TheWildGeese.com’s Facebook page discussedIrish revolutionary Michael Collins’ role in the event of Bloody Sunday,November 21, 1920. On that day, under Collin’s direction, “The Squad”assassinated key members of the British Intelligence apparatus. These deathswere followed by blind reprisals by the Black and Tans, Auxiliaries and RoyalIrish Constabulary, all then parts of the British-established police force inIreland. The writer referred to this asthe “First Bloody Sunday” to distinguish it from the “Bloody Sunday” of 1972where members of the British army’s Parachute Regiment fired on protestors inthe streets of Derry. Actually theauthor is not correct, for it is hard to believe that a country’s history couldbe so tragic as to have not only two “Bloody Sundays” in one century, but, infact, three.

Statue of Jim Larkin on
O'Connell St in Dublin
(Photo by James Doherty)

Ireland’s first “Bloody Sunday” occurred in Dublin on August 31, 1913. The background of the incident was this: Labor organizer James Larkin called for a strike by Dublin’s tram workers, who were members of his Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU). An organized-labor innovator, Larkin had devised the concept of the “sympathetic strike,” where workers not directly involved in the primary labor dispute and strike would still go out in “sympathy,” thus bringing additional pressure to bear on employers. Larkin was a keen strategist, also, in this case timing his strike to occur during the Royal Dublin Society’s Dublin Horse Show, so as to maximize the strike’s impact.

However, Dublin’s employers were quick to act, developing a little ‘sympathy’ of their own, 400 of them combining to lock out any employee who was a member of the ITGWU. From there, the situation quickly deteriorated: Employers started importing replacement labor from Britain, and striking workers engaged in intimidation of these ‘scabs’ and anyone who opposed the strike.

The government, as could be expected, supported the employers and quickly arrested Larkin on charges of sedition and conspiracy. Out on bail, Larkin was advertised as the featured speaker at a rally at Sackville (now O’Connell) Street for August 31st. Authorities, working from Dublin Castle, immediately issued an order banning the meeting and Larkin’s speech. Larkin, addressing a crowd of supports at his union headquarters at Liberty Hall, promised to speak at the appointed place and time. He then proceeded to publicly burn the banning order, setting the stage for the next day’s violence.

The 1st Bloody Sunday, August 31, 1913.

On August 31st, Sackville Street was packed with strikers and the simply curious who wanted to see if Larkin would indeed defy the order. Suddenly, on a balcony of the Imperial Hotel overlooking the street, a bearded man appeared. It was Larkin in disguise, and when he ripped the beard off and began to speak, the crowd went wild.

No doubt incensed that Larkin had made a fool of them, the Dublin Metropolitan Police quickly arrested him and charged the assembled crowd with batons. Two men were killed and hundreds were injured and taken to hospital. The violence of that day became known as “Bloody Sunday,” the first of three Irish tragedies to share that name in the 20th century.

The Dublin employers were to eventually break the strike. Larkin would soon depart for America. However, the violence of Bloody Sunday inspired one of Larkin’s colleagues to arm and organize security to protect strikers from similar violence. That man was James Connolly, and his Irish Citizen Army would march with Pearse and his volunteers to free Ireland in 1916. But that is another story. …

Neil Cosgrove, a resident of New City, N.Y., is the historian for John Cardinal D’Alton Ancient Order of Hibernians, Division 3, and has a strong interest in the Irish War of Independence.

A New York Childhood 'More Irish Than American'

2012-01-09T19:37:00.000-05:00

Kevin Gleeson, atalented guitarist and former portrayer of Keith Richards in Stones’ tributebands Sticky Fingers and Beggars Banquet, is a graphic artist with the New YorkPolice Department and a native of the borough of Queens, in New YorkCity. Gleeson’s heritage is steeped in both Irish music and the turbulenthistory of Northern Ireland. Though he was raised in New York City,Gleeson describes his upbringing as more Irish than American.   As achild, he was more accustomed to watching hurling games than watching theYankees or Mets. “I don’t think it was until I was about 10 or 12 that Iknew what baseball was,” Gleeson said.

TheWildGeese.com’sDaniel Marrinspoke with Gleeson, who resides in Queens’ Astoria neighborhood, about hisfamily’s history and the “double-edged sword” of a heritage rich in bothculture and political conflict.

Kevin Gleeson:My father's family was from Hollyford, in County Tipperary. They didn'thave electricity at home so they'd play lots of Irish music, “The Patriot Game” and “Black Velvet Band” and all the “rebel” songs.

Dad came to America with the All-Ireland hurling team in 1954, as a goalie forTipperary. As soon as he got off the boat, though, he joined the Army sohe could become a citizen. They taught him how to cook and work in themess hall, and then they shipped him off to Germany for a few years.

(Right: Kevin's motherand father)
He met my mother at a dance in 1958 up in the Bronx. They got married inthe summer of 1959, and I was born that August. I was born in ForestHills, raised in Riverside, and then we broke out into the Promised Land: alittle two-family house south of Sunnyside, Queens.

My upbringing was more Irish than American, I think. Fridays andSaturdays, we’d have family and friends over for musical parties. Wewould get the Irish Echo newspaper, and listen to Irish music on the AM radio. My father wrote and spoke [Irish] Gaelic and he taught me how to say my name,how to count from 1 to 10, “God be with you” and things like that.

We had a picture of JFK and the Pope in every room and a cup of holy water tobless yourself.   My grandma Bridget would call us every day to quizme on what saint’s day it was. And, of course, we were altar boys, me andmy brother Martin.

I grew up going to watch hurling at Gaelic Park in the Bronx, and I think itwasn’t until I was 10 or 12 that I knew what baseball was.
TheWildGeese.com: You mentioned the Irish “rebel” songs your father’s familyplayed. How was your family involved with the Irish political conflict?

Gleeson: Well, my father's family were 3rd Tipperary Brigade IRA men with Dan Breen (left). Breen was, at onetime, one of the most wanted men in Ireland, and the 3rd Brigade was said tohave killed the most British soldiers of any IRA [unit].

My mother's side of the family was from Northern Ireland: My grandmother BridieMonahan grew up at a pub called The Cross in Fermanagh, owned by hermother.   Back then, it was against the law to show the Irish flag orteach the Irish language [in occupied Ireland], but my grandmother’s brotherswould teach [Irish] Gaelic when the British weren't around. Two of herbrothers were put in the bottom of a ship in Belfast Bay by the British andheld there for a year or two years without any charges against them, just forteaching Gaelic.

TheWildGeese.com:Did you spend anytime in Ireland yourself growing up?

Gleeson:When I was four months old, at the start of 1960, we went back to Ireland tolive. My Dad was having a hard time finding work here, and they decidedto go back to Ireland. ... But they couldn’t get work there either,and then my mother got pregnant with my brother Gerry. And she said theyhad to go back [to the United States]. (Right:Kevin with his mother and father in Donegal, 1960)

We all went back to Northern Ireland for summer vacations in the 70s. Meand my brother would go hang out with the neighborhood boys and throw rocks atthe British armored personnel carriers. It was interesting to come backfrom summer, and have my teachers ask me what I'd done over the summer.

I saw my father have a gun to the back of his head a couple of times. Attimes, they'd ask my Dad to open the car at the border crossings androadblocks, at random. He'd go to open the trunk and they'd pull guns onhim because a lot of trunks had been booby-trapped. All that time, he wasan American citizen.

But those werethe times-- the60s and early 70s in Northern Ireland.

TheWildGeese.com:What do you think you learned from seeing that growing up?

Gleeson:I think I saw a parallel with the prejudice against the African-Americans inthis country. I saw that, if you were Catholic. you worked for 5 pounds an hourand if you were Protestant you got 10 pounds an hour. It was veryunfair. It encouraged people to stay on the dole [payments in Britain andIreland to sustain those unable to work or to find work].

I also think I learned a lot of compassion for people who struggle and howpeople who have less could survive, with love and care for each other. Iguess I was raised by people who really had to "stretch the teabag over acouple of cups." I think it was to my betterment that they reallylearned how to survive.

[In my family] we really knew the joy and the pain of being Irish. Itreally is a double-edged sword.

Irish Fight for Union Resounds

2012-01-09T19:28:00.000-05:00

Patrick Young isa blogger for Long Island Wins, a communications andorganizing campaign focused on immigrants’ needs and immigration reform in LongIsland, in New York State. In his blogs, he has written extensively onthe experiences of immigrants in America, including an extensive series on Irish immigrants in the Civil War. Among the Irish who enlisted as soldiers, many joined units of Zouaves, regiments with colorful uniformsmodeled after the French infantry. (Above: a Zouave of the 69th New York at the1st Battle of Bull Run, by Don Troiani.) Mr. Young’s research onthe Irish Zouaves sheds light on the soldiers’ motives for fighting even in themidst of anti-immigrant sentiments at home, and he relates their struggles tothose of today’s immigrants.

TheWildGeese.com’s DanielMarrin spoke with Mr. Young about this aspect of the Irishexperience during America's Civil War.

TheWildGeese.com: WhenI think about the Irish during the Civil War, especially those of New York, themost prominent memory is of the Draft Riots, the local uprising againstLincoln. Yet you wrote that the Irish ethnic firemen seemed to flock to join the [Union army] Zouaves. Why do you think they joined in such droves? Was there just such abuildup of support for Lincoln and the Union that they thought nothing ofjoining?

Patrick Young: Mostof New York’s Irish never came to support Lincoln, at least when he was alive.The Zouaves, and thousands of other immigrants, rushed to the colors becausethey saw the only true democratic republic in the world threatened withannihilation if it was broken up by civil war. This would not only cut offAmerica as a refuge for the persecuted Irish; it would also take away theUnited States as an example for Ireland’s republican rebels. For them, if theConfederates won, then the British won!

WG: WereIrish soldiers promised some kinds of pensions or post-war benefits during thewar?

Young: No,they weren’t even promised regular pay. Bounties would become an importantrecruitment tool later in the war, but in 1861 recruits were not expectinganything more than a chance to preserve the United States and show theirqualities as American citizens.

WG:You’ve written about The New York Times’ scathing attacks on the Irish Zouaves’ character afterBull Run. Did the Irish have allies in the press who gave [theZouaves’] side of the story? How did their side of the story tend to getaround?

(Below right: The Fire Zouaves at 1st Bull Run, by Don Troiani.)

Young: The FireZouaves themselves tried to answer The New York Times, but their answer,which dwells on what today seem like purely technical details, did not seem tohelp them much. In fact, The New York Times just used the letter from thefiremen to stir up more hatred. The Republican editor of The New YorkTribune, Horace Greeley, did try to defend them. Greeley clearly saw theelitism and prejudice in the Times’ treatment of the Zouaves, and he arguedthat “the firemen who risk life in defense of our life … were among the veryfirst to offer their services to the Government.” He added that while The NewYork Times called the Zouaves men without character, they, in fact, “gave upgood employment to go to the war.” Unfortunately, the virulence of theTimes overwhelmed Greeley’s reasonable defense.

WG: Whywere the Irish overwhelmingly Democratic voters in that time?

Young: Theexplosive growth of anti-immigrant nativism and the Know Nothings concentrated the Irish intothe pro-immigrant Democratic Party. The Democrats were also the party ofanti-elitist members of the urban working class. They opposed early efforts atprohibition and other forms of neo-Puritanism and they opened governmentemployment to immigrants. The Irish saw the new Republican Party as theKnow Nothings in disguise.

WG: Didthe Civil War have the effect of easing Irish assimilation and erasing the[Irish as dumb and ugly as] gorilla stereotype? What, if not the war,contributed toward that change in popular opinion?

(Below left: The 69th New York celebrating Mass in the field.)

Young: It eased “assimilation”because it changed how that concept was defined. In the 1850s, becomingAmerican meant converting to Protestantism and giving up an Irish identity. Bythe end of the war, it meant believing in democracy and serving one’s country.The Irish identity was no longer considered incompatible with Americanism. In asense, the Irish Union soldier, by insisting on being ministered by Catholic chaplainsand celebrating Irish culture openly in the Army, helped create the frameworkfor our modern respect for many cultural forms among the American people.

WG: Youremarked in our earlier conversation that many immigrants today who don’t knowabout the Civil War could relate to the experiences of the Irish immigrantsoldiers, both in and after the war. How so? What do today’simmigrants share with the experiences of the Irish soldiers of thattime?

Young: Theysee the experiences of these young Irishmen and their families replicated intheir own lives. They take the toughest jobs, yet don’t feel appreciated. Theystruggle with how to retain elements of their old country in a country wheretheir aspirations now reside, just as the Irish of 150 years ago struggled withthe question of whether they could find a way to be good Americans and goodIrishmen and Irishwomen. I’ve seen several discussions (in Spanish) aboutthe feelings of commonality some of my Latino readers feel with these long-deadIrish.

To read more of Mr.Young, or other writers for Long Island Wins, visit http://longislandwins.com.

Growing Up Irish In French Canada!

2011-12-30T17:31:00.000-05:00

At 70 years old, Billy Willbond is a man of many roles: a poet, decorated peacekeeping veteran, and social activist, providing humanitarian aid to the developing world through his NGO, ICross Canada.

Willbond’s heritage is just as rich and multifaceted as his career. Billy’s father came alone from Ireland to Quebec at the age of 13, in 1930. There he was taken in by the family of Billy’s mother, Quebecois farmers who were descendants of “coffin-ship” Irish.

Billy grew up with the sounds of French, English and Irish, a dialect he calls “patois Hinglish.” He’s used this intriguing mix of sounds to create rich poetry and rhyme.

Willbond spoke with TheWildGeese.com’s Daniel Marrin about his family’s story, and how it has influenced him on his journey.

TheWildGeese.com: I was reading in your bio that your father came to Canada at the age of 13.

Billy Willbond: Yes, he was in an orphanage at the time in Lismore, County Waterford. My grandmother had put him there in a convent with the nuns after my grandfather died. Then she went off to become an actress on the London stage.

Dad never liked the nuns. He said they were awful mean to him. If he wet the bed, they used to give him the strap and all that. He couldn’t get out of there soon enough.

[When he came to the States] my father worked for different farmers, and he went to a shanty [in Quebec] in the winter, where he met my grandfather and my mother. My grandfather, James McCaffrey, was third-generation ‘coffin ship’ Irish. The McCaffreys were from Martindale, Quebec. My mother was from a family of 16.

Grandpa was quite a man. He had all sisters, and his father had died young. So he had to support them all from the time he was around 10 or something; he took a team of horses to the shanty and [worked] all winter. And when he became a teenager, he went south [to the States] [where] you had a good gang of Irish workers cutting railroad ties.

My favorite story of his -- he used to tell me that the greatest man who ever lived was John L. Sullivan, (right, Wikipedia Commons) the boxer, because he was an Irishman and nobody could beat him -- one day he went to go see one of Sullivan’s fights, and on his trip back, he was on a train, down in the States somewhere.

Jesse James (left, Wikipedia Commons) decided to rob the train. And because Grandpa, being a construction worker, was wearing an old pair of coveralls and a hat and a workshirt, and a pair of workboots, they never bothered him. They were robbin’ all the dudes who had gold watches and feathery hats and stuff like that, took all their wallets. Grandpa didn’t have a wallet, but he did have his whole year’s pay tied to his handkerchief in his pocket at that time. They didn’t bother him though because he looked like a laborer. … That was his story to me about how looks can be deceiving.

My grandfather was an old man when I was a small kid. I’m 70 now. So that was some 70 years ago. I remember he used to bounce me on his knee and sing songs that are sort of out of whack today: “Oh Ireland was Ireland when England was a pup/ And Ireland will be Ireland when England’s all blew up”… Things like that. He had an interesting life. He even worked as an Indian agent [in Canada].

WG: So you grew up with a mix of Quebecois French, English and Irish. [Check out a fun example of the mix of languages in Billy’s poetry here.]

Willbond: Gaelic, yes. Those words all were part of the language I heard when I was a kid. … When I was a little kid, I used to speak it with [Grandpa’s friends] Johnny Dunlop and Paddy Dane and my grandpa, all Irish bushwhackers and log drivers. They drove logs down the Gatineau River and down to Pontiac. Then when I went to Ottawa as a little kid, when I came down from the Gatineau mountains, I went to English schools.

WG: Do you think your family’s experience would have been very different if they’d lived in America rather than in Canada?

Willbond: Oh, I think so. We had the influence of the French. And, of course, the French are all Catholic, as the Irish are Catholic. So we never had that problem [of anti-Catholic discrimination]. We all went to the same church.

Much of my father’s family is still there in Lismore in County Waterford, the Irish Free State. We went to visit my aunt, who’s 98 now. We visited her once and she asked us -- me and my brother Joey were sitting there -- and my aunt who’s 98 years old or something asked, “When are you lads coming home?”

I said, “It was my dad that left, not us! We’re Canadians!”

DAN MARRIN is a Queen's, N.Y. -based journalist and videographer

Building a trail to recall the Irish role in America’s bloodiest war

2011-12-14T22:24:00.000-05:00

This year marks the150^th anniversary of the start of America’s Civil War, and inIreland, a group of historians and writers are using the occasion to promotethe concept of a Civil War heritage trail. Archaeologist Damian Shielsand writers JamesDoherty and RobertDoyle (right) [All threeare contributing editors at TheWildGeese.com] are hard at work creating atrail that will stretch across Ireland, highlighting locations with aconnection to the Civil War, to be unveiled in conjunction with a nationalmemorial for the tens of thousands of Irish who died in the war. TheWildGeese.com’s DanielMarrin spoke with Waterford resident Doherty, one of theAmerican Civil War Trail’s co-creators,about this remarkable undertaking.

TheWildGeese.com: Howdid the idea for the American Civil War trail in Ireland get started?

James Doherty: The idea came from thecommemoration to Thomas Francis Meagher (left) I organized in March. He was an Irish revolutionarywho created the Irish [tricolor] flag and flew it first in Waterford in 1848.For those deeds, he was tried for sedition and banished by the British toTasmania. He escaped and made his way to America, where he was crucial inpersuading the Irish to fight for the Union. He led the Irish Brigade[during the Civil War], of which the Fighting 69th was a part.

I met some like-minded people through that [commemoration], andwe all agreed something should be done to honor [Thomas Francis Meagher and theIrish brigade]. I felt that it had to have a practical purpose given theeconomic state of the country. The idea of the trail is to encourageheritage-based tourism into Ireland, opening up a new market. It also helpsremember the scale of the Irish involvement in the conflict.

WG: Sowhere will the American Civil War Trail in Ireland take us?

Doherty: Wehave identified over 40 sites so far, including the house that Thomas FrancisMeagher was born in, and Tate's factory in Limerick. that made over a million Confederate uniforms. There is also a memorial to [famed UnionArmy cavalryman and Carlow native] Myles Keogh (right).We have the flag of [Meagher’s] Irish Brigade hanging in the Irish Parliamentthat was presented by JFK in 1963.So there is a nice range of sites across the country, and we are hoping withthe help of the Irish Tourist Board [Bord Failte] to have a fully operationaltrail in the near future.

WG: Sothis is a multi-day tour, rather than something that could be completed in oneday?

Doherty: Oh,definitely a multi-day tour.

WG: You’vesaid on other sites that the trail is partially an effort to boost the economyand morale there in your home of Waterford, correct?

Doherty: Yes,my own efforts (such as the Meagher event) are based in Waterford, but the touris aimed at increasing tourism in a modest way across the country.

WG: Goingback to an earlier point, you said the Tate factory in Limerick made over amillion Confederate uniforms. Commonly, I think about the Irish who weredrafted to fight for the Union out of cities in the Northeast: Was there also alarge contingent fighting for the Confederates, and was there a large supportfor the Confederacy in Ireland?

Doherty: Themajority of Irish fought for the Union, but there was quite a few who foughtfor the South, and there was a fair amount of support for the South. MajorGeneral Patrick Cleburne, whose birthplace [inOvens, County Cork] (left) still stands, fought for the South and was thehighest-ranking Irishman in the Confederacy. Both sides had recruiting parties and spies active in Ireland.

WG: Interesting.When would you hope to have the trail operational?

Doherty: Bylate 2012 or early 2013. Some of the sites need conservation, and the projectneeds a marketing push.

WG: Whatpart of the work is each of you responsible for?

Doherty: It varies. We each helped build the list of [historical] sites. It’s mainlyRobert [Doyle] and myself that are dealing with government. Currently, we aretrying to raise awareness, and once we have some arrangements in place we willassign tasks more specifically.

For more information on the efforts to create the American CivilWar Trail, you can visit http://irishamericancivilwar.com/.

Do You Have the Right Stuff To Help TheWildGeese.com 2.0 Take Flight?

2011-12-05T19:11:00.001-05:00

TheWildGeese.com is looking to hire individuals on a part-time basisto facilitate our launch of TheWildGeese.com 2.0. The new platform and designare part of a strategy designed to far better support and advance our missionof Chronicling and Preserving the History and Heritage of the Irish …Worldwide. For more information, please contact Gerry Regan, via ger@TheWildGeese.com, and pass this wordalong to any individuals who may want to become a part of our team.

We are seeking:

Strategy Coordinator: To help us brainstorm, finalize and implement abusiness / revenue strategy for 2012 relaunch of TheWildGeese.com.

Virtual Assistant: Seeking someone with business experience, MicrosoftOffice skills, and the ability to write effective business English, followdirection, act without direct supervision, interface with clients and teammatesand undertake market research.

Editorial Coordinator: Seeking someone to manage our high-qualityeditorial products by commissioning, editing and trafficking content fromwriters and producers. Must be highly organized, a skilled writer and editor,and have familiarity with multimedia production.

