Category Archives: Journalism

Leo XIV recalls Leo XIII’s 1888 intrigues in Ireland

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Pope Leo XIII

The elevation of American-born Robert Francis Prevost as the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, and his decision to take the name Leo XIV, has prompted coverage about his namesake predecessor, Leo XIII, who reigned from 1878 until his death in 1903.

And that’s reason enough to reprise two stories about the former pope’s 19th century intrigues in Ireland. Each story linked below covers the same episode from different perspectives.

Ireland Under Coercion, Revisited: Pope’s decree: American journalist William Henry Hurlbert was in Ireland when Pope Leo XIII issued a decree that condemned the “mode of warfare called the Plan of Campaign” and the associated violence of “a form of proscription … known as boycotting.”

The troubled foundation of St. Patrick’s in Rome, 1888: Construction of St. Patrick’s Church in the Eternal City began the same year as Leo XIII issued his decree, which created friction with his Irish flock.

As prior general of the Augustine order from 2001 to 2013, Prevost made numerous visits to Ireland. It will be interest to see if he returns to the country, which this century has turned radically secular, as Leo XIV.

Following US correspondents in Ireland, Part 3

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My April 4-14 trip to Ireland allowed me to explore several places visited by American journalists in their late 19th or early 20th century travels to the country. Below are a few more of my travel photos of these places, plus some of the correspondents’ original reporting and my work about them. This is the last post of this series. MH

My travel to County Donegal allowed me not only to follow the 1888 journey of American correspondent William Henry Hurlbert  (See Part 1), but also three other US journalists who trekked to Dungloe during Ireland’s revolutionary period. Ruth Russell of the Chicago Daily News, 1919; Savel Zimand of Survey Graphic magazine, 1921; and Redfern Mason of the San Francisco Examiner, 1922, came to interview Patrick Gallagher, leader of the successful Templecrone Co-operative Agricultural Society Ltd. See “When three American journalists visited ‘Paddy the Cope’ in Dungloe, 1919-1922,” published earlier this year in The Irish Story.

Dunleavy, Holan, McGarvey, and Sharkey. 

“The Cope” today remains a thriving enterprise, with 12 retail businesses in four locations: Dungloe, Annagry, Kincasslagh, and Falcarragh. I was welcomed to Dungloe by Patrick J. Dunleavy, chairman of the Cope’s board of directors, who gave me a detailed driving tour of the Rosses region. Mark Sharkey, CEO; and Emma McGarvey, business support manager, hosted us for a lovey lunch at the Caisleain Oir Hotel, Annagry. Our wonderful meal came from award-winning chef Cathal Armstrong, who also owns Restaurant Eve in greater Washington, D.C. The warm hospitality of all these people matched the fine April weather. It was a highlight of my trip. Thank you.

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“I arrived at Dungloe on a cold and rainy morning. And as the station is about three miles from the center of the village, I sent my luggage up by donkey cart and set out walking. Wild beauty was all around me. In ten minutes the rain stopped. The sky cleared and the wind freshened over the blue and golden hills.” — Savel Zimand, from  “The Romance of Templecrone”, Survey Graphic, November 26, 1921.

The Letterkenny and Burtonport railway extension opened in 1903 and closed in the 1940s. The Dungloe station has been converted into a private residence, seen at right from a small bridge over the former railroad right-of-way, at left, now used as a hike and bike trail.

“… If [Gallagher] had not been a co-operationist for Ireland he might have been a capitalist in America. He took me up the main street, making plain the signs of growing industry: the bacon cured in Dungloe, the egg-weighing, the rentable farm machinery. After viewing the orchard and beehives behind the cooperative store, I remarked on the size of the plant and its suitability for the purpose. — Ruth Russell, “Building The Commonwealth”, The Freeman, May 26, 1920. Magazine story based on 1919 reporting for the Chicago Daily News.

Early 20th century view, looking down Main Street in Dungloe.

Looking up Main Street, Dungloe, April 2025.

“[Gallagher] rises. ‘Come down to the harbor with me. I want to show you something.’ We stroll to the waterfront. From the rocks juts a pier on which men are working. ‘We have to thank America for that,’ says Gallagher.” — Redfern Mason, Rebel Ireland. Self-published booklet based on his 1922 reporting for the San Francisco Examiner.

These two storage buildings were erected as part of the cooperative in the early 20th century. They are located on the Dungloe waterfront, seen on the right at low tide. The pier related to this enterprise was erected in 1923 with funding from the American Committee for Relief in Ireland. The pier was destroyed by several storms in the 1990s. It has since been replaced, seen below at left.

Following US correspondents in Ireland, Part 2

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My April 4-14 trip to Ireland allowed me to visit several places that American journalists wrote about during their late 19th or early 20th century travels to the country. Below are more of my travel photos, plus some of the correspondents’ original reporting and my work about them. MH

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“It is seldom that reporters can sit in a hotel room and by peeping through drawn blinds see revolutionary history being made, as I am doing today and did yesterday.” — Arthur S. Draper of the New York Tribune, “Fierce Fighting Rages in Fire-Swept Dublin” in the Tribune, April 30, 1916 (Dateline April 29, 1916)

London & North Western Railway (LNWR) logo on the facade of the former hotel. Click image to enlarge.

“We watched the bombardment from a window on the third floor of a hotel. Naval boats, swinging in close to (the Liffey) shore, sent shells screaming into the city, bringing the rebel strongholds crashing down with loud roars. … Soldiers were posted in large force along the quays and in the warehouses across the street from our hotel, answering the sharp volleys of the sniping rebels.” — Wilbur S. Forrest of United Press, ”Shells Rout Rebels” in the Washington Post, April 30, 1916. (Dateline April 29, 1916)

Draper and Forrest were among the 14 correspondents embedded on a British naval destroyer that steamed for Dublin in April 1916 at the outbreak of the Rising. The the London and North Western Hotel is the lookout referenced in their stories. It was located on the Liffey riverfront next to the London and North Western Railway Company train station and steam packet terminal. After a long dormancy, the hotel property was reopened in 2022 as part of the Salesforce Tower campus, seen below. The station and terminal remains vacant.

Read “When a boatload of reporters steamed to the Easter Rising.”

The former London and North Western Hotel seen in April 2025. The red brick structure at left is part of the former railway and steam packet terminal, now abandoned. The dark glass at right is part of the Salesforce Tower, which incorporates the former hotel. The building faces the River Liffey across the street.

Looking upward to a rooftop skylight from the main stairwell of the former hotel lobby. I was unable to access the upper floors, where reporters watched the fighting in 1916.

Note stained glass designs at top of the arched windows, seen from the exterior.

West side of the former hotel. Note that a large arched window bricked over above the door.

