I am fascinating by the physical remnants of the past that survive in the contemporary landscape. When we think of landscapes of the American Civil War, the images conjured in our minds are often of vast battlefields, such as the...
A number of previous posts have explored the impact of loss during the American Civil War on ordinary people in Europe (See Mapping Mainland Europe’s American Civil War Widows). Many of them had never–and would never–set foot in the United...
As many readers are aware, I am currently at Northumbria University in Newcastle working on PhD research into the letters of Irish soldiers and sailors who served in the Union military. Forming the basis of this work is a database...
James McDevitt was born into a large Irish family around the year 1845. His home was in a small cluster of houses– known as a clachan– which operated an infield and outfield farming system known as rundale (see here). James...
A number of years ago, Donegal teacher Gerry Moore launched the fantastic My Adopted Soldier project. The cornerstone of his efforts saw 32 Irish school students–one from every county in Ireland–research an Irish soldier from their area who died during the First...
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...
