Museum of Newport Irish History | Newport, Rhode Island

Kenneth R. Dooley, playwright & author, "The Murder Trial of John Gordon"
2011-01-06 18:00 UTC
Irish immigrant John Gordon was the last person executed by the State of Rhode Island, after his conviction for the murder of Cranston mill owner, Amasa Sprague, in 1843. Ken Dooley will speak about his play, which sheds new light on this infamous 165-year-old incident. Dooley’s meticulously researched and intriguing play dramatizes just how and why Gordon was wrongly convicted during an era when prejudice towards Irish Catholics was all too common.
“The Murder Trial of John Gordon” opens at the R.I. Center for Performing Arts in Cranston (also known as the Park Theater) January 14, for a 21-show run, weekends through February 20. For directions, ticket information: www.ParkTheatreRI.com or 401-467-7275
Newport resident, Author, playwright, director and Cranston native, KENNETH R. DOOLEY has published 38 books, including Management by Auerbach, in 1992, and the recently completed Judgment at Yokohama, based on a real-life incident involving the capture and execution of Lt. Robert E. Thorpe, a Cranston native, during WWII. His other recent play is The Auerbach Dynasty, based on the life of Red Auerbach, which the NBA plans to produce for an opening at Cranston’s Park Theater in 2011. His professional background includes nearly 30 years in publishing and its related educational film production industries. Dooley received his B.A. from Providence College and studied screenwriting and directing at the New York School of Film and the Eugene O’Neil Theater in Waterford, CT. We welcome him for this, his first speaking engagement with the Museum of Newport Irish History.

Marian Mathison Desrosiers, Ph.D., "Island Girl": Justice Florence Kerins Murray (1916-2004)"
2010-11-04 18:00
Newporter’s may remember Justice Murray from her twenty-year service as “The Newport Judge” on R.I. Superior Court, or for her two decades of tenure as the first woman Supreme Court Justice in Rhode Island. Most are not aware of the broad range of professional achievements and civic contributions of this Fifth Ward-raised member of the Kerins and Sullivan clans. Among other accomplishments, Florence Kerins Murray taught in a one-room schoolhouse, was one of the first women to attend Boston University Law School, was the youngest lieutenant colonel in the Women’s Army Corp and was a member of the Newport School Committee that built three new schools in the mid-20th century. Despite the scope of her accomplishments, Justice Murray referred to herself as an “Island Girl”, and she chose to live in Newport and give back to the community that shaped and nurtured her. The lecture will include a video interview with Justice Murray filmed in 2001.
MARIAN MATHISON DESROSIERS is an independent scholar and Adjunct Professor of History and Humanities at Salve Regina University, where she earned her Ph.D. She is an executive board member of the National Council for Social Studies and a two-time Fulbright Scholar. Dr. Desrosiers has researched and written on 19th century Irish immigration, women in positions of leadership during wartime and in the judiciary, among other topics. The subject of Dr. Desrosiers’ doctoral dissertation was Justice Florence Kerins Murray, and we welcome her for this, her first speaking engagement with the Museum of Newport Irish History.

William J. Matthews, Ph.D., "Eamon De Valera: The Man Who Was 20th Century Ireland"
2010-10-07 18:00
One can does not talk about 20th century Ireland without considering Eamon DeValera. No one was more controversial, and no one had a greater effect in shaping Ireland in his own image than “Dev”. Without question, during his time in power, DeValera was one of the greatest politicians on the world stage. With power, however, also comes controversy. In this lecture, Professor Matthews will discuss DeValera from his early life to his rise to power in Sinn Féin, his refusal to accept the Treaty, his role in the Civil War, and Ireland post WWII.
WILLIAM J. MATTHEWS received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Connecticut and has been a professor with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for over 30 years. Dr. Matthews holds dual American/Irish citizenship and has studied many areas of Irish history, including the Irish Uprising and Civil War. We warmly welcome Dr. Matthews back for this, his sixth speaking engagement with the Museum of Newport Irish History.

