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Finding Home

Finding Home

By The Irish American Archives Society

A podcast series presented by the Irish American Archives Society exploring the Irish immigrants and their descendants whose struggles and sacrifices helped to build an American city and make up the history of the Irish in Cleveland. The second series consists of interviews with Clevelanders sharing information and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland.
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Episode 1: George Croghan & The Northwest Territory

Finding HomeMay 25, 2020

00:00
15:43
Season 3 Announcement

Season 3 Announcement

Season 3 of Finding Home will be released starting in the new year. Thank you to all of our listeners. Stay healthy and safe, and we'll see you in 2023!

Nov 11, 202200:26
Episode 2.30 (Father Jim O'Donnell): Radical Faith: Serving Cleveland's Poor

Episode 2.30 (Father Jim O'Donnell): Radical Faith: Serving Cleveland's Poor

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Father Jim O'Donnell.

Fr. Jim O'Donnell dates his calling to the priesthood to his first communion day, May 7, 1937. The son of Irish immigrants from County Mayo, he grew up in St. Philomena Parish in East Cleveland, where he received encouragement to pursue the priesthood. Fr. Jim's first assignment was to St. Colman's Parish on the near West Side. He helped to found a chapter of the Pioneers Total Abstinence Association at St. Pat's on Bridge in 1957 and was the group's longtime chaplain. While serving as director of the Catholic Youth Organization, Fr. Jim felt called to service on behalf of social justice and spent many decades living at E. 35th and Central in a community known as the Little Brothers and Sisters of the Eucharist.

May 31, 202236:59
Episode 2.29 (Bonnie and Mickey McNally/Linda Carney): Bridging East and West, Veterans and Newcomers: The United Nations of Irish Organizations

Episode 2.29 (Bonnie and Mickey McNally/Linda Carney): Bridging East and West, Veterans and Newcomers: The United Nations of Irish Organizations

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Bonnie and Mickey McNally and Linda Carney.

Bonnie and Mickey McNally and Linda Carney were all recruited to participate in the United Irish Societies, Cleveland's Parade Committee, by Linda's father, the late Bill Carney. Between them, the longtime friends, colleagues, and East Side IA members have been involved in Parade operations at every level--club delegate, deputy director, and executive director. They share their perspectives on how technology has changed the committee's work even as the committee structure creates a mentoring relationship between veterans and newcomers. The challenges change--Mickey McNally oversaw the rerouting of the Parade from Euclid Avenue to Superior, while Linda Carney has had to navigate the pandemic--but the hard work, good will, and fellowship remain a constant.

May 24, 202245:39
Episode 2.28 (Dan Chambers): Comforting the Community: A Family Funeral Home

Episode 2.28 (Dan Chambers): Comforting the Community: A Family Funeral Home

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Dan Chambers.

As the third generation leader of a family funeral home business, Dan Chambers grew up in the business in a very literal sense. Back in the day, small retail owners used to live above their stores. The same was true for undertakers. Going to "grandma's house" meant going to the upstairs of the family's funeral home for Chambers. Dan Chambers was thrust into responsibility at an early age when his father died young, just as his father and uncle had been when their father also died at a relatively young age. Chambers reflects how each generation passed along the family legacy of service.

May 17, 202237:53
Episode 2.27 (Father Ryan Duns): Playing and Praying: A Musician-Priest's Life of Service

Episode 2.27 (Father Ryan Duns): Playing and Praying: A Musician-Priest's Life of Service

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Jesuit priest Ryan Duns.

Ryan Duns was born into a family of Irish dancers but had "two left feet," so he started taking tin whistle lessons. His tin whistle teacher, Tom Hastings, also played the accordion for Irish dancing competitions. Duns saw where he could fit in--not as a dancer himself but in service to dance. He began playing for dancing competitions in his college years, but at the same time began discerning a vocation as a Jesuit priest. He thought he might have to give up the Irish dancing world but has fortunately found a way to balance all his callings. Duns is now an ordained Jesuit priest who teaches theology at Marquette University and authors scholarly publications--while continuing to play at dancing competitions and serving as a chaplain for the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians.

May 11, 202242:30
Episode 2.26 (Marianne Mangan): Capturing Community with the Photographer's Eye

Episode 2.26 (Marianne Mangan): Capturing Community with the Photographer's Eye

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Marianne Mangan.

As a child, Marianne Mangan could not have known that the gift of a "Brownie Instamatic" camera would lead to a lifelong pursuit of photography. When she took photos for her high school yearbook or captured school sporting events while working as a gym teacher, photography was a sideline. But the sideline became a profession as she was called on more and more to take photographs at events in the Irish American community. For the Irish American Archives Society, she has documented Walks of Life dinners, the Johnny Kilbane Sculpture process, and parade honorees and committee members. She started photographing musicians at Cleveland's annual Cultural Festival and now travels widely to create photographic portraits of some of the biggest names in traditional Irish music.