Community Manager (Concierge): Seeking an outgoing individual to manageour soon-to-be launched online community. Must have solid knowledge of social media, a burningdesire to help members achieve their needs and wants, basic business skills,interests in Irish culture, writing ability, and demonstrated experience andinterest in pitching services and products, as well as organizing immersive,high-profile learning experiences and networking with experts, agents, andperformers.

Per-Project Researcher: Seeking a dogged, New York-basedresearcher with genealogical, legal and archival experience to allow us toflesh out the details for various documentary projects involving criminalproceedings. Scriptwriting interest, talent and experience a plus.

In addition, we are looking to engage accomplished individuals and / orteams for help with the following vital production work for TheWildGeese.com2.0. (Note: If we hire an individual or team for the following two jobs, wewill pay the individual who referred us a $50 finders fee.)

Site Developer: Looking to engage a Drupal-based development team tospearhead creation of TheWildGeese.com 2.0.

Site Designer: Seeking a designer to create the graphic elements forTheWildGeese.com 2.0, along with collateral marketing elements, including a newlogo, for print and online. Ability to work to specs provided by our preferredsite development team is a must.

Q&A on "Vanishing Ireland" with Author Turtle Bunbury

2011-12-02T12:07:00.001-05:00

Turtle Bunbury is an Irish journalist and historian, whosephoto-book series “Vanishing Ireland” chronicles the lives of Ireland’s eldest living residents andinstitutions, through interviews and photography. Mr. Bunbury partnered with photographer JamesFennell in 2001 for the first volume in the series, and this year they’vecompleted the third volume in the series, Vanishing Ireland: Recollections of Our Changing Times.

The “Vanishing Ireland” series is handled in the UnitedStates by London-based publisher Hodder & Stoughton: The third volume willbe released in the United States in February. Mr. Bunbury also runs a familyhistory service, in which he researches and writes family histories under contract.

The WildGeese.com’sDaniel Marrin spoke with Bunbury about his work on theVanishing Ireland series.

TheWildGeese.com:So what drew you and James Fennell to begin this tour of the Irish homelandback in 2001?

Turtle Bunbury: Igrew up on a farm, which had employed over 100 men, when my father was a boy.In my childhood, a lot of these men still lived in the area, although most hadlong since retired. I became acquainted with some of them, peak-capped oldtimers who'd stand against white-washed pebble dashed walls of downtown Rathvilly [in County Carlow] watchingthe world go by. One of these guys was BobMurphy, the first man we photographed.

I was in Hong Kongfrom 1996 to 1998, three years. By the time I returned to Ireland, the countrywas booming at breakneck speed, and it struck me that the old-timers were beingleft behind. I had a whacky idea to drive around Ireland on a tractor, stoppingoff in pub after pub, talking to them all, writing down their stories. Thatdidn't pan out but what did happen was JamesFennell, an old buddy of mine, came to meet Bob Murphy one day. He photographed Bob and “Vanishing Ireland” wasborn.

WG: Were youimmediately envisioning a book series? How did that come to form as the idea?

Turtle Bunbury

Bunbury: Weweren't sure where it would go. We simply started by interviewing and photographingsome of the old fellows who lived around our respective homes. Initially wethought we might focus on bachelor farmers but then we started interviewingwomen and married men, too.

Eventually, we had seven characters’ [interviews] publishedin Cara magazine, owned by Aer Lingus, and the accompanyingarticle said we were looking for a publisher. Hodder Headline Ireland, now Hachette [Ireland], took up the challenge and published our first volume thefollowing fall.

WG: Theinstitutions you mentioned, like the rural pub, the post office, family runshops, farmers. Why are theseinstitutions in particular in jeopardy? Is it the influence of globalization?

Bunbury: Yes, it’sglobalization to an extent. We are all much more dependent on technology thaneach other these days. The post office gave way to hand-held gadgets that youcan use to send e-mail and texts, or as a telephone, without having to goanywhere or queue up for a day.

Family-run shops became redundant because they don't haveenough stuff on their shelves to satiate our voracious appetite for more. Thepub pretty much buckled under pressure from drunk-driving rules, but there wereother forces, not least the fact it’s so easy to zip out to a garage and pick upa bottle of wine these days, which you can drink in your own home, safe fromother people. We've become a much more private race.

WG: Do you thinkthere's a sense of anger or frustration among rural people in Ireland about thedisappearance of these local institutions, or do they mostly see it as signs ofprogress?

Bunbury: There isanger in places for sure, but I think it’s chiefly dismay and surprise. But I think John Joe Conway [a 76-year-oldcattle farmer and horse breeder interviewed in “Vanishing Ireland,” Volume 3] summedit up best when talking about the closure of the creamery, the shop and theschool in his area of County Clare. “This area has been turned upside down. Butthere was nothing we could do. Like a lot of the country areas, it came so gradualat first that no one took any notice.” Few of the elder generation canunderstand the Internet, but those who do tend to empathize with the idea thattimes are changing and not all of it is bad.

WG: You’ve donesome televised interviews with characters from your book for networks like RTE,like the one with Ms. BabyRudden. How do you generally explainyour project when you go visit someone like Baby Rudden? What is it that you say you're doing, so asto avoid sounding condescending, for example? [Note: Bridget Rudden, known by everyone as Baby, is an 88-year-old farmerfrom Drumcor, Redhills, County Cavan,interviewed in “Vanishing Ireland,” Volume 2. She never married.]

Bunbury: I amutterly honest. I say I am gathering stories from the area, local history,trying to gain a better understanding of how things were so that we canpreserve the past for future generations. I was probably a good deal more coy inthe early years of the project as I was aware I was going into houses to askpeople about a childhood which, in many instances, was framed against abackdrop of rebellion, war and civil war.

WG: Does thatstill come up from time to time? Dopeople become guarded about talking about the era of the 1910s and ‘20s?

Bunbury: At thisstage, they're clever enough to simply say nothing! Ask no questions, you'llhear no lies. But seriously, yes, some people are still guarded. Andunderstandably so because civil wars are dreadful things and it takes a longtime to heal. I've met old men in Tennessee who still haven't got over the facttheir grandfathers were on the losing side of the U.S. Civil War. There is alsothe fact that many of the people I met genuinely do not know what their fathersand uncles did during the years of rebellion. ... And then, of course, thereare some who are proud of it all.

WG: Do you worrythat some of these older people like Baby Rudden may be in danger of dyingalone at home, or abandoned?

Bunbury: Babyshould be fine because she's about the most popular biddy in Cavan. In fact,just being in “Vanishing Ireland” does seem to elevate people's standing in thelocality so more people will look out for them, which does make me wonder aboutthe thousands of people who are destined to die alone. But I think Ireland isstill reasonably good at keeping track of who's missing and such like. Mass used to be near vital for that: You'dsay “Hey, why wasn't Mick at Mass on Wednesday. ... Somebody better get upthere and see how he is.”

WG: What have youlearned from doing this book?

Bunbury: As ahistorian I have benefited enormously. The Easter Rising, World War I, the Spanish Flu, the Black & Tans, the [Irish]Civil War, the Blueshirts -- all these have been vividly brought to life for me bypeople who lived through them. I think it is incredible that the grandparentsof many of those I've met were children during The Famine. Ginger Powell's grandfather, whom he knew, was a teenager when theBlight struck and yet Ginger is still practicing as a vet down in Tipperary.And Statia Kealy, who died aged 108in September -- she was Ireland's oldest woman for 5 days -- was the daughterof a woman who was born in 1862 [during America’s Civil War], back when thoseTennessee boys were having a hard time of it.

WG: What wouldyou most want people in Ireland, or the States, to take away from this book?

Bunbury: Forpeople who are in the U.S., I hope this gives them an insight into the Irelandthat their forbears left behind because, in many ways, the Ireland that I writeabout in these books is one that would be much more familiar to them than thepost-Celtic Tiger Ireland of 2011.

Likewise, I hope that the books inspire people in Ireland tostop and think when they watch the old folk walking by, to wonder what [theseelderly] did with their lives, to maybe see how they're getting on, to call inand see an elderly neighbor or maybe even to take their photograph and writetheir stories down.

DANIEL MARRIN is a Queen's, N.Y. -based journalist and videographer.

Moloney Vs. The Irish News: The Final Word

2011-11-30T20:21:00.001-05:00

We have been the vehicle for a debate between Ed Moloney, former director of Boston College’s Belfast Project, and Irish News Editor Noel Doran. At issue is therole, or lack of such, played by the Belfast-based newspaper in the U.S.Attorney Office’s issuance of subpoenas demanding access to confidential interviewsheld at Boston College. In posts within Hell’s Kitchen, Moloney and Doranoffered differing accounts of Irish News staffers’ actions during and aftertheir information gathering at the County Dublin home of former Provisional IRAsenior operative Dolours Price. The exchange between Moloney and Doran wasspurred by commentsMoloney made during a Q&A we published October 8, which focused on Boston College’s widely praised oral-historyproject. The project has compiled eyewitness accounts of ‘The Troubles’ inNorthern Ireland from combatants on both sides of the divide, in return forassurances that the contents would not be revealed until an interviewee’spassing. In portions of our interview, Moloney attempted to provide backgroundto authorities’ pursuit of two oral histories gathered by Boston College,including that of Price. Boston College is currently fighting to quashsubpoenas from the U.S. Attorney’s Office demanding access to these oralhistories. Speculation in news accounts about the subpoenas, whose supportingmaterials are sealed, suggests these federal officials are acting either onbehalf of British counterparts or the Police Service of NorthernIreland. We publish here Doran’s reply, the final word we will post on thesubject.

To the Editor:

Noel Doran

Ed Moloney has taken a unique journalisticstance by making sweeping allegations but completely failing to put questionsto those who could reasonably be expected to help him reach rationalconclusions.

As a result, for the second time in three weeks, he has used TheWildGeese.com to make entirely misleading claims aboutthe Irish News on the basis of research that did not include a single attemptto speak to us.

Moloney, in his latest statement (November 10), said he wished to address the “main aspects” of my reply of October 20,but then went on to carefully avoid the key points that I actually highlighted.

The first and most basic concern I expressedwas that Moloney, in his previous interview with TheWildGeese.com (October 8),had attributed words and deeds to the Irish News in general, and specificallyto myself as editor, without making any effort to check the background with us.

Moloney, in his reply, does not challenge mycentral assertion in any way. He could not in all conscience do so, as he iswell aware that he had not been in contact with me for more than a decadebefore providing a ludicrously flawed account of two straightforward telephonecalls with Marion Price in which I was involved in 2010.

In my response of October 20, I went on tosay that perhaps the single most remarkable aspect of Moloney's interventionwas the following claim about our discussions with Marion Price's sister, Dolours.“Whether the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) have ever tried toobtain the Irish News tape is a mystery, which no one seems able to solve.”

As I have pointed out, Moloney himself couldhave solved this “mystery” through one simple telephone call. We would havebeen happy to tell him that PSNI [Police Service of Northern Ireland] detectivesdid attempt to obtain the Irish News tape but were informed that we were nolonger in possession of any such material.

Moloney's November 10 statement consistentlyfails to explain why he neglected to approach the Irish News before providingwhat purported to be a detailed account of how we came to publish reports thatwere plainly in the public interest.

He instead concentrates on a hair-splittinganalysis about whether our coverage of February 18, 2010, was an “interview,”although it contained no quotations, or--as I have suggested--a factual reporton important new developments.

Moloney goes on to construct a feebleconspiracy theory based on nothing more than his observation that two newsreporters whose offices are in neighboring buildings in central Belfast knoweach other.

For the record--as I would confirm if Moloneyever gets round to asking me--the Irish News at no time provided tapes to Sunday Life and we played no part in the subpoenas which were served on BostonCollege.

As editor of The Irish News, my interest isin our coverage of the significant decision by Dolours Price to speak with theCommission for the Disappeared, which I fully stand over.

If Moloney wishes to establish how SundayLife pursued its own stories, he should obviously speak to that newspaper. Onbehalf of The Irish News, I can say with certainty that he failed to put eventhe most elementary queries to us before offering his unsustainable judgmentson our performance.

Noel Doran
Editor, The Irish News
Belfast, Northern Ireland
http://www.irishnews.com

Irish Immigrant Mary Jones One Tough Mother!

2011-11-27T19:41:00.001-05:00

On November 30, 1930, Irish immigrant, American union organizer and human rights activist Mary Harris "Mother" Jones died and was buried in the Union Miners Cemetery in Mount Olive, Illinois. Jones was fighting against the inequality engendered by "The 1%" well over a century before Occupy Wall Street adopted the term. At age 100, already well-established as one of the greatest labor leaders in American history, she was still giving "The 1%" heart-burn, still earning the title as "the most dangerous woman in America" given her by a West Virginia prosecutor.

Joe Gannon, The Wild Geese Managing Editor tells the tale of this extraordinary woman on our website TheWildGeese.com

'Kid Shamrock' Play Triggers A Trip Back to My Irish Father's Childhood in New York City

2011-11-27T16:23:00.001-05:00

KID SHAMROCK PLAY Triggered a Trip Back In Time for My Irish Father.

By DAN MARRIN

Tonight,I was reminded of the gap between my father’s generation and mine. I took my father to see the play “KidShamrock” at Manhattan’s TADA! Theatre. The play tells the story of “Kid Shamrock," an Irish boxer based onreal-life boxer Irish Bobby Cassidy, a world-rated boxer from New York. Cassidy was an alcoholic and in the play, his fictional counterpart Kid Shamrock loses oneof the biggest fights of his life because of hisdrinking. The real Cassidy eventuallyconquered his alcoholism and quit the sport of boxing, becoming a betterhusband and father. The playis told through flashbacks, as the older Kid Shamrock recounts his career and struggles to a fan at an Irish bar.

The real Bobby Cassidy Sr., right, in action against Macka Foley.

The show's cast and crew is made up mostly offormer boxers, which adds a great deal of realism to the work. Interspersed throughout the play aremonologues from the cast about the glory and pain of boxing.

At the play's end, the cast and crew hold a dialogue with the audience, mostly answering questions about being a fighter.

John Duddy, amiddleweight with a 29-2 record, plays young Kid Shamrock, while formerheavyweight Seamus McDonagh plays him aged. The real Kid Shamrock, Bobby Cassidy Sr., alsoappears as himself for a few monologues. Even the play’s directorMichael Bentt is a former heavyweight champion.

As my fatherread about this cast in the playbill, I began hearing little “oohs” and “ahhs”from him that I didn’t expect.

“Interesting:Mark Breland’s in this,” he said.

“You knew him?”

“I never met him, but the guy was a five-time New York GoldenGloves winner: of course I knew him!”

This was fascinating to me: Herewas a man whom I’d come mostly to associate with our suburban family life inWestchester County, and a career spent as a consultant to Fortune 500 companies, andhe was looking at me as if it was obvious that he would have known this GoldenGloves champ.

I forgetsometimes about the differences between my dad’s experience and mine; growingup in affluent Westchester, just north of New York City, in the 1990s, boxing meant nothing to me -- thebiggest boxing match I heard about was Tyson-Givens.

Sunnyside Garden boxing arena, in Queen

My dad had a very differenthistory. Dad was raised in Highbridge, aneighborhood in the Bronx a few blocks north of Yankee Stadium that wasmostly Irish until the late 1960s. Hewas born in 1939 and when he was growing up, it was common to listen to boxingmatches on the radio, or go see them on the big screen at the RKO movie houses ofthe old days. (Those houses are almost all torn down now.) He’d even go watch live fights at YankeeStadium, back when getting good seats didn't cost a week's pay.

In my Dad's childhood, boxing had widespread popular recognition among the Irish andthe general public that’s gone today. Nolonger is there just one heavyweight champion, but a champ each for the WBO, IBF,WBC and WBA. The fights play in casinos now, not in neighborhood clubs. As cast member and boxer Mark McPherson told the audience, “Back in the 70’s, if you asked me who was the heavyweight, themiddleweight, the lightweight champion, I could have told you. These days, you don’t know those names. … Thesport has become so divided and diluted that it’s cannibalizing itself.” John Duddy, the ex-boxer who plays KidShamrock in the play, put it more bluntly: “Professional boxing is dying.”

Giventhat, “Kid Shamrock” serves as an interesting gateway to a very differentera for the Irish and New York boxing, a time when old boxing clubs likeSunnyside Gardens in Queens and St. Nick’s in the Bronx attracted droves of crowdswaiting to see the next contender. Thosevenues have all shuttered, as the Irish-American population has shifted from cities, and boxingitself has become a sport associated with big money, casinos and pay-per-view.

However, the fighters of those glory days arestill around, and through "Kid Shamrock" we have a chance to remember the sport in its heyday.

The play runs until December 4 at the TADA! Theater in Manhattan. More information is available at http://www.facebook.com/KidShamrock.

DANIEL MARRIN is a Queen's, N.Y. -based journalist and videographer.

Restored Painting Captures Return of the 69th By Liam Murphy / WG Heritage Editor

2011-11-17T20:18:00.001-05:00

On 27^th July 1861, the 69th New York State Militia regiment returned home to New York, and to a hero’swelcome, after the First Battle of Bull Run (aka “First Manassas”). Theirtriumphal landing at what is now Battery Park, at the southern tip ofManhattan, was recorded -- not by a Matthew Bradyphotograph, but by an artist, Louis Lang, on a canvas some 11 feet wide and sevenfeet high. The artist’s perspective is fromBowling Green south toward New York Bay.

The story Lang’s epic painting tells is as complete asa segment on CBS News “60 Minutes.” Thismagnificent painting, which first went on display in October 1862, is the centerpieceof the just renovated New-York Historical Society exhibition, “Making AmericanTaste: Narrative Art for a New Democracy,” fittingly, opened to thepublic November 11, 2011 -- Veterans Day.

"Return of the 69th (Irish) Regiment, N.Y.S.M. from the Seat of War," by Louis Lang

Although First Bull Run (July 21, 1861)is generally remembered as a Federal defeat, the 69th Regiment of the New York State Militia (NYSM) was one of the few Union units on the fieldto cover itself with glory that day. The69^th maintained good order and discipline, and combat effectiveness,throughout the engagement, and provided the rear-guard action that enabled mostof the routed Union forces to escape.

The "Prince of Wales Flag," presented to the

69th NYSM after the regiment's refusal to march.

The 69^th NYSM was an “Irish” regiment, madeup, in large part of Fenians, mostly natives of Ireland, who wished to acquire the military training and experience needed to defeat the vaunted British militaryand bring freedom to Ireland. They saw themselves as the cadre of a futureIrish rising against their country’s oppressor.

Although their 90-day enlistment had expired, at thepersonal request of President Abraham Lincoln, they remained in active serviceto fight in the coming battle. Theircolonel, Michael Corcoran, on October 11, 1860, had achieved international fameby refusing to parade the 69^th for the visiting so-called “Prince ofWales.” He was captured at Bull Run -- yet in Lang’s stunning portrait, his image appears on the front page of thenewspaper being hawked by the newsboy in the painting’s lower right-handcorner.

Anotherdominant figure in New York’s Irish community, Thomas Francis Meagher, “Meagherof the Sword,” became commander of Company “K” (“Meagher’s Zouaves”) at BullRun. The famed orator, and a leader of the 1848 Rising in Ireland, is seen, onhorseback, near the center of the painting, doffing his hat to the cheeringwelcomers. In response to Lincoln’s callfor volunteers, Meagher would soon raise and command “The Irish Brigade” of theUnion's Army of the Potomac. The Brigade’s first regiment would be the 69^thNew York Volunteer Infantry -- drawing many from the 69^thNYSM.

The New-York Historical Society, at 170 Central ParkWest at 77^th Street, offered a Nov. 9 preview of Lang’s work, in thesociety’s new, main-floor art gallery, which houses the exhibit includingLang’s painting. The society invited members of the 69^th Regiment ofNew York, whose Army lineage includes the 69^th New York StateMilitia, the 69^th New York Volunteer Infantry of the “IrishBrigade,” and the 69^th New York National Guard Artillery ofCorcoran’s “Irish Legion.” Also invited were members (including this writer) ofthe 69^th Regiment Historical Roundtable.

Also present -- underscoring the nexus between the regiment, the Irish experience worldwide andMother Ireland -- was Ann Cusack, owner ofthe Granville Hotel,Meagher Quay, Waterford, Ireland. Thebuilding, before it became a hotel, was the boyhood home of Meagher. Cusack was presented with an 8½” x 13” printof Lang’s 87” x 140” painting. Prints, by the way, are available in theNew-York Historical Society bookshop.

Thesignificance of this painting goes beyond its special meaning to the Irish, theNew York National Guard, and the military generally. It is an extraordinary work of art,appropriately included in the society’s exhibit of mid-19^th centuryAmerican artistic tastes.

Itis even more -- a positive gesture toward the Irish in a time of Nativist,anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic sentiment and a most artistic example of what The New York Times’art critic Robin Pogrebin described in her October 16, 2011, article, headlined“When Applying the Paint Was Spreading the News.” Pogrebin wrote, “Huge, detailed andcolorful, [Lang’s canvas] comes from an era when paintings were expressive anddescriptive, tools not only to evoke emotions, but also to do the very realwork of simply documenting and recounting history.”

Thepainting itself was donated to the New-York Historical Society by the artist in1886, and remained on display until some time after the Second World War, afterwhich it seems to have been stored away and neglected, until it wasrediscovered, in pieces, in 1977. In2006, it was decided to assemble the jigsaw-puzzle-like painting and restoreit. A 1940s black-and-white photo of thepainting, plus the original 1862 descriptive brochure from Goupil’s Gallery, were helpful to the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in Massachusetts,which was given the assignment. Aftermore than five years and investment of $220,000, the result is a masterpiece,which looks as if it has just been painted. It is a treasure for all Americans.

