The Irish America Hall of Fame is fast becoming a travel destination in Ireland. The Hall of Fame is housed at the Dunbrody Famine Ship Experience in New Ross, County Wexford. The ship, open for tours, is an exact replica of a sailing ship of that name that ferried thousands of Irish to America during the Great Hunger. New Ross is also the port from which Patrick Kennedy set … [Read more...] about A Visit to the Irish America Hall of Fame
Kennedy
Irish Americans Honored in New Ross
The Hall of Fame, Kennedy Summer School, and the opening of a Savannah exhibit all happened in New Ross in early September. ℘℘℘Two Americans with connections to New Ross were inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame in County Wexford in September.Dr. Frank Rossiter, a pioneering Savannah doctor, and the late John McShain, a philanthropist who donated vast amounts of … [Read more...] about Irish Americans Honored in New Ross
Saoirse
Saoirse, the only daughter of Courtney Kennedy Hill and Paul Hill, tragically died on Thursday, August 1, 2019, of a suspected accidental overdose at her family’s compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. She was a junior at Boston College. In this essay, published in February 2016 for the Deerfield Academy student newspaper, she wrote about dealing with … [Read more...] about Saoirse
Fathers of Influence
In honor of Father's Day, a collection of remembrances from Irish and Irish-American daughters on their fathers, many of which come from Irish America interviews. “My dad was in WWII, and Korea. He wanted to go to Vietnam but did not. He felt that when the country needed you, you better stand up and go serve it, and he was heartbroken by what happened in WWII to people in … [Read more...] about Fathers of Influence
Roots: The Kennedys
The name Kennedy or O’Kennedy is derived from the Gaelic O’Cinneide, which is itself derived from the original Gaelic form cean eidig meaning, “ugly head,” or, more generously, “helmet head.” This was the name by which the father of Brian Boru was known (the Irish have always had a high tolerance for less-than-complimentary anatomical nicknames). The surname first appears as … [Read more...] about Roots: The Kennedys