Museum of Newport Irish History | Newport, Rhode Island

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 UTC
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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kenneth R. Dooley, playwright & author, "The Murder Trial of John Gordon"
2011-01-06 18:00
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.

William J. Matthews, Ph.D., “A History of the IRA: Oglaigh na Heireann"
2011-09-15 18:00
This Irish-language title for the “Irish Volunteers” of 1913 was retained when the Volunteers became known in English as the “Irish Republican Army” (IRA) during the War of Independence of 1919-1922. Ireland has had a long history of violent opposition to British occupation, and, in his talk, Dr. Matthews will discuss the rise of the “physical force” approach to Irish independence, from the Rising of 1798 to the Fenian movement of the 19th century, to the Irish Volunteers of 1913, through the formation of the IRA in 1919, and concluding with its demobilization in Northern Ireland in 1998.
WILLIAM J. MATTHEWS received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Connecticut. He is Professor Emeritus at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he has taught for over 30 years. Professor 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 seventh speaking engagement with the Museum of Newport Irish History.

John F. Quinn, Ph.D., "The Irish in Gilded Age Newport"
2011-10-13 18:00
Gilded Age Newport is well-known for its summer colonists and for the “cottages” that they built. However, less attention has been paid to the city’s year-round residents, at least one-third of whom were Irish. For Irish Newporter’s, this was a time of increasing visibility and influence. They were becoming prominent in local politics and in civic and religious organizations and a few of them even owned estates on Bellevue Avenue and Ocean Drive.
JOHN F. QUINN received his Ph.D. in history from Notre Dame. He has been professor of history with Salve Regina since 1992 and is History Department Chair. A prolific writer, Dr. Quinn is the author of numerous articles, as well as the book Father Mathew’s Crusade: Temperance in Nineteenth Century Ireland and Irish-America (U. of Mass. Press, 2002). His interests include Irish America, Modern Ireland, and American Religion and Ethnicity. He is an expert on Irish and Irish-American attitudes towards slavery in the 19th Century. Dr. Quinn’s professional memberships include American Catholic Historical Association, American Conference on Irish Studies, Irish American Cultural Institute, and Society of Catholic Social Scientists. This is Dr. Quinn’s fourth speaking engagement with the Museum.

Kurt C. Schlichting, Ph.D. "The Irish in Newport: A Detailed Examination of the 1880 Census"
2011-11-08 18:00
The complete 1880 U.S. Census illustrates the patterns of Irish settlement in Newport. Because the Census allows us to map Irish immigrants to their individual street addresses, it reveals residential concentrations. Professor Schlichting will identify the emerging Irish neighborhoods of 1880 and his analysis of the census data will provide new insight into “chain migration” from Ireland, occupations, and family composition.
KURT C. SCHLICHTING is the E. Gerald Corrigan ’63 Chair in Humanities & Social Sciences Department a Professor of Sociology at Fairfield University (CT). He is the author of Grand Central Terminal: Railroads, Architecture and Engineering in New York (Johns Hopkins U. Press, 2001), for which he received the 2002 Best Professional/ Scholarly Book: Architecture & Urbanism Award from the Association of American Publishers. This book was the basis of “Grand Central,” an American Experience documentary on PBS, for which Dr. Schlichting served as an academic advisor and was an on-screen interviewee. His next book, Grand Central’s Engineer: William J. Wilgus and the Planning of Modern Manhattan, will be published by Johns Hopkins this spring. He is founder and director of the Fairfield County Research Center which involves Fairfield U. faculty and students in research projects for local government and non-profit organizations. Dr. Schlichting received his bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University in 1970 and his master’s degree and a doctorate from New York University.