Making American Taste exhibitionfeatures 55 works from the New-York Historical Society’s collection, eachinforming the history of American art and the molding of American culturalideals from the 1830s through the 1860s. The exhibit gives pride of place to The Return of the 69th (Irish) Regiment, an oil-on-canvas work painted in 1862. Theexhibition will be open through August 19, 2012, except for April 1 through May4.

However, since the Commander of the 1^stBattalion, 69^th Infantry, Lieutenant Colonel James Gonyo, also leftwith a print, it is more than likely that that print will be on display by nextyear in the 69^th Regiment Armory, today on Lexington Avenue and 26^th Street.

“The Return of the 69^th (Irish) Regiment” -- too big to travel when therest of the show goes on the road -- will be installed atthe entrance to the Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture, onthe society’s fourth floor. Do not missit, or the rest of the show. WG

Q&A: Morning Star's Mary Courtney on Her Influences, Musical and Otherwise

2011-11-15T19:38:00.001-05:00

MaryCourtney is a Kerry-born folk artistand New York resident, and she is lead singer, guitarist and bodhran player forMorning Star[pictured below], a traditional Irish band that regularly travels between showsin the United States and Ireland. Her music incorporates traditionalIrish folk sound with a progressive social conscience born out of a politicaleducation in the States. Courtney has used her music to spread Irish cultureand to educate Irish and non-Irish alike about the struggles of the Irishpeople.

TheWildGeese.com’sDaniel Marrinspoke to Ms. Courtney about her work.

TheWildGeese.com: Tell me a bit about music in your family.

Courtney:Well, I grew up in Kerry in the parish of Castlegregory, and both my parents werevery musical; both came from musical families. My father playedaccordion, my mother sang, and she’s who I learned to sing from. … During thewar years in the 1940’s – my parents married in 1940 – when there would bedances, everybody would come. During those times, everyone traveled bybicycle. There were no cars, except perhaps used by a priest or a doctor.And there’d be stories of people coming to dances from all over the place, fromAughnas Cauland Dingle.

My parents owned a dance hall in the parish of Castlegregory, called the Strand Pavilion andwhen I was growing up, all our parish events took place in that hall. Everything from dances to ceilis, church, movies (the local pictures), civilawards, anything, people came from miles around.

When my dad got the application and went ahead and built the Strand Pavilion inthe 50s, people at the time thought he was mad [but] it became the center forparish events until the mid-60s probably.

WG: Whowere your musical influences growing up?

Courtney:Well, my parents obviously and my uncles and aunts. I was from afamily of six brothers and four sisters – I was the 10^th, andmy older brothers sang in a ballad group. So my education came fromlistening to them, too.

There was always music on in our house. Groups like Planxty andSweeney’s Men,Andy Irvine,Christy Moore. The Chieftains and Sean O’Riada werealso very much influences on me when it came to traditional music. O’Riada was responsible for bringing Irish traditional music back from thebrink, so to speak. He had this great ability of fusing classical musicwith Irish traditional music. He was from Cork, and you know, my headmaster atschool was very influenced by Sean O’Riada. We learned one of histraditional Irish masses.

WG:Where did your music get its political influences from? I’ve seen thatyou have a number of politically themed songs on your solo album “Sceil Eile” (AnotherStory), like “Mandela” and “Seeds of Freedom”?

Courtney:I think I got my education about Ireland when I came to this country. TheIrish-Americans in this country are so proud of their heritage, and I foundthat surprising because we didn’t have that sort of pride in Ireland when I wasgrowing up. We were also pretty detached from the situation in NorthernIreland. Even though I had relatives there, we didn’t really know whatwas going on with all the rioting and trouble that was going on there when Iwas growing up.

My education about politics and social justice and justice for Northern Irelandcame in this country. I came here in 1982, and I went back in 1986 for myfather’s funeral. After the funeral, I would turn on the television, andI’d say, “Are we getting BBC News?” My mother would tell me, “No, this isRTE [Irish television].” But I thought I was listening to an Englishbroadcast, because of their accent and their twist on the news, how very skewedto the British viewpoint it was.

[In the States] here was I listening to the other side, about Northern Ireland,about the injustices that were going on in Northern Ireland. But you’dnever hear that [at home.] You’d never hear of the violence and of allthe organizations trying to mend the fences, of The Red Hand [Loyalistparamilitary groups] or the RUC [RoyalUlster Constabulary] and their collusions with the British army. Therewasn’t a balanced view at home.

WG: Yousaid there wasn’t that same sense of Irish pride in Ireland when you weregrowing up.

Courtney:I’m not sure if that’s a result of colonialism. I don’t know. … Butthat’s what I felt. Anyone who sold Easter lilies atEaster, you know, you’d disassociate yourself from them. If you had anykind of sympathy for the IRAor the Catholicstruggle for civil rights in Northern Ireland, you’d be looked down upon. You didn’t really talk about it too much, either, because the laws at the timemade it so you couldn’t really open your mouth too much. You could getarrested if you expressed your views on Northern Ireland openly.

In any case, I thank my Irish-American community for educating me.

WG: Doyou see your music as a platform to advocate?

Courtney: Oh, absolutely. Like my song ‘Mandela’ written by Danny Hannon, bornfrom the Bronx up in Highbridge or Kingsbridge. He was married to aProtestant from Ballycastle[County Antrim]. (laughs) You couldn’t get more of an Orange [spouse]than that, but here he was an Irish-American Catholic. He ended up goingto Northern Ireland and seeing that injustice had no one color, no matter whereit existed in the world.

When I heard ‘Mandela,’ I cried. It told the story so well. It wasthe truth, and I’m a very big fan of the truth. I think if you caneducate people, it’s wonderful. Because I certainly didn’t know a lot ofthings about my country growing up, and even people are who not Irish shouldknow what’s going on. Because they may be getting a skewed idea of whathappens, or what has happened, over there. If you can educate throughmusic and song, using them as a forum, then that’s great.

Former Head of Boston College Belfast Project Reasserts That ‘Irish News’ Reports Led to Controversial Subpoenas

2011-11-10T10:08:00.001-05:00

We recently received a statement from Ed Moloney, former director of Boston College’s Belfast Project, responding to a letter that we posted October 20 from Irish News Editor Noel Doran. In posts within Hell’s Kitchen, Moloney and Doran offered differing accounts of Irish News staffers’ actions during and after their information gathering at the County Dublin home of former Provisional IRA senior operative Dolours Price. The exchange between Moloney and Doran was spurred by comments Moloney made during a Q&A we published October 8, which focused on Boston College’s widely praised oral-history project. The project has compiled eyewitness accounts of ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland from combatants on both sides of the divide, in return for assurances that the contents would not be revealed until an interviewee’s passing. In portions of our interview, Moloney attempted to provide background to authorities’ pursuit of two oral histories gathered by Boston College, including that of Price. Boston College is currently fighting to quash subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney’s Office demanding access to these oral histories. Speculation in news accounts about the subpoenas, whose supporting materials are sealed, suggests these federal officials are acting either on behalf of British counterparts or the Police Service of Northern Ireland. We publish here Moloney’s reply to Doran’searlier letter.

To the Editor:

For reasons of spacelimitation, I am going to deal here with the two main aspects of Noel Doran’sstatement (WG’s Hell’sKitchen Blog, Oct. 20, 2011). In due course I will dealwith the other issues at greater length at http://thebrokenelbow.com/.

Ed Moloney

Firstly, Noel Doranmaintains that the Irish News articles of February 18th, 2010 at the heart of this saga were not based onAllison Morris’ tape-recorded interview with Dolours Price, but on a separatestatement she provided, saying that she was planning to speak to the‘disappeared commission’ about a number of so-called ‘disappearances’ that shewas allegedly involved with in the early 1970‘s. In other words there was nointerview or if there was it was not the basis for the articles that appearedunder Allison Morris’ byline.

As he put it in hisresponse in TheWildGeese.com, “It is verging on the bizarre that Moloney could describe ourcoverage of this date as an interview when it did not include a single quotation from Dolours Price. …”

The first problem with this explanation is that the information contained inthe articles, about Dolours Price’s alleged role in the disappearances of IRAvictims in the early 1970s, for instance, had to come from her interview withAllison Morris.

Throughout the piece,illustrated by photographs of Dolours Price taken during the interview by anIrish News photographer, there are the clear and unmistakable signs of directquotes being turned into reported speech. For instance: “She is believed topossess previously undisclosed information about at least four Disappearedvictims,” or, in relation to disappeared victim Jean McConville: “Ms. Price(59) is believed to have been one of the IRA members involved in transportingMrs. McConville, an alleged informer, to the Republic.” When a journalistwrites that “A is believed to ... etc.,” it means, "This is what A told mebut I cannot quote them because a) that is our agreement, and b) if I was tobreak that agreement my source will be in trouble -- and so will I."

Allison Morris won two journalistic prizes in large part for her three-pagespread on Dolours Price. The first, in May this year, was from the Society ofRegional British Editors, which was in no doubt about what they really were.The chairman of the judges, Peter Sands, praised her “three-page interview with London bomber Dolours Price." If presenting Allison Morris’ articles asnot being based on the interview was so important, why did the Irish News notmake this clear to the society at the time rather than only now when the chargeof unethical behavior has been made?

The most damning evidence against Noel Doran’s claims comes from his ownnewspaper’s report of the second award, UK Regional Reporter of the Year, givenby the National Union of Journalists. A report of the award appeared in theIrish News under the byline of Maeve Connolly on June 30th, 2010.

Connolly wrote: “Judges, who admitted they were pitted against a number of‘strong entries’ in the category, said that Allison had ‘illustrated the valueof old-fashioned journalism, including door knocking and cultivating contacts.’Allison scooped the overall reporter award for her investigations into 'new'Disappeared IRA victims and an interviewwith Old Bailey bomber Dolours Price.” (My emphasis.)

Dolours Price (Irish News)

Thereport continued: “Dolours Price spoke about her time with the IRA, involvementin the disappearance of Mr. Lynskey and knowledge of the disappearance of twoother west Belfast men, Seamus Wright and Kevin McKee. Judges said they were‘greatly impressed by Allison's lengthy, detailed, revealing and intenselyhuman investigation into the disappeared victims of IRA violence.” That is“spoke,” as in “was interviewed.”

Noel Doran said “it was verging on the bizarre” that I described his paper’scoverage of Dolours Price as “an interview.” Would he use the same adjectiveabout his own newspaper’s reporting of the same?

Theclaim that Allison Morris’ February 18^th, 2010 article was not basedon her interview with Dolours Price was one of two props supporting NoelDoran’s assertion that the Irish News played no role in the events that led tothe serving of subpoenas against Boston College. That prop has now been kickedaway.

The second prop is his claim that he is “completely satisfied” that AllisonMorris’ recording of her interview of Price was not passed on to Sunday Life.It was that newspaper’s sensational rehash of the interview that led directlyto the subpoenas served on Boston College by the U.S. Attorney’s office inMassachusetts on behalf of the PSNI.

This issue is at the heart of the Boston College affair.

On the following aspects of the affair there is no disagreement or challenge:

The Irish News article on Dolours Price appeared on February 18th, 2010, and the Sunday Life article, under the byline of Ciaran Barnes, appeared just three days later, on February 21st, 2010. A remarkable coincidence.
Allison Morris and Ciaran Barnes are friends and former colleagues who worked together on the Andersonstown News and Daily Ireland before their current jobs.
Allison Morris spoke to and interviewed Dolours Price but Ciaran Barnes did not. Barnes wrote in his piece only of “listening” to recordings of the former IRA bomber. If he had spoken to her and taped her himself, he would surely have said so.
Allison Morris electronically recorded the interview.
Ciaran Barnes wrote his Sunday Life article in such a way as to make it appear that he had been given access to Dolours Price’s interview lodged in the Boston College archive. The authority for this is no less than the U.S. Attorney’s office, which wrote in an affidavit (Page 4) to the federal court: “... the reporter (Ciaran Barnes) was permitted to listen to portions of Ms. Price’s Boston College interviews.”
Ciaran Barnes was not given access to any interviews by Dolours Price held at Boston College, and these are held under conditions of strict security (see Pages 3, 4).
No one involved in the Belfast Project at Boston College, not least myself and my researcher Anthony McIntyre had any contact then or since with Ciaran Barnes about Dolours Price. Speaking for myself, I did not even know that Ciaran Barnes existed before this affair.

A telling question emerges: How did Ciaran Barnes know that Dolours Price hadgiven an interview to Boston College? Dolours Price didn’t tell him because shenever spoke to him and no one involved in the Belfast Project at Boston Collegedid either. That only leaves Allison Morris and the Irish News as the source.

If Allison Morris and Noel Doran had not known about Dolours Price’s interviewswith Boston College, then surely they would have said so by now. It would havejumped out at them as they read my interview inTheWildGeese.com, and a loud,indignant denial that they were Barnes’ source for this vital piece ofinformation would have been their first response. But they didn’t say a word.

Like the dog that did not bark in Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmesmysteries, it is their silence on this issue that really points the finger. Theonly sound that can be heard is the otherprop supporting Noel Doran’s defense crumbling into dust.

EdMoloney

FormerDirector

BelfastOral History Project

BostonCollege

The Fight To Save St. Brigid's - San Fransico's Irish Civil War Church

2011-11-04T14:38:00.004-04:00

View On Amazon.Com

Guthrie, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, spent six years covering the parishioners’ fight. Her book tells the story of the parish’s history, the drama of the fight to save it, and what the parishioners learned about their own faith through their fight.

The WildGeese.com’s Daniel Marrin spoke with Ms. Guthrie about her book, and the place of Irish Catholics in San Francisco’s history.

WG: Julian, when I think about the Bay Area and religions, I usually think more about Buddhism, yoga and meditation. Has there been a strong Irish or Catholic influence over the years in San Francisco?

Guthrie: Yes, there has been. It hasn’t been as covered nationally, but the Irish have been one of the strongest bases of the city. They’re the people that made the city what it is. The Irish and the Italians really poured into the city in the mid-1800s and built up a great number of churches and neighborhoods. St. Brigid’s sat on the corner of Van Ness and Broadway, bordering a number of different ethnic neighborhoods. It was built by Irish Catholics and a little later by Italian Americans, and they were really the founding families of the parish.

Julian Guthrie’s new book, 'The Grace of Everyday Saints', tells of the fight to save St. Brigid Church, a historic Irish church in the heart of San Francisco. The church had originally been built by Irish immigrants during the Civil War in 1864, originally just a one-story building with two rooms. Over the next 100 years, the church survived the great earthquakes and fires of San Francisco history, but it faced its toughest battle against an archdiocesan order to shut its doors in 1994.

Since that order, the parishioners, a medley of Catholics from Irish, Italian, Latino and Asian backgrounds has fought to preserve the church and re-establish it as a house of worship.

San Francisco has a very strong Irish tradition in the city that persists to this today. For my book, I interviewed a number of new Irish immigrants who had settled in San Francisco and were drawn to St. Brigid, as she’s the patroness saint of Ireland. These were new immigrants who had come in the last 10 or 15 years, who continue to come to the city and find a home here in some of these [historic] churches that were founded by the Irish Catholics.

WG: Do you think that the religious ties of the Irish population in San Francisco are on the decline, or is that tie to Catholicism still strong?

Guthrie: It’s still relatively strong. You still have these prominent Catholic high schools. You have the working class of this city, the cops and the firemen, huge numbers of Irish who have carried their faith with them over the years. But again this is a city where the Asian population has grown more and more prominent in proportions of the city’s population. So there are fewer of the Irish Catholics, but it’s still – still very strong. You go up into the avenues, you go into certain working class communities, and you find very strong Irish Catholic traditions and pubs that have been around forever drawing huge crowds.

WG: A lot of urban Catholic churches that used to be heavily Irish have become more Latino-oriented, to accommodate shifts in neighborhoods. Did that happen with St. Brigid?

Guthrie: It did happen. When you get along into the 1960s, 70s, 80s, there was a big shift in the population of San Francisco with fewer Irish and Italian Catholics, and more Asians coming to the city with different religions. So you had this very significant demographic shift; you had the same number of parishes with a fewer number of Catholics. That was one of the reasons given for the closure of St. Brigid Church. The archdiocese decided to close 13 parishes, including St. Brigid Church, because of this demographic shift.

Also, the earthquake of 1989 had undermined the foundations of a lot of buildings, and the city ordered the diocese to retrofit a number of these large parishes. The archdiocese did a study and they put the study around 60 million. So they were facing a $60 million price tag to fix these churches … That was another reason they gave to close the church.

WG: And at this point the church is closed, correct?

Guthrie: The church has been officially closed since June 30, 1994, but the parishioners keep fighting for it some 17 years later. It was sold out from under them and is now owned by an art school in the city. But the parishioners say as long as the building is still there, there’s still the chance that they might be able to get it turned back into a church. They’re fighting for the interior of the church, through historical landmark channels, so that the new owners can’t remove the pews and the stained-glass windows.

The Irish, Seamus Murphy, one of the great stone carvers of Ireland did a lot of the statuary for the church. The stained-glass windows were made in Ireland. The carpets were made in Ireland. A lot of the beautiful artifacts were made there. The parishioners fought and are continuing to fight to preserve those as we speak.

WG: And yet the parishioners fighting for the church are quite a mix of ethnicities, right?

Guthrie: The parishioners who fought for St. Brigid Church came from across the globe. They were from Burma, they were from the Philippines and Mexico, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy. … They had settled in this one corner of San Francisco and found this church that felt like home and brought their faith traditions of all sorts with them, and blended them all into one at St. Brigid.

DANIEL MARRIN is a Queen's, N.Y. -based journalist and videographer.

Irish News Responds to Moloney Criticism

2011-10-20T21:00:00.023-04:00

Parts of an interview we at TheWildGeese.com conducted in September with former Belfast Project Director Ed Moloney concern three February 18, 2010, Irish News articles that were based on information evidently gathered from former Provisional IRA senior operative Dolours Price. In those portions of our Q&A, Moloney attempted to provide background to the British authorities’ interest in the oral history that Price provided to Boston College’s Belfast Project. In doing so, Moloney condemned actions he ascribed to the Irish News staff during its information gathering at Price’s home prior to the Irish News articles’ publication. Irish News Editor Noel Doran approached TheWildGeese.com shortly after our Moloney interview was published, requesting the opportunity to respond to Moloney. We had, in fact, reached out to Irish News reporter Allison Morris prior to release of our interview with Moloney, but had received no response. Acknowledging our lack of success in getting an Irish News perspective before publication, we invited Doran to address Moloney’s criticism, and he sent us the following statement, which we publish here, unedited, in its entirety.
__________________________________________________________

To the Editor:

It is genuinely surprising to find a journalist with Ed Moloney's experience directly questioning editorial standards at the Irish News but making the elementary mistake of failing to establish the newspaper's point of view.

(Dolours Price, right, photo by The Irish News)

As a result, Moloney attributes words and deeds to members of staff at the Irish News which bear little or no resemblance to the truth of the matter. I am grateful to TheWildGeese.com for providing me with the opportunity to set the record straight.

To begin with my own position, I can say with certainty, as editor of the Irish News, that I have not heard from Moloney for over a decade, and yet he has managed to produce an entirely flawed account of two short telephone calls in which I was involved last year.

In his contribution to TheWildGeese.com, Moloney says that I spoke to a person he strangely refers to only as the aunt of the son of Dolours Price. It is hard to understand why Moloney did not identify this individual as Marion Price, a prominent figure in Irish republicanism for almost 40 years.

Marion Price did indeed telephone me in Febuary, 2010, after her sister, Dolours, had made a number of approaches to us and invited an Irish News representative to speak to her at her Co. Dublin home.

According to Moloney, "She (Marion Price) then phoned the editor of the Irish News, and, after much discussion, he said that he would use the interview but agreed to keep 'the juicy bits' out to minimize the damage to Dolours Price, which he did.''

What actually happened was that Marion Price telephoned me and asked if we were planning to run an interview with her sister. I said we were still pursuing our research and I would get back to her when we had reached a conclusion.

I rang her back some days later to say that we had decided against publishing an interview with her sister but we would be carrying a statement from Dolours Price which confirmed that she intended to engage with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) -- more commonly known as the commission for the Disappeared. Marion Price thanked me for calling her and ended the conversation.

Although Moloney claims that this outcome was reached "after much discussion," both of my two telephone calls with Marion Price were actually brief and the second lasted rather less than one minute.

What is more concerning is Moloney's specific allegation that I had agreed to keep "the juicy bits" out of an interview. Neither Marion Price nor I used such a phrase or dealt with such a request at any time, and -- as the accompanying cuttings show -- we never set out to publish an interview with Dolours Price in the first place

Our report of February 18, 2010, could hardly be more clear and strongly focused on Dolours Price's plans to speak to the commission for the Disappeared, an important and plainly newsworthy development which also provided her with the considerable protection of immunity from prosecution over any statements she might make in
this context. We understand that Dolours Price honoured this arrangement.

It is verging on the bizarre that Moloney could describe our coverage of this date as an interview when it did not include a single quotation from Dolours Price, and it is striking that, throughout his version of our story, he managed to avoid even a
single reference to the crucial role of the commission for the Disappeared.

Our initial dealings with Dolours Price came about when she telephoned the Irish News and said she wished to offer her comments on an interview which we had just published with the president of Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams.