Following US correspondents in Ireland, Part 1

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My April 4-14 trip to Ireland allowed me to visit several places that American journalists wrote about during their late 19th or early 20th century travels to the country. Over the next few weeks I will publish some of my travel photos, plus links to the correspondent’s original reporting and my work about them. MH

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“(Traveling into County Donegal we) entered upon great stone-strewn wastes of land seemingly unreclaimed and irreclaimable. Huge boulders lay tossed and tumbled about as if they had been whirled through the air by the cyclones of some prehistoric age, and dropped at random when the wild winds wearied of the fun. The last landmark we made out through the gathering storm was the pinnacled crest of Errigal. Of Dunlewy, esteemed the loveliest of the Donegal lakes, we could see little or nothing as we hurried along the highway, which follows its course down to the Clady, the river of Gweedore.” — William Henry Hurlbert, Ireland Under Coercion: The Diary of an American

Hurlbert was born in Charleston, South Carolina, educated at Harvard, and worked as a New York City newspaperman in the second half of the 19th century. He visited Ireland early in 1888 and published a book about his travels before the end of the year. Passages about his travels in County Donegal are found here on pages 77 to 124. My 2018 Ireland Under Coercion, Revisited serial placed his journey in historical context. I followed Hurlbert’s footsteps to Killone Abbey in County Clare in 2018.

The village of Dunlewy seen at the right side of the same-name lake in County Donegal. April 2025.

The Dungloe River at the edge of Dungloe town. April 2025

Four great stories about American journalists in Ireland

Below are four recent stories about American journalists in Ireland. The six correspondents highlighted in these pieces visited the country between 1919 and 1925. Their work drew attention on both sides of the Atlantic. My research in this subject area continues. Suggestions and comments are welcome. MH  

Richard Lee Strout: A Young American Reporter In Revolutionary Ireland After spending a year interning at London newspapers, Strout stopped in Ireland on his way back to America. He arrived in Dublin a day before Bloody Sunday, 1920. Published in American Journalism, the peer-reviewed quarterly of the American Journalism Historians Association.

When three American journalists visited ‘Paddy the Cope’ in Dungloe, 1919-1922: Correspondents from the Chicago Tribune, Survey Graphic magazine (New York), and the San Francisco Examiner traveled to the northwest corner of County Donegal to write about Patrick Gallagher, a cooperative leader. Published in The Irish Story (Dublin).

When the Irish ‘exposed’ a New York Herald reporter In June 1919 the Irish American press praised Truman H. Talley for publicizing a report that criticized the British administration of Ireland. A few months later, the same papers called him a British propagandist.

Could Maine potatoes have relieved Irish hunger in 1925? Milton Bronner of the Newspaper Enterprise Association syndicated a three-part series of stories and photos about privation and poverty in the rural west of Ireland.

Visit my American Reporting of Irish Independence page.

On a lonely road in Connemara, south of Westport, 2019.

When the Irish ‘exposed’ a New York Herald reporter

In June 1919 the Irish American press praised New York Herald correspondent Truman H. Talley for publicizing a report that criticized the British administration of Ireland. Three months later, as the Herald published Talley’s own investigation of Ireland, the same papers called him a British propagandist. Irish nationalists on both sides of the Atlantic cited what they described as evidence of Talley’s bias. The episode demonstrated how these partisans kept a close watch on correspondents who visited Ireland and monitored their coverage in the foreign press.

Truman Talley’s 1918 passport photo.

Talley joined the ranks of American journalists in Europe at the end of the First World War. The 6-foot-tall, Rock Port, Missouri native had worked at the Herald since 1915. Now 27, Talley soon began to file cable dispatches from London and Paris.[1]National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925; Roll #: 621; Volume #: Roll 0621 – … Continue reading He did not travel to Dublin in January 1919 to witness the opening of the separatist Dáil Éireann; the Herald used Associated Press coverage. Talley also remained in London in May when the American Commission on Irish Independence visited Ireland. His cables to New York were based on the British press, which Talley described as “deeply stirred” by the pro-independence speeches of the three Irish American visitors.[2]“Walsh Mission To Ireland Evokes London Protest”, New York Herald, May 5, 1919.

In June, when the American Commission’s Frank P. Walsh and Edward Dunne released their report on British coercion in Ireland,[3]Michael J. Ryan, the Commission’s third member, did not sign the report. Talley became the first journalist to “spread before the American people the full report on Irish conditions.”[4]“England Must Act,” from Harvey’s Weekly, June 21, 1919, republished in the Gaelic American, July 5, 1919. He laid out all seventeen of the report’s charges and quoted passages at length. Talley’s story began on the front page and filled an inside page of the Herald’s Sunday edition, its two hundred thousand copy circulation double the usual weekday distribution.[5]N.W. Ayer & Son’s American Newspaper Annual & Directory (Philadelphia: N.W. Ayer & Son’s, 1919) New York City papers, 648-684.

Syndication increased the story’s readership across the country. The Irish World and American Industrial Liberator, and Gaelic American, both of New York, and the Irish Press of Philadelphia, republished Talley’s story.[6]“World Stunned By Atrocities In Ireland”, Irish World; “Horrors Of English Prisons In Ireland”, Gaelic American;  and “Savage British Atrocities Shown In Walsh-Dunne Report” , Irish … Continue reading Dr. Patrick McCartan, Sinn Féin’s envoy to America and editor of the Irish Press, recalled Talley’s “vivid picture of the British press eyeing the report malignantly.”[7]Patrick McCartan, With De Valera In America. [New York: Brentano, 1932], 118. Gaelic American editor John Devoy praised the Herald for its “feat of alert and enterprising journalism.”[8]“English Atrocities in Ireland,” Gaelic American, June 21, 1919.

Some pro-British readers criticized the Herald for publicizing the Walsh-Dunne report. In an editorial reply, the daily said it published Talley’s account “because it is news of the first importance” with serious implication for Anglo-American relations. The editorial emphasized the paper was not passing judgement on the merits of the allegations and “in view of the conflict of the evidence at hand … (was) having its own investigation made.”[9]“The Case of Ireland”, New York Herald, June 26, 1919.

With that, Talley finally headed across the Irish Sea.

Talley in Ireland

“I went to Ireland as an impartial American seeking the truth,” the correspondent told the Herald’s readers when his “Truth About Ireland” series debuted on Sept. 7, 1919.[10]“Full And Free Inquiry Shows Cruelty To Irish Political Prisoners False”, New York Herald, Sept. 7, 1919. He had spent about four weeks in the country during July and August and “retraced the path followed by the Irish American delegation.” Talley portrayed the Walsh-Dunne report as false or exaggerated, especially regarding the treatment of political prisoners, and challenged Sinn Féin’s legitimacy to establish an Irish republic. His book-length series appeared almost daily, more than three dozen installments that stretched into November.

But Irish partisans were also at work—publicly and privately—to undermine Talley’s reporting from Ireland.

The Irish Independent of Aug. 1, 1919,—a month before Talley’s series debuted—reported the correspondent was “pursuing an ‘independent’ investigation in a government motor car, attended by military and police guardians.”[11]”U.S. Pressman On Ireland”, Irish Independent, Aug. 1, 1919. Placing “independent” in quotes is telling; it conveyed skepticism of Talley’s description of his work. US newspapers were doing the same thing at the same time with “President” and “Irish Republic” as Éamon de Valera made his tour of America.[12]See my post, “How Dev’s tour shifted U.S. press coverage of Ireland”, July 19, 2019.

