James Brophy. Of Dublin? Or New York?

James Brophy died in Dublin on Feb. 12, 1921, the civilian casualty of a stray bullet in Ireland’s War of Independence. About the same time, an Irish immigrant of the same name disappeared from his family in New York City.

When newspapers America reported the death of Mr. Brophy in Dublin, Mrs. Brophy of New York urged U.S. diplomats and Irish police to investigate the case of her missing husband. The coincidence offers a glimpse of early 20th century Irish lives on both sides of the Atlantic, when handwritten letters crossed each other at sea and personal identification was more vague than today.

I wrote “Mrs. Brophy’s Late Husband” for The Irish Story in December 2016. It offers a unique view of Ireland’s revolutionary period and Irish America from the perspective of people at the edges of history. Such stories “humanize and enrich history by reminding us that the study of the past should include the study of the lives of ordinary people, their attitudes, beliefs, motives, experiences and actions,” Bill McDowell wrote in Historical Research: A Guide for Writers of Dissertations, Theses, Articles and Books.

This story has been a reader favorite in the past. I hope new audiences might enjoy it, too. MH