Damian Shiels
@irishacw
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Historian & Archaeologist. Engagement. Transatlantic Podcast: StoryMaps: Celtic 🍀 Wildlife 🐻
Jakobstad, Finland
Joined June 2010
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The Skuldelev 2 Viking longship on display in Roskilde, Denmark. Analysis found that it was built from trees felled near Dublin, Ireland in 1042. One off the bucket list!
#Archaeology
#Vikings
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A laneway near the base of Vinegar Hill, likely medieval in origin, that was used as part of the United Irishmen's outer defensive line on the day of the battle, 21 June 1798.
#Archaeology
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156 years ago, a young emigrant labourer from Louth- Michael Finnegan-died in this charge at Cold Harbor, VA. He and many of his Irish Legion comrades gave their lives there for the American Union. Today, his great-grandnephew became President of the United States.
#Inauguration
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Laneway and field boundaries at Vinegar Hill, Co. Wexford likely used as defensive features by United Irishmen in 1798. Field boundaries are the least recognised but perhaps most important element of rural Irish conflict landscapes through to the Irish Civil War.
#Archaeology
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This map shows every widow and dependent in the world outside the U.S. who was receiving a pension in 1883 because of a loved ones American military service and subsequent death. The great majority were Civil War fatalities. Image produced with Google Maps.
#Twitterstorians
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This is one of the very best images of Irish troops from the American Civil War. Surprisingly, it's not very well known, despite Thomas Francis Meagher's presence. Taken in the summer of 1861, it contains lots of fascinating details. A short🧵on some of them👇
#IrishDiaspora
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100 years ago today the most intensive day of fighting in the Battle for Cork was taking place around Rochestown. To mark the anniversary of the bloodiest engagement of Cork's revolutionary period, this🧵explores some of the archaeological traces left behind.
#BattleforCork100
/1
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It's Irish in the American Civil War's 11th Birthday. Over the years it has grown into one of the largest Irish history sites on the internet, with almost 700 articles, 80+ pages of resources and over 1 million words. For anyone interested in using it as a resource, a thread /1
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A map produced for the 1880 Federal Census showing the then densities of Irish-born people in the United States
#IrishDiaspora
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Just like in 1862 this year the Miller (Bloody) Cornfield is filled with corn, standing to a similar height. This video shows the northern fence of the field Irish Americans who fought here moved across as they entered the corn to advance on Confederate positions.
#IrishDiaspora
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One of the most impressive surviving 17th century earthen fortifications in Ireland, at Ticroghan, Co. Meath, which surrendered following a three-month siege in 1650. Image via Bing.
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Native Irish speakers in the 19th century United States. A New York 'Information Wanted' ad from 1863 provided in both Irish and English, seeking news of Michael Connellan, from Skreen, Co. Sligo. Evidence of the number of Irish speakers in New York.
#IrishDiaspora
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Fenian mugshot of Denis Burke, who commanded the 88th New York, Irish Brigade towards the end of the Civil War. Taken in Mountjoy following his return to Ireland with the intention of participating in a Fenian Rising. Surely the best mugshot expression ever...
#IrishDiaspora
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Density and proportion maps of the 1,871,500 Irish-born in the U.S. in 1890. At the time 1 in 4 Irish born people lived in America, and 40% of people born in Ireland lived abroad. The census data on which this map was based was largely destroyed by fire in 1921.
#IrishDiaspora
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Gurranes Stone Row in West Cork yesterday. A special site, and some view!
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I'm pleased to officially launch the Andersonville Irish Project on Irish in the American Civil War. We're seeking public help to ID Irish interred at Andersonville, the cemetery that likely contains most Irish casualties of the Civil War: RTs appreciated!
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The densities of Irish-born people in the United States, 1880. A map produced for the 1880 Federal Census.
#IrishDiaspora
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The archaeology of the War of Independence doesn't get much more emotive than this. A burnt timber in the window frame of the Doherty home, North Tipperary. The house has lain abandoned since it was burnt out in 1920 in reprisal for the deaths of four RIC in the Kilcommon Ambush.