May 03, 202240:35
Episode 2.25 (Gerry Quinn): Promoting the "Green and Red" of Mayo in Cleveland OH

Episode 2.25 (Gerry Quinn): Promoting the "Green and Red" of Mayo in Cleveland OH

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Gerry Quinn.

Gerry Quinn was born in Garracloon, a village south of Ballina in County Mayo. His schoolteacher father instilled Gerry's lifelong love of Irish poetry and culture. When Gerry finished school in 1960, his prospects for work were slim and he immigrated to the US. Relatives in Cleveland helped him find work as a steamfitter, while dances at the West Side Irish American Club helped ease the transition. After settling in with work and family, Gerry helped to found the Irish American Club East Side in 1978 and served as the club's first president. Not long after, he began to host a weekly Irish radio show, which he's faithfully done for more than 40 years. In 2004, he revived Cleveland's Mayo Society to promote economic, educational, and cultural exchanges between Cleveland and County Mayo.

Apr 26, 202246:51
Episode 2.24 (Timothy Lynch): Traces of the Truth: Using Public Records to Track Down Forgotten Family History

Episode 2.24 (Timothy Lynch): Traces of the Truth: Using Public Records to Track Down Forgotten Family History

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Timothy Lynch.

Timothy Lynch, an Airbnb proprietor and home rehabber by day, talks about the research tools he uses in his family history research, particularly when tracking the immigrant servants and laborers who often fall between the cracks in public records. The Cleveland Public Library has scanned and digitized numerous records that are available for free (with a library card)--including city directories, historic insurance maps, the Plain Dealer (going back to 1845), and Blue Book" directories of Cleveland's social elite. Librarians and archivists at CPL, Cleveland State University, and the Police History Museum have helped identify relevant photos from extensive digitized photo collections.

Apr 19, 202251:23
Episode 2.23 (Rita Lally): Teaching Tunes: The Irish Music Academy of Cleveland

Episode 2.23 (Rita Lally): Teaching Tunes: The Irish Music Academy of Cleveland

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Rita Lally.

As a generation of immigrant musicians began to pass away in Cleveland in the 1970s and 1980s, the question of how the next generation would learn to play traditional music became an urgent one. With the goal of creating structured classes, Rita Lally, musician Dermot Somerville and others worked to launch the Irish Music Academy in 1993. As Lally recalls, in its five years of existence, IMAC did nurture a talented young group of traditional musicians who perform, teach, and enliven Cleveland’s Irish music scene to this day.

Apr 12, 202252:15
Episode 2.22 (Tom Corrigan): From The Lasalle Club to CYO: Keeping the Kids off the Streets

Episode 2.22 (Tom Corrigan): From The Lasalle Club to CYO: Keeping the Kids off the Streets

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Tom Corrigan.

When IAAS was working on the Johnny Kilbane Sculpture Project in 2012-2014, IAAS Board President Tom Corrigan researched and delivered a couple of talks about the role of Irish Americans in popularizing the sport of boxing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With a decade's perspective on that research, Corrigan shares reflections on the connection between the Lasalle Club that nurtured Johnny Kilbane and the CYO sports activities that his uncle, Msgr. Thomas Corrigan, supervised during his nephew's youth.

Apr 05, 202239:53
Episode 2.21 (Meg & Jack McGarry): Painting the Town: The Mike McGarry & Sons Family Business

Episode 2.21 (Meg & Jack McGarry): Painting the Town: The Mike McGarry & Sons Family Business

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Meg and Jack McGarry.

Mike McGarry came to Cleveland from County Roscommon in the 1920s. After painting streetcars and doing painting and other maintenance work at Graphite Bronze, he decided to start his own painting business. Four sons helped him build a business that would work on such important community projects as the renovations of City Hall and Severance Hall. One of those sons, Jack McGarry, and his wife Meg share memories of building a family business.

Mar 29, 202247:43
Episode 2.20 (Father Thomas Mahoney): Sticking to the South Side: One Family's Struggles and Faith in Tremont

Episode 2.20 (Father Thomas Mahoney): Sticking to the South Side: One Family's Struggles and Faith in Tremont

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Father Thomas Mahoney.

As Fr. Thomas Mahoney recounts, the various branches of his immigrant family converged in the mid-19th century in St. Augustine Parish on what was then known as Cleveland's South Side. The parish received its first resident pastor in 1867, moving into its present location at W. 14th and Howard Streets in 1896. Fr. Mahoney's grandparents contributed a stained glass window dedicated to each of their mothers. Mahoney reflects on the role of the church as immigrant parishioners grappled with unsteady employment, the temptations of drink, and the early deaths of children.