I asked a senior news reporter, Allison Morris, to take on this responsibility, and, by agreement, an arrangement was made for a meeting at the Co. Dublin home of Dolours Price.

Allison Morris, accompanied by a staff photographer who can corroborate the encounter, spoke amicably, professionally and in some detail to Dolours Price, and was never asked by anyone to stop the conversation.

Only when Allison Morris was preparing to leave was she asked to take a telephone call from Marion Price, who was informed that -- as she subsequently did -- she should address any concerns she might have to myself as editor.

It has been well documented that many Irish people who have survived the violence of the last four decades and beyond, including activists on all sides, politicans and indeed journalists, have suffered negative consequences to their health.

This does not preclude them from offering an opinion on their experiences, although it is reasonable to expect that newspapers should acknowledge, as we did in our front page report of February 18, 2010, those who have a particular medical history.

Dolours Price has provided her own testimony on many previous occasions, including her dealings with the organisers of the Boston College project before and after her involvement with the Irish News.

She continued to offer her thoughts to the Irish News after we carried our reports of February 18, 2010, and no member of her family has subsequently raised any issues over our coverage.

Perhaps the single most remarkable aspect of Moloney’s intervention was the following claim about our dealings with Dolours Price -- 'Whether the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) have ever tried to obtain the Irish News tape is a mystery, which no one seems able to solve. '

Moloney would have been able to solve this 'mystery' himself by a single telephone call to the Irish News, through which we would have readily confirmed that we were contacted by the PSNI some 16 months after our report about Dolours Price.

Detectives routinely approach the main Belfast-based news organisations in connections with various investigations, and it is our policy to observe our responsibilities as both journalists and citizens in this regard.

Accordingly, we informed the detectives both personally and in writing that we fully stood over our coverage of February 18, 2010, but we were no longer in possession of any research material which could possibly be of relevance to their inquiries. We have not subsequently heard from them.

Moloney's final allegation is that a tape provided by the Irish News was the basis for a subsequent article in the Sunday Life newspaper. I am completely satisfied this is untrue, and yet again Moloney made no attempt to check the background with the Irish News before going public with his claim.

The Irish News did not make any tape recordings of Dolours Price available to other journalists or publications. Many other outlets have carried reports about Dolours Price down the years but the Irish News is only responsible for its own content.

I appreciate the many pressures which Moloney is facing over his Boston College project, but the criticisms he directs against the Irish News are completely without foundation.

Noel Doran
Editor
The Irish News

* Dolours Price’s trauma over IRA Disappeared
* Reputation for being ruthless saw rapid move up IRA ranks
* Convicted bomber could shed light on location of 14th victim

‘A Chilling Effect on Oral History in This Country’: Q&A With ‘Belfast Project’ Director Ed Moloney

2011-10-08T23:04:00.022-04:00

We conducted this interview for our Newsletter readers but because of the importance of the issues represented to the practice of oral history in this country, we have chosen to share this interview here in its entirety. To sign up for exclusive content through our newsletters, sign up here.

Britain-born journalist Ed Moloney, who covered The Troubles from his posting in Belfast from 1977 to 2001, headed Boston College’s Belfast Project from its inception till its close in 2005. TheWildGeese.com’s Mark Connor put some questions to Moloney last week via Skype, about the subpoenas that the British government filed in May and August demanding access to confidential interviews that the oral-history project gathered from two IRA members. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts delivered the subpoenas on behalf of unidentified British authorities, according to news accounts. In 2002, Moloney authored “A Secret History of the IRA,” and has authored a biography of Loyalist demagogue Rev. Ian Paisley. In 2010, Moloney’s book “Voices from the Grave” was published, which features interviews, compiled as part of the Belfast Project, with two central figures in the Troubles, both now-deceased - IRA member Brendan Hughes and Ulster Volunteer Force member-turned-politician David Ervine. Moloney, now based in New York City, shared with TheWildGeese.com his concern about the threat the subpoenas pose to all oral-history projects. (For more of Moloney’s views on the subpoenas, visit his blog at http://bostoncollegesubpoena.wordpress.com/)

TheWildGeese.com: Mr. Moloney, what led you in the direction of becoming a journalist and specifically into this area of journalism?

Ed Moloney: I became a journalist partly because I hated teaching and wanted to get out of it, partly because I enjoyed both researching and writing and was just plain nosy and partly because of a fascination with the politics of Northern Ireland. I was a student at QUB (Queens University Belfast) when the civil rights struggle began, observed it up close, and, I suppose, got addicted.

At this stage, this is not an issue that affects journalists, although it may at a later stage. … It is an issue that affects academic freedom and the ability of oral historians to collect life accounts from all sorts of people. If we lose this case, it will have a chilling effect on oral history in America, and that is important. What oral history does is tell the story of people who are not powerful, but ordinary participants in society. If they are discouraged from telling their stories, it means that history and the explanation of society is even more in the control of the powerful than it already is. The sort of examples I am thinking of is, say, people who were involved in the Black Panther movement, which was very close ideologically to the IRA. If there is a risk that the FBI will come looking for their interviews in order to press criminal charges, then they will not speak to oral historians, and their stories will be lost forever. Instead, we will have to rely on the Al Sharptons of America to tell a story of which they were never a part.

WG: My understanding is that there were 60 subjects interviewed in this project. First, is that the specific number or were there more, and second, what prompted the (Belfast) Project, what was the express purpose behind it?

Ed Moloney: I have never given any figure as to the number of interviewees and never would. It was the Good Friday Agreement - or rather the end of the conflict that it signaled - that was the spur for the project. A similar project had been conducted in the South [the lower 26 counties, eventually named The Republic of Ireland] after the Anglo-Irish War, and I thought it was important to tell a similar story, that of those on both sides who had fought in the war. But the Anglo-Irish War was very short compared to the Troubles in the North. In the South, they could wait 20 years or so for passions to quiet before starting the project. Our conflict had already lasted for 30 years, those involved were getting old, especially people who had been there at the start. So there was an urgency to get it going before key people died. Essentially, it was done to ensure that the unique viewpoint of those in the trenches was told when the history of the troubles was written.

WG: How did you convince so many combatants—and specifically Irish Republican and British Loyalist—to open up to you about their involvement? Did you conduct all of these interviews or most of them yourself? Were you seen as a neutral party or generally trusted and/or suspected by your subjects as more Nationalist or Unionist in your identity when you interacted?

Ed Moloney: I did none of the interviews at all. The project would not have been possible had I tried to do that. The researchers, one for IRA (members) and one for UVF, were chosen a) because of their academic qualifications, a Ph.D. in one case, an Honours degree in the other and b) because of their own association with the groups being interviewed. It was obvious that people who had been in the IRA or UVF would not open up to journalists or other academics, but would be prepared to do so to people from their own background who they could trust. So I played no part in the interviews, and although I suggested names, it was up to the researchers to choose interviewees and persuade them to talk. Although I read the interviews and made comments and suggestions, I did not know, nor want to know who was being interviewed, although obviously I could guess at some. That way, security and trust was strengthened.

WG: As a veteran journalist, can you first describe your personal stake in these subpoenas and, secondly, elaborate on what it means for all journalists and the public at large? Are you aware of previous court rulings related to your case, and do you have an expectation of how your situation will finally be resolved?

Ed Moloney: I don’t know how our case will be resolved, but obviously we hope to win. We have a great lawyer working for us, Eamonn Dornan, who has put together a very clever argument based upon the U.S. Senate's promise and commitment they got from the British that no person involved in anything prior to the GFA (Good Friday Agreement) could be sought for extradition in the U.S. If they can't be extradited, then neither should their interviews be extradited. When we started this project, it was pre-9/11. Then we had the attacks, and the story thereafter in the U.S. has been one of unhampered state surveillance and unprecedented powers by people like the FBI to snoop and spy, and we, unfortunately, have been caught up in that. But for 9/11, Bush, Obama, and Osama Bin Laden, I don't think this would be happening because the authorities wouldn't dare.

WG: I understand that both Brendan Hughes and Dolours Price told you during interviews that Gerry Adams ordered the killing of Jean McConville. I also understand that the British government’s interest in getting a hold of the interviews includes finding evidence of who killed her. There are other implications from an intelligence point of view, including discovery of what information about British agents has been documented, in which the British government must surely also be interested. So from a journalist’s point of view and from the point of view of a citizen in a democracy, how fair do you feel the national security argument is in this or related cases, especially given that a treaty to end the conflict was signed in 1998?

(Below right: Sinn Fein rally to support four IRA hunger strikers in a British prison, including Dolours Price, in Navan, County Meath, February 6, 1974. Photo by Gerry Regan.)

Ed Moloney: Your understanding is not correct. Brendan Hughes certainly did name Adams as the person who ordered the killing of Jean McConville, but there is no evidence that in her interviews with BC (Boston College) that Dolours Price did the same. It is important to understand how this all happened and the background. Dolours Price is an IRA veteran, but she has also been psychologically scarred by her experiences in the IRA. She suffers from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome) … and suffers from substance abuse. Her condition has deteriorated in recent years, a long time after she gave her interviews to BC. In February 2010, Dolours was in a psychiatric hospital in Dublin and while there she contacted the Irish News in Belfast and said she had things to tell the paper. That weekend, she was given leave to go home, but she was technically still under psychiatric care from the hospital. The Irish News' journalist Allison Morris arrived at her home and tape-recorded the interview. Dolours told a story about her involvement in the disappearance of several people in 1972, including Jean McConville. Toward the end of the interview, one of her sons arrived home and realized what was happening. He told Morris that his mother was a psychiatric patient, was taking drugs and was not in a fit state to give anyone an interview, that whatever she said was totally unreliable. He demanded that the interview end and that the tape not be used. Morris refused. He then phoned his aunt, who repeated the demand and was again refused. She then phoned the editor of the Irish News, and, after much discussion, he said that he would use the interview but agreed to keep "the juicy bits" out to minimize the damage to Dolours Price, which he did. We believe that what happened next was that Allison Morris betrayed Dolours Price and reneged on the agreement with her family and passed the tape on to a friend, Ciaran Barnes, who worked in the Sunday Life, a tabloid Belfast newspaper. He wrote up the story with "the juicy bits" very much in, and, in order to disguise the fact that he had got the information from Allison Morris' tape, wrote the piece in such a way that it appeared that he had gained access to Dolours Price’s taped interviews at Boston College, which needless to say was impossible. It is on the basis of this deception that the subpoenas were served on Boston College, that the information in Barnes' article came from BC when it didn't. The information, in fact, came from the Irish News tape, which was passed on, in contravention of an agreement with Dolours Price's family, to Barnes. Whether the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) have ever tried to obtain the Irish News tape is a mystery, which no one seems able to solve. But there is no doubt that the subpoenas served on BC are based on a lie, that the admissions Dolours Price allegedly made and which were reported in the Sunday Life came from Boston College. They did not. …

This is what the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney (Carmen M. Ortiz) had to say in her subpoena to justify the demand for Dolours Price’s interviews: "Ms. Price's interviews by Boston College were the subject of news reports published in Northern Ireland in 2010, in which Ms. Price admitted her involvement in the murder and 'disappearances' of at least four persons whom the IRA targeted: Jean McConville, Joe Lynskey, Seamus Wright and Kevin McKee. See Exhibits 1 and 2. Moreover according to one news report, the reporter was permitted to listen to portions of Ms. Price's Boston College interviews.”

That last sentence is a lie. He (Barnes) was not and never would be permitted access to Boston College's interviews. Boston College is the victim of journalistic ethics in Belfast that are on a par with Rupert Murdoch's hacking operations, and you can quote me.

WG: What can readers of The Wild Geese do to lend support for you in your struggle to protect your sources in the case? Is there a central location on the web or elsewhere for information and also to contact or advocate?

Ed Moloney: I would ask your readers to write to their congressmen/senators along the following lines:

PLEASE TAKE ACTION ON THIS VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE.
U. S. RESIDENTS:
Write Your Representative:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

Tell them you are calling on them to use their good office to put an end to the legal fiasco surrounding the subpoena of oral history tapes of the IRA from Boston College by the PSNI. (Refer them to the Boston College Subpoena News on Facebook for complete details and updates).

Mention that you can't understand why the U.S. government is taking drastic legal action against a U.S. college on behalf of a foreign government? Tell them you don't see any reason why the U.S. has to be party to this investigation. There is nothing positive to be gained by these actions and it will only serve to jeopardize the lives of all those involved in the project.

Make sure you point out that the PSNI are only interested in republican oral histories and that they have not demanded the same access to oral histories given by loyalists. Explain that you feel the focus on IRA interviews seems to support the notion that the inquiry is “politically motivated.”

Let them know that such credible Irish organizations in the USA, namely the AOH, the Irish American Unity Conference and the Brehon Law Society have joined the campaign to help put an end to this politically motivated fishing expedition. Tell your representative that you are concerned that there exists the potential to destabilize the Good Friday Agreement if the PSNI continues to take legal action against Boston College.

Make sure you sign off by letting them know you would appreciate the courtesy of a reply from them as to how they can be of assistance in this matter.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: You can find Irish News Editor Noel Doran's response to Moloney's criticisms of the newspaper in Hell's Kitchen. Neither reporters Ciaran Barnes nor Allison Morris could be reached for comment on Moloney’s assertions about their actions with Morris’ interview with Dolours Price. We e-mailed Sunday Life Editor Martin Breen the following Oct. 4: “We’ve interviewed Ed Moloney about developments with the British government’s subpoenas issued to Boston College, demanding access to two interviews from its oral history project. Moloney says that one of your reporters, Ciaran Barnes, received audio of an interview conducted by Allison Morris of the Irish News with Dolours Price, and used it as the basis of some reports you published, without revealing the source of the quotations. Moloney says that Morris violated an agreement with an Irish News editor, made with Price’s family, to not cause to have published “the juiciest bits,” which, according to Moloney, subsequently appeared in Barnes’ reporting. We’d like a response from the newspaper, ideally one from Barnes himself, about these assertions. Can you assist?” The following day, Breen e-mailed TheWildGeese.com the following in reply: “Sunday Life did not name its sources in the article and has no intention of naming them now.” Moloney told TheWildGeese.com that his information about Price’s condition the day Morris interviewed Price and the details of the Irish News’ attempt to meet the concerns of Price’s family came from directly from Price’s family.]

New Book on Ireland's John Boyle O'Reilly

2011-10-05T13:17:00.000-04:00

Newbiography on the extraordinary life
of John Boyle O’Reilly becomes an event

By Robert Doyle

Dublin, Ireland -- “Although this is Ian’s third book,” Paula Elmore from The Collins Press told the assembled guests, “this is his first book launch.” On this unique occasion, held Sept. 20, I was delighted to be part of the 50 or more present in The Gutter Bookshop, an award-winning independent bookstore located in Dublin’s bohemian Temple Bar neighborhood.

Click Here to Purchase on Amazon

Irish authorand County Limerick native Ian Kenneally launched “From the Earth, a Cry - The Story ofJohn Boyle O'Reilly.” Kenneally's previous works, Courage and Conflict: Forgotten Stories ofthe Irish at War” and “The Paper Wall,” are critically acclaimed. He is part ofthat rare breed of historical wordsmiths. Meticulous in his research,Kenneally can recount history in a manner that excites his readers, rather thanlecturing to them. And so it is in his latest offering.

Based onresearch in Ireland, Australia and the United States, “From the Earth, A Cry”is a compelling account of an extraordinary life. John Boyle O’Reilly(1844-1890) is one of Ireland’s most remarkable historical figures a man who was aninternationally renowned journalist, writer and humanitarian. Born in Dowth, near the ancient Hill ofTara in Meath, O’Reillyworked in England before joining the British army. Ostensibly a proud soldier,O’Reilly lived a double life as a recruiter for the revolutionary FenianBrotherhood. He was discovered and convicted, serving time in a succession ofprisons, from Mountjoy to Dartmoor.

Ian Kenneally

Britishauthorities transported O’Reilly to an Australian penal colony, from where hemade a spectacular escape to the United States, an escapade retold by Kenneallyin a manner befitting a thrilling Hollywood script. It was in the United Statesthat O’Reilly’s brilliance flowered. As editor of Boston’s biggest selling Irish-Americanweekly newspaper, The Pilot,he became a powerful advocate of civil rights of minorities within society, be it the plight ofhis own immigrant countrymen or African-Americans. He retained a strong commitment to Ireland,working closely with Michael Davitt and Charles Stewart Parnell, both renowned stalwarts in theIrish nationalist movement of the era. A complex and charismatic personality, O’Reilly’s popularitytranscended race, religion and nationality.

After the formalities had ended, I spoke to the author and asked him theobvious question for any historical biographer, why focus on thisperson? “For many years I have been fascinated by O’Reilly’s life as a convict,his journalism and his support for civil rights,” enthused Kenneally,continuing,
“The more I discovered about his extraordinary life, the more determined I was to try and bring his story and his writing to a wideraudience.”

O’Reilly wasalso an insightful and accomplished poet. Kenneally borrows the title of hisbiography from one of O’Reilly’s better-known works, a poem that is as relevanttoday as it was during the economic depressions that afflicted America in thedecades after its Civil War. First published in an 1881 book of poems, “From the Earth, A Cry” conveys O’Reilly’s contemptfor the exploitation of the working class by the wealthy. The poem imagines theplanet calling on its oppressed classes to rise. If O'Reilly could see theconsumerism, self-centeredness, greed, and violence that exist today in much ofthe world, he would see his words resonate once again with the downtrodden. Hewrites:

Insects andvermin, ye, the starving and dangerous myriads,
List to the murmur that grows and growls! Come from your mines and mills,
Pale-faced girls and women with ragged and hard-eyed children,
Pour from your dens of toil and filth, out to the air of heaven—
Breathe it deep, and hearken! A Cry from the cloud or beyond it,
A Cry to the toilers to rise, to be high as the highest that rules them,
To own the earth in their lifetime and hand it down to their children!

In “From theEarth, A Cry,” Kenneally has produced a masterful biography, of an Irishman whodeserves greater recognition today as one of Ireland’s first and foremostinternational humanitarians.

TheWildGeese.com Contributing Editor Robert Doyle is a Kildare-based writer with a particular interest in Carlow native Myles Walter Keogh, who served in the Company of St. Patrick and who was killed while fighting with the U.S. Seventh Cavalry at Little Bighorn in 1876. Doyle is co-producer of www.MylesKeogh.org

Irish Diaspora Stories from our Newsletter

2011-09-30T10:26:00.000-04:00

Excerpts from our Free TheWildGeese.com Newsletter

- Q&A Interview with Singer Chanteuse Ashley Davis
- Post-1700 History Too Recent To Protect
- New Haven Bar: We Feature Part of Dublin Church,
- ‘Irish Whales’ Get NYPD Attention

TheWildGeese Interview with Chanteuse Ashley Davis only in our Newsletter:
Her most recent album, “Down By the Sea,” released in 2009, was recorded in Dublin, and features Paddy Moloney (The Chieftains), Moya Brennan (Clannad), and Cathy Jordan (Dervish), among other A-listers. After spending time IM’ing with TheWildGeese.com’s Gerry Regan, she headed into the studio for more work on her 'Winter' project, the first part of a four-album collection musically exploring each of the seasons. For more on Davis or to purchase her music, visit http://www.daisyrings.com

Irish Government to d-list post-1700 archaeological structures:

In what archaeologists in Ireland describe as a “very worrying proposal,” the Irish government’s Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht aims to exclude all post-1700 archaeological and historical structures and sites from the National Record of Monuments and Places. …

Connecticut Pub features bar made from Dublin Church:

Talk about hanging from the rafters after a few jars! A new pub in New Haven, Conn., features a 50-foot bar made from the rafters of a Dublin church, say the owners of O’Toole’s Irish Pub and Restaurant, 157 Orange Street. he owners couldn’t reached at deadline to determine the identity of the donor church...

The Irish Whales & The NYPD:

The New York City Police Museum in Manhattan is hosting an exhibit titled “The Irish Whales: Olympic Champions of the NYPD, 1900 –1924” through Oct. 30. This exhibit focuses on a group of Irish New York City police officers who were champion weight-throwers, representing the once renowned Irish-American Athletic Club of Celtic Park, Queens...

For more on these stories sign up for our Newsletter and go to TheWildGeese.com

The Fighting 69th & The Irish Brigade

2011-09-27T11:43:00.002-04:00

The Day the Irish Brigade Saved the 9th Massachusetts

By Robert J. Bateman

By Friday, June 27, 1862, the Army of the Potomac, under the command of Major-General George B. McClellan, had fought within 10 miles of the Confederate capital, in Richmond, Virginia. After the engagements at Oak Grove and Mechanicsville on the 25th and 26th, the Battle of Gaines' Mill, the third of the now famous "Seven Days Battle," was about to commence.

After breakfast, the men of the 9th Massachusetts, along with the rest of their brigade, left their camp and marched in the direction of New Cold Harbor and halted a short distance from Gaines' Mill, once one of the finest grist mills in the state of Virginia. Prior to leaving camp each man in the "Irish 9th" Regiment had been issued three day's rations and 80 rounds of ammunition.