Arthur Griffith

The Independent reported that Talley declared he would hardly have known there was any unrest in Ireland if not for the carbine-totting constable seated at his side in the car. “There is no military occupation or distinction,” Talley said. “The soldiers constitute a reserve force which may never be called upon unless the Sinn Féin  adherents attempt to effect a coup d’etat.”

Talley interviewed Sinn Féin’s Arthur Griffith in Dublin. Ireland’s acting leader told the visiting journalist that the country was “becoming the Mecca of American newspapermen.”[13]“ ‘Acting President’ of Ireland on ‘The Cause’”, New York Herald, Nov. 23, 1919. Quotation is Talley’s paraphrase of Griffith’s remarks, not a direct quote. Talley quoted Griffith … Continue reading Privately, Griffith wrote to de Valera in America to alert him of the conversation with Talley and a separate encounter with John Steele of the Chicago Tribune:[14]Steele was a Belfast native who began his newspaper career in the United States, including the New York Herald. He returned to Europe earlier in 1919 as the Chicago Tribune’s London bureau chief. … Continue reading

“I told Talley if he wanted to see the country fairly, he should go around independently. He said he would. He left Dublin and absolutely put himself in their hands and toured the country in government motors accompanied by English government officers. I don’t know what stuff he is writing, but whatever it is you may take it as Dublin Castle’s voice.”[15]Griffith to de Valera, Aug. 18, 1919. Similar language in Griffith to de Valera, Aug. 29, 1919. Éamon de Valera papers, University College Dublin, P150/727. Thanks to historian Daniel Carey of … Continue reading

Talley was not the first, and would not be the last, journalist to accept transportation from either side of the war between Irish separatists and British authorities. Fourteen London-based newspaper correspondents boarded a British naval destroyer that steamed to Dublin during the April 1916 Rising.[16]See my post, “When a boatload of reporters steamed to the Easter Rising”, Sept. 15, 2023. Several American correspondents in Ireland described being blindfolded by rebel foot soldiers and driven surreptitiously to rendezvous with leaders such de Valera and Michael Collins. Other reporters hired drivers of private motor cars or jaunting cars, navigated the Irish railways system, or simply walked to where they were going.

It is unclear whether Griffith learned about Talley from the Independent’s story, or if the well-connected Irish leader, himself a journalist, first tipped the paper about the American correspondent. By late August, the Gaelic American in New York also reported Talley’s touring in British military motor cars. Devoy’s paper cited the Independent as its source.

“Mr. Talley has been dined and wined by England’s satraps in Ireland and in return for this hospitality he has whitewashed martial law and militarism in Ireland,” the Gaelic American reported. “He is certainly trying to make himself worthy of his hire.”[17]“On His Majesty’s Service”, Gaelic American, Aug. 30, 1919.

John Devoy

In addition the chauffeur services, Devoy criticized Talley’s July 20 Herald story about a post-war “peace parade” in Dublin. The correspondent described the large turnout and cheering for the parading troops as “striking evidence of loyalty” to the London government. “…all Dublin was surprised and the Sinn Féin chagrined that such a demonstration and loyal outpouring would mark the event, especially since there were present all the elements to make trouble if the Sinn Féin wanted trouble. … (The) demonstration and spectacle bore eloquent witness that Ireland’s heart still is with the Empire.”[18]”Dublin Displays Her Loyalty At A Big Peace Parade”, New York Herald, July 20, 1919.

Attacks continue

As Talley’s “Truth About Ireland” series unspooled in the Herald, Devoy continued to attack it in the Gaelic American. An editorial headlined “The ‘Herald’s’ English Propaganda” circled back to Talley’s June coverage of the Walsh-Dunne report:

Talley is a trained newspaper man and if not under orders to lie and misrepresent would probably tell the truth. Some time ago he cabled to the Herald the substance of the report of Frank P. Walsh and Edward F. Dunne on British atrocities in Ireland and the paper published it full. It was a good stroke of journalism, because the English papers had suppressed it, the censor had forbidden its publication in Ireland, and therefore, up to the Herald’s publication, the American people had no knowledge of it. People began to look to the Herald for ‘scoops’ about Ireland and to regard Talley as an enterprising American journalist who could be depended upon to give them.[19]“The ‘Herald’s’ English Propaganda”, Gaelic American, Sept. 13, 1919.

Such trust was misplaced, Devoy continued. The editorial repeated the same two sentences about Talley being “dined and wined by England’s satraps in Ireland” and the correspondent making himself “worthy of his hire” from the front page story a few weeks earlier. Devoy also said the Herald tried to buy advertising in his paper to promote Talley’s upcoming series, but he refused this because of the Independent’s story about Talley’s rides with the British authorities.

Opening installment of Talley’s “Truth About Ireland” series, including editor’s note, Sept. 7, 1919.

The Gaelic American’s broadside against Talley and the Herald continued for several weeks as Devoy refuted the reporting nearly point by point. The weekly highlighted correspondence from Griffith, who “exposed the hollowness of the pretensions” of Talley’s claim of being an “impartial investigator.” In addition to repeating the car story, Griffith alleged that during his meeting with Talley, the correspondent “frankly admitted to us that his paper was inimical and that he was ‘prejudiced against Sinn Féin.’ ”[20]See “New York Herald’s War On the Irish Cause”, Gaelic American, Sept. 20, 1919; “Talley Continues His Attacks on Ireland”, Gaelic American, Sept. 27, 1919; and “Talley Exposed by Arthur … Continue reading

The attacks by Devoy and Griffith are also notable for relitigating the Herald’s coverage of Charles Stewart Parnell’s 1880 visit to America, and the testimony of Herald correspondent Chester Ives during the “Parnellism and Crime” inquiry of 1889. Devoy was a reporter at the Herald in 1880, nine years after his exile to America for Fenian activities in Ireland. He worked among the press who covered Parnell’s visit and simultaneously maneuvered behind the scenes to assist the nationalist MP. Devoy accused the late Herald publisher James Gordon Bennett Jr. of working to undermine Parnell’s fundraising for the Land League in Ireland. The Herald, in its presentation of Talley’s series, recalled Bennett’s $100,000 relief fund for Ireland as proof the paper was not biased against the country.[21]”Herald’s Irish Relief Work Not Forgotten”, New York Herald, Sept. 21, 1919. I’ll explore this aspect in a future post.

More reaction

Talley’s series also drew the attention of Daniel T. O’Connell, director of the Irish National Bureau in Washington, D.C, the publicity arm of the Friends of Irish Freedom. In a letter to Walsh of the American Commission, he described Talley’s series as “a bold piece of British propaganda.” Walsh replied that he was “keeping track” of Talley’s series and, if he deemed it wise, would “make a concise reply after the appearance of his final article.”[22]From O’Connell to Walsh, Sept. 11, 1919; Walsh to O’Connell, Sept. 15, 1919, in Frank P. Walsh papers, MssCol 3211, New York Public Library.

