Did you know that..?
Prince Edward Island – 25% of the population of Prince Edward Island is of Irish descent. 40% of those of Irish descent have their origins in Monaghan. Former Clann McKenna Chieftain (2008 – 2010) , John McKenna, is one of those of Monaghan descent. John’s ancestors were from Mullaghmore North, Tydavnet, County Monaghan. Michael Dennis […]
A Monaghan Wedding on America’s Independence Day 1852
An Article by Ray McKenna Visit Ray’s Blog at http://federal-hill-irish.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html “The day, as benefits the season, was very pleasant, the streets were thronged with thousands who came to visit us from the neighboring towns. The railroad trains came in immensely loaded, and the steamboats were crowded, and the publick (sic) conveyances were loaded with passengers.” […]
A McKenna Returns to His Ancestral Home – It’s Not what You Think!
By: Raymond J. McKenna Jr., Tolland, Connecticut When most Irish-Americans make the trek to their ancestral homes, they are anticipating hearty fare, like the rightly famous Irish stew. But for me, it’s different. I think of pappardelle with a wild mushroom ragout, along with a glass of Chianti. When I visit my ancestral home, I […]
William Carleton Bicentenary 1794 – 1869
Carleton’s books give a picture of life in MacKenna Country over 100 years ago. We have now reached 1994, the bi-centenary of the birth of Tyrone’s greatest son William Carleton, that well-known man whom William Butler Yeates described his as “the best author that ever looked through Irish eyes”. William Carleton, writer and storyteller, was […]
Great American Families – The McKennas
The morning sun projects the shadow of the twin spires of one of the world’s most beautiful churches over a tiny and very ancient cemetery near the base of Holy Hill, Washington county, Wisconsin. Here in eternal rest, are the remains of Francis and Mary Carey McKenna, progenitors of a great American family. On […]
New Zealand McKenna, VC
In a locked glass cabinet, in the Military Hall on the top floor of the Auckland Museum, are displayed the medals and emblems which commemorate the exploits of`a courageous man; The Victoria Cross … the highest decoration awarded for valour while on active service” – and The New Zealand War Medal. The citation reads: “Edward […]
Shane Leslie Memories of ‘McKenna Country’
During the mid-1970s I used to correspond with a lovely old lady named Mrs.Mary Hamill from Belfast. She was a retired nurse and had originally lived for a period in Emyvale. She had also corresponded with Sir Shane Leslie of Glaslough, who recorded so much of the history of ‘McKenna Country’ in his many brilliant […]
MacKennas in Spain, Chile and Peru
Of all the provinces of Spain’s American empire, the richest and most influential was the viceroyalty of Peru. Pizarro had designated its capital, Lima, as ‘The City of Kings’; and it remained the focus of the entrenched power of peninsulares from the mother country. After the porteiios of Buenos Aires had set up their […]
Professor Hugh McKenna
Monaghan man, Professor Hugh McKenna, Dean of the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences at the University of Ulster, has been appointed an International Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, an accolade that has been accorded to just two other academics in Europe and only sixteen across the world. Professor McKenna’s other distinctions include […]
Frank McKenna – Canada’s Ambassador to USA
The North Monaghan ancestry of Canada’s newly appointed Ambassador to the United States, Frank McKenna, has been borne as a proud badge of identity throughout the course of a meteoric career in political and public life by a man now taking up one of his country’s key international posts. The news of Mr McKenna’s appointment […]