Irish in the American Civil War

The 154th New York Infantry is one of the more fortunate of Civil War regiments. It has enjoyed what is perhaps unparalleled focus from a single historian, a man who for the past four decades has intensively studied the unit, its men and what it meant to  serve in its ranks. Mark Dunkelman has now [...]

Andrew J. Byrne was born in Dublin in 1830. In 1898 he decided to commence writing his memoirs, which he finished in 1909, two years before his death. Superficially there seems to be nothing unusual about Byrne’s life; he was born in Dublin and died in Dublin, and spent much of his life employed in [...]

‘I once found an old flag, an Irish Brigade flag which had been used during the Civil War by the Irish Brigade here in this country. He liked that very much, and we got it to give to the President of Ireland. He and Mrs. Kennedy spent a great deal of time deciding how it [...]

Michael Corcoran was something of a celebrity in 1860s New York. The Co. Sligo native hit the headlines in 1860 when as Colonel of the 69th New York State Militia he refused to parade during the visit of the Prince of Wales. His court-martial had not occurred by the outbreak of the war, and at [...]