To Read the rest of the article go to TheWildGeese.com

In 2001 TheWildGeese.com posted another article on the History Of The Irish ....Worldwide - an in depth two part article on the Irish Brigade and the Fighting 69th. We believe this story is worth retelling so we have posted an excerpt here. We have also favorited JFK's speech On The Irish In America "A Special Courage - Splendid Gallantry" on our Youtube Channel "TheWildGeeseTV"

THE FIGHTING 69TH - AN IRISH BRIGADE

When the 69th New York State Militia returned to New York, veterans of the Bull Run campaign sought to form a new 69th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment to return to the fighting front. There were so many volunteers that, inspired by the example of the Irish Brigade in the service of France (1692-1792), Thomas Francis Meagher decided to form an Irish Brigade (beginning with the 69th, 88rd, and 63th New York Volunteer Infantry regiments, and later adding the 28th Massachusetts and the 116th Pennsylvania). The 69th and the 88th trained at Fort Schuyler, in the Bronx, before going off to war. [In recent years, County Waterford, whose banner bears the image of Meagher, has been led up Fifth Avenue during New York's parade by an Irish Brigade Honor Guard made up of authentic Civil War re-enactors (many of whom portrayed the 69th Pennsylvania in the movie "Gettysburg").]

To read more from this article go to TheWildGeese.com

Irish Baseball: The Emerald Diamond Re-Release

2011-09-22T16:27:00.001-04:00

As Major League Baseball advances to the end of its regular season, players in Ireland who’ve fallen in love with the game are practicing hard to master America’s National Pastime. “The Emerald Diamond,” a 2006 documentary re-released in March, chronicles the growth in Ireland of this quintessentially American sport. According to news accounts, the 1996 European Championships stoked Irish interest, and, after halting steps, Irish players grew steadily in skill over the following decade with the assistance of volunteer American players and coaches.

Baseball is now played throughout Ireland, with youth and adult teams in Dublin, Cork, Kerry and Belfast. The Irish National Baseball Team has placed well internationally in championship tournaments. The Irish National Baseball Team has placed well .....

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE Sign up for our Weekly Newsletter! Have fun with the Q&A where you can win $10 off a variety of Irish History merchandise from any of the TheWildGeese.com Shops!

Custer's Last Irishmen

2011-09-14T18:45:00.002-04:00

Part 5: For Custer's Irishmen, 'An Seastán Deiridh'
By Robert Doyle

In the conclusion of our series on "Custer's Last Irishmen," Robert Doyle describes the likely final moments of the Irishmen who rode with Custer's wing in the attack, and offers a post-script.

"With Their Boots On: Battle of Little Big Horn" by Michael Schreck.

Click on the image for a larger view.

On a scorching Sunday in June 1876, the 7th Cavalry attacked an Indian village beside the Little Bighorn River, and there was hell to pay. In total, 35 Irish-born men in the 7th Cavalry were killed in action at there. The irony is that these men, and the other Irish in the 7th, played a key role in the eventual removal of a race of people from their native lands, much as their own race had suffered at English hands.

For the full article go to TheWildGeese.com

TheWildGeese.com: Preparing A New Flight Path!

2011-09-08T10:38:00.000-04:00

The history of those whose ancestors left Ireland and carried their culture worldwide is getting new scrutiny, and breadth of coverage, thanks to the online publishing group at GAR Media. We are pleased to announce some changes to our flagship product, TheWildGeese.com, where we have been chronicling the history of the Irish . . . worldwide, since 1997. Our site will be undergoing a facelift within a few months time, with expanded offerings and functionality.

Meanwhile, we will be using this blog to herald the new content offerings and features. One of the first of our offerings will be a Family History Channel, managed by producer Alannah Ryane, which will include guest experts offering insights into and tips for the best resources and techniques available for constructing their family’s Irish histories.

Please keep abreast of these exciting changes with our Twitter account. We invite you to follow us there, and follow others passionate about the Irish experience whose Tweets we follow. As well, we now have more than 1,200 fans on our Irish History Facebook Page, so connect with ‘family’ there as well, by "liking" us!

Our newsletter has undergone a major update, and now includes a new Irish History quiz, with a prize each week for the first to e-mail us the correct answer. In addition, the newsletter now offers the “Irish Minute,” news and features designed to be consumed in about a minute. This includes History News Briefly, upcoming events, and a weekly Q&A with individuals promoting the heritage of the Irish worldwide!

By the way, those of you who visit TheWildGeese.com and sign up for our newsletter will have a chance to win a $10 gift card for use in TheWildGeese.com Shops and other fine stores in the CafePress.com network.

We are also very excited to announce that our multimedia team is creating content for a new channel on YouTube, so stay tuned for more news about that launch.

This blog will be updated on a regular basis to keep you informed of all the exciting changes, so follow us on come back often. Remember to hop on over to TheWildGeese.com, and sign up for our newsletter for a chance to win that gift card!

‘Parting Glass’ speaks dramatically of hope and dashed Irish dreams, on pitch and dole

2011-07-23T15:41:00.007-04:00

"The Parting Glass," a brilliant one-man play, is now at the Barrow Street Theatre in New York City, through July 31. It was performed by the right man, a real Dub, Ray Yeates, and written by the right man, another real Dub, Dermot Bolger.

The play is based on the last 40 or so years of the Irish experience, as recalled by a Dublin man who has just landed in Dublin airport, returned from a football match in France, football being one passion that virtually all Irishmen can share (at least during the match).

The production demonstrates that playwright, novelist and poet Bolger, and William Shakespeare have a few things in common. Both men capture the essence of their times. Neither man is found wanting when it comes to turning a phrase, comic or otherwise. Neither is there a wasted word in the works of either man.

It would be hard for any future actor to match, much less beat, Eoin as most memorably performed by Yeates, who carried the emotions of the audience with him throughout the performance.

All credit to Niamh Ní Chonchubhair, who pulled together the axis: Ballymun production, and to the (thankfully air-conditioned, in the middle of this heat wave) Barrow Street Theatre. Don't miss it. -- Liam Murphy, Heritage Editor

PERFORMANCE DETAILS: Through July 31, 2011: Wednesday-Friday at 9PM; Saturday at 2:30 & 9PM; Sunday at 5PM. Tickets: (212) 868-4444 or www.smarttix.com <http://www.smarttix.com/>. Running time is 75 minutes. Anyone who mentions “AxisPG’ will receive a $15 discount on the $35 ticket. Mention you read this Hell’s Kitchen, the blog of TheWildGeese.com.

The Barrow Street Theatre is at 27 Barrow Street (at 7th Avenue), in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. The theatre's phone number is (212) 868-4444. For information about future venues or to book the production, contact Niamh Ní Chonchubhair <niamh.nichonchubhair@axisballymun.ie>.

SRO event launches Irish commemoration of America’s Civil War

2011-04-23T12:14:00.014-04:00

Dublin, Ireland - April 12 marked the 150th anniversary of the Confederate shelling of Fort Sumter, and with it the onset of America’s long and bloody Civil War. Two days later, the first recorded fatality of the five-year conflict occurred, with the death of Tipperary-born Federal Army Private Daniel Hough. Tens of thousands of native Irish would go on to die in the war.

(L to R above: Dr. Patrick Geoghegan, Professor Tom Bartlett, Robert Doyle and Dr. Úna Ní Bhroiméil.)

Hough served in the Federal garrison and, just as his command had surrendered to the Confederate forces, was killed by a misfired Union shell. Hough’s death is suggestive, if not defining, for of all the countries that provided combatants to the conflict, the Emerald Isle can claim the greatest connection to what one Irish historian termed “a huge event in world history.” Well more than 100,000 Irish emigrants served in defense of the Union, while nearly half that number fought under the flag of the Confederacy.

As the United States began its sesquicentennial commemorations of the war this month, The National Museum of Ireland organized and hosted a weekend of special events in Dublin. On April 16, eminent Irish historians presented a program of public lectures on their countrymen’s role in the war.

The program, titled “The Fighting Irish? Exploring the role of the Irish in the American Civil War,” was chaired by Dr. Úna Ní Bhroiméil. Presenters included Patrick Geoghegan, broadcaster and associate dean of research at Trinity College Dublin, and Tom Bartlett, professor at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. The speakers captivated a capacity crowd, dozens more than the 120 fortunate enough to gain seats in the Palatine Room, within the Museum of Decorative Arts and History in Collins Barracks, Dublin.

Bartlett outlined the roots of the conflict and the reasons for the South’s defeat after, as he put it, a “war of exhaustion and attrition.” According to Bartlett, the hordes of Irish emigrants who landed on the Eastern Seaboard during the 1850s and 1860s became an integral part of the Northern states’ superior resources, serving not just as soldiers but also as factory workers and laborers. Bartlett reminded those in attendance that while the war is perceived to have been a fight against slavery, the vast majority of the Irish chose their cause simply by dint of their location during the conflict.

Geoghegan addressed the Irish military experience in the war and brought to life many of the Irish-born characters, some not universally known. One such personality was Galway-born Confederate artillery commander Dick Dowling, who inflicted the war’s most one-sided defeat of Union forces when, it is reputed, he saved Texas from invasion at Sabine Pass in 1864. The silver medals (right) presented to Dowling and his men were hung on green ribbons in recognition of the Irish roots of Dowling and many in his command.

Another of Erin’s unsung participants, Geoghegan suggested, was musician, composer and bandleader extraordinaire Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore. A Union general gave Gilmore, another Galway man, the task of reorganizing military music. Gilmore’s most enduring legacy may well be writing the lyrics to the iconic song “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” and then pairing it with the tune of another Irish ballad to give America the song it knows so well today.

Also of surprise to many present was Geoghegan’s account of the role played by over 580 nuns and religious sisters in the war, 308 Irish-born. Tending to the sick and wounded under extreme conditions, the nuns were held in such respect that they could move freely between both Yankee and Rebel positions.

A co-producer of biographical website MylesKeogh.org, Robert Doyle (left), presented, recounting the wartime career of Myles Walter Keogh. Although probably best known as the Irish officer who served in George Armstrong Custer’s 7th U.S. Cavalry before being killed during “Custer’s Last Stand,” Keogh’s impressive military service in the Union Army stands as an equally enduring legacy of the Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, native.

Keogh received his “baptism of fire” at the Battle of Port Republic, where he almost captured a surprised General “Stonewall” Jackson. Keogh also served with valor in the command of Brigadier General John Buford, a hero of the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg, where Keogh was promoted after “gallant and meritorious conduct.”

Ending the war as a lieutenant colonel, Keogh had the distinction of leading the final cavalry charge of the war at the Battle of Salisbury in April 1865, three days after Confederate commander Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomatox to Major General Ulysses S. Grant, himself the grandson of a Tyrone emigrant.

Attendees posed numerous questions during the post-presentations question-and-answer session. Considering as well that many dozens had to be turned away from the event, the Irish public seems finally engaged in the effort to better understand the role that their countrymen and, indeed, countrywomen, played in one of the most far-reaching moments in American history.

In light of the enthusiasm on display, the April 16th event seems likely to be a precursor to commemorations and other public offerings in Ireland acknowledging the key role of the Irish in the American Civil War. Stay tuned to TheWildGeese.com for more about Ireland’s embrace of its veterans of the Irish nation’s “other Civil War.” WGT

The faithful recall ‘Manchester Martyrs’

2010-11-27T12:50:00.038-05:00

Some died on the glenside, some died near a stranger
And wise men have told us their cause was a failure
But they fought for old Ireland and never feared danger
Glory O, Glory O, to the bold Fenian men

-- From ‘The Bold Fenian Men’ by Peadar Kearney

Woodside, N.Y. – By May 1970, the contemporary "Troubles," which had begun the previous summer, were hot and getting hotter. The campaign for civil rights for Northern Ireland’s Catholics was in its seventh year. Internment was still a year away, but the British army had been patrolling Catholic neighborhoods for nine months, after the eruption of anti-Catholic violence the previous summer.

Below, Michael Flannery at a 1985 commemoration at Calvary Cemetery's Patriots Plot. Photo by Gerry Regan

Mindful of the rising tensions, here in New York, the triumvirate leading the

new Irish Northern Aid Committee -- Michael Flannery (from the Tipperary side of the parish of Clyduff), John McGowan (from Milltown-Malbay in Clare) and Jack McCarthy (from "Rebel" Cork) -- conducted an Irish republican commemoration that Memorial Day weekend.

All three men served in the Irish Republican Army during Ireland's War for Independence. Nor were any of them found wanting during the Civil War that followed, with the three choosing the anti-Treaty side. The situation at ‘home’ was most distressful, speakers made clear to the hundreds assembled on that clear and warm day, and Mother Ireland was again calling to her "Exiled Children in America."

Standing on that hallowed ground inspired virtually all in attendance. I was reminded of the Fenian Faith, of which Pádraic Pearse had spoken of so eloquently at the grave of O'Donovan Rossa in Glasnevin in 1915: Ireland had made progress toward freedom only through physical force or the threat of physical force; this was the lesson of history.

New York’s supporters of the Irish republican movement hold commemorations at different locations throughout the metro area, as there are so many significant republican sites here. But the Fenian plot at Calvary Cemetery is one place where time stands still, as it surely has for the Irish republicans buried within and nearby.

On Nov. 14, 40 years after that memorable 1970 commemoration, under the leadership of Cumann na Saoirse Náisiúnta (National Irish Freedom Committee), scores of the faithful again gathered at the Patriots Plot, this time on a crisp, clear Sunday morning.

Right, the Fenian monument and Patriots Plot in Calvary Cemetery. Its inscription reads: "Dedicated to the Memory of the Men of 1865-1867 by the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood Veterans Association 1907. Color photos at Calvary Cemetery Cumann na Saoirse Náisiúnta / Tom Costello

Séamus Ó Dubhda, who read Forógra na Cáisce, the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, as Gaedhilge (in Irish), had attended in 1970, and shared my clear memories of the emotion of the event. The focus again was on the Fenians, and the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, founded in Dublin, on Saint Patrick's Day 1858, at the urging of Irish exiles in New York, most escaped veterans of the 1848 Rising.

‘God Save Ireland,’ cried the heroes

Chairing the commemoration were the artist Brian Mór Ó Baoighill and Siobhán Enright, but the actual management of the ceremonies was entrusted to Maggie Trainor. Speakers invoked the legacy of “The Manchester Martyrs" -- William Philip Allen, Michael Larkin and Captain Michael O’Brien.

Left, Maggie Trainor of Cumann na Saiorse Naisiunta conducting the memorial ceremony.

The three were hanged on the cold damp, foggy morning of Nov. 23, 1867, in Manchester, England. During their show trial, a fourth defendant, Capt. Edward O’Meagher Condon (like O’Brien, a United States citizen and veteran of America’s Civil War) was asked if he had anything to say. He famously replied, “I have nothing to retract – nothing to take back. I can only say ‘God Save Ireland.' ”

"God Save Ireland!" was the immediate and spontaneous cry from the other three, which was reported in the press throughout the world. The drama and emotion of that moment inspired T.D. Sullivan to write the still popular “God Save Ireland,” which became a virtual national anthem for Ireland, until superseded by “Amhrán na bFian” during Easter Week 1916.

The program began with recitations of "The Bold Fenian Men,” and the Easter Week 1916 Proclamation by Ó Dubhda. J.J. Jacobs spoke about Fenian commander Thomas Kelly, a printer by trade, who emigrated from Mount Bellew, County Galway, in 1851. (The house where Kelly was born is now a pub, named "Kelly's," still in the family.)

Directly, Kelly fell in with 1848 exiles in New York and participated both in the Emmet Monument Association and in the "Irish Brigade" (of Young Ireland) organized within the New York State Militia during the 1850s. He relocated to Nashville, Tenn., and started a Democratic newspaper (and apparently organized for the Fenian Brotherhood among Nashville's many Irish). When the American Civil War broke out, he fell in with a newly organized Irish regiment, the 10th Ohio Infantry, achieving the rank of captain.

When Kelly’s regiment was mustered out, he continued his military service with the Fenian Brotherhood, on both sides of the Atlantic, rising to the rank of colonel. By 1867 Kelly had succeeded James Stephens as Chief Organizer of the Irish Republic. This made him the most wanted man in the British Empire.

‘Smashing of the Van’

Kelly, and the top Fenian in England, Capt. Timothy Deasy (of Clonakilty, County Cork, and of the "Irish 9th" Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry), were captured in Manchester, and then sprung from a prison van by a group of Fenians organized by Condon on Sept. 18, 1867 -- an event known to history as "The Smashing of the Van." Police Sgt. Charles Brett was killed in the effort, when he peered through the key hole of the van's door just as the rescuers fired at the lock to break it.

Right, the reverse side of the IRB Monument in Calvary Cemetery.

The round-up of Irish suspects that followed led to the trial and execution of the Manchester Martyrs. Kelly and Deasy escaped to America. A new granite stone on the grave of Thomas Kelly, in The Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, was dedicated on May 31, 2008, little over a century after Kelly's death. Timothy Deasy also received a new granite stone on his grave in Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Lawrence, Mass., on Nov. 23, 1992, the dedication organized by Bob Bateman, great-grandson of Timothy’s brother Cornelius – also a Fenian; the principal speaker was Derek Warfield of The Wolfe Tones, himself the grandson of a Fenian.

The successes of the Irish Republican Army from 1917 to 1921 drew sustenance and inspiration, from, in the words of the Easter Proclamation, “the dead generations from which (Ireland) receives her old tradition of nationhood.” This repeated assertion of Irish nationhood, at great personal cost, remains the enduring legacy of the Fenians, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) in Ireland, and later Clan na Gael in America.

Vic Sackett spoke of the mission of the Fenian Graves Association. Patriot Graves are the hallowed resting places of heroes, and as such due all respect. The proper keeping of such graves is an obligation of the living, not only to the occupants of such graves, but also to our posterity, who might better remember and learn from the example of our heroes. Inspired by the National Graves Association in Ireland, The Fenian Graves Association is preparing a register of the graves of Ireland's patriot dead in the New World

Below, Liam Ó Murchú delivers the keynote address.

T
omás Ó Coisdealbha

spoke of the need for various, continuing activities to tell Ireland's story, not only to the world, but also to keep Irish traditions alive throughout the diaspora.

The penultimate item of business was the laying of a wreath on the Fenian monument by Ian McGowan, archivist and historian of the Winged Fist Organization, successor to the Irish-American Athletic Club, which had provided venues and support to the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood Veterans Association, which erected the monument in 1907.

McGowan pointed out that the grave of Condon, who later wrote “The Irish Race in America,” was located nearby in Calvary. The commemoration, which was video-recorded by Micheál Ó Coisdealbha, ended with the singing of Thomas Davis’ patriotic masterpiece, "A Nation Once Again." WGT

Related Resources:

Liam Ó Murchú key not address: The Bold Fenian Men, the IRB and 1916

Easter Monday 1916: 'They Have Left Us Our Fenian Dad' From TheWildGeese.com

Cumann na Saoirse Náisiúnta (National Irish Freedom Committee)

CAIN Web Service: Conflict and Politics in Northern Ireland (1968 to the Present)

"Buried in Patriot’s Plot: Taps sounded over John Neary, Fenian and suspect." New York Times, June 19, 1893

Winged Fist Organization

Fenian Graves Association

Buy “The Irish Race in America” by Edward O’Meagher Condon, A.E. & R.E. Ford Publishers, 1887 (Amazon.com)

‘The Bold Fenian Men’ (Wikipedia)

Derek Warfield and The Young Wolfe Tones perform "A Nation Once Again" (YouTube)

The Clancy Brothers perform "Down by the Glenside" (YouTube)

Immigrant dreams founder off Long Island

2010-11-23T20:06:00.019-05:00

I look where the ship helplessly heads end on,

I hear the burst as she strikes,
I hear the howls of dismay,
They grow fainter and fainter.
– From "The Sleepers" by Walt Whitman

Lynbrook, N.Y. -- The immigrant voyage of millions of Irish to America was legendary for its trials. But perhaps none who ventured out into the Atlantic had as perilous and tragic a journey as the 100 or so Irish men, women and children who set forth in October 1836 on the barque Mexico and the ship Bristol.

Little remembered today, the wrecks of these two vessels, with the loss of 215 lives off Long Island’s South Shore, shocked all who heard or read of them, and made for spectacular headlines for months to come. Taken together, the wrecks were among the deadliest maritime accidents in U.S. history to that time.

Right, a Currier print of the wreck of the Mexico.

Most of the victims on the Bristol drowned after a rogue wave washed over the deck and below decks, as the ship remained stuck about 400 yards offshore. The Mexico’s casualties, including 36 women and 22 passengers below the age of 11, froze to death while waiting on the deck for a rescue effort that never came.

Their fates augured wholesale change in the government’s laissez-faire neglect of the maritime industry, with measures better insuring safer travel along the Atlantic seaboard, including tasking federal revenue cutters, which evolved into the Coast Guard, with sea rescues.

The avoidable deaths of so many so close to land, perishing so wretchedly, gripped the nation’s imagination. Even poet Walt Whitman, 17 at the time and living on Long Island, later vividly wrote about the event, most notably in his poem, “The Sleepers,” from “Leaves of Grass.”
For the past three years, the ships’ ill-fated passages have been the subject of an annual commemoration, held the Friday before Thanksgiving, sponsored by two local groups -- the Gaelic Society of the Parish of St. Agnes Cathedral and The Historical Society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook.

Members of the groups gather at Rockville Cemetery, at the Mariners Burial Ground and its monument, unveiled in 1840 to commemorate the wrecks’ victims. The plot’s marble obelisk was funded through donations from local farmers and baymen, and from money salvaged from the dead who lacked next of kin to claim their remains.

This year’s 15-minute service drew Lynbrook village historian Arthur S. Mattson and 10 others. During the rites, Mattson read from the casualty list of the Mexico, from his new book, titled “Water and Ice: The Tragic Wrecks of the Bristol and Mexico on the South Shore of Long Island” (Lynbrook Historical Books, 2010, 288 pages, illustrated).