Frank P. Walsh

O’Connell had no such restraint. The weekly News Letter he published warned readers that “Tally seeks to convince the American public the articles are without bias or prejudice. It is safe to assert, however, that a jury of any twelve well-trained newspaper correspondents, would, after reading the first five articles, convict Talley of gross prejudice toward Ireland.”[23]No headline, Irish National Bureau’s News Letter, Sept. 19, 1919.

The same jury, presumably, would also find the News Letter guilty of being an Irish propaganda organ.

Talley’s series had another problem. It trailed by the British government’s official denial of the Walsh-Dunne report. Walsh urged American newspapers and magazines to give “equal publicity” to his editorial replies to the British response.[24]To Chicago Examiner, Aug. 2, 1919; Harvey’s Weekly, Aug. 4, 1919, Walsh papers, NYPL. It does not appear that Walsh responded to Talley’s series, based on a review of the Herald through Dec. 31, 1919.

Other readers did respond to the series; more than 30 letters to the editor of the Herald, which in three issues filled up most of a page.[25]New York Herald, Sept. 21, Sept. 28, and Oct. 16, 1919. The opinions ranged from support to opposition of Talley’s work, or why the Herald was even bothering with the story. A sampling:

  • “To hell with England and you, also your opinion about Ireland …”
  • “I have twenty-three years been a reader of the Herald and always will be on account of Mr. Talley’s ‘truth and nothing but the truth.'”
  • “Surely we have enough domestic matters in our great country to occupy the attention of our politicians instead of their time being taken up by the discontent of a foreign corner of the earth, such as Ireland.”

The Herald circulated Talley’s series to newspapers across the US and Canada. Some of these papers edited the reporting into a single feature. The News Letter worried that “Talley’s articles will influence readers to blame the newspapers publishing his articles. Many will find it difficult to distinguish between the author and the medium of expressing his prejudiced views.”[26]News Letter, Sept. 19, 1919.

This is an important point. O’Connell wanted readers to disregard Talley’s anti-Irish reporting, but he did not want them to lose confidence in the papers that published it. Just as Griffith noted the rise of American correspondents to Ireland, O’Connell recognized many of these journalists would write stories that were helpful to Ireland in these same papers.

Devoy was less concerned. He predicted Talley’s series “will make no impression on the American public because their partisanship is not even disguised.”[27]“New York Herald’s War On the Irish Cause”, Gaelic American, Sept. 20, 1919.

Afterward

Talley’s series and the Walsh-Dunne report soon enough were left in the wake of ongoing developments in the Irish war of independence. Nearly a year after his series debuted, Talley wrote:

Events of the utmost significance are crowding upon one other so rapidly in Ireland at the present time that it is frequently difficult to assess any or all of them at their true relative value or to discern their precise cause and effect beyond, of course, the daily generalization that the situation is still more serious and nearer a calamitous climax. Every day the first pages of the newspapers contribute further complexities to this age-old and bitterest of modern political dramas. News, as such, coming from Ireland for weeks and months past has been anything but dull and desultory; it has bristled with violence and bulged with rumblings of impending bloodshed on a widespread scale.[28]“Sinn Féin’s Provocative Martyrdom”, New York Times, Aug. 29, 1920.

Irish separatists and the British government each kept a close eye on visiting correspondents and monitor foreign press coverage of Ireland. In January 1920 Dublin Castle authorities seized American newspapers shipped to the Irish capital because they contained coverage of the Irish bond drive in the United States, which was led by de Valera and Walsh. The British Embassy in Washington, D.C. regularly assessed the Irish news coverage and editorials in American papers. Officials there described the New York Herald as “friendly to us.”[29]Document 32, #11767, “The American Press”, from the British Embassy, Washington, D.C., Oct. 3, 1921, p. 130 in Kenneth Bourne and D. Cameron Watt, general editors, British Documents on Foreign … Continue reading Irish-American organs such as the Gaelic American and News Letter continued to question the self-declared impartiality of American correspondents in Ireland. They criticized what they found objectionable, praised what supported the Irish cause.

Griffith died suddenly in August 1922, during the Irish Civil War. Devoy lived until 1928. Talley served as European manager of the New York Herald News Service and a special writer for the New York Times and national magazines such as World’s Work and McClure’s. In 1922 he joined Fox Movietone News, where he revolutionized newsreel production and distribution, “a new type of pictorial journalism designed to do away with the monotony and lack of personality of the old.”[30]”Truman Talley Dies; Movietone Executive”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jan. 19, 1941. Talley died in 1941–22 years after Irish partisans exposed his ride through Ireland with the British military.

References

References
↑1 National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925; Roll #: 621; Volume #: Roll 0621 – Certificates: 43500-43749, 05 Nov 1918-06 Nov 1918; Ancestry.com. U.S.
↑2 “Walsh Mission To Ireland Evokes London Protest”, New York Herald, May 5, 1919.
↑3 Michael J. Ryan, the Commission’s third member, did not sign the report.
↑4 “England Must Act,” from Harvey’s Weekly, June 21, 1919, republished in the Gaelic American, July 5, 1919.
↑5 N.W. Ayer & Son’s American Newspaper Annual & Directory (Philadelphia: N.W. Ayer & Son’s, 1919) New York City papers, 648-684.
↑6 “World Stunned By Atrocities In Ireland”, Irish World; “Horrors Of English Prisons In Ireland”, Gaelic American;  and “Savage British Atrocities Shown In Walsh-Dunne Report” , Irish Press, all on June 21, 1919.
↑7 Patrick McCartan, With De Valera In America. [New York: Brentano, 1932], 118.
↑8 “English Atrocities in Ireland,” Gaelic American, June 21, 1919.
↑9 “The Case of Ireland”, New York Herald, June 26, 1919.
↑10 “Full And Free Inquiry Shows Cruelty To Irish Political Prisoners False”, New York Herald, Sept. 7, 1919.
↑11 ”U.S. Pressman On Ireland”, Irish Independent, Aug. 1, 1919.
↑12 See my post, “How Dev’s tour shifted U.S. press coverage of Ireland”, July 19, 2019.
↑13 “ ‘Acting President’ of Ireland on ‘The Cause’”, New York Herald, Nov. 23, 1919. Quotation is Talley’s paraphrase of Griffith’s remarks, not a direct quote. Talley quoted Griffith elsewhere in this story.
↑14 Steele was a Belfast native who began his newspaper career in the United States, including the New York Herald. He returned to Europe earlier in 1919 as the Chicago Tribune’s London bureau chief. Griffith dismissed him as an “Ulster Protestant.” See Note 15. Steele later claimed credit for helping with the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. See my post, ” ‘The Republic of Ireland is dead; long live … ‘ “, Jan. 7, 2022. Steele reported on Ireland into the 1930s.
↑15 Griffith to de Valera, Aug. 18, 1919. Similar language in Griffith to de Valera, Aug. 29, 1919. Éamon de Valera papers, University College Dublin, P150/727. Thanks to historian Daniel Carey of Dublin for help deciphering Griffith’s penmanship.
↑16 See my post, “When a boatload of reporters steamed to the Easter Rising”, Sept. 15, 2023.
↑17 “On His Majesty’s Service”, Gaelic American, Aug. 30, 1919.
↑18 ”Dublin Displays Her Loyalty At A Big Peace Parade”, New York Herald, July 20, 1919.
↑19 “The ‘Herald’s’ English Propaganda”, Gaelic American, Sept. 13, 1919.
↑20 See “New York Herald’s War On the Irish Cause”, Gaelic American, Sept. 20, 1919; “Talley Continues His Attacks on Ireland”, Gaelic American, Sept. 27, 1919; and “Talley Exposed by Arthur Griffith”, Gaelic American, Oct. 11, 1919; and others.
↑21 ”Herald’s Irish Relief Work Not Forgotten”, New York Herald, Sept. 21, 1919. I’ll explore this aspect in a future post.
↑22 From O’Connell to Walsh, Sept. 11, 1919; Walsh to O’Connell, Sept. 15, 1919, in Frank P. Walsh papers, MssCol 3211, New York Public Library.
↑23 No headline, Irish National Bureau’s News Letter, Sept. 19, 1919.
↑24 To Chicago Examiner, Aug. 2, 1919; Harvey’s Weekly, Aug. 4, 1919, Walsh papers, NYPL.
↑25 New York Herald, Sept. 21, Sept. 28, and Oct. 16, 1919.
↑26 News Letter, Sept. 19, 1919.
↑27 “New York Herald’s War On the Irish Cause”, Gaelic American, Sept. 20, 1919.
↑28 “Sinn Féin’s Provocative Martyrdom”, New York Times, Aug. 29, 1920.
↑29 Document 32, #11767, “The American Press”, from the British Embassy, Washington, D.C., Oct. 3, 1921, p. 130 in Kenneth Bourne and D. Cameron Watt, general editors, British Documents on Foreign Affairs: Reports And Papers From The Foreign Office Confidential Print. Part II, Series C, Vol. 1. [University Publications of America, Inc., 1986.]
↑30 ”Truman Talley Dies; Movietone Executive”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jan. 19, 1941.

