Irish America Staff In August 1845, an American “fugitive slave” named Frederick Douglass arrived in Dublin. He was seeking refuge from capture and a return to enslavement in his home country. Twenty-seven-year-old Douglass referred to his four months in Ireland as the “happiest moments” of his life. He also described it as “transformative”. Ireland changedRead 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..
Christine Kinealy writes about the American abolitionist Frederick Douglass who visited Ireland and came to be known as the “Black O’Connell.” In 1845, Frederick Douglass traveled to Ireland. He stayed there for only four months, but regarded the experience as “transformative.” Fifty years later, an American friend, who claimed to have accompanied the recently deceasedRead more..
An excerpt adapted from Colum McCann’s novel, TransAtlantic. ℘℘℘ Colum McCann won the National Book Award in 2012 for Let the Great World Spin, which through an extraordinary feat of storytelling connects a disparate group of ordinary New Yorkers to Philippe Petit’s 1974 tightrope walk between the Twin Towers. His novel TransAtlantic is another tourRead more..
Daniel O’Connell is remembered as the Liberator of Irish Catholics, but he also played a significant role in the movement to end slavery. On 23 May 2011, President Obama made an historic visit to the Republic of Ireland. While in Dublin, he addressed the people in College Green. In his opening comments, Obama joked aboutRead more..