Denny Lynch, Photographer, MS, BS, "Maryland's Irish Connections"
2010-03-03 18:00
Historian, lecturer and Baltimore native, Denny Lynch will present a slide-illustrated talk examining some of the fascinating ties that have existed between his state and the nation of Ireland. Using his beautiful images, Denny will reveal how these connections have manifested themselves throughout Maryland’s history. He will also highlight the role that Baltimorean Catherine Harper (daughter of Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence) played in the founding of St. Mary’s, one of Newport’s most historic churches.
DENNY LYNCH has travelled extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East and Central America and has recorded his many travels with wonderful and engaging photographs. His work has been exhibited for many years both here and in Europe, with examples part of the permanent collections of the City of New York and the New York Historical Society. A frequent visitor to Ireland, much of Denny’s work has been focused on Irish history and culture, and has been exhibited in County Cavan, County Monagan and County Kerry’s Heritage Center. Denny received his BS in History and MS in Education from Towson University in Maryland, and he taught history in the Baltimore schools for over 30 years before retiring recently to focus on his photography. This is his fourth illustrated talk for the Museum, and his second focusing on the fascinating history of the Irish in Maryland.

Joyce M. Botelho, M.A. - "Nora Mulloy's Newport"
2009-11-17 18:00
American writer Thornton Wilder once described Newport as a community made up of nine cities, each with its separate identity. Like Theophilus North’s fictional Newport of 1926, each city has its own story to tell and Nora Mulloy’s is one of them.
Born in County Roscommon Ireland, Nora Mulloy immigrated to Newport and like many single Irish women, found employment as a domestic in a series of prominent households. Eventually she was able to set aside enough money to run her own boarding house. Though she never married, she raised two orphaned nieces with whom she lived until her death in 1954. Members of the Mulloy family still reside in Newport today.
Nora’s Newport was a working-class town inhabited by people who drew their identity from their family, their religion, their heritage, and their neighborhood. Their labor was vital to Newport’s rise as a fashionable resort, and their leisure activities were uniquely their own. A maid’s half-day off may have included kitchen rackets, ceili dancing at the Forty Steps or the ritual bathing of “Ladies Day”. This presentation explores how Irish immigrants, like Nora Mulloy, helped create a vibrant working-class culture in Newport during the early part of the twentieth century.
JOYCE M. BOTELHO is an independent scholar with more than twenty-five years of professional experience in the field of public history. She holds an A.B. in Literature and Languages from Bard College and a master’s degree in History from Brown University and has taught at Brown, Providence College, and Salve Regina University. Ms. Botelho is employed by the Rhode Island Foundation as the Philanthropy Officer for the Newport County Fund. This is her first lecture for the Museum of Newport Irish History.

Edward T. O'Donnell, Ph.D., "Compassion & Corruption: The Political Machine and the Irish American Experience"
2009-10-22 18:00
Historian Edward T. O’Donnell’s talk will explore the origins and workings of the “political machine” and why the Irish were uniquely suited to take advantage of it. He will also discuss the Irish political machine as an agent of charity and social welfare in an era when the poor had few places to turn for assistance. But while political machines empowered the Irish in America, they also brought condemnation due to their corrupt and questionable practices. Finally, O’Donnell will explain the fate of the Irish political machine in the 20th century noting how, long after its disappearance, it left behind a tradition of liberalism and social justice that continues to inform political debate today.
EDWARD T. O’DONNELL was born in Gloucester, MA to Irish American parents. He earned his doctorate in American History from Columbia University and currently is Assoc. Professor of History at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA. He is the author of several books, including Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum (Random House, 2003), 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History (Random House/Broadway Books, 2002), and the forthcoming Talisman of a Lost Hope: Henry George and Gilded Age America (Columbia University Press). His scholarly articles have appeared in the Public Historian, Journal of Urban History, and the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. He has also worked on several major museum exhibits on Irish American history, including serving as curatorial consultant to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in NYC for their Irish Family Apartment (opened, June 2008). This is his first lecture for the Museum of Newport Irish History.