Mar 22, 202245:51
Episode 2.19 (Mary Agnes Kennedy): Finding a New Voice in Old Songs

Episode 2.19 (Mary Agnes Kennedy): Finding a New Voice in Old Songs

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Mary Agnes Kennedy.

As singer Mary Agnes Kennedy recalls, music and singing were a huge part of her growing up years. Her mother, Carole Anne Kennedy, played Irish music on a portable record player and made the family sit down for the Mike Comer radio hour. Music was everywhere--at family parties, school choirs and plays, television theme songs and jingles, even events on Fleet Avenue that a Polish neighbor organized. Kennedy reflects on the mentors and community influences that gave her confidence and staying power as a singer.

Mar 15, 202246:14
Two-Week Pause

Two-Week Pause

Finding Home will be taking a two-week pause. We'll return with a new episode on March 15th. Thanks for listening!

Mar 01, 202200:16
Episode 2.18 (Tom McManamon): Putting Together a Perfect Parade

Episode 2.18 (Tom McManamon): Putting Together a Perfect Parade

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Tom McManamon.

Three generations of Tom McManamons have been an integral part of Cleveland's St. Patrick's Day Parade. The current Tom’s grandfather, a City Engineer and project manager of the Irish Cultural Garden, was a leader of the Irish Civic Association, which reorganized the Parade in the early 1930s. Tom’s father, a City Sidewalk Inspector who also founded an insurance company, led another Parade reorganization in 1958 and served as the first Executive Director of the United Irish Societies. Our podcast interviewee carried on the family insurance business, served as UIS Executive Director from 2001-2004 and is the Grand Marshal of the 2022 Parade. He reflects on his family's three generations of commitment to the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Feb 22, 202253:34
Episode 2.17 (John O'Brien Sr.): Working Hard and Making Things Happen

Episode 2.17 (John O'Brien Sr.): Working Hard and Making Things Happen

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with John O'Brien Sr.

John O'Brien Sr. learned to put his head down and "just work" at an early age. His father's unexpected death left his mother with a family of young children to raise and a farm and grain mill to run. O'Brien learned to pitch in, and he's never stopped. In Cleveland, he pitched in on a GAA football team that won four national titles. He pitched in as multi-term President of the West Side Irish American Club to organize the volunteer maintenance of the club's sprawling campus in Olmsted Township. He pitched in to organize another couple hundred volunteers to put on the Irish Cultural Festival every year from 1983 until the COVID pandemic hit the pause button in 2020. Whatever's next will involve more work!!!

Feb 15, 202244:42
Episode 2.16 (John Lackey): A Pioneering Spirit: Keep the Flag Flying

Episode 2.16 (John Lackey): A Pioneering Spirit: Keep the Flag Flying

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with John Lackey.

John Lackey grew up in County Cavan. When his mother died at a young age, his father made a plan to send the family to a cousin in Cleveland, one child at a time. John and his father left together at the end of the line. In Cleveland, John became a produce manager at the old Pick 'n Pay. He soon immersed himself in Gaelic football, dances at the Westside Irish American Club, and Friday night card games; he met his wife at a wedding and started raising a family. But among his involvements here, he says that the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association takes pride of place. He talks about a lifetime commitment that has its roots in a pledge first made in Ireland.

Feb 08, 202239:16
Episode 2.15 (Vera Casey & Kathleen Casey Proctor): Importing What's Important: Family and Community Across Oceans and Generations

Episode 2.15 (Vera Casey & Kathleen Casey Proctor): Importing What's Important: Family and Community Across Oceans and Generations

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Vera Casey and her daughter, Kathleen Casey Proctor.

Vera Casey grew up on a farm in County Mayo, Ireland. She had to quit school early to help raise her younger siblings when her mother died. While working in London, England, as a young woman, Vera married her husband Tom Casey. They followed Vera's older sister to Cleveland, Ohio. The Caseys bounced back and forth between Galway and Cleveland frequently over the years as their family grew, creating strong connections in both cities--but they eventually settled in Cleveland for good. After many years of running her own hair salons, Vera "retired," and opened a store specializing in clothes, food, jewelry, home goods, and other items imported directly from Ireland. Casey's Irish Imports in Rocky River soon became a beloved staple of Cleveland's Irish community. Vera's daughter, Kathleen, helped out with the family business for many years before officially taking over management of the store with her sister Maureen nearly a decade ago. Kathleen and Maureen continue Vera's legacy of community building and serving. 

Feb 01, 202245:08
Episode 2.14 (Patrick Custy): Play On: A Life in Irish Music and Sport

Episode 2.14 (Patrick Custy): Play On: A Life in Irish Music and Sport

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Patrick Custy.

