“The Irish-American Florence Nightingale” of the Civil War – Sister Mary Anthony. ℘℘℘ The name of this Civil War medical pioneer has unjustly slipped between history’s proverbial cracks. Still, her legacy flourishes: “Her innovative triage techniques remain standard practices in every theater of war where American troops fight.” Those words come from a 2003 PentagonRead more..
Born a slave, Frederick Douglass died as a champion of human rights, and Ireland played an important role in his political awakening. ℘℘℘ In 1845, Ireland provided a safe refuge to Frederick Douglass, a 27-year-old “fugitive” slave from America. Douglass described his four months in the country as the “happiest times” in his life andRead more..
Father Peter Whelan didn’t take sides. He was on God’s side. The Civil War priest was known, to Confederate and Union soldiers alike, as a good man who administered to their needs. Fr. Peter was born in Wexford and made his way to America where he was ordained a priest in 1830. He served inRead more..
As America reflects upon the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and its deciding turn at Gettysburg, thousands of Americans are donning the uniforms of yore as they re-enact the long war’s battles. Corinne Dillon talks to members of the 69th New York State Volunteer Historical Association about the continuing legacy of the Irish regiment.Read more..
An exhibition on the Civil War, featuring photographs by Mathew Brady, Timothy O’Sullivan and others, and a new biography of Brady, are reviewed by Tom Deignan. One of the most chilling portraits in the exhibition “Photography and the American Civil War” – which just finished a five-month run at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art –Read more..
From the Civil War to Chicago’s Mercy Hospital, the extraordinary history of Irish nuns in health care. The Sisters of Mercy were the first women to go with Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War in 1854. They worked with her to make nursing more effective and to improve sanitary conditions. In America, the Sisters ofRead more..
What will likely be the last burial of the U.S. Civil War took place at Arlington National Cemetery on March 8. Two sailors whose skeletons were found in 2002, when the gun turret of the sunken USS Monitor was unearthed off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, were finally laid to rest in aRead more..
James E. Kelly, sculptor and illustrator, specialized in depicting people and events surrounding the American Civil War. Historian and author William B. Styple discovered Kelly’s journals, which contained interviews with many of the generals who participated in the war. Here he writes about this amazing artist who contributed so much to recording American history. JamesRead more..
Michael Dougherty, a young Irish soldier in the American Civil War, kept a diary of his experiences, including the horrendous conditions endured in Confederate prison camps. Michael Dougherty, born in Falcarragh, County Donegal, on May 10, 1844, immigrated to America with his family at the age of 15 and went to work as a “Boots”Read more..
In the sleepy town of Ridgeway, Ontario – just a stone’s throw from Crystal Beach, the “Southern Shore of Canada” and former home to the Niagara region’s most beloved amusement park – there stands a stone memorial cairn, an unobtrusive roadside monument most travelers overlook as they pass north toward Niagara Falls or east towardRead more..