William J. Matthews, Ph.D., "Eamon De Valera: The Man Who Was 20th Century Ireland"
2010-10-07 18:00 UTC
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.

Christopher Klein, Author & Journalist, John L. Sullivan, "The Boston Strong Boy" author of "The Boston Strong Boy”: America's First Irish-American Hero
2013-11-12 18:00
Born in Boston’s South End to Irish-immigrant parents, John Lawrence Sullivan (1858-1918) was the last of the bare-knuckle heavyweight boxing champions. He was the first American athlete to earn over one million dollars, the first American sports “superstar,” and an Irish-American hero during the Gilded Age.
Writer Christopher Klein has published a new book on Sullivan entitled Strong Boy: The Life and Times of John L. Sullivan, America’s First Sports Hero (Lyons Press, November 2013). It is the story of a hard-hitting and hard-drinking boxer against the backdrop of Irish-America emerging during the Gilded Age. When Sullivan, known as the “Boston Strong Boy,” captured the heavyweight title in 1882, no Bostonians celebrated more than the Irish, who had felt blistered by Brahmin scorn since their arrival. That legendary spirit of the fighting Irish that was made flesh in Sullivan transformed him into a hero for hundreds of thousands of sons and daughters of the Emerald Isle who had felt emasculated in the wake of the Great Hunger, powerless under the thumb of the British, and slighted in their new homeland. Sullivan’s strength and self-belief were elixirs for a people who had suffered from malignant shame.
Klein’s illustrated lecture will include a plethora of historic photographs from this colorful era in American history. Copies of his book will be available for signature and sale after the talk ($25, hardcover).
CHRISTOPHER KLEIN is an author and freelance writer specializing in history, travel, and sports. He is a frequent contributor to the travel pages of The Boston Globe and History.com, the web site of the History Channel. His articles have also appeared in The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, The Boston Globe Magazine, and Harvard Magazine, among others. In addition, Christopher is the author of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands and The Die-Hard Sports Fan’s Guide to Boston. A native of Andover, Mass., he graduated with highest honors from Drew University in Madison, NJ.

John F. Quinn, Ph.D., Salve Regina U. History Dept. Chair, "The Cause of Humanity is One The World Over: Frederick Douglass' Irish Advocacy"
2014-02-27 18:00
Frederick Douglass is well known for his 1845 autobiography which described his life as a slave in Maryland and his escape to freedom in the North. The book, which bluntly recounted the abuse that he and other slaves endured at the hands of their masters, became a bestseller in the 1850s and is thought by many historians to have contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.
While first and foremost an abolitionist and promoter of black equality, Douglass was also a defender of other peoples that he thought were oppressed. He was especially outspoken on behalf of the Irish, convinced that they and African Americans had much in common. He visited Ireland twice, met with the “Liberator,” Daniel O’Connell, and gave lectures on behalf of the Irish cause. Professor Quinn will discuss Douglass’ travels to Ireland, his relationship with Daniel O’Connell and his support for Irish political freedom.
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 sixth speaking engagement with the Museum.

Janet Nolan, Ph.D., "Servants of the Poor: Teachers in Ireland and Irish-America at the Turn of the 20th Century"
2014-03-27 18:00
Urged by their mothers to pursue an education, the “one thing they can’t take away,” the American daughters of Irish-born mothers are the unsung heroines of Irish achievement in the United States. While immigrant mothers often became servants of the American rich, their educated daughters became servants of the poor in America’s public schools.
By the first decade of the twentieth century, Irish-American women were the largest single ethnic group among teachers in cities such as Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco. In an era when social mobility was measured almost exclusively by the success of men, the teacher-daughters of Irish born mothers led Irish America into the middle class. Professor Nolan will trace the evolution of this educational and occupational achievement across two generations of Irish women in the United States.
JANET NOLAN is professor emerita of Irish, Irish-American, and European history at Loyola University Chicago where she taught for almost a quarter of a century after receiving her PhD in history from the University of Connecticut. She has also just completed a year as an adjunct lecturer in European history at the University of Rhode Island. She is the author of two books, Ourselves Alone: Women and Irish Emigration, 1885-1920 (UP of KY, 1989) and Servants of the Poor: Teachers and Mobility in Ireland and Irish America (Notre Dame UP, 2004), as well as numerous essays, articles, and reviews. She has given invited lectures in Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Switzerland, throughout the United States, and on television and radio in both the United States and Ireland. She now lives in Portsmouth, RI. We welcome Dr. Nolan for her first speaking engagement with the Museum.