Edward T. McCarron, Ph.D., "From the Nore Valley to North America: Migrations from the Parish of Inistioge, County Kilkenny"
2009-04-16 18:00
Professor McCarron received his B.A. from Drew University, his M.A. from Florida State University, and his Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire. His courses at Stonehill include “Irish-American Experience”; “The Immigrant Experience in American History” and “Ireland: From Colony to Nation State”. Dr. McCarron has written numerous articles including “Altered States: Turone Migration to Providence, Rhode Island 1820-1870”, and “A Brave New World: The Irish Agrarian Colony of Benedicta, Maine in the 1830s”.

John F. Quinn, Ph.D., "The Rise of Catholicism in Newport, 1880-1950" (an "encore” presentation hosted by Cluny School, 75 Brenton Road, Newport)
2009-03-09 18:00
In 1800 there were scarcely any Catholics in Newport, but by the mid-19th Century their numbers had risen dramatically, driven by immigration from Ireland. By 1880, the city’s one Catholic parish had grown so large that it had to be divided. Over the next seven decades, the Catholic Church continued to expand its presence in Newport, with the establishment of two more parishes, several convents, four elementary schools, an orphanage, two rest homes, a retreat house and a college. Many of these establishments were housed in what had once been the mansions of the city’s summer colonists. By 1950, Catholicism had become a dominant force in the city by the Sea.

Denny Lynch, Photographer, MS, BS, "The Battle of Baltimore, September 1814"
2009-03-03 18:00
Photographer and Baltimore native, Denny Lynch will share his fascinating slide illustrated talk about the Battle of Baltimore. It was in September of 1814 that American soldiers stood up once more to one of Europe’s great military powers. Many of these soldiers were Irish. With his photographic images, Denny will highlight the main events and sites that are associated with this decisive engagement. Join Museum members and friends for this visual tour of the battle that inspired the writing of the “Star-Spangled Banner”.
DENNY LYNCH has travelled extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East and Central America and has recorded his many travels with wonderful and engaging photographs. His work has been exhibited for many years both here and in Europe, with examples part of the permanent collections of the City of New York and the New York Historical Society. A frequent visitor to Ireland, much of Denny’s work has been focused on Irish history and culture, and has been exhibited in County Cavan, County Monagan and County Kerry’s Heritage Center. Denny received his BS in History and MS in Education from Towson University in Maryland, and he taught history in the Baltimore schools for over 30 years before retiring recently to focus on his photography. This is his third lecture for the Museum of Newport Irish History.

William J. Matthews, Ph.D., "The Irish Famine (An Gorta Mor) 1845-1849"
2009-02-19 18:00
The great Irish famine was a horrific period in Irish history of incredible calamity, suffering, and death. The proximal cause of this disaster was the Irish dependence on the potato crop and, of course, the subsequent blight. However, the ensuing disaster caused by the loss of the potato crop was exacerbated by political, economic, and social factors which remain part of the debate today. In this talk, Professor Matthews will explore the famine in the context of British responsibility and the famine’s subsequent connection to Irish nationalism.
WILLIAM J. MATTHEWS received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Connecticut and has been a professor with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for the last 28 years. Dr. Matthews holds dual American/Irish citizenship and has studied many areas of Irish history, including the Irish Uprising and Civil War. Dr. Matthews gave a beautifully illustrated lecture entitled “The Life and Times of Michael Collins an Irish Patriot” for the Museum’s 2007-08 lecture series. We welcome Dr. Matthews back for this, his third speaking engagement with the Museum.