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One of the many bullet holes on the O'Connell Monument, Dublin, likely related to the 1916 Rising (though some may date to 1922). One of the most important surviving battlefield features in Dublin, it should be subjected to a detailed laser survey. Some of the scarring 1/2
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Fantastic photos of thatched cottages in Rooskagh, West Limerick taken by Caoimhín Ó Danachair in 1940. Some of the Rooksagh lads used to come down to our school in the 80s. Photographs from the excellent
@duchas_ie
Photographic Collections:
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Perhaps the most impressive evidence of pre-20th century impact strikes in Ireland. Scars caused by Williamite artillery targeted against the St. John's Gate/Citadel portion of the Limerick defences during the 1690 and 1691 Sieges of Limerick.
#Archaeology
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Bullet holes in the O'Connell Monument, Dublin, likely related to the 1916 Rising (though some may have been caused by fighting in 1922). The bulge at right shows where a bullet penetrated but did not exit. One of the most important surviving battlefield features in Dublin.
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The view from inside 'Sing-Sing' prison, Knockraha,
#Cork
. Located in a graveyard crypt, this was the prison for Cork No. 1 Brigade of the IRA during the War of Independence. A number of men spent their last night alive here prior to execution.
#LandscapesofRevolution
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The remains of "Ginnett" Murphy's farm, a significant IRA Safe House in North Tipperary during the War of Independence. The Tipp No. 1 Brigade Flying Column planned the 1920 Kilcommon Ambush here. Part of today's Landscapes of Revolution archaeology fieldwork with
@AbartaGuides
.
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The international impact of the American Civil War. A global map showing all the widows and dependents of deceased U.S. servicemen receiving U.S. Government pensions in 1883. (Not depicted- one each in Brazil & Australia). Compiled for my Widows in the Atlantic World Project.
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Now it's official, delighted to say my next book, "The Union Irish: The Experience of Irish Americans in the United States Military, 1861-65" will be published by
@lsupress
. Hopefully hitting bookshelves around Spring 2025 😁 A big thanks to all who have helped along the road!
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I've finally completed a one-page index where you can access all 700+ referenced articles/resource pages on the website, covering topics relating to 19th century Irish social history. Hopefully it will be of use to educators/others, so feel free to share:
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Scene of one of the most famed photos of the Civil War, Confederate dead along the Hagerstown Pike. Thought to be men of Starke's Louisiana Brigade, some may well be Irish. They and Hay's Louisana Brigade had the largest Irish nos. due to New Orelans recruitment.
#IrishDiaspora
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The view this morning from the Observation Tower at the Sunken Lane, Antietam. The Irish Brigade attacked across this field towards Confederate positions in the Lane on 17th September 1862, taking horrendous casualties in the process.
#IrishDiaspora
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I have been wondering a lot recently what Louisa May Alcott would have made of Irish woman Saoirse Ronan playing the lead-role in Little Women. Hopefully she wins the Oscar to indelibly link her to it 😀. Louisa May Alcott Endorsed "No Irish Need Apply":
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Coins excavated from a mass grave of women, children & men at Carrickmines Castle, Co. Dublin. They had been killed following the castle's fall in March 1642. Most or all of the coins had likely been concealed on one of the victim's person, perhaps sewn into clothes.
#Archaeology
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Really delighted to pass my VIVA on "Recovering the Voices of the Union Irish" this afternoon- can't thank Prof
@dgleesonhistory
& Dr
@ein_haus
enough for all their help, & Professor Sheehan-Dean, Dr McConnel & Dr
@Linseyrobb
for making it such a pleasant (& painless) experience!
Congrats to my PhD student (2nd supervisor
@ein_haus
)
@irishacw
on passing his VIVA for 'Recovering the Voices of the Union Irish.' Well done Damian! Thanks to examiners Aaron Sheehan-Dean and James McConnel for excellent questions/suggestions and
@Linseyrobb
for chairing.
