Cian T. McMahon, PhD
@ciantmcmahon.bsky.social
Historian of Ireland and the Irish, at home and abroad. Currently working on a global history of Saint Patrick's Day.
*The Routledge History of Irish America* (2024)
*The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea during the Great Irish Famine* (2021)
*The Routledge History of Irish America* (2024)
*The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea during the Great Irish Famine* (2021)
Henderson, Nevada, 12:24pm
November 16, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Henderson, Nevada, 12:24pm
I am looking forward to digging into this one soon… debut novel by trained historian and worldly raconteur @mylesdungan.bsky.social
Congrats, Myles!!
Congrats, Myles!!
October 7, 2025 at 12:34 AM
I am looking forward to digging into this one soon… debut novel by trained historian and worldly raconteur @mylesdungan.bsky.social
Congrats, Myles!!
Congrats, Myles!!
Henderson, Nevada, 5:16pm
October 6, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Henderson, Nevada, 5:16pm
Manhattan, New York, 6:18pm
September 18, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Manhattan, New York, 6:18pm
@costelkh.bsky.social and I were delighted to see our @routledgehistory.bsky.social @routledgebooks.bsky.social History of Irish America warmly reviewed by Bill Mulligan in the latest issue of the Irish Literary Supplement!
August 5, 2025 at 8:45 PM
@costelkh.bsky.social and I were delighted to see our @routledgehistory.bsky.social @routledgebooks.bsky.social History of Irish America warmly reviewed by Bill Mulligan in the latest issue of the Irish Literary Supplement!
Montreux, Lake Geneva, 11:54am
June 27, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Montreux, Lake Geneva, 11:54am
Orlando, Florida, 7:51pm
June 7, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Orlando, Florida, 7:51pm
I was so excited to receive my copy of the *Rituals of Migration* vol that @kevinkenny.bsky.social @irpinaingiro.bsky.social co-edited. My chapter uses the diary of a C19th Presbyterian minister to understand how migrants used religious rituals to bring order and comfort to difficult sea voyages.
May 16, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I was so excited to receive my copy of the *Rituals of Migration* vol that @kevinkenny.bsky.social @irpinaingiro.bsky.social co-edited. My chapter uses the diary of a C19th Presbyterian minister to understand how migrants used religious rituals to bring order and comfort to difficult sea voyages.
Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, 12:22pm
May 11, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, 12:22pm
Henderson, Nevada, 6:41pm
May 9, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Henderson, Nevada, 6:41pm
Stowaways got creative when fleeing the Great Irish Famine. When Patrick Cain was defrauded of his passage fare, he found a unique place to hide on board the ship. Worth noting: when he got caught, Patrick took the man who had defrauded him to court... and won! (Galway Vindicator, 27 April 1850)
April 22, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Stowaways got creative when fleeing the Great Irish Famine. When Patrick Cain was defrauded of his passage fare, he found a unique place to hide on board the ship. Worth noting: when he got caught, Patrick took the man who had defrauded him to court... and won! (Galway Vindicator, 27 April 1850)
Local "pirates" were sometimes active during the Great Irish Famine. Here is a news report from the summer of 1847 (when starvation was at its worst) about a group of men who attempted to violently seize a cargo of cornmeal from a schooner off the coast of Mayo (*Limerick Reporter* August 27, 1847).
April 17, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Local "pirates" were sometimes active during the Great Irish Famine. Here is a news report from the summer of 1847 (when starvation was at its worst) about a group of men who attempted to violently seize a cargo of cornmeal from a schooner off the coast of Mayo (*Limerick Reporter* August 27, 1847).
After the failed 1848 rebellion, many Irish fled to America where they continued to pursue their careers. Some, like this watchmaker, shrewdly connected their skills and abilities to the nationalist proclivities of their customers. This ad was published in the New York *Nation* on January 27, 1849.
April 16, 2025 at 7:07 PM
After the failed 1848 rebellion, many Irish fled to America where they continued to pursue their careers. Some, like this watchmaker, shrewdly connected their skills and abilities to the nationalist proclivities of their customers. This ad was published in the New York *Nation* on January 27, 1849.
One of the best things about using newspapers as primary sources has to be the weird, random tidbits you stumble upon. Gotta love this “threatening notice” published in the Limerick Reporter on August 19, 1853. Do NOT mess with the Irish and their beloved cuppa tea!