Marian Mathison Desrosiers, Ph.D., "Remembering the Famine: The McGlinchey of Inishowen and Cambridge, MA"
2012-01-18 18:00
After the defeat of O’Donnell and O’Neil, many of the McGlinchey clan escaped to Donegal in the North, in the early 1600s. Professor Desrosiers’ Irish ancestors, Eliza McGowan and Patrick McGlinchey, lived in Meentaghcallagh near Buncrana in the remote Inishowen Peninsula. When Patrick lost his life in a quarry accident, Eliza found a way to sail to America with her brothers and her five children. She traveled in the Famine Exodus from Moville to Liverpool and on to Boston Harbor. There she was welcomed by a cousin, Reverend Manasses Dougherty (Doherty) of St. Peter’s in Cambridge. Professor Desrosiers will share the importance of Faith and education for the next generations of McGlinchey’s: engaging in the Civil War and Gold Rush; settling the Kansas Prairie and creating their own Boston businesses; and graduating from Radcliffe (Harvard) followed by serving both secular and religious roles in their communities. The McGlinchey were ancestors of longtime Newporter, Genevieve McGlinchey Mathison. From oral history to Hearth Roll taxes, from the Boston Pilot to state archives, we will explore the emergence of an American family who never forgot their roots in Ireland.
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, the topic of her last lecture for the Museum, in November 2010. We welcome her back for this second speaking engagement.

Roxanne O'Connell, Ph.D., "Your Granny's Gramophone: The Cultural Impact of early recording technology on Irish Music"
2012-03-22 18:00
The music that is broadly defined as Irish has developed in tandem with the media technologies of the past 100 years. From the wax cylinder to the iPod, technology has had a dramatic impact on the preservation, transmission and transformation of music in general and of Irish music in particular, a genre whose roots lie deep in non-technical oral traditions. This talk examines the role the gramophone played during the first half of the twentieth century as Irish music traveled back and forth across the Atlantic. Dr. Roxanne O’Connell investigates the patterns that emerged based on information gleaned from interviews with Irish and Irish American families and musicians and an analysis of their collections of 78s.
ROXANNE O’CONNELL, Ph.D. is associate professor and Chair of the Department of Communication at Roger Williams University teaching visual communication and digital media. Her professional life has fallen into two areas: visual media and music. As a teacher and publishing consultant with more than 20 years of experience in design, e-commerce, and marketing, she specializes in information design, audience research and Web site usability. Media research interests include traditional and digital media, perception and visual rhetoric. A musician since age 12, she has performed with her husband Robbie O’Connell on stages large and small, from coffeehouses to international music festivals, in village pubs and on outdoor stages. Before she started teaching at university, she had recorded backup vocals on five CDs. She now uses what she knows about media and sound to teach her students how to create multimodal digital narratives. Her dissertation, “The Golden Age of Irish Music: The cultural impact of 78 rpm recordings in Ireland and Irish America” examines the role media has played in the creation, transmission, transformation, preservation and reclamation of Irish music. She is currently assembling interviews and stories collected in her research for a book. We welcome Doctor O’Connell for this, her first speaking engagement with the Museum.

Donald D. Deignan, Ph.D., "The Rhode Island Irish Famine Memorial: Its Past, Present and Future"
2012-09-17 18:00
The Rhode Island Irish Famine Memorial, located on the Riverwalk in downtown Providence, powerfully commemorates the sufferings and triumphs of the two and one half million victims and survivors of Ireland’s “Great Famine” of 1845-1851. It also pays a moving tribute in granite, bronze and brick to the successive waves of Irish immigrants who have so greatly enriched Rhode Island’s political, religious, educational, economic and cultural life ever since the Famine.
Dr. Donald D. Deignan, who holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in History from Brown University, is a founding member and the current President of the Rhode Island Irish Famine Memorial Committee, Inc. He will discuss the evolution of the Famine Memorial project from its inception in 1995 through the Monument’s Dedication in 2007 and conclude with a careful consideration of the Project’s prospects and challenges. The Lecture will be illustrated by scenes and text from the Famine Memorial site.
DONALD D. DEIGNAN is a professional historian and writer. After earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in History from Brown University, he taught for several years at Rhode Island College and then worked for more than a decade at various agencies of state government in a variety of administrative capacities. In addition to serving as a volunteer on many nonprofit Boards over the last thirty years, he has traveled widely throughout the world and holds both American and Irish Citizenship. In 1997 along with his Rhode Island College classmate and friend, Dr. Scott Molloy, Dr. Deignan was a founding member of the Rhode Island Irish Famine Memorial Committee, Inc. Since June 2010 he has served as President of that organization. Now happily retired, Dr. Deignan lives in Providence with his wife Kathleen Leonard.