Patrick Custy's immigrant parents met and married in New York, but returned to Ireland with their young family to work the family's farm after Patrick's grandfather died. Growing up in Dysert O'Dea outside of Ennis in County Clare, Patrick was surrounded by distinctive ruins from all time periods in Irish history. He grew up playing traditional Irish music and sports. He met his wife-to-be Nikki, an Ohio native, when both were college students in Galway. Marriage, three children, and jobs in the computer industry have anchored the couple in northeast Ohio where they have become well-known musicians, and are active in the revival of Gaelic hurling in Akron.

Jan 25, 202253:06
Episode 2.13 (Helen Malloy): Building From the Ground Up: The West Side Irish American Club

Episode 2.13 (Helen Malloy): Building From the Ground Up: The West Side Irish American Club

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Helen Malloy.

Longtime West Side Irish American Club President Pat Lynch tapped Helen Malloy to serve as assistant to the Club secretary when Malloy was little more than a teenager in the late 1950s or early 1960s. She's been an office or board member with the West Side club ever since. As one of the Club's few American-born Presidents--and the only woman--Malloy presided over the preparation to move from the Club's old quarters at West 98th and Madison to a new, purpose-built facility in Olmsted Township. Malloy shares her memories of growing up in and with the West Side Club.

Jan 18, 202242:16
Episode 2.12 (Joan Hartnett Reali): Keeping the Culture Going: The Cleveland Gaelic Society

Episode 2.12 (Joan Hartnett Reali): Keeping the Culture Going: The Cleveland Gaelic Society

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Joan Hartnett Reali.

Growing up in the 1940s and 1950s near Kenmare in County Kerry, Joan Hartnett Reali was steeped in traditional Irish music, dance, and sports. At age 17, she followed an older brother to Cleveland, and other family members soon joined them here. Joan felt most at home at dances and lessons sponsored by the Cleveland Gaelic Society, which formed in 1958 to promote Irish language, music, and dance. Serving as longtime treasurer of the Gaelic Society, she represented the club in the formation of the Cleveland Associated Irish American Clubs-- the so-called "Four Clubs." She shares memories of organizing dances, recruiting teachers and musicians, and juggling activities and responsibilities.

Jan 11, 202244:18
Episode 2.11 (Marilyn Madigan): Living the LAOH Motto: Friendship, Unity and Christian Charity

Episode 2.11 (Marilyn Madigan): Living the LAOH Motto: Friendship, Unity and Christian Charity

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Marilyn Madigan.

Marilyn Madigan is the National Vice President of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians and has held numerous offices at the local and state levels. Although the Ancient Order of Hibernians was founded in New York in 1836, a Ladies Auxiliary only formed in 1894. A Clevelander, Adelia Christy, became a National officer in 1913 and subsequently served as National President. Recalling the many women who have had a hand in steering the group in Cleveland, Madigan also confides her own determination to follow in Christy's footsteps a hundred years later.

Jan 04, 202243:15
"Finding Home" Is Taking a Brief Break Until 2022

"Finding Home" Is Taking a Brief Break Until 2022

Series 2 of the Irish American Archives Society Podcast, "Finding Home," will be taking a brief pause until the new year. Thanks so much for listening along during 2021. We're excited to share even more stories from Clevelanders of Irish descent with our wonderful listeners in 2022. Stay safe in the meantime, and have a Happy New Year.

Dec 28, 202100:11
Episode 2.10 (Patrick Reynolds): Generations of Service: The Story of a Cleveland Police Family

Episode 2.10 (Patrick Reynolds): Generations of Service: The Story of a Cleveland Police Family

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Patrick Reynolds.

Patrick Reynolds is a retired detective sergeant of the the Cleveland Police Department and President of the Board of Trustees of the Cleveland Police Museum. Reynolds shares information about the Museum collections and its research services--from displays about Eliot Ness and the Kingsbury Run torso murders to help documenting a family member's police service. Reynolds also reflects on his own years of high profile work on the department's bomb squad and hostage negotiating team, on his extended family's more than 100 years of service on the force, and on the camaraderie that led to the formation of the Retired Irish Police Society.

Dec 21, 202139:41
Episode 2.9 (Colleen Corrigan Day): Better Together: The Achill-Cleveland Twinning

Episode 2.9 (Colleen Corrigan Day): Better Together: The Achill-Cleveland Twinning

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Colleen Corrigan Day.

People have been immigrating from Achill Island, off the west coast of Ireland, to Cleveland, OH, since the 1840s, and immigration surges connecting the two communities can be well documented for the 1860s, 1880s, 1920s, and 1950s. Clevelander Steve Mulloy, an Achill native, spearheaded the effort to commemorate the community ties with a formal "twinning" initiative in 2003. Colleen Corrigan Day, who currently takes the lead in facilitating the initiative, talks about the pillars of business development, educational exchanges, and tourism that continue to undergird the connections and help to forge links with other global partners.