Rev. Robert W. Hayman, Ph.D. " Rhode Island's Struggle to Redeem Its Promise to Its Irish Civil War Volunteers"
2014-09-10 18:00
While the rest of the states of the Union in the 1820s and 30s were moving toward universal manhood suffrage, conservative-dominated Rhode Island chose to preserve the state’s once liberal tradition of a suffrage limited to those who possessed $134 of taxable property. When in the 1830s Irish immigrants, particularly the Catholic Irish, began to take up residence in the state in increasingly large numbers, their presence provided an additional reason for denying the right to vote to those without substantial property. Since the right to vote was limited, few of the Irish sought to become citizens. Many of those who did, sought naturalization in order to legally own property. However, in the light of the service of the foreign-born Irish in the Civil War, the injustice of the situation of the Irish became more apparent. It would not be until 1888 that the efforts of the Irish and their fellow Rhode Islanders succeeded in partially ending Rhode Island’s uniqueness.
ROBERT W. HAYMAN is currently the historian of the Diocese of Providence and one of its archivists. Until his retirement in June 2010, he was an Associate Professor of History at Providence College for thirty-six years. He is the author of a two – soon to be three–volume history of the Diocese of Providence, which tells the story of Catholicism in Rhode Island from 1780 to 1971. The first volume served as Fr. Hayman’s dissertation for a doctorate of philosophy degree in history, which he received from Providence College. During his research, he has looked at the experience of the many immigrant groups that have settled in the state. We welcome Fr. Hayman for this talk, his third for the Museum of Newport Irish History.

Edward T. O'Donnell, Ph.D. "Streets of Fire: The Irish and the Civil War Draft Riots of July 1863"
2014-10-06 18:00
The Draft Riots of July 1863 in New York City constitute the largest civil uprising in American history. At least 118 people were killed, including a dozen free blacks who were lynched. Although people of many backgrounds participated in the violence, the Irish played the most prominent role. The riots occurred at an especially critical stage in the war (Gettysburg had concluded just days prior) and they exposed deep divisions within the Union over Lincoln’s leadership, the direction of the war, the ability of the wealthy to avoid military service, and most importantly, emancipation. This presentation, augmented with more than 75 visuals, will examine key questions such as, why did Lincoln decide to impose a draft? Why did the Irish oppose the draft, especially when so many thousands of Irish had joined the Union Army? What key social and political factors led the Irish to riot? How did the riots unfold over four days and how were they ultimately suppressed? Why were the rioters especially brutal towards African Americans? And finally, what was the significance of the riots in terms of this history of the Civil War?
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), Visions of America: A History of the United States (coauthor, Pearson, 2009), and the forthcoming Henry George and the Crisis of Gilded Age America (June 2015, 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 second lecture for the Museum of Newport Irish History.

