Famous American army chaplain - an Irish Diary on Fr Francis P. Duffy

Born in Canada to the children of Irish emigrants, Francis P. Duffy (1871-1932) left a lasting legacy among his parishioners and in the regiment and army in which he served. I have just written an Irish Diary about the famous US army chaplain in the Irish Times newspaper. Read it here.

 

Photograph of the Fr Duffy monument located off Times Square. Taken by my brother.

Photograph of the reverse of the Fr Duffy monument.

 

As I mentioned in my newspaper article, the monument pictured above was erected in 1937. Made of green granite from Minnesota, it is located in a prominent position in a major tourist area just off Times Square. Learn about the history of Father Duffy Square here and about the story of the statue designed by Charles Keck here.

 

1937 photograph of the monument and statue (still wrapped up) before its unveiling. Image source.

 

Fr Duffy's 1919 book.

In 1919, Fr Duffy wrote a book about his experience of the War. It was called Father Duffy's Story: A Tale of Humor and Heroism, Of Life and Death with the Fighting Sixty-Ninth. You can read it here on the Project Gutenberg website. If you would like to learn more about Fr Duffy and his life and times, you can have a look at these websites: 

1 2 3  - There are also a couple of short videos about his life here and here. 

The 69th Infantry Regiment of the New York Army National Guard (known as the Fighting 69th) has a long and storied past as it took part in many conflicts ranging from the American Civil War to the Mexican Border War, and from the First World War to the Second World War and on to Vietnam. You can find out more about the regiment here and here.

 

Photograph of Fr Duffy's gravestone in the form of a Celtic cross in Old Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx. Image source.

PhD Viva - 19 April 2024

Thank you to everyone who was involved with my PhD Viva today in University College Cork (UCC). I passed with minor corrections (which is a common outcome). 

Thank you to my supervisors (past and present) - Prof Grace Neville, Prof Dónal Hassett (Maynooth University) and Dr Donal Ó Drisceoil (UCC). Thank you also to the examiners - Dr Eamon Maher (TU Dublin) and Dr Kate Hodgson (UCC) who were thorough in their questioning and gave praise where it was due. Lastly, thanks to the independent Chair - Dr Aodh Quinlivan (UCC), for ensuring that it ran smoothly. 

 

Photograph following the Viva in UCC.

Magazine article - In Flanders Fields Museum (Friends Magazine)

A magazine arrived in the post today. It came from Ieper in Belgium and was sent by the In Flanders Fields Museum. It's the magazine of the Friends of the In Flanders Fields Museum and contains articles about the work of the museum and the history of the First World War. 

One of the articles was written by me! After completing a three week research visit to the museum in September 2023, I was asked to write about the research I carried out with another student from Ireland. The visit was organised in conjunction with the Irish embassy in Brussels and involved researching information on Irish men who fought in the First World War.

Magazine of the Friends of the In Flanders Fields museum.

 

Article in the Friends magazine.

My article (originally written in English) was translated into Dutch and published with photographs taken during our research visit to the museum, Commonwealth War Graves Commission graveyards and the Irish embassy in Brussels. I have such good memories from the visit to Ieper. Thanks again to Annick Vandenbilcke and all the team in the museum for all they did during the visit.

RTÉ Brainstorm article - French linguist Marie-Louise Sjoestedt in Ireland

The French linguist and Celtic scholar Marie-Louise Sjoestedt (1900-1940) visited Ireland many times during the 1920s and 1930s. She studied the Irish language at universities in France and Ireland and lived with native speakers in Ireland to better understand it. She lectured about Irish in France and Ireland and also wrote books and academic articles about it.

 

Photograph of Marie-Louise Sjoestedt. Image source.

 

One of the first times I came across her was at an AFIS (Association of Franco-Irish Studies) conference in Mary Immaculate College in Limerick when a lectured from the Irish department there gave a paper about her links to the Irish language. 