Could Maine potatoes have relieved Irish hunger in 1925?

Milton Bronner’s “extensive trip up and down the western counties of Ireland” in February 1925 covered the most forlorn districts of the island at the bleakest time of the year. He came to investigate whether famine had also visited these remote parts of the three-year-old Irish Free State.[1]”Erin Revealed As Suffering Hunger’s Pangs”, Bangor (Maine) Daily Commercial, Feb. 24, 1925. Such a frightening possibility fell within the lifespan of those who remembered the mid-nineteenth century collapse of Ireland’s most important food staple, the potato.

Near Galway, the American journalist entered one of the “usual shanties of this coast—stone walls, badly thatched roof, one room 20 by 10 feet; its door open so light could penetrate; the floor bare, rocky earth.” There, he listened to the lament, “in curious sing-song English,” of Mrs. Bartley Connelly, the mother of eight children:

And the black rain fell. All day and every day. All spring it fell and all summer and all the rest of the year. Always the rain, the dull roar of it. Sorrow and sorrow’s sorrow. The potatoes were washed away or rotted. And the turf melted away with the wetness. No food for the pot. No turf for the fire. Emptiness and blackness in the house. And the children cryin’ because of the hunger and cold.[2]This passage was edited shorter in some newspaper presentations of the story. Bronner reported that Bartley Connelly, the 45-year-old husband and father, was working as a farm laborer and away from … Continue reading

This photo of a mother and two children–not the Connelly family–appeared in newspapers that syndicated Martin Bronner’s 1925 series about privation in the west of Ireland. Waco (Texas) News-Tribune, Feb. 23, 1925.

This was the scene-setter for the first installment of Bronner’s three-part series about privation and poverty in the rural west of Ireland. The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) syndicated his stories to its more than 400 member publications in the US and Canada.[3]The 1925 Ayer & Son’s directory listed more than 22,000 periodicals in North America and US territories, including 2,465 daily newspapers. It is unclear how many NEA subscribers published … Continue reading February 1925 marked the peak of what has since come to be known as Ireland’s “forgotten famine,” an episode remembered today by a Wikipedia page. The entry cites Irish historian and podcaster Fin Dwyer’s 2014 piece in TheJournal.ie, among other sources.

Milton Bronner in 1922 newspaper advertisement.

Bronner had spent half of his 50 years as a newspaper man, working his way up from reporter to editor of the small daily in Covington, Kentucky, his native state, to NEA’s London-based correspondent since 1920.[4]”Milton Bronner, Reporter Retired Since ’42, Dies After Long Illness”, (Louisville, Ky.) Courier Journal, Jan. 7, 1959. He came to my attention in a 2023 RTÉ piece by Noel Carolan, which focused on international coverage of Ireland’s 1925 food crisis. Bronner’s series and other foreign press forced the Irish government to give more attention to the problem, which it earlier had minimized. It also prompted limited external support to the suffering residents, though nothing near the scale of the American Committee for Relief in Ireland effort of 1921.

As Carolan details, Bronner’s series was more impactful because of the “persuasive photojournalism” that accompanied the narrative. Lighter cameras with faster shutter speeds introduced in the 1920s were beginning to revolutionize news photography.[5]Library of Congress prints and photographs : an illustrated guide. [Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1994], 32. Images of faraway people and places were still a novelty to American newspaper readers a century ago. But the photographer who joined Bronner in the west of Ireland was not named in the newspapers that published these images, at least not those available for review in digital archives. Carolan did not address the mystery photographer. Nothing in Bronner’s 1959 news obituary suggests that he might have taken photos to support his reporting in Ireland or elsewhere. Readers are encouraged to provide information about the photographer’s identity—perhaps an Irish or British stringer hired for the job.

Bronner’s visit to Mrs. Connelly’s cabin was not his first trip to Ireland. In the summer of 1920 he reported on sectarian riots in Belfast and interviewed Arthur Griffith in Dublin as the war of independence approached a crescendo of violence. After the July 1921 truce he covered the London negotiations between Sinn Féin representatives and the British government that resulted in the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. Bronner was back in Ireland the following month for the handover of Dublin Castle and other government buildings from British authorities to the new Irish Free State. He interviewed Free State leader Timothy Healy for a series of dispatches at St. Patrick’s Day 1923 as the country struggled to end its civil war. Bronner interviewed Williams Cosgrave in December 1924, just two months before his trip to the western counties.[6]These stories appeared in various US and Canadian newspapers that published NEA’s syndicated content. Search results from Newspapers.com archive.

Bronner was certainly moved by the lilting brogues, “wretched” housing, and barefoot children of Mrs. Connelly and others he met and interviewed. But he was hardly a naïve young reporter, like some of the American correspondents who just a few years earlier had made their first trips to Ireland to cover the revolutionary period. Bronner reported that he had “not heard of a single authenticated death from starvation or from typhus fever” during his travels in the west. Still, he added: “I have marveled that the people survive the hardships of their lives.”

