America, or to be more precise the United States, needs logo imagery for its memories to be flashed on the screen of the mind. The name Nixon prompts a flash to an awkward man doing the victory sign; Kennedy...grace, charm and the quip; La Guardia...pudgy little man reading the "funnies" on radio. Tammany? Oh yeah, a bunch of cigar-chomping, beerswilling Micks on the take, … [Read more...] about Plunkitt of Tammany Hall
1999
Super Bowl Shanahan
One of the most recognizable football coaches in America became an anonymous tourist last summer when he took a golf vacation in the land of his ancestors. But things might be different the next time Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan returns to Ireland. When his team won its second-straight Super Bowl on January 31, the coach's face was seen by an estimated 800 million … [Read more...] about Super Bowl Shanahan
The First Word: The Best and The Brightest 1999
This, the last 'Top 100' for this millennium, shows that at the turn of the century the Irish in America have reached heights of success surely unimagined by those impoverished immigrants who crossed the Atlantic to seek a new life in the last century Was it even conceivable that a group of people who were told they `need not apply' would today be the ones doing the hiring? … [Read more...] about The First Word: The Best and The Brightest 1999
Time Stands Still at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral
You could be forgiven for thinking they had never left. But it was not the world-famous, stately edifice that stands on Fifth Avenue between East 50th and 51 st Streets that was the center of attention. No, it was the far more humble Old St. Patrick's Cathedral, located far downtown at the very unfashionable intersection of Mulberry and Prince Sts., right where what is left of … [Read more...] about Time Stands Still at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Roots: The Brady Family
The Brady family name derives from the Gaelic McBradaigh which was originally anglicized as McBrady, but the "Mc" is very seldom used in modern times. The vast majority of this power clan of Breffny, now the County of Cavan, come from Ulster. A smaller group of Bradys (formally O'Brady) come from County Clare. The Bradys were a gentler sort and their prominent kinsmen have … [Read more...] about Roots: The Brady Family