April 15, 2025 at 8:49 PM
One of the best things about using newspapers as primary sources has to be the weird, random tidbits you stumble upon. Gotta love this “threatening notice” published in the Limerick Reporter on August 19, 1853. Do NOT mess with the Irish and their beloved cuppa tea!
Dissatisfied with the scholarly consensus at the time, which held that Irish immigrants “became white” when they moved overseas, I resolved to investigate the issue by using personal correspondence and immigrant newspapers to see what the Irish themselves said on the matter.
April 14, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Dissatisfied with the scholarly consensus at the time, which held that Irish immigrants “became white” when they moved overseas, I resolved to investigate the issue by using personal correspondence and immigrant newspapers to see what the Irish themselves said on the matter.
It is hard to believe that my first book was published 10 years ago yesterday.
April 14, 2025 at 8:39 PM
It is hard to believe that my first book was published 10 years ago yesterday.
Chicago, Illinois, 7:16pm
April 6, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Chicago, Illinois, 7:16pm
Winnipeg, Manitoba, 6:43pm
March 17, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Winnipeg, Manitoba, 6:43pm
Excited to see the newest addition to the @gihnyu.bsky.social Irish Diaspora series at #ACIS2025.
February 25, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Excited to see the newest addition to the @gihnyu.bsky.social Irish Diaspora series at #ACIS2025.
In the wake of the 1974 pub bombings, the Irish in Birmingham went “underground” by cancelling their annual SPD parade. But they still celebrated together. In 1982, the Furey Brothers and Davey Arthur played a concert in the city, featuring their new hit single (one of all my all-time faves).
January 14, 2025 at 8:31 PM
In the wake of the 1974 pub bombings, the Irish in Birmingham went “underground” by cancelling their annual SPD parade. But they still celebrated together. In 1982, the Furey Brothers and Davey Arthur played a concert in the city, featuring their new hit single (one of all my all-time faves).
Henderson, Nevada, 4:59pm
January 5, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Henderson, Nevada, 4:59pm
Las Vegas, Nevada, 4:44pm.
December 20, 2024 at 1:47 AM
Las Vegas, Nevada, 4:44pm.
Getting drunk on Saint Patrick's Day is a centuries-old Irish custom with roots in medieval "patterns" to holy sites. When Mary McEvoy was dragged into the Portlaoise District Court for being "drunk and disorderly" on March 17, 1924, she actually used the tradition in her own defence...
December 18, 2024 at 5:42 PM
Getting drunk on Saint Patrick's Day is a centuries-old Irish custom with roots in medieval "patterns" to holy sites. When Mary McEvoy was dragged into the Portlaoise District Court for being "drunk and disorderly" on March 17, 1924, she actually used the tradition in her own defence...
Such a treat to contribute to this fantastic volume, thanks to
@kevinkenny.bsky.social & @irpinaingiro.bsky.social for bringing us all together! The book offers important new angles on the migration process. My little chapter looks at "rules, rituals, & religion" on mid-C19th Irish emigrant ships.
@kevinkenny.bsky.social & @irpinaingiro.bsky.social for bringing us all together! The book offers important new angles on the migration process. My little chapter looks at "rules, rituals, & religion" on mid-C19th Irish emigrant ships.
December 17, 2024 at 6:06 PM
Such a treat to contribute to this fantastic volume, thanks to
@kevinkenny.bsky.social & @irpinaingiro.bsky.social for bringing us all together! The book offers important new angles on the migration process. My little chapter looks at "rules, rituals, & religion" on mid-C19th Irish emigrant ships.
@kevinkenny.bsky.social & @irpinaingiro.bsky.social for bringing us all together! The book offers important new angles on the migration process. My little chapter looks at "rules, rituals, & religion" on mid-C19th Irish emigrant ships.
Btw 1927 & 1961, Irish emigrants who returned home sometimes struggled to get their head around the idea that pubs were req'd by law to remain closed on Saint Patrick's Day. In Ballina, Co. Mayo in 1950, a man named Murray told the judge what he thought of the rule when he was caught breaking it...
December 17, 2024 at 1:59 AM
Btw 1927 & 1961, Irish emigrants who returned home sometimes struggled to get their head around the idea that pubs were req'd by law to remain closed on Saint Patrick's Day. In Ballina, Co. Mayo in 1950, a man named Murray told the judge what he thought of the rule when he was caught breaking it...