Dec 14, 202144:06
Episode 2.8 (Sheila Murphy Crawford): Tending the Irish Garden

Episode 2.8 (Sheila Murphy Crawford): Tending the Irish Garden

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Sheila Murphy Crawford.

Sheila, a well-known Irish dancing teacher in Cleveland, talks in this episode about her family's decades-long association with the Irish Cultural Garden. Sheila's mother, Betty Murphy, was a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, which had taken responsibility for programming and maintaining the Irish Cultural Garden since its dedication in 1939. Succeeding her mother as a representative to the Cultural Gardens Federation, Sheila served as President when the Federation celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016.

Dec 07, 202144:53
Episode 2.7 (JoAnn Kerr): Haunting Graveyards: Serious Work for a Genealogist

Episode 2.7 (JoAnn Kerr): Haunting Graveyards: Serious Work for a Genealogist

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with JoAnn Kerr.

Posting under the moniker "Irish JoKerr," Clevelander JoAnn Kerr is a major contributor to a crowd-sourced tool for family history researchers, Findagrave.com. Kerr shares on the podcast how she went from researching her own family to finding and sharing information about Clevelanders of Irish descent on a free website that first launched in 1995. Created to share burial information about individuals around the world, Findagrave can include photographs, obituaries, biographies, vital statistics, and links to other family members. JoAnn Kerr has generated more than 21,000 entries and adds about 50 per week, using such resources as cemetery and death records, death notices, and other public records.

Nov 30, 202146:43
Episode 2.6 (Mary McCluskey): Marching to an Ancient Beat

Episode 2.6 (Mary McCluskey): Marching to an Ancient Beat

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. This episode features an interview with Mary McCluskey.

The Ladies Drill Team of the West Side Irish American Club dates back to the club's first decade in the 1930s. And yet, the recently retired Mary Hastings McCluskey was only the team's third leader. Succeeding Carol McGinty, who followed team founder Colletta Masterson Jablonski, Mary McCluskey led the group for more than 50 years. McCluskey first started coming to the West Side Club in the 1950s with her father, Thomas Hastings, who had helped to found the men's Fife and Drum marching unit. Mary joined the drill team as a freshman in high school in 1957. In this interview she recalls six decades of carrying a vibrant community tradition forward.

Nov 23, 202144:03
Episode 2.5 (Patrick Corrigan): Remembering the "Boys on the Run": Memoir of an Irish Soldier
Nov 16, 202134:22
Episode 2.4 (Bernie McCafferty): Leaving a Trace: Cleveland's First Irish Neighborhood
Nov 09, 202137:27
Episode 2.3 (Jim Dubelko): Wanted: Cleveland's McCart Street Gang
Nov 02, 202147:16
Episode 2.2 (Kenneth R. Callahan): Hold The Line: An Irish Soldier in the American Civil War

Episode 2.2 (Kenneth R. Callahan): Hold The Line: An Irish Soldier in the American Civil War

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. Episode 2 features an interview with Kenneth R. Callahan.

James K. O'Reilly, the 2x great grandfather of IAAS Board member Kenneth R. Callahan, was an Irish immigrant from County Longford, a Civil War veteran, a stone monument carver, one of Cleveland's first Irish-born City Council representatives, secretary of the St. Edward Parish Council, and head of a veteran's contingent marking the passage of President Abraham Lincoln's funeral cortege through Cleveland. A Past-President of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, Ken Callahan shares his hunt to uncover sources that would illuminate his ancestor's Civil War service and life in Cleveland.

Note: In the episode, James K. O'Reilly is mistakenly identified as the great-grandfather of Ken Callahan, but he is actually Callahan's 2x great-grandfather.  

Also note:  The Ohio 8th Infantry Regiment, which O'Reilly served in during the Civil War, was part of the Army of the Potomac's famed "Gibraltar Brigade," known for their steadfast, unyielding dependability in the midst of battle.


Oct 26, 202137:28
Episode 2.1 (Kevin O'Toole): Restoring Johnny Kilbane's Fight Films
Oct 19, 202141:56
Episode 50: Still Going Strong: The Irish American Community in Cleveland, Today and Beyond

Episode 50: Still Going Strong: The Irish American Community in Cleveland, Today and Beyond

Irish people have continued to immigrate to Cleveland since the 1960s. Both recent immigrants and American-born counterparts contribute to the vitality of Cleveland's Irish American community today. The community is flourishing--with a newspaper, radio shows, active social clubs, clubs devoted to particular professions, and strong support for traditional Irish music, dance, language, and sports. The Irish American Archives Society works with all these organizations and more to preserve the history of the Irish in Cleveland. I’m going to take a break until early summer to figure out how to format a new podcast series in a way that keeps advancing our knowledge. Until then, enjoy the spring! And thanks for listening.