Maine potatoes

Delegation from Maine posed outside the White House on Jan. 31, 1925, after discussing the potato embargo. Library of Congress.

Bronner’s series had particular resonance on the pages of the Bangor (Maine) Daily Commercial. In a front-page sidebar to the correspondent’s first installment, the paper alleged that British government officials had conspired with Canadian growers to block shipments of abundant Maine potatoes from Ireland. The foreigners speciously charged that the Maine spuds were infected with a common potato bug. Shortly before Bronner’s series debuted, a delegation representing Maine potato farmers traveled to Washington to lobby US Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes and President Calvin Coolidge for help to repeal the embargo.

In most newspapers that published Bronner’s series, the first installment opened with these two sentences:

Hunger sits down at table as an unwelcome and bitterly feared guest and Cold keeps him company in thousands of cabin homes today in western Ireland. That is what a partial potato crop failure and peat bog shortage mean for Galway and Donegal and Kerry and Mayo.

In the Daily Commercial, the opening text was amended to read:

Maine potatoes remain in Maine, while hunger sits down at table as an unwelcome and bitterly feared guest and cold keeps him company in thousands of cabin homes today in western Ireland. That is what a potato crop failure and peat bog shortage in Ireland, coupled with the embargo placed by Great Britain on American potatoes, mean for Galway and Donegal and Kerry and Mayo.

The Daily Commercial also denounced “the selfishness of the British government” in a separate editorial. “Our government has done all that it could and pointed out there are more beetles in the Canadian potatoes than in those of Aroostook (County, Maine), but England has persisted. And so there is unnecessary privation in Ireland, much suffering that might have been vastly alleviated.”[7]”Potato Embargo And Real Facts”, Bangor (Maine) Daily Commercial, Feb. 25, 1925.

The alleged embargo was actually part of wider and more longstanding trade problems between the United States, Great Britain and the Irish Free State; complicated in part by the 1920 partition of Northern Ireland. US officials “accepted that most members of the new (Irish) government were inexperienced both from a political and economic perspective, that the Free State was underdeveloped economically and that both industry and agriculture were in a depressed state.”[8]See the “Economic work” subsection, pp 503-526, in Chapter 12 of Bernadette Whelan, United States Foreign Policy and Ireland: From Empire to Independence, 1913-29. [Dublin: Four Courts … Continue reading Most of these problems were resolved over the coming years, but not in time to feed Mrs. Connelly’s family and other desperate residents of Ireland’s impoverished west. The inability to ship Maine potatoes to Ireland does not appear to have gained traction beyond the New England state, based on my search of US and Irish digital newspaper archives.

Other coverage

The Irish government allocated £500,000 for relief and provided 6,000 tons of coal, as Bronner and other news sources reported. An official statement insisted, “The comparison with 1847 is extravagant, and there is no general famine.”[9]”Minimize Irish Famine”, New York Times, Feb. 3, 1925. Opposition leader Eamon de Valera blamed an “English press scare” for distorting the matter, adding that a republican government would have done a better job anticipating the crisis as conditions in the west worsened during the autumn of 1924. [10]”Irish Not Starving, Declare Cosgrave”, New York Times, Feb. 1, 1925. The Gaelic American, ever the watchdog of mainstream press coverage about Ireland, also criticized British papers for exaggerating the story to embarrass the Irish government, but said nothing about Bronner’s series.

This photo also accompanied Bronner’s series in many US newspapers. Note the NEA logo in the bottom right corner, but there is no individual photo credit. It is unclear whether the boy is missing his right leg, if it is in shadow, or bent against the wall behind him.

“The Irish press gives the situation its true proportions and recognizes the efficiency of the government’s effort to meet it,” Chicago Daily News foreign correspondent William H. Brayden reported in a Feb. 7 story syndicated to other US papers. “That the situation is not regarded in Ireland with the same apprehension as abroad is evident from the fact that when the Dáil met this week and the ministers were interrogated on many subjects, no deputy raised any questions about conditions in the west.”[11]”Leader Familiar With Situation”, The Scranton (Pa.) Republican, Feb. 9, 1925.

The Armagh-born Brayden began his career at the Dublin-based Freeman’s Journal, which had folded in December 1924.[12]Felix M. Larkin, “Brayden, William John Henry“, in the online Dictionary of Irish Biography. Later in 1925 he published the pro-government booklet, The Irish Free State: a survey of the newly constructed institutions of the self-governing Irish people, together with a report on Ulster. There, Brayden wrote:

I had heard that this year the farmers were exceptionally hard hit. The cry of famine in Ireland has been uttered in America. I went to Kilkenny expecting to learn something that might confirm these tales of distress.[13]Brayden, Irish Free State … Ulster. [Chicago: Chicago Daily News, 1925], 28. 

Kilkenny was hardly the place to look for food distress in 1925, as Brayden surely knew. Like the government, he downplayed the alleged famine. By summer 1925 improved weather and crop yields had largely resolved the crisis. Brayden wrote of conditions in County Clare:

A few months ago the rain had driven the people to despair of this year’s harvest and to dread another winter as bad as the last. Now the fine weather has completely altered the situation. It is declared in the county that the prospects of a successful season for the farmers have rarely been so bright. In several districts the turf supply was secured and haymaking started by the middle of June on a good crop, while the potato fields are described as in excellent condition.[14]Brayden, Irish Free State, 35.

Ireland’s “famine” of 1925 was soon forgotten.

Brayden died in 1933. Bronner remained in Europe with NEA until 1942. He interviewed George Bernard Shaw on his 80th birthday in 1936. The Irish writer told the correspondent: “Why should I let you pick my brain for nothing, when in 10 minutes I can write down what I tell you, sign it, send it to (an editor in America), and get a check for $1,000?”[15]”An 80th Birthday Message From George Bernard Shaw Who Says Proudly ‘Americans Adore Me’ “, The Helena (Mont.) Independent, July 26, 1936. A year later Bronner interviewed de Valera about the Irish Constitution. Bronner retired to his native Louisville, Kentucky.