 

I thought that her story was an interesting one and decided to look into it a little further. I did some research and have just written a short article on the RTÉ Brainstorm website about Sjoestedt's connection to Ireland, the Irish language and Celtic mythology. Read it here. 

Monk Gibbon - an Irish Diary

William Monk Gibbon (1896-1987) was a poet and writer who used experiences from his life in his writing. Aside from his autobiographical writing, he wrote everything from travel books and literary criticism to books on ballet. I have just written an Irish Diary about his life and times in the Irish Times newspaper. Read it here.

If you would like to hear what he spoke like, there is an interview with Gibbon from 1971 on the RTÉ Archives website. You can watch it here.

 

Photograph of Monk Gibbon. Image source.

An Irish Diary on the Saga ship (shipwreck off Cork coast 1895)

Almost 130 years ago, a Swedish merchant ship got into difficulty when sailing from Europe to South America. After losing its rudder in a storm in the English Channel, it came aground in Cork in the south of Ireland in February 1895. I have just written an Irish Diary about the ship known as the Saga in the Irish Times newspaper. Read it here.

 

Drawing of the Saga. Image source.

The story of what happened to the Saga and its Swedish crew was not fully known until recent years when the ship's anchor was recovered and some investigation was done into what happened. The anchor is now on display at Ballybrannigan beach in East Cork close to where the ship ran aground.  

Beside the anchor on the beach is an information board in English and Irish telling the story of what happened the Saga. Included on the board is a list of the crew that were on board when it ran into difficulty after being battered by the storm in the English Channel. 

This is a list of the crew that were on board the Saga. This information was obtained from the Oskarshamnssjöfart website. 

• Kapten [Captain] Lorentz Peter Sjöstrand, född [born] 1856 i Ålem
• Styrman [Mate] Johan Martin Hansson, född 1864 [born] i Falsterbo
• Konstapel [Constable] Frans Oskar Karlsson, född [born] 1870 i Mönsterås
• Matros [Able seaman] Karl Viktor Johansson, född [born] 1869 i Mönsterås
• Lättmatros [Seaman] Klas Viktor Danielsson, född [born] 1873 i Fliseryd
• Lättmatros [Seaman] Uno Rudolf Johansson, född [born] 1874 i Fliseryd
• Lättmatros [Seaman] Per Oskar Leonard Svensson, född [born] 1877 i Ryssby
• Jungman [Deckhand] Josef Edvin Gottfrid Gustafsson, född [born] 1878 i Häreda
• Kock [Cook] Ernst Herman Pettersson, född [born] 1876 i Oskarshamn

 

Anchor from the Saga at the carpark at Ballybrannigan beach, Cork, Ireland.

The boy mayor - An Irish Diary on James K. McGuire

James Kennedy McGuire (1868-1923) was an American politician who was only in his 20s when elected Mayor of Syracuse, a city in New York State. He was given the nickname of the 'boy mayor' when elected to that office in 1895. I have just written a newspaper article for the Irish Times on the boy mayor. Read it here.

 

Photograph of James Kennedy McGuire (1868-1923). Image source.

Several books have been written in America about McGuire including James K. McGuire: Boy Mayor and Irish Nationalist by Joseph Fahey and The Political Lives of James K. McGuire by Daniel Schultz. There has not been much written about McGuire in Ireland but perhaps that could change.

Due to his Irish ancestry (his father was born in Enniskillen), McGuire took an interest in Irish affairs. As I mention in my newspaper article, he was a member of many Irish fraternal associations and clubs in America. He also tried to help Irish people who visited America to spread information about the cause of Irish freedom. One of those he met there and got to know was Diarmuid Fawsitt (1884-1967) who was sent to America as Consul of the Irish Republic. I was pleased to see that a grand-daughter of Fawsitt's read my article and wrote to the newspaper about Fawsitt's relationship with McGuire. You can read the letter here and you can find out more about Fawsitt in his entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography.