Irish America

Irish America

Photo Album

Photo Album: “Give Me a Wee Step”

By Maureen Foster

Winter 2024

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In this photograph taken in 1925, my mother Kathleen (far left), her mother and father Sam and Ellen Bell, and 10 other siblings pose as they leave their home in Crossgar, County Down. They journeyed to the United States and settled in Chicago, where, after only four years, my granddad died, leaving Grandma Bell to raise a family of 11. She was a woman of tremendous faith in … [Read more...] about Photo Album: “Give Me a Wee Step”

Jack Moran on Tar Beach

Text and photos submitted by Margaret "Peggy" Phelan of Willingboro, New Jersey. Originally published in
June / July 2010 , republished in Fall 2024

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My father Jack Moran arrived in New York on April 5th, 1923. He was from Athea, a small village in County of Limerick. He loved New York. And Brooklyn. My mother was born in Kerry but raised in Limerick but she didn’t meet my father until she came to the States in 1927.  The Irish in New York would all get together for parties and they met at one of those parties. My mother … [Read more...] about Jack Moran on Tar Beach

Photo Album: The Noone Family 1972

By Luke B. Noone

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Luke emigrated from Curramaeigh, Kilkerrin, Co. Galway in 1922 at 20 years of age. He met and courted Mary Ellen Doherty from Fiddane, Kilkerrin, Co. Galway, who came to the U.S. in 1924. Luke and Mary Ellen married in 1927 and had five children: Luke B., Gerard, Eileen, Theresea, John and Richard. Mary Ellen worked as a domestic prior to her marriage. Luke found work as a … [Read more...] about Photo Album: The Noone Family 1972

Roger Goes to Medical School

By Holly Millea

Fall 2022

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I was born at home in Emmetsburg, Iowa in 1928. The doctor said, “You have a son!” My mother didn’t know what to name me and the doctor said, “How about Roger? That’s my father’s name. It’s a fine name.” Both my parents were Irish. Mother was born Mary Margaret Mahoney. My first memories involve living in the small town in the shadow of the Assumption Parish. We lived across … [Read more...] about Roger Goes to Medical School

Great-aunt Mary O’Toole’s Amazing, Trailblazing Life

Submitted by Jimmy O’Toole and Paula Mulhall, Mary’s grandniece, and grandnephew.

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Her first seal of office needed to have the word “his” crossed out and replaced by “hers” in pen as she was the first female to hold a municipal court appointment in the US. From Irish immigrant working as a child minder to becoming the first woman judge of a municipal court in the United States, was the unique and outstanding achievement of Mary O’Toole. Born in … [Read more...] about Great-aunt Mary O’Toole’s Amazing, Trailblazing Life