Nick Maxwell 
Regular, organised, mass pilgrimages to the grave of Theobald Wolfe Tone at Bodenstown, Co. Kildare, began in 1873. There was a gap in the 1880s and, after resumption in 1891, absences only from 1906 to 1910 and in 1921. They soon followed a pattern that has changed very little over the years. ‘Pilgrims’—the word ‘pilgrimage’ … Read more
Another recreational aspect was music. The Wolfe Tone Band that travelled out from Dublin in 1873 was accompanied to Bodenstown in the following year by three other Dublin bands. In 1876 the Islandbridge Fife and Drum Band and the James’ Street Brass Band were present. In 1880 it was reported that, to terminate the proceedings, … Read more
The purpose here is to draw out the essential importance of time and place in the popularity of the Bodenstown pilgrimages. The time of year was June, the day of the week Sunday. The days stretch out in June; the longest day of all is the 20th or the 21st. Sunday was the only day … Read more
In 1882 an Irish doctor, Patrick Henry Cronin, arrived to take up his new position at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. Cronin quickly established himself as an active member of the Irish community in the city. He was a prominent member of a number of charitable societies, regularly sang in the Catholic Cathedral on State … Read more
The murder of Dr Cronin has been largely overlooked by historians, yet the murder was more than a sensational crime story that titillated the American press in the summer of 1889. It devastated Clan na Gael, set back the cause of Irish freedom for more than a decade and had profound implications for the Chicago … Read more