I met a wonderful Professor of Psychology, Grant Corser in Dublin when he brought a group of his students on the 1916 Walking Tour. With his colleague Professor Gene, we hung around after and chatted. We briefly talked about a number of colleges I had visited in the US over the years and Grant said he’d like to look into getting me over to his university in Utah to give a talk.

I mentioned that I might be in Las Vegas in September so we worked around that date. Grant’s colleague, Professor Ryan Paul made contact and explained that they have a monthly speaker through their Eccles APEX Program and before long I found myself hiring a car for a road trip from Vegas to Utah.

Before I tell you about that, Professor Ryan is a historian and expert on Irish Literature too. He’s also a book collector, and loves his films and I knew when we had our first Zoom meeting to talk about coming to Utah, I’d found a new friend in the US. Read more

By Lily Collins

Lorcan Collins spent  a few months this year writing a book on Mike Quill, the founder of the Transport Workers Union of America. Mike was a Kerryman, and fought for Irish freedom as an IRA Volunteer during the Tan War and Civil War.
Mike emigrated to New York on 16 March 1926 and in 1934 he co-founded a union amongst subway workers and named it in honour of Jim Larkin and James Connolly’s Irish Transport and General Workers Union.

Mike Quill not only fought for Ireland but fought against the bosses in the transport sector and supported the civil rights movement too. He counted amongst his friends Dr. King, Paul Robeson and Bobby Kennedy. Read more