While I have read vast numbers of letters preserved in Federal pension files over the last number of years, very few of them were written on the day of an engagement. There are numerous reasons for this, but perhaps chief...

The new post shares a brief podcast that was originally prepared for Irish Community Level Patrons. While thousands of Irish soldiers and sailors died of disease and battle during the war, what about those who experienced more unusual deaths? The...

Back in 2015 Brendan Hamilton and I published a piece on the site entitled Recruited Straight Off The Boat: On the Trail of Emigrant Soldiers From the Ship Great Western. The work was based on Brendan’s discovery (and his extensive...

When we think of the Irish at Bull Run, our minds turn immediately to the 69th New York State Militia. When we consider the Irish in the Civil War, it is the Irish Brigade that springs to the fore. Just...

As we look forward to the tour of the 69th New York State Militia at Bull Run in May 2019 (details here), the first months of the year will have a number of posts that examine aspects of the 69th’s...

Of all the National Cemeteries in the United States, none is more famed than Arlington, the premier military cemetery in America. Established on the former grounds of Robert E. Lee’s Arlington Estate, it has come to be regarded as the...

I have some exciting news to share with readers of the site with regard to an upcoming event in the United States next year. Although I have guided a lot of tours on Irish battlefield sites, I have never had...

Mary Hogan emigrated from Co. Clare to America with her family around 1851. There she and her husband Michael–almost twenty years her senior–settled into life among the Irish community of Cincinnati, Ohio. Michael was among a number of Clare emigrants to...

The 11th November 2018 marked the conclusion of events remembering the centenary of the First World War. During the last four years remembrance of that conflict has, along with the 1916 Rising, dominated Irish historical discourse and memorial culture. A...

It will come as little surprise to readers that my analysis of Irish American correspondence during the Civil War has revealed that they were overwhelmingly pro-Democrat and anti-Republican. When they expressed a political opinion, they showed a general antipathy towards Abraham...