. Charles Artaud Byrne, MS, Lt.-Col. U.S. AF (retired), "Ranelagh: The Irish Warlord" (Tate Publishing Company, 2008)
2008-11-06 18:00
Byrne brings one of Ireland’s ancient and respected families to vivid life. His epic of the O’Byrne family begins in 16th Century County Wicklow, as they struggle to counter English aggression and maintain their landholdings. The story continues through their emigration to America in 1818, settling in Catholic Baltimore, with insights into what is to follow for future generations.
CHARLES ARTAUD BYRNE, a West Point graduate, served 28 years in the Air Force, including combat missions in Korea. He is the recipient of The Distinguished Flying Cross and is a former instructor at the Navy War College, Newport. Upon his retirement from the military, he settled in Newport and became an avid sailor. Mr. Byrne is a past Secretary of the American Sail Training Association in Newport, and was Treasurer of Seaport ’76 Foundation, in support of the replica of R.I.’s first warship, The Providence. When sailing, he favors clipper ships on the high seas, and has crossed the Atlantic four times. In 2007 he travelled around the world, a journey which included 37 days on a 4-masted clipper ship. The proud father of a daughter and two sons, he now concentrates on research and writing.
Byrne has written a sequel to Ranelagh, titled Tomorrow’s Skies, with another, Tomorrow’s Star in process. This is Mr. Byrne’s first speaking engagement with the Museum. Copies of Ranelagh will be available for purchase and author’s signature.

Scott Molloy, Ph.D., "Irish Titan, Irish Toilers: Joseph Banigan and Nineteenth-Century New England Labor" (University Press of New England, July 2008)
2008-10-14 18:00
In his book Molloy explores the life of Joseph Banigan (1839-1898), one of America’s most successful 19th Century industrialists, who became New England’s first Catholic millionaire. Banigan was an Irish Potato Famine refugee from County Monaghan, in Ulster, who established himself in Rhode Island and became a titan of the rubber industry; Banigan become president of the U.S. Rubber Company in 1893. Banigan accomplished this during a period of widespread anti-Irish-Catholic prejudice, also explored in Molloy’s book.
SCOTT MOLLOY is an award-winning Professor at the Schmidt Labor Research Center, University of Rhode Island. He previously drove a bus, was a union activist, and was Chief of Staff to a United States Congresswoman. A prolific writer, Molloy also wrote, Trolley Wars: Streetcar Workers on the Line (University of New Hampshire, 2007). This is Dr. Molloy’s second speaking engagement with the Museum.

Dr. Brian Trainor, Ulster Historical Foundation, "Emigration from Ulster to North America in the 18th Century"
2008-03-10 18:00

Nancy Lusignan Schultz, Ph.D., "Mass Mailings: The Irish and American Miracles of Prince Alexander Hohenlohe, 1823-24", (published Mar. 2011 as "Mrs. Mattingly's Miracle: The Prince, the Widow, and the Cure that Shocked Washington City", Yale Univ. Press)
2008-01-17 18:00

Alen MacWeeney, Photographer, Author, "Irish Travelers, Tinkers No More" (New England College Press, 2007)
2007-11-29 18:00
Alen MacWeeney was born in Dublin in 1939 and came to the U.S. at age 21 to become assistant to the renowned photographer Richard Avedon. He soon established himself as a contributor to such publications as The New Yorker, Life, Esquire, and The New York Times Magazine. His photographs are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y. McWeeney has produced seven books, among them Bloomsbury Reflections, Irish Stone Walls, and Fabled Landscapes. He co-directed a feature-length documentary, “Travelers”, based on his book, which was broadcast by RTE and the BBC. Mr. MacWeeney will discuss his new book, Irish Travelers (2007, New England College Press), and show his 40-minute documentary. Copies of his book will be available for signature.

William J. Matthews, Ph.D., "The Life and Times of Michael Collins"
2007-11-08 18:00

Denny Lynch, photographer, "Returning to Kerry: Photographic sojourn in and around Kerry.”
2007-02-28 18:00
A frequent visitor to Ireland, Denny Lynch has recorded his travels with wonderful and engaging photographs. He received his BS in History and MS in Education from Towson University in Maryland and has taught history in the Baltimore schools for over 30 years. His work has been exhibited in Paris, Manhattan and Ireland (County Kerry). This is his second lecture for the Museum of Newport Irish History. His Feb. 28 talk is entitled: Returning to Kerry: Photographic sojourn in and around Kerry.