References

References
↑1 ”Erin Revealed As Suffering Hunger’s Pangs”, Bangor (Maine) Daily Commercial, Feb. 24, 1925.
↑2 This passage was edited shorter in some newspaper presentations of the story. Bronner reported that Bartley Connelly, the 45-year-old husband and father, was working as a farm laborer and away from the home at the time of his visit.
↑3 The 1925 Ayer & Son’s directory listed more than 22,000 periodicals in North America and US territories, including 2,465 daily newspapers. It is unclear how many NEA subscribers published Bronner’s series.
↑4 ”Milton Bronner, Reporter Retired Since ’42, Dies After Long Illness”, (Louisville, Ky.) Courier Journal, Jan. 7, 1959.
↑5 Library of Congress prints and photographs : an illustrated guide. [Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1994], 32.
↑6 These stories appeared in various US and Canadian newspapers that published NEA’s syndicated content. Search results from Newspapers.com archive.
↑7 ”Potato Embargo And Real Facts”, Bangor (Maine) Daily Commercial, Feb. 25, 1925.
↑8 See the “Economic work” subsection, pp 503-526, in Chapter 12 of Bernadette Whelan, United States Foreign Policy and Ireland: From Empire to Independence, 1913-29. [Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2006].
↑9 ”Minimize Irish Famine”, New York Times, Feb. 3, 1925.
↑10 ”Irish Not Starving, Declare Cosgrave”, New York Times, Feb. 1, 1925.
↑11 ”Leader Familiar With Situation”, The Scranton (Pa.) Republican, Feb. 9, 1925.
↑12 Felix M. Larkin, “Brayden, William John Henry“, in the online Dictionary of Irish Biography.
↑13 Brayden, Irish Free State … Ulster. [Chicago: Chicago Daily News, 1925], 28.
↑14 Brayden, Irish Free State, 35.
↑15 ”An 80th Birthday Message From George Bernard Shaw Who Says Proudly ‘Americans Adore Me’ “, The Helena (Mont.) Independent, July 26, 1936.

When three American journalists visited Donegal, 1919-1922

At least three American journalists trekked to the Dungloe village in remote northwest County Donegal during Ireland’s dangerous revolutionary period. They came to interview Patrick Gallagher, who had organized a successful cooperative agricultural society. It was a hopeful news story in the middle of Ireland’s war of independence and civil war.

My story about these three journalists–Ruth Russell of the Chicago Daily News; Savel Zimand of Survey Graphic magazine; and Redfern Mason of the San Francisco Examiner–has just been published at The Irish Story website.

Image from November 1921 issue of Survey Graphic.

When a US magazine devoted a full issue to Ireland

Thirty-five months after the January 1919 opening of the Irish separatist parliament, and a week before the December 1921 announcement of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the New York-based Survey Graphic published a special issue devoted to Ireland. “Here for the first time in an American national magazine will be presented a complete survey of the Irish situation as it is today, as well as the plans which many of the prominent Irish thinkers have in mind for the Ireland of tomorrow,” the periodical’s business manager, John Kenderdine, wrote to Irish American activist Frank P. Walsh.[1]Kenderdine to Walsh, Nov. 15, 1921, in Walsh papers, New York Public Library.

Kenderdine offered to discount the magazine’s regular newsstand price of 30 cents per copy by a third to a half, depending on how many extra copies were ordered. He provided Walsh with “rough proofs of the content” subject to final layout and other editorial adjustments.

Walsh, chairman of the American Commission on Irish Independence, replied two days later from his Washington, D.C. office: “I think the idea most timely and the edition a very fine one.” He promised to alert the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic, which Eamon de Valera founded a year earlier in a split with the Friends of Irish Freedom. Walsh said he also would notify Irish leaders but told Kenderdine that he had no role in “the distribution of literature of this character.”[2]Walsh to Kenderdine, Nov. 17, 1921, Walsh papers.

(Continues below image)

Cover of the November 1921 issue of The Survey.

The cover of the magazine posed the question: “What Would the Irish Do With Ireland?” The answers were supplied over 68 pages by nearly a score of writers and artists in the form of essays, poems, drawings, paintings, and photographs. Each name in this alphabetical list of contributors is linked to their page in the issue:

The Survey was first published in 1909 as a journal for social workers and a broader audience of concerned citizens. Paul Underwood Kellogg, the editor, had spent the previous few years leading a groundbreaking investigation of “life and labor” in the Pittsburgh steel district. The Survey Graphic emerged from a series of reconstruction-themed issues published during and after the First World War. These focused on industrial relations, health, education, international relations, housing, race relations, consumer education, and related fields.[3]University of Minnesota Archival Collection Guides, Social Welfare History Archives, Survey Associates records, SW0001.

By 1921, the magazine’s influence among progressive thinkers probably surpassed its reported nationwide circulation of about 13,700 copies. But it hardly competed with giants of the day such as Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly, with 498,000 circulation, or McClure’s monthly, with 440,000.[4]N.W. Ayer & Son’s American Newspaper Annual & Directory (Philadelphia, N.W. Ayer & Son’s, 1921). A few mainstream newspapers republished some of Survey Graphic’s guest essays on their opinion pages. One editorial endorsement said the Irish issue was “well worth the perusal of every person interested in the Irish cause.[5]Editorial in The Catholic Bulletin, St. Paul, Minn., Dec. 31, 1921.

In an overly optimistic and ultimately inaccurate editorial, Survey Graphic concluded the answer to the question it posed on the issue’s cover–“What would the Irish do with Ireland?–was that the Irish would give the world a new form of “rural civilization” and fraternity. It continued:

This is one of the most encouraging signs of the times—development of rural communities on a cooperative basis; each community to have so far as possible its own general store for supplies of common need; each community to manufacture what it can do advantageously with a common mill, creamery, bacon factory, electric plant, buying the commodities that can not be supplied at home and selling its products; each community to establish schools, recreation halls and libraries, organize community pageants and games; each community to have its town council where common problems and new plans may be discussed. … The old and the very young nations are struggling in Europe for their rights. England by its bloodless revolution gave to the world a new conception of liberty, France by the great revolution, equality. Ireland has the qualifications to give us something as precious: fraternity.

It did not work work out that way. Political partition and sectarianism were major problems in Ireland for most the twentieth century. Agricultural cooperatives were replaced by corporate agriculture. Ireland retains its beautiful countryside, but most of its people live in urban districts, working in an economy that was unimaginable in 1921.

Advertisement in The New Republic, Dec. 7, 1921.

References

References
↑1 Kenderdine to Walsh, Nov. 15, 1921, in Walsh papers, New York Public Library.
↑2 Walsh to Kenderdine, Nov. 17, 1921, Walsh papers.
↑3 University of Minnesota Archival Collection Guides, Social Welfare History Archives, Survey Associates records, SW0001.
↑4 N.W. Ayer & Son’s American Newspaper Annual & Directory (Philadelphia, N.W. Ayer & Son’s, 1921).
↑5 Editorial in The Catholic Bulletin, St. Paul, Minn., Dec. 31, 1921.

American Irish Historical Society leader on first anniversary

County Kerry native Elizabeth Stack became executive director of the American Irish Historical Society in New York City in February 2024. The previous six years she was executive director of the Irish American Heritage Museum in Albany, N.Y. Before 2018, Stack taught Irish and Irish American History and was an associate director at Fordham University’s Institute of Irish Studies. She completed her PhD at Fordham, a Jesuit research university in the Bronx, N.Y. This Q & A was conducted by email as Stack approached her upcoming first anniversary of leading the 127-year-old organization. MH

***

AIHS was closed for several years due to financial and legal problems, in addition to the COVID pandemic. New York Attorney General Letitia James appointed you and others to an interim board to right the foundering organization. Since your appointment as executive director AIHS’s has reopened its Fifth Avenue building and hosted many events. Give us your assessment of your first year. What are your successes? What still needs to be done?