Cahal Dunne, Irish singer/songwriter on his new semi-autobiographical book, "Put Yer Rosary Beads Away Ma"
2014-10-27 18:00
Singer/songwriter, recording artist, storyteller and comedian, Cahal Dunne, has published a semiautobiographical book. Set in economically depressed 1970s Ireland, it is the coming-of-age tale of Dunne’s alter ego, Billy Golden. During this era there seemed few possibilities and little hope for Ireland’s younger generation, and, to the chagrin of Billy’s mother, he gives up the security of a teaching job to follow his heart into the music business. His six-man band wins the right to represent Ireland in the international Eurovision Song Contest, and his own song is watched on TV by over 500 million people — the chance of a lifetime. Billy and the band have hilarious journeys as they play in dance halls in Ireland and Europe in the waning days of the “show band” craze, and ultimately grow into one of the first ever “Celtic Rock” bands, thirty years before it became the rage on American college campuses.
Cahal will take us along on Billy Golden’ s colorful journey, weaving modern Irish history together with anecdotes and his experiences as he tells the story behind Put Yer Rosary Beads Away Ma (c. 2013). Cahal may even sing a song or two for us! Copies of his book will be available for signature and sale after the talk.
CAHAL DUNNE, “Ireland’s Happy Man,” has been a U.S.-based solo performer since the 1980s. Born in Cork (city), Ireland, he is the nephew of former Prime Minster of Ireland, Jack Lynch. Cahal received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University College of Cork. In that same year, he won first prize in the Castlebar Song Contest with his own song, “Shalom.” He represented Ireland in the Yamaha World Song Contest in Tokyo with another of his own songs, “Lover, Not Just a Wife.” With his winning song, “Happy Man,” he earned the right to represent Ireland at the 1979 International Eurovision Music Contest in Israel. The song became number one in Europe and Ireland with record sales topping the 250,000 marks. A recording artist with more than a dozen albums, he is best known for his renditions of traditional Irish songs and enjoys a busy travel and performance schedule. Cahal lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, Kathleen and son, Ryan.

Kurt C. Schlichting, Ph.D. " The Irish Immigrants in Newport: A Question of Upward Mobility"
2014-11-17 18:00
Oscar Handlin, the eminent Harvard historian, argued that immigration was and is the key to understanding American history. For Newport, the arrival of large numbers of Irish immigrants in the late 1840s and 1850s shaped the history of the city to present times. One question that arises is the degree of upward mobility: To what extent did the Newport Irish realize the American Dream? While these immigrants faced hardship and discrimination, did their children and the children’s children enter the mainstream of American life and have opportunity for social and economic success?
Measuring economic mobility is a particular challenge for the 19th century. The 1880 Census asked questions about home ownership and occupation, but none regarding household income. To study income and wealth distribution during this period of Irish immigration is daunting. Historical records such as property tax lists are not computerized and require hundreds of hours of research. However, the establishment of income tax during the Civil War and resulting records in the National Archives provide data on income distribution and can be used to ascertain the ethnic composition of the wealthiest segment of Newport’s population in 1865, as the wealthy are identified by name, occupation and address, providing an indication of the socio-economic status of the Irish during this time frame.
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. We welcome Dr. Schlichting for this, his third talk, for the Museum of Newport Irish History.

Scott Molloy, Ph.D. " Rhode Island Irish Socio-Economic Progress: From "Shanty" to "Lace Curtain" during the Gilded Age"
2015-03-26 18:00
Irish immigrants faced a punishing arrival in our state, and their forward progress over the years was not much kinder. By the end of the 1800s, Rhode Island Irish had at least progressed from “shanty” Irish to “lace curtain” status in some quarters. Prof. Molloy will discuss the conditions in Providence’s Irish-dominated Fifth Ward (Newport did not have a patent on fifth wards!) and describe the breaking of the barriers for Irish-Catholics to get into Brown University—and who those students were. Learn how a pro-Irish Yankee editor of the Providence Journal treated the Gaels in the 1880s with fairness, and even published the essays and stories of some of the most famous Irish literary figures in the world. That editor’s collection of Irish sources is now one of the most important collections of its kind in the world and is housed at the Providence Public Library. Prof. Molloy will also outline the continued, almost angrier, animosity against the Rhode Island Irish as they finally climbed the ladder of success by the end of the Gilded Age and the beginning of a new century in 1900.
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 a past 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 fourth speaking engagement with the Museum.