Nancy Lusignan Schultz, Ph.D., "McGowan's Tavern, Paddy Funerals, and Rossiter's Dog: Irish Factors in the 1834 Attack on the Charlestown, Mass. Convent"
2006-11-30 18:00
Nancy Lusignan Schultz is professor and coordinator of Graduate Programs in English and America Studies at Salem State College, Salem, Mass. She has completed fellowships at Harvard University and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and is co-editor of: Salem: Place, Myth and Memory (Northeastern U. Press, 2005). Professor Lusignan Schultz is also the author of Fire and Roses: The Burning of the Charlestown Convent, 1834 (Northeastern U. Press, 2002). Her November 30 talk is titled: McGowan’s Tavern, Paddy Funerals, and Rossiter’s Dog: Irish Factors in the 1834 Attack on the Charlestown, Mass. Convent Prof. Schultz will focus on Irish Factors in the 1834 torching of the Ursuline Convent. Even today in South Boston, the attack lives so strongly in the imaginations of Irish American residents that many believe it happened only a generation ago.

Professor William Matthews, PhD, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. "Green Against Green: The Tragic Irish Civil War".
2006-11-02 18:00

Maureen Lapan, Ph.D., founding member and officer of the International Berkeley Society, "Images of Berkeley in Newport: 1729-1732"
2006-04-20 18:00

J. Stephen Grimes, Director of Archives and Records Management for the R.I. Supreme Court, "From Bricklayer to Bricklayer; The Rhode Island Roots of Congressman John E. Fogarty's Irish-American Nationalism"
2006-02-09 18:00

Paul O'Malley, Ph.D., "Ireland and the Spanish Civil War: A Foreign Policy Racy of Irish Soil"
2005-12-01 18:00
The term “Racy” has been used in the past as a way of commending the organization or policy as exhibiting the excellence of the Irish race, according to Dr. O’Malley.

William Matthews, Ph.D., The Irish Rising of 1916 and how it led to the 1919-21 insurrection against Britain.
2005-10-20 18:00

Fr. Robert Hayman, "Irish immigrants in Rhode Island prior to 1860, with a special look at the Newport area".
2004-11-18 18:00
Fr. Robert Hayman, Historian for the Diocese of Providence. Fr. Hayman’s talk focused on the “Irish immigrants in Rhode Island prior to 1860, with a special look at the Newport area”.
He referred to the memoirs of Bishop Fenwick of Boston who noted that in 1827 there were about 150 Irish men working at Ft. Adams, and some 35 working in the Portsmouth coal mines.
He also referenced the baptismal records of children born to parents working at Ft. Adams in the late 1820s and the obituary of James Cottrell who came to Newport from Ireland to work on the Fort in 1828.

Dr. Lawrence Arnold of Dublin, the author of numerous articles dealing with seventeenth century Irish History, and author of The Restoration Land Settlement in County Dublin 1660-1668, spoke about the events in Irish history leading up to the Cromwellian war and the settlement following that war.
2004-10-13 18:00

Denny Lynch, Photographer
2004-03-26 18:00

Evelyn Sterne, Ph.D. - "Irish in Politics and the Catholic Church"
2004-02-05 18:00

Charles Duff, Ph.D. - "Edwin O'Connor's Boston"
2003-12-02 18:00

Seamus Connolly, Boston College - "An Evening of Irish Traditional music, different languages and stories"
2003-10-23 18:00

Inaugural talk by Dr. John Quinn, PhD, an associate professor of history at Salve Regina University on his newly published book "Father Mathew's Crusade - Temperance in Nineteenth Century Ireland and Irish America"
2002-10-24 18:00
