I have no interest in Ancestry.com or tracing my roots. I know most of my DNA and it’s all Irish on my mom’s side. Her father, the son of a Ballylongford, County Kerry, farmer, was named Tom Keane. He emigrated to America sometime around 1900 – it’s believed he had to hightail it out of Ireland because of his IRA affiliation, and that doesn’t surprise me at all. Tom had crossed … [Read more...] about Photo Album: Tales of New York
Easter Rising
Long-Lost James Connolly Play May Be Found
In Nora Connolly’s 1935 memoir of her father, James Connolly, she mentions a play of his entitled The Agitator’s Wife, which scholars have never been able to find. A short story of the same name was recently discovered in an obscure journal in Warwick University’s library, leading University of Glasgow academics to believe it could be the long-lost work. The short story, which … [Read more...] about Long-Lost James Connolly Play May Be Found
Weekly Comment: Francis Sheehy Skeffington’s Granddaughter to Retrace her Grandmother’s U.S. Tour
July 21, 2017
Irish activist re-creating grandmother's 1917 tour of United States in documentary film, Hanna and Me. During Easter Week 1916, Irish pacifist Francis Sheehy Skeffington was shot without trial by British firing squad. A year later, his widow, Hanna, escaped to the United States under a false passport, giving speeches across the country exposing the truth about her husband's … [Read more...] about Weekly Comment: Francis Sheehy Skeffington’s Granddaughter to Retrace her Grandmother’s U.S. Tour
The Diaspora Commemorates 1916: United States
How the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising was commemorated throughout the U.S.New York City Of the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation, five traveled to New York to seek assistance from the long-established republican Irish American community there, including Tom Clarke, who became an American citizen in Brooklyn in 1883, and John Connolly. Key figures in New … [Read more...] about The Diaspora Commemorates 1916: United States
The Diaspora Commemorates 1916: International Events
How the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising was commemorated throughout the world. ℘℘℘ CANADA What Ireland’s Ambassador to Canada Ray Bassett had in mind when he outlined 1916 Easter Rising commemorations in 2016 was sea-to-sea participation. And that’s what unfolded, scores of examples playing out from Halifax to Vancouver. He said, “the commemoration of 1916 does not … [Read more...] about The Diaspora Commemorates 1916: International Events