Michael Feldberg, Ph.D., Exec. Dir. George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom, (www.gwirf.org.) "When Irish-American Catholic Churches Burned: The Philadelphia Bible Riots of 1844."
2015-04-16 18:00
The 1830s and 1840s were arguably the lowest moment for Irish Catholics in American history. Michael Feldberg will recall those difficult years by recounting the attacks by xenophobic Protestants (including some Orangemen) on two Irish Catholic churches in Philadelphia, one of which was burned to the ground. The immigrant Irish Catholics fought back, and several individuals were killed on both sides. Each time, it took the Pennsylvania militia several days to quell the disturbances.
Among the consequences of the riots were the creation of the Philadelphia Police Department, the second such department in the United States, and the establishment of the Philadelphia Catholic parochial school system. On the Protestant side, many of those anti-immigrant “nativists” went on to join the American Republican party, a forerunner of the Republican Party that would nominate Abraham Lincoln for president.
In short, this is a complicated story that has largely been forgotten.
MICHAEL FELDBERG, PhD is executive director of the George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom, the organization that established and operates the Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr. Visitors Center at the Touro Synagogue National Historic Site in Newport, RI. Previously, he served as executive director and director of research at the American Jewish Historical Society. He has taught American history at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and at UMass Boston and directed the Criminal Justice Program at Boston University. The author of several books, Feldberg is most recently a co-editor of the forthcoming A Rebuke to Bigotry: Reflections on George Washington’s Letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, RI.

Barbara (Lepley) Roy - "How to Obtain Your Irish Citizenship"
2015-09-09 18:00
If you have at least one grandparent who was born in Ireland, you are eligible for Irish Republic (dual) citizenship and then can obtain an Irish passport. Our speaker will walk us through the process for fulfilling all the requirements of both Irish citizenship and getting your Irish passport. In addition, she will share how you can enjoy the many benefits of being an Irish citizen, both practical and sentimental.
While many of us may have Irish-born grandparents, relatively few apply for Irish citizenship, perhaps put off by concern about the paperwork and the process. Take the first step and come and learn what is really involved from a fellow Museum member and Newport County native who has learned first-hand and is eager to share her knowledge. Barbara Roy has proven success in this process, including the required interaction with the Irish Consulate Office. Q&A will follow the presentation.
BARBARA (LEPLEY) CROWELL ROY grew up in Middletown and has two maternal grandparents born in Ireland. After a trip to Ireland in 2006 she decided to apply for Irish citizenship. She became an Irish citizen in 2007 and received her Irish passport shortly thereafter. Married to Vance C. Roy, MD, she divides her time between Newport and Sachseln, Switzerland. A graduate of the former St. Catherine’s Academy, she is a registered nurse who holds an MBA from Boston College and a Masters in Counseling Psychology from Arizona State University. She serves as a docent at the Museum of Newport Irish History Interpretive Center and is president of Eve’s Fund for Native American Health Initiatives, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting literacy, injury prevention and education for Native American youth in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Tom Riley - "The Great Hunger and Its Impact On The Orphan Train Era in America, 1853-1929"
2015-10-15 18:00
The Great Hunger led to massive emigration to the U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe. Shiploads of emaciated Irish adults, children and families arrived daily on coffin ships in New York City, America’s Golden Door. Many parents, already emaciated, died aboard ship and were buried at sea, or shortly after their arrival. Families and parentless children made their way into Lower Manhattan, including the notorious “Five Points area. Over 15,000 orphaned children, many Irish, flooded New York streets, living in sewer pipes, alleyways and wooden boxes. The Irish Diaspora was later followed by many other ethnic groups fleeing corruption, tyranny, hunger and lack of opportunity.
Author Tom Riley will share “the greatest American story never told.” Learn what happened to the 273,000 New York City children, as many as one-quarter Irish, sent out across America on Orphan Trains — an attempt to assist the massive numbers living in poverty and exposed to disease, abuse and exploitation. Orphan Train founders believed salvation was to be found in America’s heartland. Learn how, at a time when America lacked a “safely net,” the American Female Guardian Society built twelve industrial schools to teach these children a trade. Learn about two orphan train riders, sent on the same train to Indiana, and how they later became the governors of Alaska and North Dakota.
Tom has researched and written several books on the Orphan Train Era, which will be available for signature and sale after the presentation. Learn more by visiting www.TheOrphanTrainRiders.com, including Tom’s fascinating bio on the “About” page.