Apr 13, 202117:47
Episode 49: Growing Up Irish: My Memories of the Irish American Community in the 1950s and 1960s

Episode 49: Growing Up Irish: My Memories of the Irish American Community in the 1950s and 1960s

This episode I'm going to share my own memories of Cleveland’s Irish community during the 1950s and 1960s--my growing up years. My family was involved with the Hibernians and Irish dancing. The Hibernians put on an annual St. Patrick’s Day banquet and held card parties to raise money for Irish missionary priests. We helped with Parade floats, manned tables at nationality fairs, and attended Irish picnics at Euclid Beach Park. Our parishes reinforced our Irish identity. At St. Mel's Parish, where I grew up, Fr. Tom Flynn organized an annual St. Patrick’s Day show and encouraged us to take Irish dancing lessons from Tessie Burke at the old I.A. Hall on Madison Avenue. We attended feises or dancing competitions at the Berea Fairgrounds, did danceouts at the Irish Cultural Garden, and went to ceili dances sponsored by the Gaelic Society--nurturing a lifelong love of Irish music and dance.

Apr 06, 202116:01
Episode 48: The Parade: Recent Immigrants, Younger Generations, and Women Find Common Cause

Episode 48: The Parade: Recent Immigrants, Younger Generations, and Women Find Common Cause

The immigrants of the 1950s and 1960s had a particular impact on the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. From 1935 until 1958, the Irish Civic Association organized the parade. Most of the Civic Association members were born in the US. By 1958, the postwar immigrants had formed new clubs that celebrated traditional Irish sports, music, and dance and were also reinvigorating the Hibernians and the West Side IA. The new energy required a new model for parade management--the United Irish Societies. New constituencies--women and younger generations--also had to work their way to the table, but the UIS functions to this day as a kind of United Nations for Irish organizations in Cleveland.

Mar 30, 202117:49
Episode 47: Join the Club: 1950s and 1960s Immigrants Take the Lead

Episode 47: Join the Club: 1950s and 1960s Immigrants Take the Lead

Postwar immigration energized Irish club activity in Cleveland. The newcomers helped to revitalize the city's longest-lasting Irish organization--the Ancient Order of Hibernians and its Ladies Auxiliary--and the West Side Irish American Club which had already been a community hub since its founding in 1930. The 1950s and 1960s immigrants also established new clubs: The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association and four clubs that were devoted to preserving traditional Irish culture and joined forces as the Associated Irish Clubs: The Gaelic Football Club, the Gaelic Hurling Club, the Irish Musicians Association, and the Gaelic Society. The 1950s and 1960s cohort also revived interest in an east-side social center, resulting in the Irish American Club East Side, which was founded in 1978.

Mar 23, 202116:57
Episode 46: For the Love of Gaelic Games: The GAA in Cleveland

Episode 46: For the Love of Gaelic Games: The GAA in Cleveland

Irish immigrants of the 1950s and 1960s had a huge impact on Gaelic sports in Cleveland. After WWII, Gaelic Athletic Association promoters like Cleveland's Henry Cavanagh began talking about re-starting inter-city competition for Gaelic sports in 1949. Cleveland was in the forefront, as Henry Cavanagh invited colleagues from other Midwest cities to attend the first Midwest GAA convention in Cleveland in 1950. In the early 1950s, Cleveland organized multiple intramural squads for Gaelic Football, Hurling, and Women's Camogie. By the early 1960s, immigrant players coalesced around one strong, competitive football team—Cleveland St. Pat’s. St. Pat’s captured five consecutive national titles from 1962 through 1966. Hundreds of unheralded players kept Gaelic sports alive in Cleveland, through their commitment to the GAA values of discipline and teamwork, and their love of the games.

Mar 16, 202117:25
Episode 45: Land of Opportunity: Irish Immigrants in the 1950s and 1960s

Episode 45: Land of Opportunity: Irish Immigrants in the 1950s and 1960s

After the immigration wave of the 1920s, the next big wave occurred in the 1950s and 1960s. While the 1950s immigrants came from all over Ireland, the earlier connections between Cleveland and County Mayo were reinforced. Several factors slowed Irish immigration down between the late 1920s and the 1950s: the first restrictions on immigration from Europe in 1924, the worldwide depression of the 1930s, and World War II. Many Irish people found it easier to immigrate to England in the 1930s and 1940s. When the English economy was slow to recover after WWII, some Irish immigrants looked to Canada or Australia. But the US was still the destination of choice. Most of the 1950s and 1960s immigrants worked at laboring jobs. They had a strong presence in the Building Laborers Local 310. Some were able to parlay laboring occupations into business ownership. Cleveland's economy was still humming then, and they were absorbed into it readily.

