The tragedy of the Great Hunger occurred at the heart of the vast, and resource-rich, British Empire. The imperial government, however, chose not to use its resources to come to the aid of the Irish poor. The degree to which the British government was responsible for this disaster is still debated among historians. [Read more…] about Government Relief and Private Charity during the Great Hunger
Irish American Heritage Museum
The Irish in the Mohawk and Hudson Valleys
The exodus that institutionalized emigration from Ireland began just after the Napoleonic Wars and the famines of 1817 and 1822; surged during and after the 1845-51 Great Hunger and continued spasmodically through the remainder of the century.
By the mid-nineteenth century, many of the Irish newcomers were poor, as opposed to the earlier ones who had been wealthy professionals. Some came arrived in the Hudson and Mohawk Valley regions from the city of New York, more down from Canada, to work on the canals, railroads, and factories. [Read more…] about The Irish in the Mohawk and Hudson Valleys
The Great Hunger in a Typical Irish Town
With hunger and unemployment reaching fever pitch in the winter of 1846, the peasants and laboring class in Listowel, Ireland and its vicinity had had enough, and attempted a riot – which was quickly quelled.
Conditions in the Workhouse in 1847 went from bad to worse, and by 1851 17,844 people had vanished from the area, either through death or emigration. The story is important not because it is exceptional, but because it represents the typical experience of many Irish towns at that time. [Read more…] about The Great Hunger in a Typical Irish Town
Cornelius Heeney: Irish Immigrant, Philanthropist
When he died in 1848 Cornelius Heeney, an Irish emigrant of the late 18th century to the USA, was among the wealthiest and most influential men in the country, yet his story goes far beyond wealth or influence.
Over the course of his life, Heeney contributed land and money to many churches and orphan asylums in New York and Brooklyn, including New York’s first Catholic Church, St Peters. [Read more…] about Cornelius Heeney: Irish Immigrant, Philanthropist
Irish Immigration to Fulton County
Nestled in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains and just north of the Mohawk Valley, Fulton County has been home to an ethnically and culturally diverse population for generations.
Drawn by the promise of steady work in the glove and leather industry and plentiful farmlands, immigrants from Ireland, England, Russia, Poland, France, Scotland, Italy, and elsewhere made their homes and raised families here. [Read more…] about Irish Immigration to Fulton County
Genealogy Research: Using Unusual Databases
The Irish American Heritage Museum will host “Using Surprising Databases in your Family Tree Search,” a genealogy program by Lisa Walsh Dougherty set for Wednesday, April 20th. [Read more…] about Genealogy Research: Using Unusual Databases
Ireland’s Public Record Office Virtual Reconstruction Primer
Beyond 2022 is working to recreate, digitally, Ireland‘s lost national treasure. This all-island and international research program combines historical research, archival discovery and technical innovation to track down copies and transcripts of original records lost in 1922.
Reuniting collections scattered around the globe, the aim of Beyond 2022 is to launch the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland — an open-access, virtual reconstruction of the Record Treasury destroyed at the Public Record Office of Ireland in the Four Courts Fire of 1922.
[Read more…] about Ireland’s Public Record Office Virtual Reconstruction Primer
Irish Women in the American Labor Movement
Mother Jones, Leonora Barry, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and other Irish women were instrumental national leaders for labor rights for all Americans.
The Irish American Heritage Museum will host “Irish Women in the American Labor Movement,” a virtual presentation by Dr. Elizabeth Stack, Executive Director of the Irish American Heritage Museum, set for February 22nd. [Read more…] about Irish Women in the American Labor Movement
The Great Albany Fire of 1848 (Virtual Event)
During the Great Albany Fire of 1848 ten people died and scores were injured in the blaze which burned for about six hours. Almost 600 buildings, including rows of residences, were destroyed.
The burned section amounted to the city’s entire commercial heart, and it disrupted mercantile trade and dealt a severe and lasting economic blow. At the time of The Great Fire, Albany had an all-volunteer firefighting force – many of them Irish Americans. [Read more…] about The Great Albany Fire of 1848 (Virtual Event)
The Civil War, Veterans, and America’s First Opioid Crisis (Virtual Program)
The Irish American Heritage Museum will host “Opium Slavery – The Civil War, Veterans, and America’s First Opioid Crisis,” a virtual program with Dr. Jonathan Jones set for Tuesday, February 8th.
This talk will look at the hidden history of an opioid addiction epidemic that plagued veterans in aftermath of the Civil War – America’s first opioid crisis. Employing gender, social, and medical history, Jones investigates the causes and tragic consequences of drug addiction for Civil War veterans and their families, as well as the radical responses by the American medical community and government authorities to the addiction crisis. [Read more…] about The Civil War, Veterans, and America’s First Opioid Crisis (Virtual Program)