In July 1865 the State Census came to the town of Westfield, Massachusetts. One of the community recorded there was Abby Sullivan, who was described as a 42 year-old Irish woman. Abby was also recorded as married, but in July...
150 years ago today the main Irish newspaper of New York, the Irish-American, reported on the Draft Riots that had engulfed the city in previous days. In the weeks and months to follow the largely Irish make-up of the crowd...
Regular readers of the blog will be familiar with the donations made by hundreds of Union troops in 1863 towards the relief of the suffering poor in Ireland (see here, here, here and an overview here). These men were about...
Newspapers that appealed to emigrant populations like the New York Irish-American often ran ‘Information Wanted’ sections, where people could place classified ads. Many are attempts to locate long-lost family, friends or beneficiaries of wills. These advertisements ran for three issues at the...
As newly formed regiments left their home states for the seat of war, many wives chose to accompany their men to the front. When the 37th New York ‘Irish Rifles’ settled into their duties around Washington in the summer of...
A previous post began to examine the fractious relationship between the Irish-American and African-American communities during the Civil War era. The majority of Irish were supporters of the Democratic Party, and many retained strong views in later years about why...
On 13th December 1862 the Irish Brigade had fought at Fredericksburg. Along with many other Union brigades they suffered horrendous casualties in the futile attempt to assault the Confederate positions at Marye’s Heights. The losses sent shockwaves through the Irish-American...
In a recent post I looked at some views regarding the propriety of a memorial to the Irish who were affected by the American Civil War. A number of commentators on an interview I gave to the Journal.ie about the...
The Great Famine is an event seared into Irish national memory. Although the victims of the Great Hunger are rightfully remembered and commemorated, as is the physical fact that vast numbers of people were forced to leave, Ireland today largely...
Throughout the course of the war the New York Irish-American received regular correspondence from Irishmen serving in the field. These men usually wrote pieces under a pseudonym or using only their initials. Regular reports arrived from Corcoran’s Irish Legion via a...