The National Presidents Testimonial Dinner in Philadelphia on Oct 8 was a memorable event. Meeting Clara Reilly, first woman recipient of the MacBride Award, was memorable – especially to this historian who has followed the time and troubles through which she has lived. Special thanks to all for the compliments on 175 Years of Fidelity, [...]
There are memorials and there are memorials. Some bring happy memories like the Tom and Katty Clarke Memorial at Manorville, Long Island indicating that the patriotic family happily lived and farmed there before returning to Ireland to engineer the 1916 Rising. There are some that inspire pride in the accomplishments of our ancestors like the [...]
Well, National History Day is behind us for another year and what an experience it was. I was accompanied to the University of Maryland by Suffolk County Historian, Dr. Dave Ring and George Lederer of Dowling College and once there, we teamed up with LAOH National Historian Pat O’Connell and LAOH National Secretary Theresa O’Connell, [...]
In my 50 years as a historian, I have seen many errors and omissions in recorded history, and it’s not hard to recognize a common denominator. Since my interest is Irish and American history, I easily recognize the anomalies in those areas. This past February was designated Black History Month and no one was more [...]
Another year of St Patrick’s Day celebration, tomfoolery and thoughtless antics has passed. Why, we ask, can offensive comments aimed at any other ethnic group be termed racist when we Irish are held up to ridicule with no reaction. It just goes to emphasize that we have a lot more work to do to convince [...]
The year 2010 is now in the history books and we can look ahead to what 2011 will bring. The past year opened with the AOH leadership joining a contingent of more than 50 Irish American leaders at the White House for a confab on immigration issues and US-Irish relations. It saw the AOH take [...]
When last we met, no one could have predicted that John Hume would be chosen as the Greatest Man in Irish History. We knew he was an integral part in the movement toward peace in Northern Ireland, and we applauded his receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, but to beat out Michael Collins and James [...]
Congratulations to President Boyle for his article on Irish Slavery in our last issue. We should all do our best to educate people to the trials and tribulations, as well as the glories of our predecessors. The great thing about this article is the interest it inspired. We received one e-mail from a history professor [...]
It is generally agreed that history cannot be written in its own time. However, the conclusion of the Saville Report cannot be ignored. It is current events not history, but it exonerates all who had historically been vilified as lawless rioters and street thugs by the real terrorists in northern Ireland. That part of history [...]
Your Historian attended a lecture by Jane Ohlmeyer, Professor of History at Trinity College, Dublin recently and listened with interest as she explained her latest project – the digital documentation of 31 volumes of victim’s accounts taken after the 1641 rising in Ireland. Sponsored by Trinity College, University of Aberdeen and Cambridge University and funded [...]
