A new Gallup poll indicates a decline in religious affiliation in Ireland. Fifty years ago, Ireland was one of the most religious countries in Europe, but according to a recently released poll, taken by the Gallup International in 2011, Ireland now ranks among the top ten atheist nations worldwide. These results are a huge shiftRead more..
Applying his passion for law and education and his undeniably strong faith, Monsignor Edward J. Dillon has worked to revitalize church law, educate countless students and shepherd a diverse parish of over 2,000 families. He has served at Holy Spirit parish in Atlanta, Georgia since his appointment in 1987, becoming its full-time pastor in 1997.Read more..
John Francis Donoghue, who retired as Archbishop of Atlanta in 2004, was born in Washington, D.C. on August 9, 1928, the son of Daniel and Rose Ryan Donoghue. Both of his parents were Irish immigrants. His father was a government worker and his mother a domestic. He has three brothers, all of them in theRead more..
How the remains of Saint Valentine came to be enshrined in a Dublin church. On February 14 and in the days and weeks leading up to Valentine’s day (pre-pandemic) visitors would flock to the Carmelite Church on Whitefriar Street in Dublin to visit the shrine of St. Valentine. The shrine consists of a life-size statueRead more..
Mary Pat Kelly visits the nuns of her old novitiate to talk about the work they are doing and the Vatican investigation into their lives. With a green pen and a grateful smile I began to sign my book, Galway Bay, purchased by the woman who told me she was a nun. “To Sister Mary,”Read more..
In the wake of the Ryan and Murphy reports*, both released in 2009, often the memories of the children, women and workers involved have taken a sideline to the question of who is to blame for systemic abuse. But while the Irish public attempts to heal from this broken past and demand justice, more storiesRead more..
St. Patrick’s Day is always an important day for the Irish in New York and the 2009 St. Patrick’s Day Parade was a very special one for the Sisters of Charity. Not only was it the first time that they marched in their own congregational contingent, but the 248th parade was dedicated to the SistersRead more..
Before the decade was over, America would be a vastly different nation, thanks in no small part to Irish Catholics. Nineteen hundred and twenty-eight was a dark year for Irish Catholics in America. It was, of course, the year Al Smith ran for president and lost. The anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant Ku Klux Klan played a majorRead more..
Bishop Sean O’Malley blesses a crowd with holy water at his installation ceremony in Boston. O’Malley apologized for the archdiocese’s “inability and unwillingness to deal with the crime of sexual abuse of minors.” He replaces Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in December amid the clergy sexual abuse scandal. Meanwhile, the Archdiocese has paid out $21.2Read more..
The decay of an Irish American landmark. ℘℘℘ The glass factory, feed mills, saloons and boat repair facilities that once lined the canal are gone. But the fitted limestone walls that mark either side of the original waterway are still there — a testament to Irish immigrants who built it and the many who diedRead more..