The compendium read like an Irish directory, with 54 of the 115 dead having originated in Ireland, bearing surnames such as Barrett, Brennan, Burns, Devine, Dwyer, Dolan, Higgins and so on.

Mattson talked, in particular, about five young women from County Cavan aboard the Mexico “who died taking such a gamble to get to America.” The five women from Cavan, Margaret Barrett, 25; Bridget Devine, 20; Catharine Galligan, 25; Mary Smith, 25; and Eleanor Tierney, 18, were among 10 from the county on the ship, along with seven passengers from Cork and seven from Dublin. Thirty other passengers described their homelands simply as Ireland when arranging for their passages.

Records from the Bristol are spottier, but revealingly 18 of the 19 steerage passengers who survived the Bristol’s wreck were Irish, from among the 68 traveling steerage. These included John Carr, from Kildare; William Dairy, a laborer from Derry, along with his wife or sister Elizabeth; Richard Faulkner and Peter Markey from County Louth; John Finnigan, a wheelwright, and Michael McGintry, from Dublin; James Gaffney, from Cavan; Patrick and Thomas O’Mealy, and Michael and Catharine Mooney, from Offaly; three members of the Warren family from Wicklow; and a deaf mute from Derry, known only as Michael, 40 years of age.

Below, at Lynbrook's Mariners Burial Ground, after Friday's commemoration (left to right), John Raphael, Bill Carroll, Debbie Wynne, Patricia McGivern, Joe Beyrer (piper), Bob Sympson, and historian Art Mattson.

Closing the ceremony, bagpiper Joe Beyrer, a Rockville Centre resident and Lynbrook middle-school teacher, played a medley comprising “Amazing Grace,” “Going Home,” and finally “The Bristol” (named for the English city, not the ship). Wrote Mattson later, in an article for the local newspaper: “It felt as if his music penetrated the earth to the remains of those young girls, and flew to heaven.”

Speculation arose during conversations after the ceremony: Did the 10 emigrants from Cavan hail from the same townland, perhaps driven from their tenant holdings by a hardscrabble economy or a mercenary landlord? Mattson expressed a desire to learn more about the circumstances of these 10, noting he never before considered that they may have traveled from their homes together.

Mattson takes pains in his book to create the context for their exodus. Citing research by Arthur Gribben (“The Great Famine and the Irish Diaspora in America,” 1999) and Stanley Johnson (“History of Emigration,” 1913), Mattson, in “Water and Ice,” points to what Irish peasants faced by 1836 – elimination of home-based work by a depression a decade earlier, the advent of factories, periods of localized potato blight, and a dramatic rise in population.

After the ceremony Mattson wrote: “We all – Catholics, Protestants, and anyone else – bowed our heads as the ‘Hail Mary’ and ‘Our Father’ were said. There is no doubt in my mind that many of the girls lying nearby prayed the identical prayers that we were saying, as they stood on the deck of their wrecked ship in zero-degree weather just 200 yards off Long Beach – and slowly froze to death in sight of the land of their dreams, America.

“As the son of immigrants, I am thankful for brave people like these, the risk takers, who made America what she is today.”

FRONT AND CENTER: Those present at the ceremony included Bill Carroll and Debbie Wynne, who co-founded the Gaelic Society at St. Agnes Cathedral in 1982; Bob Sympson from The Historical Society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook; Patricia McGivern, a member of both organizations; and John Raphael, president of the Gaelic Society. (Contact John Raphael, at 516-678-1008, for more information about the Gaelic Society, which will host a Mass at the Cathedral, Saturday, Dec. 5, in honor of deceased members.)

_____________________________________________________

THE CRUEL FATES OF THE BRISTOL AND MEXICO

The Bristol departed The Prince’s Dock, in Liverpool, on Oct. 15, eight days before the Mexico and foundered off the beach of Far Rockaway, Nov. 21, 1836, with the loss of 100 -- 95 of 127 passengers and 5 of 17 crew members. The ship had been waiting since dark for a pilot to arrive to guide them through the Narrows, but the New York pilots, who then had a monopoly and little regulation, ignored the captain’s signaling, preferring to keep the Sabbath.

Above, Thomas Chambers' painting, “Rockaway Beach, New York, with the Wreck of the Ship Bristol,” c. 1840. (Indiana University Art Museum)

Later that evening, a storm, strong currents and a crewman’s error drove the Bristol toward Rockaway Shoals. With the ship grounded, pounding seas destroyed the ship’s two lifeboats. Soon, a rogue wave washed over the Bristol, stripping the ship’s hatches. Subsequent waves surged below decks, trapping 49 of 68 steerage passengers, and the rising water level took their lives. Many passengers in the more-costly quarters also drowned.

The Mexico, meanwhile, had a much more difficult crossing, encountering nearly constant storms and pummeling seas, and took 71 days, twice as long as the Bristol, to reach New York. Arriving New Year’s Eve, Captain Charles Winslow signaled for a pilot’s assistance to get to a berth in Manhattan.

Tragically, callously, the pilots had adjourned to a Manhattan saloon to ring in the New Year, according to local historian Arthur S. Mattson. Winslow tried to keep the ship away from the treacherous shorelines while he waited for a pilot to finally respond to his signals, but currents, a navigation error, and a storm carried his ship to the Long Beach shore.

As well, the Mexico was overloaded, with a cargo of iron bars and coal, which added to the difficulties facing its crew during the crossing and in keeping from the shoals. In fact, the ship’s 111 passengers were, in the eyes of the ship’s owners, merely a commodity, occupying a cargo deck leased to a passenger broker.

The crew of the Mexico, weakened by the punishing waves, frigid temperatures, and weeks of battling high winds and flailing seas, and hampered by temperatures of 3 degrees Fahrenheit, lost both lifeboats in launch attempts. Not till 3 p.m., four hours later, did a rescue boat reach the Mexico, led by 51-year-old local wreck-master Raynor “Rock” Smith, who ignored the perils the waters posed to his long boat and six-man crew.

Smith’s boat had been pulled as much as eight miles by a horse or team of horses across land and frozen bays and inlets to reach the beach. He and his men took in eight survivors, including Winslow, four other crewmembers, and three passengers who had volunteered to help crew the ship. The remaining 108, severely famished, terrified passengers were left behind.

Captain Winslow prepares to jump into 'Rock' Smith's rescue boat, leaving the ship's mostly Irish passengers to fend for themselves.

Those remaining could only hope that the boat, or others like it, would return. Day turned to night, though, as Smith and his crew, and other would-be rescuers refused to risk another trip to the Mexico as the seas churned unabated.

A correspondent for the Morning Courier and New York Express described the aftermath: “When (passengers) perceived that no further help came from the land, their piercing shrieks were distinctly heard at a considerable distance, and continued through the night until they one by one perished. The next morning the bodies of the many unhappy creatures were seen lashed to different parts of the wreck, embedded in ice.” WGT

More Resources:

Two contemporary accounts of the Wreck of the Bristol
Raynor ‘Rock’ Smith, Rescuer at the Mexico: A Brief Biography
Amazon.com: Buy “Water and Ice: The Tragic Wreck of the Bristol and the Mexico on the South Shore of Long Island,” by Arthur S. Mattson, the definitive history of the wrecks of the Bristol and Mexico at Amazon.com.
The Historical Society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook.

Remembering Dan Kelly of Tir Chonaill

2010-11-09T21:46:00.020-05:00

About Ben Burb: Between 1641 and 1649, for the first time since the Norman conquest, and before the 20th century, Ireland was recognized by major powers in Europe as an independent nation. Even though the Cromwellian conquest of 1649-1650 put an end to Catholic Ireland's revolution, it nevertheless ranks as one of the most successful revolts of early modern history. The brightest star in the Gaelic firmament then, and among the greatest still, was Eoghan Ruadh O’Neill (Owen Roe). Toward that sovereign republic, his crowning achievement was the Battle of Benburb, fought June 5, 1646, whence the name for this column, "Ben Burb," which will explore the military history and heritage of the Irish and related topics.

Scarsdale, N.Y. -- If there was ever a man who demonstrated that one need not raise one's voice to shrillness to be heard, it was Donegal native Dan Kelly, a successful entrepreneur who spent a good part of his last few decades furthering the heritage of his people, on both sides of the Atlantic. For those efforts, and with great personal regard, we salute Dan, who died Oct. 14, aged 82.

A visit with Dan was always most pleasant, and one walked away with a bit more knowledge or appreciation of a subject or subjects that may not even have occasioned the visit. If it wasn't because of Dan alone, it was an unanticipated conversation with another visitor. Always the gentleman, he did not let his good manners impede his work, or getting others to work, on any project dear to his heart. His projects were many and varied, and earned for him Papal Knighthoods, the friendship of patriots, Irish and American alike, and the gratitude of many. For several years he sponsored road races, and other activities beneficial to the community.

Dan (right) was one of seven children born to Patrick and Mary Furey Kelly. While he was born in Brooklyn, he was raised in a part of Ireland's northern province of Ulster, not under English occupation, in Frosses in County Donegal, and always considered himself a Christian Brothers “boy,” having graduated from the order’s academy there. Once, over a cup of tea in his kitchen, he told me that Frosses was the unfriendliest town in all Ireland.

"How in ever could that be!" said I in surprised disbelief. "Well, the people on one side of the street don't even speak to the people on the other side of the street," he continued. He added, "Here, this picture will help you to understand." It was a post-card photo of Frosses. There was only the one road leading into the town. Dan went on to explain what was obviously a localism. On the right-hand side of the road were all of the houses, on the left side was the cemetery. He then handed me the post card, to keep as a reminder of our conversation about the town that he really did love so well. Dan had a warm sense of humor, and a winning smile to go with it.

Although he was not old enough to have seen combat in the Second World War, Dan enlisted in the U.S. Army after his return to New York, and was assigned to the Army of Occupation in Germany. Soldiers like Dan were there to keep the peace; they took the places of older men, who had borne the battle and earned the right to return home. Dan developed a deep appreciation for the American military, which would remain with him throughout his life. After his release from active duty, Dan would spend most of the rest of his life living in Westchester County, in the upscale suburb of Scarsdale, north of New York City, and working and doing business both in Westchester and in The Bronx.

In 1959, Dan Kelly and his brothers founded Kelly Furniture, which became one of the leading furniture retailers in the greater New York Metro Area. Its success was due to the imagination and hard work both of Dan and of his brother Clyde. Dan would roam the globe looking for good deals in furniture, from Peru, to Taiwan, to Indonesia, and to any number of equally exotic venues. He always came back, not only with quality furniture, at a good price, but also with tales of his adventures; in his own quiet way, he was nearly another Lowell Thomas.

Dan took his religion seriously, and took Our Lord at his word in the matter of charity, and in the “Sermon on the Mount." A successful businessman, he supported a number of worthy charities, also believing in sweat equity; Dan could be found, on Thanksgiving or on Christmas, working in the soup kitchen of Catholic Charities. His many good works were eventually recognized by His Holiness John Paul II, who conferred a number of knighthoods on him. Among these were Knight Commander of the Hospitallers of Saint John of Malta, the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher and the Order of Saint Sylvester. He also received the Royal Savoy Orders of Maurice and of Lazarus. From time to time, one could notice another photo on the shelf of Dan with the Holy Father, or with an archbishop somewhere in the Levant. Dan was also a Chevalier Commandeur of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, Priory of Saint Patrick.

Dan Kelly was a New Yorker through and through, but he never forgot where he came from; he had one foot planted firmly in each culture, and believed that Irish immigrants should not only contribute to the material prosperity of their new American home, but that they should offer what was best in Irish culture for the enrichment of American life. In his activity, primarily with the County Donegal Association, but also with the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America, and with the New York Saint Patrick's Day Parade and Celebration Committee, he practiced what he preached.

A man with a great sense of history, among his several Irish-American military history activities, Dan spearheaded (and underwrote, although he never claimed credit for his financing of it) a 1992 joint project of the Donegal Association and the Irish Brigade Association that resulted in the erection of a six-foot granite, Celtic Cross on the grave, in First Calvary Cemetery, of Captain (Acting Lieutenant Colonel) James Haggerty of the 69th New York State Militia. A native of Glenswilly, County Donegal, Haggerty was killed in the first major battle of the American Civil War, at Bull Run (also known as the Battle of 1st Manassas), which occurred July 21, 1861. Haggerty was a Fenian, and the first officer of the 69th to be killed in battle. The organizations also published a brilliant historical monograph on Haggerty, by James F. McLoughlin of the County Donegal Association.

The last few time I stopped by, Dan was not at home, and I assumed that he was still globetrotting. Dan is survived by his brother and business partner Clyde Kelly; his sister-in-law Mira Kelly; his three nieces, Stephanie, Desiree and Athena, whom he adored and treated alike they were his own children, as well as four grand-nieces, Reilly, Phoebe, Leila and Alexa, whom he absolutely cherished. Mass of Christian Burial for Dan Kelly was celebrated in Our Lady's Chapel in Manhattan’s famed Saint Patrick's Cathedral, on Oct. 19, his body borne along Fifth Avenue, which Dan proudly strode down each March 17. In the end he was found faithful, do chum Gloire De, agus onora na hEireann.

Tá fear breá agus mac fíor Dhún na nGall.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.

More Resources:

EDITOR'S NOTE: Our new columnist, Liam Murphy, is Heritage Editor of TheWildGeese.com, and also serves as military liaison for The New York Saint Patrick's Day Parade and Celebration Committee. A native of Irvington, N.Y., Liam is a former editor of the National Hibernian Digest, and a member of AOH Division 11, in Tarrytown, N.Y. He was a co-founder of the Irish Brigade Association, served as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, and as vice president of the Civil War Round Table at Virginia Miitary Institute, where he earned his undergraduate degree. He holds a Masters degree in American history from Fordham University. Liam can be reached via e-mail at liam@TheWildGeese.com.

Professor, with an eye on the 18th century, gets coveted full-time post at NYU's Irish Studies

2010-11-01T21:54:00.012-04:00

We enjoyed A. Roger Ekirch’s presentation at NYU’s Glucksman Ireland House on Thursday, focused on James Annesley, born in County Wexford, whose litigated claim to the title Earl of Anglesea spawned five novels, including most famously, the epic “Kidnapped,” by Robert Louis Stevenson. Ekirch, a professor of history at Virginia Tech, proved to be both folksy and expert as he highlighted Annesley’s dramatic, and troubled, life. Ekirch’s latest book, focused on Annesley, is “Birthright: The True Story That Inspired ‘Kidnapped,” published in February by Norton.

Left to right, Virginia Tech history professor A. Roger Ekirch, Ireland House Associate Director Eileen Reilly and NYU’s Irish Studies professor Tom Truxes at NYU’s Glucksman Ireland House last Thursday night. Photos by Gerry Regan

Before the presentation, Ireland House Associate Director Eileen Reilly announced that Thomas Truxes, who introduced Ekirch to the 25 in attendance, had just received a full-time appointment to NYU’s Irish Studies Program and History Department by the school's College of Arts and Science. With the contract (nontenured) appointment, Truxes becomes a regular faculty member instead of a recurring adjunct. He is currently teaching an undergraduate course, “The Irish in America (1580-1850),” and the first half of the two-part history sequence in Ireland House’s MA program (a degree in Irish and Irish-American Studies), along with a graduate seminar called “History of Modern Ireland I,” covering Elizabethan Ireland to the Act of Union. Next semester, Truxes is slated to teach an undergraduate course, “Ireland in the Age of Revolution, 1750-1803.”

Thomas M. Truxes (below), a professor at NYU Irish Studies, focuses on trans-Atlantic trade in the 18th century.

Truxes and his wife lived in an apartment in Trinity College Dublin’s Trinity Hall in 1976, while he was researching for his Ph.D. We enjoyed reminiscing with him about our time at TCD, in 1974, when a good hamburger was as rare as a tenured position today. Truxes, who early in his career earned an MBA, seems a dogged and passionate researcher, as well as passionaate writer and teacher. One of his research interests is the history of trade between Ireland and the American colonies in the era before the American Revolution. His most recent book is titled “Defying Empire: Trading with the Enemy in Colonial New York,” published by Yale University Press in 2008.

Check out Truxes’ most engaging website, which includes weekly postings, including his latest, an article culled from a 1717 newspaper, headlined, “Mermaid Endangers Mediterranean Shipping.” Ger

Resources:

* Professor Thomas M. Truxes http://www.thomasmtruxes.com/

* NYU’s Glucksman Ireland House http://irelandhouse.fas.nyu.edu/page/home

* Stranger than fiction: the true story behind Kidnapped, The Guardian, Feb. 18, 2010

* Trinity Hall, University of Dublin, Trinity College from Wikipedia

The Jackie Clarke Library and Archives, Ballina, Mayo

2010-10-17T12:00:00.005-04:00

This is one of the most important Irish collections in the world. Its breadth and importance, once only known to its creator, is now being made available to all.

The Jackie Clarke Library and Archive contains over 100,000 items including many unique documents that scholars had believed to be lost - sole surviving copies of publications, rare handbills and proclamations, unpublished manuscripts and political writings. The sheer range of this collection is breathtaking. It was put together during the lifetime of one man, Jackie Clarke, (1928-2000). Spanning nearly 400 years of Irish history, its earliest documents date from the early 1600s, its final documents were collected by Jackie Clarke in 2000, the year of his death.

This treasure trove of items can be compared with the scale of other collectors around the world, but in Irish terms, in the era it was collected, Jackie Clarke stands alone as the single most important private collector; an Irishman collecting Irish history for his own people. Due to the generosity of Mrs Ann Clarke who has gifted in perpetuity her husband’s library and archives to Mayo County Council, the Irish nation and the world will have access to this unique and priceless collection.

The Jackie Clarke Library and Archive, now under the stewardship of Mayo County Council, will become an education and cultural centre of international significance. Mayo County Council has embraced the opportunity of showcasing this library and archives to the highest international standards. Mayo County Council has purchased a superb location to house the Jackie Clarke Library and Archives; the former Provincial Bank was designed by Thomas Manly Deane, architect of some of Ireland’s most impressive buildings including the National Library of Ireland. The Jackie Clarke Library and Archives will be a world-class facility for those seeking ‘an authentic experience’ in Ireland.

The Library and Archives is currently closed to the public. Cataloguing of this vast collection is ongoing. Phase one of the restoration work on the former Provincial bank, the new home for the Jackie Clarke Library and Archives will commence in 2010.

See a Youtube presentation on the colletion here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCKnMQ8FCUg

Curator/Manager

Sinéad McCoole
The Jackie Clarke Library and Archives
Pearse Street, Ballina, Co Mayo.
Phone: +353 (0)96 70833
Email: smccoole@mayococo.ie

At 7pm on Thursday, 21 October 2010 at Glucksman Ireland House NYU, Sinéad McCoole, Curator of the Jackie Clarke Library and Archive in Mayo, discusses the extraordinary yet reticent man who built a collection of over ten thousand items spanning four hundred years.

In accordance with his wishes, his widow Anne Clarke gave the Jackie Clarke Library and Archives in perpetuity to Mayo Co. Council on condition that the collection remains permanently in Ballina. The material spans 400 years. The earliest item dates from 1617. It includes many important and rare books on the history of Ireland, manuscripts, photographs, legal papers, pamphlets, hand-bills, film, political autograph books, letters, cartoons, maps and proclamations. It will be an important resource for scholars and writers and a significant addition to the cultural tourism of Mayo.

Historian Sinéad McCoole, curator of the collection and author of Hazel: A Life of Lady Lavery and Guns and Chiffon: Women Revolutionaries and Kilmainham Gaol, and Vincent Virga, picture-editor, author of "Cartographia: Mapping Civilizations" and co-author of "Eyes of the Nation: A Visual History of the United States," discuss the importance of the archive locally and nationally.

Free admission to Members of Glucksman Ireland House and to all students/faculty with a valid NYU I.D. card. For non-members: $10 donation at the door. In order to ensure a seat at events, please RSVP to 212-998-3950 or email ireland.house@nyu.edu.

'Wife to James Whelan’: A morality tale of ambition

2010-09-29T21:05:00.009-04:00

New York -- The Abbey Theatre, the National Theatre of Ireland, is a cherished institution in Ireland, and renowned in much of the Western world. Mint Theater in Manhattan, while not quite in the same stratosphere, seems pushing into the Abbey’s rarified space with its production of “Wife to James Whelan.”

In the case of the three-act play, Mint has certainly demonstrated superior judgment. The Abbey, under the direction of one-time Blue Shirt Ernest Blythe, in the early 1940s rejected the play, by Waterford-born Teresa Deevy (above left), deeming its characters too reminiscent of those in an earlier play of hers at the theater. The decision led Deevy on a spiral to obscurity, despite the fact that she was then seen as one of Ireland’s most promising playwrights, with the Abbey staging of six of her plays in seven years in the 1930s. She died virtually unknown in Ireland in 1963, aged 68.

“Wife,” whose extended run ends this Sunday, offers a rare and welcome glimpse not only into the burgeoning sensibilities of 1930s middle-class Ireland, but on the difficulties of connecting with a life’s partner, and what that failure can come to mean. That, of course, is a universal theme, and the Mint production, led by artistic director Jonathan Bank, presents it with unstinting poignancy and panache.

Act 1 of the play is set at a gathering spot in the Irish village of Kilbeggan. Tom Carey, the older, steadier hand in the octet of characters that populate the play, is seen reading a copy of the Westmeath Herald, an interesting prop considering there is a Kilbeggan in Westmeath, which lies in the proverbial “heart” of the country. The locals are speculating that James Whelan, one of 12 in town who vied for a coveted job in Dublin, may get the nod.

