This week Ireland’s state broadcaster RTÉ (Raidió Teilifís Éireann) dedicated an episode of its show Nationwide to the Irish experience of the American Civil War. Over the years there has been a disappointing lack of Irish programming looking at emigrants to the U.S. during this period, so this marks a very welcome addition. The 25-minute programme......
We hope all our readers are having a good December and getting ready for Christmas! This month we are launching a new initiative here at Irish in the American Civil War. In the months ahead we will be recording video discussions where we chat about topics relating to the Irish and immigrant experience, both among......
It was a busy November for the Irish in the American Civil War team with not one but two online talks for the Irish American Heritage Museum! Both of the talks are now available on the Museum’s YouTube page, but you can also view them below. Damian discussed the Civil War Bluejackets Project and the......
On October 15th, 1861, as the young Army of the Potomac was busy preparing for future campaigning, Brigadier General John H. Martindale rode out to Hall’s Hill, Virginia, to inspect a regiment that had recently been added to the brigade under his command. As he passed other units in their fresh uniforms and neatly organized......
After what feels like a labour of love for nearly a decade, I’m delighted to see my first book on the culture and sentiments of Irish American Civil War songs and music now out there in the world having been published by LSU Press at the end of September! Followers of the blog and our......
Readers may recall that some time back we alerted you to the new Civil War Bluejackets Project, which is exploring Civil War sailors through an examination of the recently digitised Ship’s Muster Rolls. Somewhere in the vicinity of 20% of these sailors were Irish-born. The project (which Damian of Irish in the American Civil War......
Irish in the American Civil War has a long-standing interest in Civil War-era tattoos and markings. Brendan’s new post is the latest instalment in a series focused on the topic- you can check out some of the others via the links below: Marked Men: The Tattoos of New York Irishmen, 1863 Scarred Men: The Disfigurements......
The next series of Andersonville Irish Spotlight posts will share some of the results from work we carried out during the Andersonville Irish Project trip to the National Historic Site. It was a visit facilitated by grant funding from the Andersonville POW Research Grant Program made possible thanks to the Friends of Andersonville, as well as......
This is the second part in a series of articles by myself and several guest contributors, chronicling the lives of several related Hamilton emigrants from County Tyrone. While Part 1 explored the emigration and early career of William Hamilton, Part 2 explores the leadership and enlisted members of the regiment he enlisted in during the......
A while back I (Damian) did an interview with Dr Tom Thorpe for his Combat Morale Podcast, which explores why combatants in different wars enlist, fight and serve. I managed to miss it when it was released, but if you want to catch up with my chat with Tom on the reasons behind Irish service......