John F. Quinn, Ph.D., "The Rise and Fall of Charles Stewart Parnell, Ireland's 'Uncrowned King'"
2012-10-15 18:00
A wealthy Protestant landowner from County Wicklow, Charles Stewart Parnell was elected to the House of Commons in 1874 at the age of 29 and quickly rose to the leadership of the Irish Home Rule Party. Highly regarded in Ireland and America as well, Parnell became more influential than any Irish politician before him. In the 1880s, Parnell appeared to be close to gaining both Home Rule and land reform for Ireland when a personal crisis intervened and cut short his career.
JOHN F. QUINN received his Ph.D. in history from Notre Dame. He has been professor of history with Salve Regina University since 1992 and is History Department Chair. A prolific writer, Dr. Quinn is the author of numerous articles, as well as the book Father Mathew’s Crusade: Temperance in Nineteenth Century Ireland and Irish-America (U. of Mass. Press, 2002). His interests include Irish America, Modern Ireland, and American Religion and Ethnicity. He is an expert on Irish and Irish-American attitudes towards slavery in the 19th Century. Dr. Quinn’s professional memberships include American Catholic Historical Association, American Conference on Irish Studies, Irish American Cultural Institute, and Society of Catholic Social Scientists. This is Dr. Quinn’s fifth speaking engagement with the Museum.

Kurt C. Schlichting, Ph.D., "Exploring the Historical Record of Irish Immigration: To American and Newport"
2013-01-17 18:00
Documenting an historical past is a complicated process. The chronicle of the Irish in America has been the subject of novels, biographies and films. Family histories preserve a treasured story of a journey to America and then the subsequent struggle for acceptance and upward mobility. Social historians, on the other hand, rely on official records as sources to systematically study the journey of the Irish to America and Newport. Records once accessible only in the National Archives, in specialized research collections, or in local archives can now be accessed online. Dr. Schlichting will explore historical records pertaining to Irish immigration to Newport that provide a complex view of the immigrants’ journey and the social conditions they encountered in Newport in the 1800s.
KURT C. SCHLICHTING is the E. Gerald Corrigan ’63 Chair in Humanities & Social Sciences Department and a Professor of Sociology at Fairfield University (CT). He is the author of Grand Central Terminal: Railroads, Architecture and Engineering in New York (Johns Hopkins U. Press, 2001), for which he received the 2002 Best Professional/Scholarly Book: Architecture & Urbanism Award from the Association of American Publishers. This book was the basis of “Grand Central,” an American Experience documentary on PBS, for which Dr. Schlichting served as an academic advisor and was an on-screen interviewee. His recent book, Grand Central’s Engineer: William J. Wilgus and the Planning of Modern Manhattan, was published by Johns Hopkins in the spring of 2012.
In collaboration with the Redwood Library, he and his students are creating a website, “Digital Historic Newport Rhode Island,” to explore Newport’s rich history. The project is funded by the Humanities Institute of Fairfield University. Dr. Schlichting received his bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University in 1970 and his master’s degree and a doctorate from New York University. This is Dr. Schlichting’s second talk for the Museum of Newport Irish History.