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In 1890, 1 out of every 4 people born in Ireland lived in the U.S. 2 out of every 5 Irish-born lived abroad. The 275,000 Irish-born in New York & Brooklyn exceeded the total populations of Dublin & Belfast (Kenny, New Directions in Irish-American History, 13-14)
#IrishDiaspora
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One of my favourite Irish-related images from the 19th century. Prominent 1798 leader Miles Byrne photographed in Paris in 1859, towards the end of his life. He left behind one of the most notable memoirs of the 1798 Rebellion, which you can read here:
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There aren't too many Irish in my bit of Finland on
#StPatricksDay
, but here's the story of one who has been here for a long time. His name is Nathaniel Morphy, from Killarney in Kerry. Since 1854 his resting place has been Kokkola, on the coast of Central Österbotten. A thread👇
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I am delighted to officially launch the Donegal in the American Civil War Map, the first of it's type in Ireland. On it you can explore almost 200 individual entries in an interactive format. Please feel free to share:
#ForgottenIrish
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The Irish and the start of the American Civil War-A Short Thread. The conflict began today in 1861, when Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Within the Fort's walls, there were more Irish-born than American-born soldiers. 1/9
#IrishDiaspora
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A remnant of what is believed to be Lord Deputy Mountjoy's 1601 siege camp at Kinsale, preserved in a modern field boundary. Work by my Kinsale Battlefield Project colleague Paul O'Keeffe suggests this immense camp was similar in size to the walled city of Derry.
#Archaeology
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The "Bloody Hollow" on the 1691 battlefield of Aughrim, Co. Galway, scene of intense fighting between Williamites and Jacobites during the engagement. Aughrim is undoubtedly one of the most impressive surviving battlefields in Ireland.
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"Vinegar Hill" inscribed on the approach to the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. The neighborhood is one of a number in the United States and worldwide named for the decisive 1798 Battle of Vinegar Hill in Co. Wexford.
#IrishDiaspora
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The final resting place in Antietam National Cemetery of the remains of Irish Brigade soldiers discovered on the battlefield in 1988. Among the possessions found with them were the remnants of crucifixes and rosary beads they had carried into battle.
#IrishDiaspora
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A number of Irish veterans of the American Civil War had previously served in the Papal Battalion in 1860. In 1903 some of them turned out in their old Papal uniforms for a pontifical mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, where they posed for this photograph.
#IrishDiaspora
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Impact scars around St. John's Gate Citadel in Limerick City, made by Williamite artillery during the 1690/1 sieges. A strong contender for the most impressive impact scarring on any masonry in Ireland.
#archaeology
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Finally made it to the "Bóithrín Tetrapod" on Valentia Island this evening to see 385 million year old Tetrapod trackway, the oldest known in situ evidence of a vertebrate walking on land in the world. One off the bucket list!
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From the Titanic to the trenches. Details of the military service of Dannie Buckley from Ballydesmond, Co. Cork. Dannie survived the sinking of the Titanic, only to be killed by a sniper in France serving with the 165th Infantry (69th New York NG) in October 1918.
#IrishDiaspora
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Many congratulations to
@JoeBiden
on his election. The culmination of a long immigrant story that included, among others, his great-granduncle Michael from Louth, id'd through the great work of
@megansmolenyak
, who gave his life in the Irish 164th New York at Cold Harbor in 1864.
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The Battle of Aughrim was fought today in 1691. The battlefield is one of the most important military archaeological landscapes in Ireland. For an idea of its huge potential, you can read my analysis of artefacts recovered there in 2005 here:
#archaeology
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American Pensioners in 19th Century Ireland. The post offices where 219 U.S military pensions were being collected in 1883. Some were being paid out for pre-Civil War and post Civil War service, but the vast majority relate to death and injuries between 1861-65.
#IrishDiaspora
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Density and proportion maps of the 1,871,500 Irish-born people living in the United States in 1890.
#IrishDiaspora
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An urgent appeal re Vinegar Hill. Planning permission is being sought for a major development that will have an irreversible and catastrophic impact on the 1798 battlefield site. Details here. Time is short, but anyone who can should seek to lodge objections this week. Please RT
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Unfortunately being severely damaged by erosion. Ireland desperately needs a dedicated heritage fund for rescue excavation and analysis at some of these threatened coastal sites.
Coastal promontory forts: the famous Dún an Óir, in Smerwick harbour, Co Kerry KE042-002003 bastioned fort. In 1580 a Spanish, Italian & Irish force of 700-800 fortified it, surrendered and were executed. Markus Casey 2003.