Whelan, in fact, is off to Dublin. The ambitious 25-year-old, portrayed by Shawn Fagan, and his girl, Nan Bowers (Janie Brookshire) must now determine exactly what their relationship means to each other. With Whelan off in the morning, Nan suggests that James seems a bit too happy at the prospect of leaving her.

“An old cap, yes, that’s what you are, nothing better,” Whelan tells her, with only partial conviction, his exasperation and anger growing as he senses Nan’s skepticism about their relationship.

Whelan is ready to move on, one feels, though clearly he is putting a happy face atop his ambivalence. His impending move redefines his relationships with all the villagers, and not for the better.

“You never give in, you never think of another person,” Nan scolds Whelan. Later, Nan, with typical small-town ennui, cautions Whelan before he leaves, “There’s no use trying anything.” He’s not buying it, though, despite the hard economic times.

Acts 2 and 3 of the 150-minute-long play are set in a Dublin office seven years later. Whelan is now a successful entrepreneur, intoxicated by what he senses are his boundless opportunities for success. But there seems something missing for Whelan. Meanwhile, other ex-villagers, including Nan, become supplicants and pawns in his climb to achieve his version of “freedom.”

Despite the sober theme, there are abundant comic touches in the play, particularly in scenes with blonde actress Liv Rooth, who portrays vamp Nora Keane. Her self-made father gave Whelan his first break in the big city, and now Nora sees the hard-driving Whelan as a suitable match for her bourgeois pedigree.

In one of the play’s many light-hearted moments, Nora asks Whelan flirtatiously, “Would you be a hard master?” as she joins the queue looking to capitalize on his drive and success. Whelan, though, seems threatened by her overture. We are invited to consider, then, even if Whelan won’t, “has he really moved on from Nan?” And is “freedom” really free? The search for answers informs the rest of the play.

Nan, now a young widow, returns to Whelan’s life at the opening of Act 2. In a series of powerful, poignant and even explosive encounters, the pair must redefine their relationship, and reassess their choices.

Fagan’s work as Whelan is haunting and commanding. In Acts 2 and 3, Fagan’s character becomes a force of nature, relentless in his ambition, which seems ready to steamroll over any and all. His hard-charging character comes to display authentic ticks, emblematic of a man driven and oblivious – Whelan licking his lips, mindlessly inserting his tongue into his cheek, and on occasion snorting.

Bravo, in fact, to the entire ensemble, for bringing to life the riveting world created by Deevy, who lost her hearing at age 20, a loss that improbably inspired her to pursue drama. Aidan Redmond, the only cast member hailing from Ireland, portrays Tom Carey. Rosie Benton as Kate Moran, Jeremy S. Holm as Bill McGafferty, Thomas Matthew Kelley as Jack McClinsey, and Jon Fletcher as Kate’s brother “Apollo” round out the exceptional cast.

“You can move or stand still, but you’re (always) up against something,” Whelan tells his friends as he readies himself for the move to Dublin. That “something” is what this Mint production leverages in this remarkably astute and adept production. -- Ger

RELATED RESOURCES

Teresa Deevy, deaf, very talented, draws spotlight after Abbey rebuff

The Mint Theater Presents 'Wife to James Whelan'

Ernest Blythe

3rd Annual Festival of Irish Theatre, Sept. 7-Oct. 3

'Father of the American Band' hailed by Manhattan parish

2010-09-26T17:46:00.014-04:00

New York – Friday was a particularly auspicious day to bear the name Patrick in the grand environs of Chelsea's Church of St. Francis Xavier, despite the fact that it is nearly six months to St. Patrick’s Day.

More than 30 faithful gathered in the pews of the august church, as the parish's midday Mass focused attention on the legacies of Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, one of America's greatest bandleaders, and Patrick Keely, one of the nation's most prolific and distinguished church architects.

“We’re remembering Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (above left) for his music, his dedication to the (Roman Catholic) Church and to our parish,” the Rev. Joseph Costantino, the pastor of the Jesuit-founded and administered parish, said at the start of the parish's daily midday Mass. Meanwhile, the church itself, built in 1882 and newly restored with the help of an $11.4 million capital campaign, stood as a testimonial to Tipperary native Keely, its designer.

The Sept. 24th anniversary of Gilmore’s death in 1892, in St. Louis, occasioned the Mass' focus. Jarlath MacNamara (right), a music teacher in Leixlip, County Kildare, had suggested the commemoration to the parish, and MacNamara spoke at the Mass’ end for eight minutes on Gilmore’s legacy. In 1880, Gilmore and his band headlined a benefit concert to raise money for the construction of the current church edifice. MacNamara, like Gilmore, was born in Ballygar, County Galway.

MacNamara has made it his life’s work to advocate for Gilmore’s contributions to the United States, Gilmore’s adopted country, and to Ireland. These include leading the first official New Year’s Eve celebrations in Manhattan, playing with his band at President Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration dinner and leading his band at the head of seven presidential inauguration parades. An ardent advocate for Irish home rule, Gilmore and his musicians held concerts in Manhattan for Charles Stewart Parnell’s Parliamentary Party and for Michael Davitt’s Land League. Gilmore was by 1892 already a musical legend throughout much of the Western world.

As much front of mind as Sarsfield was the newly restored church itself, designed by Tipperary native Keely (left), among more than 600 he helped build in the United States during his long and legendary career. Keely (left), a carpenter by trade, became the most sought-after Catholic church designer in the United States. St. Brigid’s, built in 1848, renowned as “The Famine Church” in lower Manhattan, was one of his first commissions.

Among those at the service were Bill Cobert, a former executive director of the American Irish Historical Society; MacNamara’s sister Anne Hurley and her husband, Liam, visiting from Toronto; Patrick Brewis, the parish’s director of stewardship; and Michael and Susan Gilmore, who traveled from Cottonwood, Calif. Michael Gilmore’s great-great grandfather John was P. S. Gilmore’s brother, and the family owns an ornamental saber of the bandleader.

St. Francis Xavier’s current church (right) is the parish’s third, replacing a structure built in 1850 that the parish outgrew. The parish’s first church, between Bowery and Elizabeth Street, was purchased from a Protestant denomination in 1847. Jesuit priest John Larkin, who arranged the purchase, founded the parish at the direction of his superiors. That church was destroyed by fire within a year of its establishment.

MacNamara is writing a biography of Gilmore, in which, he says, he will counter the many “myths” he says have arisen about the man generally regarded as the “Father of the American Band” and the English-speaking world’s first entertainment “superstar.” Sarsfield is buried in First Calvary Cemetery, in Woodside, Queens. WGT

RELATED RESOURCES:

History of the National Peace Jubilee and Great Musical Festival: Held in the City of Boston, June, 1869, to Commemorate the Restoration of Peace Throughout the Land by Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore

Our Band Heritage Volume Seven - A Tribute to Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore:
The Allentown Band

Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore Society

Patrick Keely biography from Wikipedia

Keely Society homepage

Church of St. Francis Xavier SJ (RC)

More Photos From the Commemoration (TheWildGeese.com)

Honoring Father William “Fair Catch” Corby

2010-09-23T21:57:00.004-04:00

On the broiling afternoon of July 2, 1863, just south of Gettysburg, Pa., a Catholic priest in a black frock coat mounted a rock and raised his right hand in the direction of a Union army unit known to history as “The Irish Brigade.” The brigade’s men were moments from marching to a soon-to-be-blood-soaked section of that historic battlefield, now called simply “The Wheatfield.”

As Father William Corby (monument, right), chaplain of the Brigade and son of an Irish immigrant father from Co. Offaly, began his absolution of the soldiers in Latin, all the brigade’s comrades in the 1st Division of the 2nd Corp of the Army of the Potomac within earshot, Catholic or not, bowed their heads to receive his blessing. It’s often been said that there are “no atheists in a foxhole,” so perhaps denominations become irrelevant, as well. For those who witnessed it, it was probably a moment they would never forget. For many onlookers, alas, there were but minutes left in their young lives to cling to the memory. It was surely one of the most poignant moments in what many consider the seminal event of that catastrophic war

Forty-seven years later, October 29, 1910, at that very spot in Gettysburg, the moment of that blessing was again “frozen in time,” but this time it was done literally, with a bronze statue of Father Corby. Father Corby himself had long since passed, but many of the no-longer-young men who had received that blessing from him were there to honor his memory. As the American flag draped over the statue fell away to unveil once again the sight of Father Corby’s hand rising above them, no doubt more than a few brushed a tear from their cheek.

Nearly one hundred years have now passed since that day, and we received the following communication from long time Irish Brigade researcher Robert McLernon:

The 100th anniversary of the dedication of the statue of Rev. William Corby on the Battlefield of Gettysburg will take place on October 29, 2010. I wish to see this event celebrated in an appropriate manner, and I am getting the word out to all I can. It is my hope that the Irish-American, Catholic, and Civil War communities of this nation will publicize this, and that it will become a major event.

The Father Corby Division, Ancient Order Of Hibernians, Fairfax County, Va., have informed me that they will host an event at this statue on October 29th of this year.

Here is the program according to the AOH website: http://www.aohfairfax.org/

October 29, 2010 - 100th Anniversary Celebration of the Dedication of the Fr. Wm Corby Statue
Chaplain, 88th Regiment New York Infantry, 2nd Brigade 1st Division 2nd Corps,
The Irish Brigade 10:30am to 11:30am - Along Hancock Avenue,
Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, PA
Fr. Wm Corby Division is Program Host,
Color Guard, Music, Speaker & taps

Please reply to McLernon, at rm69nyib@cox.net, if you plan to attend, and to get updates, or check back here at Hell’s Kitchen. If you represent an organization, please estimate how many members will attend when contacting McLernon.
We join Robert in urging anyone who can do so to attend this event honoring an Irish-American legend.

P.S.: Following the war Corby became president of Notre Dame University. A year after the statue was dedicated in Gettysburg a duplicate of it was dedicated at Notre Dame. In acknowledgment of the school’s football pedigree, the campus’ statue has become known as “Fair Catch” Corby to generations of students passing through the renowned institution. (JG)

RELATED RESOURCES:

Information on Father Corby from Robert McLernon

WGT’s Irish Brigade Shop

The Irish at Gettysburg

Memoirs of Chaplain Life: 3 Years in the Irish Brigade with the Army of the Potomac - by William Corby

The Irish Brigade and Its Campaigns – by David Power Conyngham

Irish Brigade In The Civil War: The 69th New York And Other Irish Regiments Of The Army Of The Potomac - by Joseph G. Bilby

Search for Judge Crater extends to NYU's Ireland House

2010-09-17T19:45:00.007-04:00

New York -- About 90 people were present for a reading of the latest mystery by novelist Peter Quinn (left) last night, when someone in the audience got a call. The title of Quinn’s novel, his third, and fourth published book, is “The Man Who Never Returned,” and is centered on a renewed search for a certain judge who went missing in 1930. The persistent rings of the mobile phone went unanswered. Finally, Quinn quipped, “That’s Judge Crater. He said he’d be here tonight.” The inference, of course, was that the judge was sending his regrets. It’s too bad, as the judge would have enjoyed the banter.

Or perhaps Quinn was somehow suggesting Judge Joseph Force Crater, who’d be 121 these days, was still hanging around. Quinn slyly noted that Crater once lived on nearby 11th Street, that in fact Quinn visited the building. Bottom line: The author noted several times that we’d have to read the book to learn what he confidently believes was the fate of the judge. We did enjoy the reproduction of the poster (below, right) of Crater issued by the NYPD four months after Crater went missing, after a dinner in Manhattan with friends. Quinn’s publisher, Overlook Press, printed the poster on one side of a large postcard and promoted Quinn’s new book, and his oeuvre with Overlook Press, on the other.

Quinn, never at a loss for words, talked colorfully and candidly about his work, his writing process, and the judge’s disappearance, more than he actually read. Quinn suggested, perhaps seriously, that readings such as his were archaic. They certainly do provide a vehicle for engaging with an auteur and his work, and the evening provided that in spades.

‘The Man Who Never Returned” took shape, Quinn said, during a conversation he had a few years back with Paul Browne, deputy commissioner of public information for the NYPD and a fellow Manhattan College alum. Quinn added later that his writing was driven by character, not plot, and his characters emerge from conversations he has and those he readily imagines. This process emerges for him, in part, because, he said, “you are always writing about yourself,” even in historical novels, which, he suggested, draw on the author’s experience and personal history. He is famously in love with the historical research his books require, but said to be averse to the writing part. Novel writing is not only autobiographical, he wryly noted, “but psychotic.”

Ireland House Director Joe Lee spoke after Quinn, welcoming the guests, thanking Quinn for his work on behalf of Ireland House, and acknowledging Quinn as a historian of the first rank, a title Quinn is loathe to assume. Quinn serves as a vice president of Ireland House’s advisory board.

Those in attendance included Loretta Brennan Glucksman, who, along with her late husband, Lew, were the chief benefactors of Ireland House. She serves today as co-chair of Ireland House’s advisory board. Also present were Irish Echo CEO and Publisher Martin O Muilleoir; Black 47 founder and front man Larry Kirwan and his wife, June Anderson; Michael Burke, spearheading an effort at Green-Wood Cemetery to honor Irish revolutionary and U.S. Brigadier Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher with a monument at his wife’s grave; Overlook Press founder and owner Paul Mayer; John Casey, a longstanding board member of The W. B. Yeats Society of New York; Bill Cobert, a former executive director of The American Irish Historical Society; and Mayo-born Maura Mulligan, a teacher for many years at Manhattan’s Irish Arts Center and instructor today at her own school of Irish dancing and language. By the way, the judge never did show up. -- PJS, Ger

Looking for Jimmy: A Search for Irish America

The Man Who Never Returned

Overlook Press

The Yeats Society of New York

Maura Mulligan’s Classes in Irish Dance and Language

Peter Quinn’s Oeuvre on Amazon.com

NYU’s Glucksman Ireland House

Black47 Official Website

Green-Wood Cemetery Appeal for Support for Meagher Monument

Judge Crater Abruptly Appears, At Least in Public Consciousness (The New York Times, Aug. 20, 2005)

'Speranza' -- Another Irish heroine reclaimed from the shadows

2010-09-15T21:52:00.015-04:00

A ghastly, spectral army, before the great God we'll stand,
And arraign ye as our murderers, the spoilers of our land.
-- From 'The Famine Year' by 'Speranza'

Garden City, N.Y. -- There must be something in the air -- two presentations in metro New York in five days -- each helping recover the memory of extraordinary Irish women. Last week we heard from lecturer Eileen Kearney at NYU's Ireland House about playwright Teresa Deevy (1894-1963), who drifted into the ashcan of Irish cultural history despite gaining six Abbey productions in seven years. Last night, Christine Kinealy, a professor of Irish and European history at Drew University, Madison NJ relayed the poignant story of "Speranza," aka Lady Jane Wilde (right), who, she pointed out, is so much more than the mother of Oscar.

We can only hope that this emphasis on neglected Irish heroines continues -- worldwide -- for Irish history is replete with the ghosts of these women, whose contributions to their native land have either gone unrecognized or subsumed by the luster, or might we say, bluster, of the nation's male luminaries. Who recalls these days Anne Devlin, for example, despite her heroic refusal, in the face of British torture and squalid imprisonment, to inform on revolutionary Robert Emmet. She died, like Speranza, in poverty, though Devlin lived on Skid Row for far longer. Wilde's life story, for one, is far more vivid than anything Hollywood could conjure.

Kinealy's presentation took place in Garden City, a solidly suburban, largely Catholic enclave of Irish- and Italian-American executives and professionals. The burg has undergone a profound transformation since its creation in the 1870s by "Merchant Prince" Alexander Turney Stewart, the County Antrim-born, decidedly Anglican department store magnate, looking to create a suburb for people like him. The venue was the village's public library, the occasion the monthly meeting of the Garden City-based Irish Cultural Society. The society covered itself in glory in engaging Kinealy, who is a gifted story-teller, as well as a prolific writer, with a historian's penchant for details but a seanchaí's gift for knitting them together.

The professor began by asking, "How many of you have heard of 'Speranza?' Only one one hand went up. Speranza, was, in her heyday, one of the best-known women in Ireland, a poet, a proto-feminist, a champion of the poor, a patriot, a nudge at times and even a polemic, who bashed Daniel O'Connell, "The Liberator," no less, for his timidity on the use of force against tyranny. She led a call to arms during the Young Ireland Uprising of 1848 with her poem "Jacta Alea Est" (The Die Is Cast), crafting verse stunning in its eloquence and its force. It begins, "O! for a hundred thousand muskets . . . " She published that poem, and many others, in the Nation, the organ of the Irish republican movement and the most widely read newspaper in Ireland in its heyday. With perhaps less swagger than Constance Markievicz, Speranza acknowledged her authorship of the subversive poem during the trial of Charles Gavan Duffy, whom authorities believed was the author. Speranza's gender and bourgeois station in Irish society saved her from prosecution, Kinealy said.

Speranza was renowned both in Ireland and in the Irish immigrant communities in America for her prose and poetry, but cheered almost entirely for her contempt for British rule over the Irish. In fact, during Oscar Wilde's American tour in 1881-1882, the boutonniere-wearing aesthete found his audience warmed to him only when he invoked the republican legacy of his mother.

Lady Jane was born Jane Elgee, probably in 1821, though she herself, with a hint of vanity, would only admit to a birth year of 1826. Her family was solidly middle-class, and unionist, and so Speranza's espousal of radical government change in Ireland defied her family's, and Irish society's, expectations. She was, like Maud Gonne a generation or two later, a statuesque beauty, standing 6' tall. She was intimate, at least in a conspiratorial vein, with many of the principals of the 1848 Rising, and Kinealy conjectures that she may have had a romance with dashing orator Thomas Francis Meagher, who was transported to Van Dieman's Land for his role in the 1848 rising. She finally married oculist William Wilde in 1851. Wilde, born in Roscommon, grew up in the west of Ireland, and was fluent in Irish, unlike Speranza, despite her gift for languages (she spoke six fluently, Kinealy believes). Speranza and her husband had three children, including Oscar and Willie. Their daughter, Isola, died in childhood. William Wilde was knighted in 1864, the same year he was accused of rape by a patient, a charge against which, Kinealy said, Speranza defended her husband. This loyalty, despite her husband's various mistresses and children with them, would be on display again during Oscar's persecution for what the state called lewd conduct.

William Wilde ran though most of the family funds before he died in 1876, and with his passing Speranza struggled to make ends meet, despite receiving Oscar's surreptitious help. She moved to London, where for a time, at least, she continued to hold "at homes" for writers, including William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, and Oscar Wilde, in her increasingly more austere apartments, which were often dimly lit. Some thought this was to allow the aging beauty to hide her wrinkles, but more likely, suggested Kinealy, it may simply have been to save on the cost of lighting.

Speranza died in 1896, and Oscar, serving two years hard labor in prison, was refused compassionate leave to see her before she died. She was buried in an unmarked grave in London's Kensal Green Cemetery. As a footnote, a memorial plaque to her memory has been erected at her husband's grave in Dublin's Mount Jerome Cemetery, and a headstone finally placed at her grave.

Kinealy's critique of Speranza was supportive, but, for balance, she offered quotes from novelist Thomas Flanagan, who called Wilde "one of the silliest women who ever set pen to paper." Kinealy also cited a critic in the Irish Independent, who, in 1987, dismissed Speranza as "a vain and silly woman." A recent biographer, Joy Melville, also was more skeptical of Speranza's legacy, Kinealy and an audience member suggested, but Kinealy thought Melville not thorough in presenting the full range of views of Speranza's contemporaries. (The cover illustration of Speranza gracing Melville's book, showing Wilde gone to flesh, is also unflattering.)

Understanding the limited outlets for action offered to women of the Victorian era, it seems safe to say that Speranza hoped her words would inspire great deeds by others. Her poems, unwavering in support of Irish nationhood, her chafing against the limits imposed on those of her gender, and devotion to her iconoclastic son, these are her most glowing legacies. And for helping us understand that, we give thanks to Kinealy!

ET CETERA: There will be a launch party for Christine Kinealy's new book, titled War and Peace: Ireland Since the 1960s at O'Lunney's Pub, 145 West 45th Street, Manhattan, on Thursday, Oct. 28. Kinealy is prolific, with 28 listings on Amazon.com, with some of her best-reviewed work focusing on An Gorta Mor, "The Great Irish Famine." … Audience member Mike Grimes, an immigrant from Pomeroy, County Tyrone, told us he's reading Prisoner 1082: Escape From Crumlin Road, Europe's Alcatraz by Donal Donnelly, about accused IRA soldier Donnelly's escape from Belfast's Crumlin Road Prison in 1960. Jim Hawkins, Grimes' companion in traveling to hear Kinealy, will be displaying his skill as a seanchai at the Irish Cultural Society's next meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 19.

Poem by Speranza (Lady Wilde)

Wikipedia: Anne Devlin

Mother of Oscar: Life of Jane Francesca Wilde

Wikipedia: Alexander Turney Stewart

Irish Cultural Society of the Garden City Area

Drew University: Christine Kinealy

'The Stranger's Scoffing’. Speranza, the Hope of the Irish Nation.

"Prisoner 1082: Escape From Crumlin Road, Europe's Alcatraz"

Teresa Deevy, deaf, very talented, draws spotlight after Abbey rebuff

2010-09-14T15:48:00.005-04:00

New York -- Playwright Teresa Deevy, left, would likely be well pleased with the renewed focus her work is receiving these days. The Waterford-born auteur has been dead for 47 years, but one of her plays is on an extended run off-Broadway and Thursday mere talk of Deevy drew more than enough people to fill all 90 seats at a presentation at NYU’s Glucksman Ireland House.