Mar 09, 202117:34
Episode 44: The World at War: Irish Americans Serve Their Adopted Country

Episode 44: The World at War: Irish Americans Serve Their Adopted Country

Recent immigrants and American-born sons were quick to join war efforts during the Spanish American War of 1898 and World War I. They did so again when World War II broke out. Brothers often enlisted together; six brothers from one Gallagher family served at the same time. Priests and doctors answered the call as well. On the home front, many Irish Americans were involved in maintaining a canteen for servicemen at St. John Cathedral. For returning servicemen, the GI Bill offered an opportunity to attend college or even medical or law school--opportunities that young men from working class families would not have had otherwise, and opportunities that they could open up for their children in turn.

Mar 02, 202116:17
Episode 43: Leveraging Land: Women and Entrepreneurs in Real Estate

Episode 43: Leveraging Land: Women and Entrepreneurs in Real Estate

By the 1930s, more people of Irish birth and descent were investing in real estate in ways large and small. Families scrimped to buy second lots and held onto their first houses as rental property. Managing that property was often a side job for married women, providing a way for women to contribute to their family’s financial well-being. The extra income earned by managing real estate became a lifeline for women who were widowed or whose husbands lacked steady employment. One widowed woman and real estate speculator, Celia McCafferty Carney, paved the way for her two sons, John and Jim Carney, to become major players in real estate and politics in Cleveland for many decades.

Feb 23, 202116:54
Episode 42: Do No Harm: Irish American Doctors and Nurses in the Mid 20th Century

Episode 42: Do No Harm: Irish American Doctors and Nurses in the Mid 20th Century

People of Irish birth and descent entered the medical professions earlier, but their numbers grew in the 1920s through the 1940s. The city's Catholic hospitals were founded in the 19th century by religious orders. The Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine organized St. Vincent Charity Hospital during the Civil War to care for wounded soldiers and set up a maternity hospital, St. Ann's, to care for unwed mothers and foundling babies. A German order, the Sisters of St. Francis, formed St. Alexis Hospital in Newburgh and St. John's on the west side (later yielding St. John's to the Sisters of Charity). Sons of 19th century immigrant families began studying to become doctors in the 1880s and 1890s and were chiefs of staff and surgery at the city's Catholic hospitals by the 1920s. By the early 20th century, women of Irish birth and descent were training at hospital nursing schools in the United States. Irish American doctors and nurses took on essential roles as the city's Catholic hospitals served a growing city.

Feb 16, 202117:09
Episode 41: Dangers and Dilemmas: Firemen and Policemen in the 1920s and 1930s

Episode 41: Dangers and Dilemmas: Firemen and Policemen in the 1920s and 1930s

Everyday run-ins with danger could pull policemen and firemen into newspaper stories and headlines. But famous cases and fires tended to be featured when careers were being summed up. Many firemen who were active in the 1920s and 1930s worked on the 1914 lumberyard fire in the flats that nearly destroyed the Central Viaduct, or the 1929 Cleveland Clinic Fire that killed 123 people and injured 92. Policemen were more likely than firemen to face moral quandaries. The 1930s were rife with such quandaries. Between the desperation of the Great Depression, the rise of gangsters, and labor unrest, policemen often found themselves in situations that pitted them against neighbors and friends or involved temptations and conflicted loyalties.

Feb 09, 202116:48
Episode 40: Serving a Higher Power: Priests and Nuns in the Mid-Twentieth Century

Episode 40: Serving a Higher Power: Priests and Nuns in the Mid-Twentieth Century

Priests and nuns were highly valued and essential Irish community members in every decade, but an exceptional generation came to the fore in the 1920s and 1930s. Men and women of Irish descent who were born in the 1870s and 1880s, who grew up in Cleveland and attended school here, were reaching their prime as clergy and religious at that time. Founding pastors, diocesan officials, and mother superiors of Irish descent all stepped into the limelight during the tenure of Bishop Joseph Schrembs, from 1921 through 1945. Thanks to their vision and dedication, Cleveland’s parishes and Catholic schools continued to flourish and kept pace with a thriving city.

Feb 02, 202116:44
Episode 39: Funeral Directing: A Family Affair

Episode 39: Funeral Directing: A Family Affair

Undertakers were valued and essential community members. Known as undertakers in the 19th and earlier 20th centuries they morphed into funeral directors by the 1930s. Whether in the 19th century, the 20th century, and even today, they ran small family businesses whose survival depended on the continuity of family generations and a clientele of their own ethnicity. The first generation of Irish undertakers came on the scene when undertaking was a new profession. The next generation of undertakers  emerged at the turn of the century, while a large cluster of Irish-owned funeral operations formed to serve the 1920s cohort of immigrants. The bond between Irish funeral directors and the Irish American community remains strong to this day.