Karen A. Holland, Ph.D., "Hero of the Siege of Londonderry, 1689?"
2013-02-25 18:00
Historical and literary accounts of a military engagement often unanimously extol one outstanding individual as the hero of the battle or campaign. This, however, is not the case with four works authored in the first two decades after the 1689 siege of Londonderry where a variety of individuals – both male and female, human and divine – are championed in a range of literary genre. Two of the authors promote themselves as the heroes of the siege: Rev. George Walker in his journal A True Account of the siege of Londonderry (1689) and John Mitchelburne in his five act tragi-comedy Ireland Preserved or The Siege of Londonderry (1705). The other two texts acknowledge Colonel Adam Murray as the champion of 1689: Rev. John Mackenzie in his history A Narrative of the Siege of Londonderry (1690) and Joseph Aickin in his epic poem Londerias or a Narrative of the Siege of Londonderry (1699). Female contenders for the honor are the Amazons who appear in Mitchelburne’s drama, and the personified city of Londonderry as presented in both literary works. Ultimately all four authors praise God and his Providence as the true victor of the siege.
While the conventions of the literary genre each author selected – journal, drama, history, and epic poem – require certain attributes of the hero, the author’s own ambition, and personal and confessional differences also play a role in the creation of the hero of 1689. Dr. Holland will review the historical significance of the Siege of Londonderry and contrast the fascinating differences among the four pieces of literature with respect to the “hero” extolled.
KAREN A. HOLLAND, Assistant Professor of History, Providence College, teaches courses including Early Modern Ireland and Roman Britain & Early Celtic Ireland. Professor Holland earned her B.A. in English/Education, her M.A. in European History and her Ph.D. from Providence College. Her Master’s thesis and her Ph.D. dissertation dealt with topics of Irish interest: “Lebor Na Cert [The Book of Rights]: Reflection of Medieval Irish Society” and “Joan Desmond, Ormond, and Ossory: The World of a Countess in Sixteenth-Century Ireland”, respectively. Recent publications and current research have focused on biographies of 16th and 17th century Irish and English women. We welcome Professor Holland for this, her second presentation for the Museum.

Scott Molloy, Ph.D., "Revisiting "Our Own Kind”: An 'Angela's Ashes' Tale set in Rhode Island"
2013-03-25 18:00
In 1946 a provocative novel about growing up Irish in Rhode Island between 1900 and World War I was authored by Edward McSorley. McSorley had been a journalist with the Providence Journal, as well holding many other diverse jobs. The publication of Our Own Kind, which sold several hundred thousand copies and was a Book Club selection, told the story of a young Willie McDermott who was raised by his grandfather Ned in gritty Providence in a heavily Irish-American atmosphere. The writer did not sugarcoat anything and had a great grasp of local history. It is a heartbreaking tale of the passage from being Irish and Irish-American to eventually American–but it is no American dream.
The book was republished in the 1960s as a paperback by the New York Times publishing arm. McSorley wrote several follow-up books but never attained the success of his initial work. Prof. Molloy, who uses the novel in his Honor’s course about Irish-America at URI, calls it the equivalent of Angela’s Ashes but in a Rhode Island setting. He will summarize the book and highlight the significance.
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. He earned his doctorate in American History from Providence College. A prolific writer, Molloy wrote, Trolley Wars: Streetcar Workers on the Line (U. of New Hampshire, 2007) and Irish Titan, Irish Toilers: Joseph Banigan and Nineteenth-Century New England Labor (U. Press of New England, 2008), the latter the topic of his most recent lecture for the Museum. Professor Molloy has a bibliographic essay about the John Gordon case about to be published and was recently inducted into the R.I. Labor History Society Hall of Fame as well as the R.I. Hall of Fame. We welcome him for this, his third speaking engagement with the Museum.