Deevy is remarkable for many reasons, but one fact that highlights her undeserved obscurity is her lack of an entry in Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia compiled, edited and proofread by Internet devotees worldwide. Even Irish writer and producer Lennox Robinson, not a household name outside of high-brow theater circles, has one. He directed “Reapers,” Deevy’s first of six plays at the Abbey Theatre, in 1930, inaugurating a remarkable seven-year run in which she had five more plays produced by this most-distinguished theater company.

Her skein was broken in 1937, when a more conservative mindset at the Abbey led to rejection of her play, “Wife to James Whelan.” This is the play now on the boards at Manhattan’s Mint Theater, on a run extended to Oct. 3. At Ireland House on Thursday, meanwhile, attendees enjoyed a rollicking presentation by former actress Eileen Kearney, a lecturer in theater at the University of Colorado Denver.

Kearney, who spent part of her childhood in Little Neck, Queens, is an actress who found in Deevy’s story a Godsend, as Deevy represented a woman whose courage and vision, in the face of disability and male chauvinism, invited a considered exploration and explanation. Kearney wrote her Ph.D. dissertation on Deevy, and shared her observations with the SRO crowd at Ireland House’s first presentation of the fall semester.

Deevy’s oeuvre was extraordinary. According to a biography on The Mint’s website,

“Her plays would show not only a distinct gift for dialogue, but an uncanny appreciation for meaning hidden between the lines.” And Deevy’s work showed great empathy for the struggle of women to find their voices and their way in a world where only men’s ambitions had no bound.

Deevy, by the way, never had the opportunity to hear her plays on stage, as she came to playwriting deaf, losing her hearing through Meniere’s disease while a student at University College Dublin. In another irony, after Deevy drew the curtain on her career as a playwright in 1943, age 49, she focused on writing plays for the radio, where even her facility for reading lips would have no obvious benefit.

The Ireland House audience, much more female than even the norm, came in part in response to announcements made during performances of Deevy’s play at The Mint, according to Eileen Reilly, Ireland House’s director.

Upcoming at Ireland House this Thursday evening at 7 p.m., will be novelist Peter Quinn reading from his new book, “The Man Who Never Returned,” set against a fictional attempt to solve the mystery of the disappearance of New York State Associate Justice Joe Crater in 1930. (Judge, if you are reading this, please call home!)- Ger

RELATED RESOURCES

* Teresa Deevy entry in Princess Grace Irish Library Monaco Database

* The Mint Theater Presents 'Wife to James Whelan'

* NYU Glucksman Ireland House Events

* With Teresa Deevy's ‘Wife to James Whelan,’ a deaf playwright gets a fair hearing (Village Voice, Aug. 25, 2010)

* An Irishwoman back from obscurity (The New York Times, Aug. 4, 2010)

Old St. Patrick's Cathedral Celebrates 200th Birthday

2009-06-07T07:23:00.007-04:00

Sunday, June 7, 2009 -- Today at 11 am Archbishop Timothy Dolan will celebrate the 200th anniversary Mass of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, Mott and Prince Streets, lower Manhattan. Mass will be followed by a commemorative parade up Mott Street featuring the 69th Regiment, and concerts, historic displays and more. The event is cosponsored by the Archdiocese, New York Irish History Roundtable and NYU's Ireland House.

http://oldcathedral.org/

Patricia Jameson-Sammartano
Culture Editor, WGT

Natasha Richardson

2009-03-19T02:38:00.006-04:00

Our hearts go out tonight to the family of acclaimed actress Natasha Richardson, who died tragically at the age of 45 after fallling in the snow while skiing in Montreal. Richardson's husband, Liam Neeson, and her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, should know that they are in our hearts and prayers in this difficult time.
Patricia Jameson-Sammartano
Culture Editor, The Wild Geese Today

Democratic National Convention

2008-08-31T04:37:00.004-04:00

History was made this week at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Senator Barack Obama(IL) has accepted the nomination of his party for President of the United States. He's young, he's the first African-American since Jesse Jackson(1988) to run for the office, and he is the first African-American to receive the nomination -- and by acclamation on the nomination of NY Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Vice-Presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden of Delaware adds much gravitas to the ticket. Biden is an Irish Catholic from Scranton who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; he also is a former Judiciary Committee chair, he's written legislation to protect women against domestic violence. Senator Biden has been a member of the Senate since 1972, and he's a commuter.

He was honored by the American Ireland Fund for his leadership at their 2006 gala, and we are indebted to their website for the text of his speech in honor of his mother:

Tribute to an Irish Mother

Thank you for this honor, and for the wonderful work of the Fund.
The Troubles. I first heard about them from my grandfather, Ambrose Finnegan. All Irish Americans have heard the tales of decades of carnage and division. And we have been heartened by the last decade of remarkable progress toward peace.
But as much as we Irish Americans want peace, we can't want it more than the Irish of Ireland.
Last year, the Provisional IRA made a historic decision to end the armed struggle.This year, the Democratic Unionists face a historic choice: will they share political power with the nationalist community? Next year, when we meet here again, it is my hope, and my mother's prayer, that you will have taken government back into your own hands - and Ireland will again be on the road to a permanent peace.
What was it that Yeats said? "Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart." Don't wait until hearts turn to stone. I challenge all political leaders: follow what Lincoln called your better angels. It is in our nature. It is the 21st century. Look forward and write a new chapter of Irish history.
I want to thank you all again for this honor. I know my mother has always loved and adored me -- but this is one of the few awards I've ever been given that makes me feel totally worthy within my mother's eyes. Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden is the soul, spirit, and essence of what it means to be an Irish American.
She is spiritual. She is romantic. She honors tradition, and understands the thickest of all substances is blood, and the greatest of all virtues is love.She has taught her children, all her children in my neighborhood who flocked to her hearth, that you are defined by your sense of honor and you are redeemed by your loyalty.She is quintessentially Irish -- a combination of pragmatism and optimism.She also understands as my friend Pat Moynihan once said, there is no "point in being Irish if you don't know that the world is going to break your heart eventually."But she is more. She measures success in how quickly you get up after you have been knocked down.She believes bravery lives in every heart, and her expectation is that it willbe summoned. Failure at some point in everyone's life is inevitable, butgiving up is unforgivable.
As long as you are alive you have an obligation to strive. And you are not dead until you've seen God's face. My mother is a living portrait of what it means to be Irish - - proud on the edge of defiance. Generous to a fault. Loyal to the end. She made not only me believe, but scores of my friends and acquaintances believe in themselves. As a child I stuttered. She said it was because I was so bright I couldn't get the thoughts out quickly enough. When my face was dirty, and I was not as well dressed as others, she told me how handsome I was. When my wife and daughter were killed, she told me God sends no cross a man is not able to bear.
And when I triumphed, she reminded me it was because of others.She was watching through the kitchen window as I got knocked down by two bigger guys behind my grandfather's home. She sent me back out and demanded that I, to use their phrase, "bloody their nose," so I could walk down that alley the next day.When my father quit his job on the spot because his abusive boss threw a bucket full of silver dollars on the floor of a car dealership to humiliate his employees, she told him how proud she was.
No one is better than you. You are every man's equal, and every man is equal to you. You must be a man of your word, for without your word you're not a man.When I was in eighth grade, I was a lieutenant on the safety patrol. My job was to keep order on the bus. My sister and best friend Valerie acted up. At dinner that night I told my mother and father I had a dilemma. I had to turn my sister in - it was a matter of honor. My parents said that was not my only option. The next day I turned my badge in.
I believe the traits that make my mother a remarkable woman mirror the traits that make the Irish a remarkable people. Bent, but never bowed. Discriminated against, but always looking down at their discriminator. Economically deprived, but spiritually enriched. Denied an education, but a land of scholars and poets.
As I look out at those massive Corinthian columns, I see my 5 foot, 2 inch mother, who stands taller in my eyes than any pillar in this room.
And I think of the Irish poem "Any Woman" by Katherine Tynan:

"I am the pillars of the house;

The keystone of the arch am I.

Take me away, and roof and wall

Would fall to ruin utterly.

I am the fire upon the hearth,

I am the light of the good sun,

I am the heat that warms the earth,

Which else were colder than a stone."

We Irish are duly represented.

Patricia Jameson-Sammartano

Culture Editor, WGT

RIP Tim Russert 1950 - 2008

2008-06-13T17:42:00.019-04:00

Updated with reflections from his son Luke, Chris Matthews, Mike Barnicle, Pat Buchanan, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Tom Brokaw, Maria Shriver

Buffalo-born Irish American Tim Russert, anchor of NBC's "Meet the Press," died Friday afternoon of an apparent heart attack. His last act was doing voice overs for Sunday's show. The Emmy award-winning Washington Bureau chief of the network was only 58 years old and had just returned from a European trip with his wife Maureen Orth and son, Luke. He is survived by them, his sisters, and his father, Timothy Sr., about whom Tim wrote two best selling books("Big Russ and Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life" and "Wisdom of Our Fathers:Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons"). One of the country's most respected political journalists, he was known as a hard questioner no matter which side of the political aisle upon which one sat. If you click on no other link, listen to the videos made by his colleagues. They are accolades to his gravitas, in a business that is all too often cut-throat. Particularly listen to Matthews, Barnicle and Buchanan on Hardball as they discuss the Irish obsession with politics and Irish-American Catholicism.
Photo credit: Boston College

Russert, who was a National Baseball Hall of Fame board member, began his career with NBC in 1984 and helmed "Meet the Press" beginning in 1991; prior to that he had been a counselor to New York Governor Mario Cuomo, who authored the 2008 Time Magazine biography featured below and earlier, an aide to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. We remember meeting him in Kingston, NY in the late 1970's when the senator was on a trip there and Russert served as chief of staff. A gracious man with an Irish sense of humor, he displayed a keen insight for politics which served him well in both his political and journalistic careers. And he was always kind to the journalists, even those of us who freelanced.

God rest his soul, and give comfort to his family. We will miss his voice, especially in this presidential election year.

Timothy J. Russert, 1950 - 2008

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25186769#25186769
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25186769#25186769
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25145431/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25145655/displaymode/1107/s/2/framenumber/1/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lklfIPBK4Zg
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733752_1735737,00.html http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/russert-dies-of-apparent-heart-attack/#comments
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1814437,00.html

Patricia Jameson-Sammartano
Culture Editor, WGT

Victory Celebration for St. Brigid's Parish

2008-05-22T12:13:00.004-04:00

In a telephone interview with Edwin Torres, chairman of the Committee to Save St. Brigid's, he told us that the Committee will be holding a fundraiser/ celebration at Connolly's, 121 West 45th St. on June 18th, at 7 p.m. sharp. This will be a reprise of 2006's Bards for St. Brigid's, with musicians like Larry Kirwan, and authors like Peter Quinn and Malachy McCourt. The proceeds will be donated to the legal defense fund. "We just want to say thank you to all the people who made this possible and who, by extension, are members of our parish."

Photo credit: Patricia Jameson-Sammartano

From our perspective, we can't wait for the next Mass to be celebrated at the Famine Church of the Lower East Side. This is proof that miracles do exist, and God is indeed hope.

Patricia Jameson-Sammartano
Culture Editor, WGT

http://www.cny.org/archive/ld/ld1052208.htm
http://www.archny.org/news-events/news-press-releases/index.cfm?i=8106

Saint Brigid's Has Been Saved!!!!!

2008-05-21T19:35:00.013-04:00

Today's news about St. Brigid's Church on the Lower East Side of Manhattan is truly miraculous. The embattled congregation, which has been working mightily to save the church, has received the news that their church will be purchased by an unnamed benefactor for $20 million dollars. We quote an email from Edwin Torres, the chairperson of the Committee to Save St. Brigid's:

"Dear Members,
The associated press release a press release that an anonymous donor has met with the Cardinal and offered 20 million dollars to the Archdiocese. 10 million to restore St Brigid as a Parish Church, 2 million for an endowment and 8 million for the school. The Cardinal has accepted his unexpected offer. ST. BRIGID CHURCH is Saved!!!! I am lining up interviews with TV stations. The first will be with UNIvision today @ 12:30. in front of the church. Please try and come. I know it is short notice but it would be great if the committee is present. The Lord does hear the prayers of the just. Thank you Lord, and thank you to all members who persevered. God Bless! Please call me. 212-691-5570. Yeah! Yeah ! Yeah!Ed"

Photo credit: Committee to Save St. Brigid's

This Committee is entitled to all the joy -- God is indeed good, and hope prevails. On a more personal note, we have witnessed a true parish congregation, even though without a building. The Committee's concern for one another has been the true hallmark of Catholic Charity.

Patricia Jameson-Sammartano
Culture Editor, WGT

http://www.savestbrigid.com/
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/05/21/2008-05-21_st_brigids_saved_from_wrecking_ball_by_a.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/nyregion/22church.html?em&ex=1211688000&en=2c1881e48b07cc4b&ei=5087%0A

Keltic Dreams Celebrate St. Patrick's Day at City Hall

2008-03-17T23:40:00.004-04:00

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn hosted this year's City Council Celebration of Irish Heritage and Culture on Wednesday, March 12. Senator George Mitchell received the Thomas Manton Irish Man of the Year Award, Staten Island's own Assemblyman Michael Cusik and the CEO and publisher of the Irish Echo, Mairtin O'Muilleoir, and the Committee to Save St. Brigid's Church also won awards.

But by far and away the evening belonged to the 30 young stepdancers from PS 59 in the South Bronx, and their teacher Caroline Duggan. The children are of African-American and Hispanic descent, but they do a mean Riverdance. Ms. Duggan, who is from Dublin, is to be saluted for her devotion to her children, and their education.

March's festivities will continue; the next big event at City Hall is the Irish Heritage and Culture Week Celebration on March 28th.

Patricia Jameson-Sammartano
Culture Editor, WGT

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/nyregion/14educ.html?ex=1206072000&en=6e76d50362c77a88&ei=5099&partner=TOPIXNEWS

News Flash from Northern Ireland - Paisley to Step Down as First Minister

2008-03-04T20:34:00.007-05:00

It was reported this evening by Reuters that Antrim-born Ian Paisley will be resigning his position as First Minister of Northern Ireland in May. The Presbyterian minister, long infamous for his vitriolic diatribes against the Catholic population of the world, entered into the power sharing agreement brought about by the Good Friday agreement of 1998, which was implemented in 2007.

"No Surrender!" became compromise, after years of hatred. Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness, a former IRA commander, became Deputy First Minister. In an oxymoronic move, Northern Ireland's "Dr. No" became famous to a new generation for saying "yes" to power-sharing with the Irish Republicans, and that may eventually have been the reason for the surprise resignation. Paisley was initially to have served a four year term.

The 81-year old evangelist, head of the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland, and leader of his own insurgent Free Presbyterian Church since 1951, was first elected to Parliament in 1970 and to the European Parliament in 1979. According to CNN, in January he was forced to stand down as leader of the anti-Catholic sect because people were disappointed by his compromise.

No overt reason has been given for his resignation; his son, Ian, Jr. was forced to resign from the coalition due to ethical misconduct, but Dr. Paisley has sworn that had nothing to do with his resignation as First Minister. Last summer, Martin McGuinness visited New York and was feted; he said then that Paisley was ill.

Reaction to the surprise move was that this is the end of a 40-year old era for Northern Ireland politics, and people on both sides of the struggle had praise for Dr. Paisley's leadership.

Patricia Jameson-Sammartano

Culture Editor, WGT

http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL0455485820080305?sp=true&pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0

http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL0424769920080304

http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL044936320080304?sp=true

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/04/paisley.quits.ap/index.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7270000/newsid_7278300/7278389.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&bbcws=1

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/04/AR2008030401438.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Irish Notes at the Oscars

2008-02-25T00:09:00.010-05:00

The 80th Oscars have ended, and the Irish have walked away with two awards; Daniel Day-Lewis, the Dublin actor, won as Best Actor for his astounding performance in "There Will Be Blood," the movie based on Sinclair Lewis' novel "Oil." This was as he was "knighted" with the golden statue by last year's Best Actress, Helen Mirren; Day-Lewis quipped, "And that's the closest I'll ever come to getting a knighthood, so thank you." The You Tube posted below is one of the last scenes in the movie; it's the milkshake scene. Saying he had been thinking of fathers and sons, Day-Lewis dedicated the award to the memory of his grandfather, father, the writer, Cecil Day-Lewis("The Chronicles of Narnia")and his three sons Gabriel, Ronan and Cashel.

By far the surprise award went to Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová for the lovely ballad "Falling Slowly" from the movie "Once," described as the little movie that could. The duo performed the Best Song earlier in the evening, and beat out three songs from the Disney movie "Enchanted." Markéta made Oscar history when she was led back onstage by host Jon Stewart after a commercial break so that she could give her thank-you speech. Both their performance and acceptance speeches were uploaded very quickly to You Tube, so we have included them here.

Day-Lewis, born in London and now living in County Wicklow, was the favorite to win Best Actor; other winners included Best Actress Marion Cotilliard, born in Paris("La Vie En Rose"), Best Supporting Actor Javier Bardem, born in the Canary Islands and now living in Madrid("No Country for Old Men), and Best Supporting ActressTilda Swinton, born in London and now living in Scotland("Michael Clayton"). - who in an aside to George Clooney, said, " the seriousness and the dedication to your art, seeing you climb into that rubber bat suit from "Batman & Robin," the one with the nipples, every morning under your costume, on the set, off the set, hanging upside-down at lunch, you rock, man!" Both women were surprise choices; both men, expected to win. "No Country for Old Men" was named best picture and the Coen brothers won the Oscar for Directing Achievement; "No Country" also won for adapted screenplay, from Cormac McCarthy's novel.

Patricia Jameson-Sammartano
Culture Editor, WGT

"Take this sinking boat and point it home We've still got time Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice You've made it now ."(chorus of "Falling Slowly")

http://www.oscars.org/80academyawards/winners/01_lead_actor.html
http://www.oscars.org/80academyawards/winners/16_music_song.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx8yLvb0gZM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LMv0BOKkWc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIj2cuSLWIM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFsS2Sp4L3U&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe5ybN3eh-A

Divine Intervention for St. Brigid's Church

2008-02-13T03:44:00.003-05:00

Sunday night, February 10, a mighty wind blew around New York City. Beleagured St. Brigid's Church on the Lower East Side, which has been the subject of many protests, fundraisers, and hearings in State Supreme Court, held up despite the wind.

Ironically, the scaffolding erected by the Archdiocese of New York as a preventive service to the community was blown to smithereens, according to Edwin Torres, the head of the Committee to Save St. Brigid's. Torres commented on the irony of the modern structure, which was erected in the summer of 2006, being blown apart in a windstorm, while the church itself, which has stood for 161 years, the latter two of them exposed to the elements because the Archdiocese tried to destroy the church before being stopped by a restraining order. Windows were broden, the wall was broken -- "Yet still she stands," said Torres.

Ah, the power of prayer.

Patricia Jameson-Sammartano
Culture Editor, WGT

Irish Rep's 'Disciple' A Devilishly Good Play

2008-01-27T01:53:00.000-05:00

"The Devil's Disciple" by George Bernard Shaw, now up at Manhattan's Irish Reportory Theatre, while not one of his major works, offers a fine evening, indeed. The play dates to 1897 and is the only play of Shaw's to be set during the American Revolution. It's the story of one Richard Dudgeon, also known as Dick, his mother Annie, his brother Christy, his Uncle Titus, and his cousin Essie. It's set in 1777 in rural New Hampshire; the first act is in the Dudgeon home.

The rascally Dick Dudgeon, serenely self-confident, is home to hear read his dead father's new and final will, where it is revealed that he is heir to the family home. His mother rushes out in anger.

Dick is a nonconformist and that grates on his Presbyterian family -- especially his mother -- and the local minister, Anthony Armstrong. Judith, the minister's wife, is appalled by the fact that Dudgeon is a nonconformist. In the second act, Judith is left alone in the Armstrong house with Dudgeon, while her husband rushes out to attend to Mrs. Dudgeon on her deathbed. Richard remarks that if anyone were to enter the house and see the two of them at tea, they would mistake them for man and wife.

British soldiers arrive and announce that they have come for Anthony Anderson, who is to be tried as a rebel. Dick takes his place, to Judith's sudden consternation, who suddenly sees him as heroic.

The third act takes place in the courtroom, with Major Swinton and General John Burgoyne presiding over Dick's trial. When Dick asks "Gentleman Johnny" to be shot as a soldier rather than hung as a traitor, Burgoyne counters, "Have you any idea of the average marksmanship of the army of King George the Third?" prompting the biggest laugh of the evening.

There is much to enjoy about this play -- for one, the staging by Tony Walton is remarkable. Shaw's wit shines through the entire performance. The settings are sparse and convincing, and good use is made of the Irish Rep's dual-sided stage. Rebecca Lustig's costumes add much to the play's period feel. The musical sound-effects provide additional authenticity.

Acting by Curzon Dobell (Anderson), Jenny Fellner (Judith), Lorenzo Pisoni (Dick), Craig Pattison (dual role as Christy Dudgeon and the Executioner), Darcy Pulliam (Mrs. Dudgeon), Robert Sedgewick (Swindon) and John Windstor-Cunningham (Burgoyne) was crisp throughout.
This play has been revived on Broadway, the last being in 1998-89. Don't wait the requisite years for the next revival. This one is outstanding, and closes Feb. 10th.

Patricia Jameson-Sammartano
Culture Editor, TheWildGeese.com