Pa Ryan's Birthplace in County ClareThe last time a Ryan stood in the low doorway of the dirt-floored byre-dwelling would have been the day before Willie Ryan passed, 7 Nov. 1967. I say the seventh instead of the eighth (the actual date of his death) because Willie was laid up with pneumonia in his kitchen, where he’d been living since the thatch roof had collapsed on the other … [Read more...] about Calling on Carrowduff
The Choir That Inspires
The Northwell Health Nurse Choir skyrocketed to fame last year on America's Got Talent. Tom Deignan Finds the Irish Connection. It is the late 1970s, and an Irish American from Queens is working at a pub that regularly features the musical stylings of Tommy Mulvihill and his band. And the crowd gets so lively at times that they join in on the singing – as does the … [Read more...] about The Choir That Inspires
“It Really Is a Crisis”
Irish Americans Confront U.S. Nursing Shortage Dr. Linda Flynn knows all too well that the COVID pandemic placed a tremendous strain on nursing staffs across the U.S. “There was so much burnout,” explains Flynn, a Washington D.C.-area native, who now serves as dean of the School of Nursing at Rutgers University. “There’s only so much trauma, and death and dying (nurses) can … [Read more...] about “It Really Is a Crisis”
The Lady From Chicago & The Pound Note
Her likeness appears on a banknote and in portraits by famous artists.Who was Lady LaveryWomen rarely have their faces on currency. Except, of course, for the recently departed Queen Elizabeth II who was on the currency of Great Britain and her colonies for over 70 years and, until recently, showed no sign of retiring or expiring. In 1928, Ireland, too, cast a woman on the … [Read more...] about The Lady From Chicago & The Pound Note
“Saints” in Scrubs
Irish nurses, in fiction and in real life, shaped nursing and healthcare in the U.S.There is a moment late in J. Courtney Sullivan’s excellent 2017 novel Saints for all Occasions when “hundreds of people showed up” to a Boston Irish American wake. Among the mourners are a trio of sisters, “Peggy, Patrica and Jane, all of them nurses…two of them wore scrubs beneath their winter … [Read more...] about “Saints” in Scrubs