Jan 26, 202118:59
Episode 38: Fiddlers, Singers, and Step Dancers: Traditional Culture in a Modern City

Episode 38: Fiddlers, Singers, and Step Dancers: Traditional Culture in a Modern City

Music featured prominently at Irish community events all the way back to the first St. Patrick's Day Banquet in 1842. But traditional Irish music and dance really came to the fore in Cleveland in the 1920s and 1930s. The immigrants of the 1920s were the first generation to experience the full impact of the late-nineteenth-century revival of interest in the Irish language and traditional Irish culture, including folklore, sports, music, and dance. Irish "folk dancing" was featured at the Theater of Nations circa 1930. Also in 1930, a weekly radio show featuring Irish music was launched, hosted by Mary K. Duffy and featuring tenor Dick O'Heren and the Irish Ensemble with accordion player Johnny McNea. The West Side Irish American Club also began a fife and drum band in the 1930s. Fiddler Tom Scott began teaching Irish dancing in Cleveland in the 1940s. The 1950s wave of immigration continued to boost the traditional Irish music and dance scene in Cleveland, and it's still going strong today.

Jan 19, 202117:38
Episode 37: Gangs, Gangsters, and Gamblers

Episode 37: Gangs, Gangsters, and Gamblers

Irish Americans found themselves on all sides of the law in the late 19th and 20th centuries. A life of crime tempted some who lived hardscrabble lives in the Angle and the near West Side. The Triangle, McCart Street, and Cheyenne Gangs stopped at petty crime, though the Cheyennes were caught up in the newspaper circulation wars of the 1910s, culminating in the death of a former newspaper boy in 1914. Legendary characters such as Blackjack McGinty and Shimmy Patton grew up in the same milieu but made their livelihoods and reputations in bootlegging and gambling. A few decades later, Danny Greene embroiled himself in a civil war between mob factions in Cleveland and "lived by the bomb and died by the bomb."

Jan 12, 202118:03
Episode 36: Women and White Collar Workers Take the Stage

Episode 36: Women and White Collar Workers Take the Stage

The children and grandchildren of earlier immigrants continued to identify with their Irish heritage in the 1920s and 1930s. But the second and third generations tended to become involved in a different set of Irish organizations—ones that were shaped more by circumstances in Cleveland and the US than in Ireland. The most prominent new Irish organization to emerge during this timeframe was the Irish American Civic Association—later shortened to the Irish Civic Association. In the 1930s, the Civic Association facilitated Irish involvement in large-scale civic projects such as fundraising for the Irish Cultural Garden, reinvigorating the summer picnic tradition, and reviving a downtown St. Patrick's Day Parade. But women--especially Adelia Christy and Mary Kay Duffy--also emerged as civic leaders during this decade, spearheading Irish participation in the Theater of Nations and bolstering the successful completion of the Irish Cultural Garden.

Jan 05, 202117:35
Episode 35: We Built This City

Episode 35: We Built This City

Irish immigrants were holding a wide array of jobs by the mid-to-late 19th century. However, no matter what the era, it seems that each newly arriving group of Irish immigrants first entered the workforce as manual laborers. Sample groups of Irish immigrants from the 1850s, 1880s, 1920s, and 1950s also show the same trend. More than half of them held laboring jobs during each given time period. At all of those time periods, Cleveland's growth provided laboring jobs--in manufacturing and construction. Irish immigrants were involved in building this city at each stage of its growth.

Dec 29, 202018:15
Episode 34: Secret Societies, Gaelic Sports, and Social Clubs: The Greenhorns Make their Way

Episode 34: Secret Societies, Gaelic Sports, and Social Clubs: The Greenhorns Make their Way

Many of the Irish immigrants who came to Cleveland in the 1910s and 1920s were young single men who were escaping conflict. They or their families wanted them to avoid conscription into the British Army during World War I or to avoid what seemed certain to be another failed rebellion in 1916. Others left in the later 1910s as rebellion spread in Ireland, and the British Black and Tans terrorized the countryside. Others had been enemy combatants during the Irish Civil War in 1922 and 1923. This cohort of immigrants swelled the ranks of organizations that promoted Irish freedom, including the secretive Clan na Gael. They also brought Gaelic football to Cleveland in the 1920s, and they helped to found the city’s most enduring Irish social club, the West Side Irish American Club. A new wave of immigration was already producing a new wave of Irish community leaders.

Dec 22, 202018:12