Rosamund Burton, writer and journalist, "Castles, Follies and Four-Leaf Clovers: Adventures Along Ireland's St. Declan's Way"
2013-09-12 18:00
Dotted with deserted monasteries, ruined castles, holy wells and plenty of pubs, St Declan’s Way stretches 100 kilometers (approx. 60 miles) from the iconic Rock of Cashel in South Tipperary, over the beautiful Knockmealdown Mountains, to the Co. Waterford fishing village of Ardmore, the oldest Christian settlement in Ireland, founded 416 AD by St. Declan, who introduced Christianity to the south of Ireland before the coming of St. Patrick. This ancient highway and age-old pilgrim route follows quiet country roads, farm tracks, riverbanks and mountain paths through a part of Ireland that is steeped in history. St. Declan’s Way passes through the heritage town of Lismore with its magnificent castle, in the east wing of which Rosamund’s family used to live.
In her illustrated talk, Rosamund Burton, author of Castles, Follies and Four-Leaf Clovers: Adventures Along Ireland’s St Declan’s Way (Allen & Unwin, 2012) will speak about walking the ancient highway, St Declan’s Way, and read from her book. She will describe Norman castles, Celtic churches and colorful characters, miraculous wells and talking statues, stories of goddesses, ghosts and fairies, as well as staying in a convent and a day at a horse fair. Copies of her book will be available for signature and sale after the talk ($20).
ROSAMUND BURTON was born in Ireland and grew up in England. When her father got a job with the Duke of Devonshire the family moved back to Ireland into the east wing of Lismore Castle, which is on St. Declan’s Way. Rosamund went on to become an actress, performing at Dublin’s Gate and Gaiety Theatres, and in the film, Educating Rita with Julie Walters and Michael Caine. She then worked in London before moving to Australia 18 years ago. Rosamund now writes for a range of newspapers and magazines. She is married to an Australian and lives in Sydney. We welcome Ms. Burton for her first speaking engagement with the Museum and her inaugural visit to Newport and the United States.

Patrick Conley, Ph.D., R.I. Historian Laureate, "Politics, Prejudice, Patriotism, and Perseverance: Rhode Island's Catholic Irish Confront the Civil War"
2013-10-08 18:00
Dr. Patrick Conley has edited a new book to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, entitled The Rhode Island Homefront During the Civil War Era (Rhode Island Publications Society, September 2013). The book contains essays by former chief justice Frank Williams, a nationally acclaimed Lincoln scholar, Prof. Maury Klein, one of America’s leading economic historians, James Tackach, a professor of literature at Roger Williams University, and Conley himself.
In his talk, Dr. Conley will focus on his essay that examines the ordeal of Rhode Island’s Catholic Irish immigrants and the nativist reaction to their arrival. He focuses on the period from the Dorr Rebellion of 1841-43 through the era of Civil War and Reconstruction. Dr. Conley places special emphasis on the Irish Catholic response to slavery, the Civil War, and the Reconstruction amendments (13, 14, and 15) to the United States Constitution and demonstrates how local anti-Irish sentiment shaped the Fifteenth Amendment. He also examines the nativistic provision in the Rhode Island Constitution of 1843 that was designed to make immigrant Irish Catholics second class citizens and lessen their influence on the politics of their adopted state. Copies of The Rhode Island Homefront During the Civil War Era will be available for signature and sale after the lecture.
PATRICK T. CONLEY holds an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame, and a J.D. from Suffolk U. Law School. He has published twenty-five books, including Catholicism in Rhode Island: The Formative Era, with Matthew J. Smith; An Album of Rhode Island History, 1636-1986; Rhode Island’s Founders, 1636-1790, and more than a score of scholarly articles on history, law, ethnic studies, religion, real estate development, and political science. He was the youngest person ever to attain the rank of full professor at Providence College. Dr. Conley has served as chairman of the Rhode Island Bicentennial Commission, chairman and founder of the Providence Heritage Commission, chairman and founder of the Rhode Island Publications Society, and general editor of the Rhode Island Ethnic Heritage Pamphlet Series. In 1977 he founded the Rhode Island Heritage Commission. Dr. Conley was also chairman of the Rhode Island Bicentennial of the Constitution Foundation and chairman of the U.S. Constitutional Council. In May 1995 he was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame–one of a handful of living Rhode Islanders who have been accorded that honor– and he has served as Hall of Fame president since 2003. Dr. Conley was named Rhode Island’s first Historian Laureate in July 2012.