Edward T. McCarron, Ph.D. - "Facing the Atlantic: Ireland, Newfoundland and Outmigration to New England, 1790-1860"
2015-11-12 18:00
Newfoundland was an early destination for Irish immigrants during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The beginnings of this migration were deeply embedded in the growth of the Atlantic cod fishing trade which saw many Irish venture to Newfoundland as seasonal fishermen. As Arthur Young recounted in 1776, “The number of people who go passengers in the Newfoundland ships is amazing; from 60 to 80 ships, and from 3000 to 5000 annually.” By 1800 a permanent pattern of Irish settlement had emerged. This migration was remarkable in its geographical origins – with most voyagers hailing from the southeast of Ireland.
Economic circumstances propelled some of these Newfoundland migrants (or their children) to eventually move on to the North American mainland. These “two boaters” left a footprint in early Irish communities particularly in the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and those of coastal New England.
This illustrated lecture will explore the homeland origins and Atlantic experience of Irish who journeyed to Newfoundland – with particular emphasis on those leaving from south Kilkenny. We will also investigate outmigration from Newfoundland to New England – highlighting this stepwise movement through several case studies of Irish emigrants to Maine during the nineteenth century.
Ed McCarron is an associate professor of history at Stonehill College. He is originally from Pennsylvania, and currently resides in Maine, but over the years he has lived in a variety of places – from the Florida Panhandle to a rural village in southeast Ireland. Perhaps for this reason, his research interests have focused on place, community and the historical landscape, especially viewed through the lens and contours of Irish immigrant communities. His publications have included articles ranging from an exploration of early Irish settlements in Maine, to a regional case study of Inistioge, County Kilkenny that appeared in the Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape (2nd edition). With his wife Fidelma, he is working on a historical atlas of the Nore Tidewater region of County Kilkenny – a river valley that has witnessed an ebb and flow of migration over the centuries. The Museum welcomes Prof. McCarron back for this, his second talk to our membership.

Edward H. Furey, founder, The Keely Society: "Patrick C. Keely's Legacy to the Catholic Church in America and St. Mary's Church in Newport, R.I."
2016-03-22 18:00
This lecture will be held in St. Mary’s Church, which was designed by Irish-born architect

Patrick C. Keely
(1816-1896).
Patrick Charles Keely (1816-1896) designed and built an estimated 700 ecclesiastical structures including churches, cathedrals, schools, colleges, and other parish buildings. He left Thurles, Ireland, for America in 1842, and arrived in Brooklyn, NY where he began to practice his carpentry skills gleamed from his father and brother, who had both worked on the building of St. Patrick’s College, Thurles. Keely arrived in the United States just as the Roman Catholic Church was experiencing unprecedented expansion.
A chance meeting with Fr. Sylvester Malone of Brooklyn led to designs for Keely’s first church in America — the highly acclaimed Church of St. Peter and Paul in Brooklyn, 1848 (demolished 1957), designed in the Gothic Revival style, fast becoming a hallmark of Catholic Church design. The Brooklyn commission spawned a succession of designs for churches, cathedrals, and institutional buildings that distinguished Keely as America’s leading Catholic architect of the 19th century. This career eventually led Fr. James Fitton, legendary New England pioneer priest, to bestow on Keely the title of “Prince of American Catholic Architects.”
In 1848, Patrick Keely would begin the design for “Church of the Holy Name of Mary,” in Newport Rhode Island. Fr. Fitton was the first pastor of St. Mary’s and he later called upon Keely to design Holy Redeemer Church in East Boston, where Fr. Fitton remained until he died.
The Power Point presentation will focus on what is known of the (Kiely) Keely family in Ireland, their contribution to the Catholic Church in America, on through the building career of Patrick Keely, and the legacy of his monumental career of ecclesiastical structures in America.
Edward H. “Ted” Furey is the founder and president of the Keely Society, dedicated to the art and architecture of Patrick Charles Keely (www.PatrickKeely.com). Mr. Furey is the Historical Curator of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and the Cathedral Liturgical Museum. He is Head of the Art Dept. of St. Bernard School, Enfield, CT and a Board Member of the Enfield Historical Society. He has been an expert witness at historic landmark hearings regarding Patrick Keely. He has hosted a number of Keely Congresses in both Boston and Brooklyn. Ted also was called upon to write an extensive article on Patrick Keely for the Pugin Society, UK, which was published in their quarterly publication