#aerialphotography
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It's worth noting on this anniversary of the Kilmichael Ambush that this site was irreparably damaged due to grant-funded landscaping works to "enhance" the location. One of the greatest missed opportunities of the Decade of Centenaries is that this is likely to occur again 1/9
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Three years ago we were in the midst of the licensed survey of Vinegar Hill (1798), the largest such survey ever undertaken on an Irish conflict site. Our results were amazing, and highlighted the importance of preventing illegal detection on these vulnerable sites.
#archaeology
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Of all my years working on the Irish in the Civil War this has been the most moving and emotional, as we unveiled this important memorial to the men who died at Andersonville and their families. Enormous thanks to
@IrelandAtlanta
,
@NI_Bureau
,
@dedalusdenaries
&
@DarraghOBrienTD
.
Historic moment today at
@andeNHS
, the deadliest site of the American Civil War, as
@DarraghOBrienTD
dedicated a plaque to the hundreds of Irish and Irish Americans who died there. There are more Irish interred there than at any other site from the American Civil War.
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The casket that carried Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa's body from New York to Ireland in 1915, on display in his home village of Reenascreena, Co. Cork.
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Machine-gun impact scars on the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, which members of the Citizen Army occupied having been forced from Stephen's Green during Easter Week, 1916. The fire came from positions on the Green's northern edge- note the concentrations around the window.
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In 11 years working on pension files from the American Civil War, I've just discovered the most direct account yet of Famine links to emigration, incorporating Famine relief & death in
#Clare
. The power of these files to reveal the 19th century working-class really is remarkable.
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Currently the earliest precisely locatable battlefield in the Republic of Ireland.
Co Wexford - Ramstown coastal promontory fort WX050-015001 also known as Baginbun, site of Anglo-Norman landings in 1170 and the defeat of a Hiberno-Norse force from Waterford. Multiple banks & interior hut site. Martello tower too. Markus Casey collection.
#aerialarchaeology
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The view from the main ambush positions occupied by Anti-Treaty forces at Béal na Bláth on 22 August 1922. Michael Collins and his National Army convoy drove down the road towards this position that evening.
#LandscapesofRevolution
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On this day in 1798 the Battle of Vinegar Hill was fought in
#Wexford
. The site is the focus of the largest and most successful battlefield archaeology survey yet undertaken in the Republic. This video outlines some of our discoveries there:
#Archaeology
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Today is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. USS Oklahoma, USS Nevada & USS Utah were all struck in the Japanese attack of 7 December 1941, with the loss of over 500 lives. All three had served in Ireland during
#WW1
– here are images of each of them in Bantry Bay, Co. Cork.
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The beautifully executed wolfhound from the base of the Irish Brigade memorial, Gettysburg battlefield. Dedicated in 1888, it was the work of sculptor William Rudolf O'Donovan, who had served against the Irishmen in the Confederate artillery ranks at Gettysburg.
#ForgottenIrish
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A map produced for the 1880 Federal Census showing the densities of Irish people in the United States.
#IrishDiaspora
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Getting very sick of plagiarism. For years I have been very free with my research online, but there seems an increasing problem when it comes to both appropriate acknowledgement and referencing. I have never understood the failure to appropriately acknowledge the work of others.
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Young Irelander James Huston of Coleraine, who fell at the head of the 82nd New York at Gettysburg, 158 years ago today. He had named his first son for his 1848 compatriot John Mitchel. Mitchel's son Willie died facing Huston, in Confederate uniform.
#Gettysburg158
#IrishDiaspora
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Chatting Battle of Kinsale tonight on TG4 for anyone interested, a sneak peek below...
Sa bhliain 1601, chuaigh taoisigh Uladh i ngleic le harm Shasana i gCath Chionn tSáile. Ach cén tionchar a bhí ag an aimsir air?
What affect did arctic weather conditions have on the outcome of the Battle of Kinsale.
DNA Caillte | Dé Céadaoin
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Density and proportion maps of the 1,871,500 Irish-born in the United States in 1890. Unfortunately, the original census data upon which these maps were based has largely been lost.
#IrishDiaspora
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A haunting site on the Antietam battlefield, fought on this day in 1862. The fallen horse of Irish Colonel Henry Strong of the 6th Louisiana Infantry, who both died in the fighting. The sight of the horse, fallen as if asleep, was remarked upon by some survivors.