Elizabeth Stack

ES: My first year as executive director has been an exciting and rewarding experience, though not without its challenges! The primary goal has been to re-establish the Society as a vital resource for the New York public, and I am proud to say that we are making significant strides toward that. In our first year, I hosted 63 events, both in-person and virtually, covering a diverse range of topics. These events have not only sparked enriching conversations but have also helped us begin to build a thriving community around the Society.

We had to almost start from scratch – we have a new website and are undergoing a new membership drive. We post daily on social media, and have answered queries from researchers, while also opening the building for tours. It was necessary to hit the ground running, and also try to assess the archives, do necessary maintenance on the building, and get the infrastructure back up. But I felt it was important that the Society was seen to be active again as quickly as we could be.

We are committed to making the AIHS a place where people feel welcome to learn, share, and connect. Our goal is to ensure that our doors are always open, and that the Society serves as a space for both education and community engagement. While we’ve accomplished a great deal in our first year, there’s still work to be done. This year we will continue to expand our programming, strengthen our partnerships, and build on the foundation we laid in 2024.

Some specific plans or scheduled events for 2025?

ES: We are kicking off 2025 with a talk on ‘The Rise and Rule of Eamon De Valera’ with David McCullagh, RTE journalist, on Jan. 14. De Valera’s personal and political connection to New York makes it a fantastic discussion to kick off the new year.

We’re also excited to host a fantastic exhibition from Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield at the Society from January to May. The exhibition showcases a powerful mix of historical and contemporary artworks that dive into the lasting impact of the Irish Famine. It’s a great opportunity for visitors to connect with themes of loss, cultural erosion, and the devastation of that time. Plus, we’ll be holding several talks throughout the five months, exploring both the exhibition and the broader history of the Great Hunger.

We’ve also got some exciting events coming up in collaboration with Irish universities and cultural organizations. These events will help strengthen the academic and historical connections between Ireland and the United States, offering a great opportunity to deepen our shared understanding.

We intend to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of The Great Gatsby in April as well as the 1916 Rising. I am hoping that this year we can utilize more of our own archives when telling these stories, and I plan to host more talks on the history of the Society and its holdings.

Any surprises from your first year at AIHS that you can share with our readers?

ES: The most unexpected challenge I’ve encountered during my first year at AIHS is the complexity of managing such an iconic building. While the grandeur of our mansion on 5th Avenue, right across from the Met, is truly breathtaking, it comes with its fair share of obstacles. The size and age of the building brings significant operational costs, and the maintenance required to preserve its historical integrity is no small task. Our technology is subpar and there are various physical limitations to what we can do here. It’s been a constant balancing act.

The American Irish Historical Society mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

There have been numerous columns written on both sides of the Atlantic about the “end of an era” for traditional U.S.-Irish relations and Irish American identity. These pieces are usually pegged to the end of Joe Biden’s presidency, the secularization and modernization of Ireland, the growing diversity of Ireland and Irish America. As an historian as well as AIHS director, what are your thoughts about the transatlantic relationship (political, social, etc.). How would you describe contemporary Irish America? What is the role for the AIHS in the twenty-first century compared to its founding in the late nineteenth century?

ES: Irish American relations have always evolved, and while it’s true that we’re seeing some shifts today, these changes are part of a long history of adaptation and growth. The AIHS has always played an important role in this dynamic relationship, from being involved with the Irish independence movement in the early 20th century, through to collaborating with Irish and Irish American academics and artists, and we continue to do so today. We have strong ties with key organizations like the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Emerald Guild, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the Emerald Isle and other immigration centers, and the Irish Repertory Theater, which serve as pillars of the community and help preserve our cultural heritage – and we are supported by the Irish Consulate too.

Despite the decline in emigration, Irish America remains vibrant and influential. Our membership demographic is probably mostly among the older generation, but I do want the Society to also engage with younger Irish Americans and recent immigrants. Many of today’s immigrants are educated and working in business or finance and technology, and they come from a different Ireland, so the old touchstones of the Irish story are maybe not as relevant for them. Ireland has undergone a remarkable transformation, and this shift is undeniably positive, although I think there is sometimes a sense of sorrow among the Irish Americans about how much Ireland has changed in the last twenty years or so.

The image of the poor Irish is firmly in the past. Today, Ireland’s global standing has strengthened, with over 500 Irish companies thriving in the U.S. alone and Ireland ranking as the 9th largest investor in the country. This reflects the nation’s newfound prominence on the international stage, particularly in sectors like business, technology, and culture. And in a post-Brexit world as the entire island of Ireland interacts with Europe and America, we are very proud to partner with Queen’s University and Ulster University on various talks and seminars.

In the arts, we’re seeing exciting developments too. Irish actors, musicians, and artists continue to make waves, and one of the most compelling examples is the success of Irish rap, especially groups like Kneecap. We also celebrate the global reach of Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing, which was adapted into a TV series. As a historical institution, this is something we are especially proud of, as it brings attention to critical chapters of Irish history and culture. Academics and journalists are tackling complicated subjects like the Magdalene Homes and adoption out of Ireland, and how Ireland is dealing with its own immigration experience, so the conversations we are having are dynamic and inclusive.

All of these developments suggest that the relationship between Ireland and the U.S. is not only changing but thriving, and it’s for the better. As we move forward, the AIHS must adapt and embrace these changes, helping to forge a new identity for Irish America in the 21st century. We’re here to celebrate that evolving relationship, while also carving out our own place in it—preserving the rich history of Irish immigration while embracing the future of Irish American cultural exchange.

Do you have any time for your own research? What topics of Irish or Irish American history most interest you these days?

ES: My primary research interest centers around immigration, particularly Irish emigration patterns. I am deeply interested in exploring how Irish emigrants shaped American society, both during their initial arrival and in the long-term. One of the key aspects I wrote about is the Immigration Act of 1924, which imposed strict quotas based on national origins and had a lasting impact on Irish immigration. The law drastically changed the landscape of U.S. immigration policy and is crucial to understanding the Irish experience in America during the early 20th century.

The Great Hunger is another area I’m still really interested in, especially having read recent works by Cian McMahon, Tyler Anbinder, and Anelise Strout. I’m particularly focused on how the famine and the resulting wave of emigration profoundly impacted the Irish American community. Charity, particularly how it was mobilized by Irish American communities to support both new immigrants and the broader social fabric, is another area of interest. I’m exploring how the Irish American community’s experiences as immigrants led them to advocate for others, and how attitudes toward immigrants in American society have evolved over time. I’m fascinated by the anti-Catholic rhetoric of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, but also, I want to look at Irish American attitudes to other immigrants in more recent years. Lastly, American support for Irish independence is another area I would like to concentrate on, especially given the archives we hold here on De Valera’s visit in 1920 and the Friends of Irish Freedom.

Through my work at the AIHS, I’ve been able to rekindle my passion for these topics, and I look forward to continuing to explore the historical and contemporary impact of Irish immigration on both sides of the Atlantic.

Library inside the AIHS mansion in New York.