In this episode of "Public History," Jake sits down with Irish History Podcast host Fin Dwyer to talk about the craft of storytelling, the rise of podcasting, and what it means to bring history to a global audience in the digital age. Listen to the Episode.
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.
In December 1845, as famine loomed in Ireland, a Pottsville newspaper advertised ship passages from Londonderry to Philadelphia. It’s a small notice that reveals how Irish migration began to reshape the Coal Region - and how welcome later turned to backlash. This story traces that turning point. Read the full story.
Learn more about the Irish Memorial in Philadelphia, dedicated to those who fled famine and hardship in the 1840s. Learn how these immigrants overcame discrimination to shape Pennsylvania’s mining towns and America itself. A tribute to resilience and hope, this monument tells an enduring tale. Read 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.