Dean Robinson and Donald D. Deignan, Ph.D., of Ireland's Easter Rising of 1916 Centennial Remembrance Committee of R.I. and John Quinn, Ph.D., of Salve Regina University: " A Doomed Rebellion? The 1916 Easter Rising and Its Impact on the Irish Newporters."
2016-04-12 18:00
As this April marks the centennial of the Easter Rising, which helped usher in the Irish Free State (1922), the Museum is pleased to present this timely lecture and welcome three special guest speakers.
Dean Robinson will provide an overview of the week-long Rising–the Irish leaders, the Proclamation, the casualties and the British treatment of the prisoners. Don Deignan will then consider whether the Rising had any chance of success and whether Patrick Pearse sought victory over the English or whether he wanted to create martyrs for the Irish cause. John Quinn will look at the 1919 visit to Newport by Eamon de Valera and Harry Boland, who had been sentenced to death for their role in the Rising but were given reprieves. Q&A to follow the presentations.
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 R.I. College and then worked for more than a decade at various agencies of state government in a variety of administrative capacities. In 1997 along with his R.I. College classmate and friend, Dr. Scott Molloy, he was a founding member of the R.I. Irish Famine Memorial Committee, Inc. Since June 2010 he has served as President of that organization. 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. 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. DEAN G. ROBINSON of Barrington, R.I. is an attorney in private practice. He is a member of the 1916 Centennial Remembrance Committee of R.I. and a member of the Museum of Newport Irish History. He is also a member of the Dennis E. Collins Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians where he is on the Irish History Committee. Dean has presented numerous talks on Irish history and has traveled extensively in Ireland.

Margaret Lynch-Brennan, Ph.D., Public Scholar for New York Council for the Humanities: "The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930"
2016-09-20 18:00
Who was the Irish Bridget? What relevance does her story have to the history of Irish immigration to America? Learn the answers to these questions in Dr. Margaret Lynch-Brennan’s presentation “The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930” which is based on her book of the same name.
The young Irish immigrant girls who labored as cooks, maids and nannies in middle and upper class homes in urban America were once the stock figures of ridicule in popular American magazines such as Harper’s Weekly. Dr. Lynch-Brennan will use photographs and personal letters the Irish Bridget’s wrote to one another to give insight into their lives. She will discuss their work life, their social life, the impact they had on Irish-American life, and their contribution to American ethnic history, labor history and women’s history. Copies of the book will be available for signature and sale following the talk.
MARGARET LYNCH-BRENNAN is currently a Public Scholar for the New York Council for the Humanities. She earned a Ph.D. in American history from the University at Albany, State University of New York. She has given presentations in Ireland, Australia, Germany and throughout the United States. She worked with the Lower East Side Tenement House Museum in New York City as a consultant on the interpretation of Irish immigrant Bridget Meehan Moore in the Museum’s Moore family tenement. In addition to “The Irish Bridget,” Dr. Lynch-Brennan is the author of chapters in three other books and two journals. She taught at the elementary, secondary, undergraduate and graduate levels, and retired from the New York State Education Department after 30 years of service. She lives near Albany, New York.