#IrishDiaspora
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Area of some of the heaviest Irish losses at Antietam where disaster struck in the West Woods. As well as the ethnic Irish 69th PA & the Phila Brigade, off to their left were the heavily Irish 42nd New York, (including many Fenian men) who also suffered terribly.
#IrishDiaspora
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Officers of the heavily Fenian Irish 9th Massachusetts Infantry at Camp Cass, 1861.They had a particularly strong Munster contingent. Before long many of them (Including Colonel Cass) would become casualties in the heavy fighting on the Virginia Peninsula in 1862.
#ForgottenIrish
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The former Long's Pub at Béal na Bláth. Occupied by Anti-Treaty forces on 22 August 1922, they identified the National Army column of Michael Collins approaching from the direction of the camera, setting in train the sequence of events that led to the fatal ambush later that day.
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The Irish in the American Civil War blog has turned 9. I never imagined that one day it would contain over 600 articles/resources, & lead to a couple of books. Here's the post it began with, which still captures the essence of its purpose:
#ForgottenIrish
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For anyone seeking free online history content (for teaching/otherwise), 700+ articles/resources from 11 years of the Irish ACW website are now indexed. Arranged by topic, e.g. Documents/Letters, Women's History, Microhistory, African American History etc:
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2,624-year-old tree discovered in North Carolina swamp is one of the oldest on Earth
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Is it just me or have things been relatively quiet with respect to the 175th anniversary of The Great Famine? It seems particularly noticable given our "anniversary mania" these days. I have seen a couple of events mentioned, but nothing major- though maybe I have just missed it.
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The house in Torries, Arranmore Island,
#Donegal
, where Paddy Nojeen Gallagher died in 1920. A Civil War veteran of Stones River & Chickamauga, he was one of the few in his Illinois unit to survive imprisonment at Andersonville.
#ForgottenIrish
#IrishDiaspora
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Announcing a new partnership with My Adopted Soldier– 32 students from each of Ireland's counties will research a fallen American Civil War soldier from their area, tell their stories, and visit the grave/memorial on the battlefield where they fell:
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I never tire of this image, still one of my favourite spots on any Irish conflict site- filled with a sense of history. The Avenue of Longraigue House,
#Wexford
, which General John Moore and his men marched down on the morning of the Battle of Foulksmills in 1798.
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My relative Ned Shiels in National Army uniform during the Irish Civil War.
@inkdropart
did an incredible job digitally restoring the photograph. You can see the before and after here, the product of many hours work!
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The tricolour flying at half mast in Thomas Kent Memorial Park, Rostellan, Cork Harbour in memory of the local East Cork IRA Volunteers who lost their lives at Clonmult, 100 years ago today.
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The remains of the Market Gate in New Ross. During the 1798 battle this gate and Irishtown beyond was held by the Clare Militia, who successfully defended it against a number of United Irish attacks. It was one of the only areas in the town Government forces held through the day.
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Video of the Monument to the 15th Massachusetts, West Woods, Antietam this morning. They suffered more casualties than any other U.S. unit. Their names are a good example of Irish service- they are sprinkled with Irish emigrants due to their areas of recruitment.
#IrishDiaspora
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One of the many landscape elements of the Revolutionary-era we need to map from a heritage perspective are safe houses. This pub in Knockraha was one of the most important in East Cork. It was here survivior Jack O'Connell came after he escaped the Clonmult Ambush.
#Archaeology
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Ed Tipper jumped into Normandy as part "Easy" Company, 506 PIR, 101st Airborne–immortalised as the Band of Brothers. Ed's father was from Dublin, his mother from Co. Antrim. He spent part of his childhood in Toomebridge on the shores of Lough Neagh.
#DDay77
#IrishDiaspora
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This is utterly sickening. What motivated this? One of the most famous trees in all of the UK and a favourite symbol of on Hadrian's Wall gone forever: Iconic tree at 'Sycamore Gap' has been 'deliberately felled', authorities believe
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The hunt is on to find Red Hugh O'Donnell's remains in Valladolid. Exciting stuff.
Inician las excavaciones en Valladolid para hallar los restos del héroe irlandés Red Hugh O'Donnell via
@ABC_CastyLeon
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