The new Forgotten Irish Podcast is now live. It is a story that may be familiar to some of you, that of Catherine Garvin and her son Con, which also features as the first chapter of my latest book. In late 1863, details...

The striking, weather-beaten and feature-filled face that gazes intently back at us from this image does so across more than 150 years of history. A product of the 1860s, the photograph was created as a result of the American Civil...

I have been fortunate over the years to contribute on a number of occasions to both of Ireland’s major national radio history shows, RTE’s The History Show and Newstalk’s Talking History. For the recent 155th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, last Sunday’s Talking History...

I recently attended the excellent 2018 Famine Summer School held at the National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park House in Co. Roscommon. I was speaking on what pension files can reveal about the remittance of money from America to Ireland, and the...

The Irish in the American Civil War website has benefited greatly over the years from the expertise, generosity and friendship of Joe Maghe. Joe is one of the foremost collectors of Irish-associated material from the American Civil War, and dedicates a...

To accompany the YouTube Channel that has recently been revamped, I am delighted to announce that my new podcast The Forgotten Irish has now also been launched. You can access the podcast via the podcast tab at the top of the page,...

On 25 May last I delivered a lecture to the Waterford Archaeological & Historical Society at St. Patrick’s Gateway Centre in Waterford City. The topic was the exploration of the impact of the American Civil War on Irish families. As...

In 1860 one in every four people in New York was of Irish birth. The majority dwelt among the urban poor, congregating in notorious areas such as Manhattan’s Five Points. Their experience of the American Civil War was mixed, ranging...

When the American Civil War broke out in April 1861, Ireland’s Nation newspaper predicted that the lives of Irish emigrants would be “offered in thousands. Many a mother’s heart in Ireland, long cheered by the affectionate and dutiful letter and the generous...

The most popular history podcast in Ireland, Irish History Podcast, is currently running a series on the Great Irish Famine. The show’s host, Fin Dwyer, has recently completed an episode that looks at the impact of the Famine on the American...