In Sligo, Ireland a bronze family waits forever on the quay—one small reminder of events that sent more than 30,000 people from that port city toward places like Pennsylvania’s coal towns. Read the full story.
This Public History podcast episode explores the story of a marriage between two rising political families that exploded into one of the most sensational scandals of the 1840s. Beneath the spectacle lies a revealing story about gender, power, and reputation in antebellum America. Listen to the Full Story.
In February 2024, I had the opportunity to visit Dublin, Ireland and made a stop at a memorial to those lost in the Potato Famine of the 1840s. The events in Ireland during the 1840s had reverberations in Pennsylvania's Coal Region as thousands of Irish immigrants fled their homeland and sought a new life in the anthracite coal fields. Read the full story.