This photograph, of the officers of the 2nd Tipperary Brigade, was taken in May 1920 by Ed McGrath, the brigade’s vice commandant. My maternal grandfather, Michael “Mike” Dwan, is pictured (back row, far left). All four of my grandparents were born and raised in Ireland, with the paternal side coming from Ballymoe, County Galway, andRead more..
Nora Brosnan’s role in the fight for Irish independence is remembered by her granddaughter. ℘℘℘ Hanora “Nora” Brosnan was born on September 17, 1905, the youngest of 10 children, to Mary Flynn Brosnan and John Brosnan, in Castlegregory, County Kerry. Nora’s father was a farmer and the owner and operator of a successful local forge.Read more..
To receive a personal letter and gift from the President is one of the lovely Irish ways of honoring centenarians. We were indeed proud on May 19, 2016, to read to our mother, Molly Long, a message from President Michael D. Higgins: “What a wonderful occasion for you, your extended family and friends as you reminisceRead more..
My grandfather John Bernard “Barney” Hynes and his brother Thomas J. Hynes emigrated from Loughrea, Galway, Ireland to Boston, Massachusetts in 1875. They were in their early teens. Barney got a job with the Elevated Railroad Company, where he worked for 40 years and moonlighted at night singing, mostly at Irish wakes. Tom went toRead more..
My great-great-grandfather John Harrington’s family had probably been in the Beara peninsula of southwest Ireland for many generations before he emigrated in 1848, during the Great Hunger. In Irish, the ancestral name was probably Ó hIongardail (anglicized to Harrington for ease of entry into tenant logs after the land seizures of the 17th century), aRead more..
My grandmother Nora MacNamara (née Hickey) turned 100 on June 15, 2014. From her retirement home on the Dingle peninsula, County Kerry – snuggled in the foothills of the Slieve Mish mountains and overlooking the clear blue Atlantic ocean – family and friends gathered to celebrate the centenary of a woman known to her grandchildrenRead more..
In the 1960s my mother inherited a ring that had been passed down through two generations. When she began wearing the ring, just before falling asleep or upon waking, she heard the sounds of murmuring voices, clinking glasses, and muffled laughter as if there were a party going on in another part of the house.Read more..
Bridget O’Donnell of Cork, Ireland, my great-grandmother, was sent out to Boston by her father in 1846. A recent discovery of her photograph in the Lyons family bible reignites interest in her story and our origins. Bridget was 14 years old, soon to be 15, when her father took her to Cobh, expecting to bookRead more..
In Memoriam Delia Kennedy Shea SEPTEMBER 19, 1924 – SEPTEMBER 5, 2013 My mother, Delia Kennedy, was born on September 19, 1924, in Kilfillig, Mountbellew – a small village of six houses, 30 miles from Galway City. She had three brothers and two sisters whom she stayed in touch with throughout her life. Her parentsRead more..
My son Jim has been after me to write down some of the remembrances of my father Jim Burke that I’ve shared with him over the years. Before it’s too late, I’m sure he’s thinking. He keeps referring to an old, faded photograph of a group of refinery workers. It’s one of the few IRead more..