Goody Ann Glover: The Boston Witch Trial of 1688

A melodramatic depiction of a witch trial
A lithograph by Joseph Baker from 1892
From Wikimedia Commons

By Adrian McGrath

(Note: Much about the story of Goody Glover is apocryphal. Much is believed as fact but without clear supportive evidence. Nevertheless, what follows is the basic story as best we know. I take the position it was an injustice based on religious and ethnic prejudice.  Others may disagree.)

This is a story about ignorance. This is a story about fear. This is a story about stupidity. This is a story about intolerance and even hate. And above all, this is a story about injustice. This is a story about all of those terrible things because this is a story about a simple Irish Catholic washerwoman named Goody (Goodwife) Ann Glover who was wrongly put on trial and executed in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1688 for being a witch.

This is a story about how prejudice, fear, and stupidity can result in paranoid fanaticism and mindless killing. The story is a warning to us all of the inherent dangers of ignorance and bigotry. In this case the bigotry was directed against an innocent woman who happened to be Irish Catholic.

The term “Goodwife” was a word used in those days to mean a woman of moderate social status such as a housekeeper or nanny who took care of children. "Goody" was a shorter version of that term. Ann is referred to in both ways in research material. We are not sure, also, if Ann’s last name was really Glover since indentured servants and slaves, like Ann, were often called by their master’s last name then. (Note: Some historians argue that "slave" is an inappropriate term for how the Irish were treated at that time. Others disagree. Some argue "indentured servant" is the better term. The latter had more rights than the former. Readers can decide for themselves.)

Goodwife or Goody Ann Glover, an insignificant and poor peasant girl, was born in Ireland in the early 1600s (we don’t know the exact day or year); and her life was ruined by the Lord Protector of England, Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell ruined Ann’s life when he invaded Ireland in 1649 and went on a fanatical rage killing many Irish Catholics and destroying their civilization and sending the rest into virtual slavery or indentured servitude. This was a form of “ethnic cleansing,” sending many Irish to the British-held Barbados, an island in the Caribbean Sea rich with various spices and crops where Irish prisoners worked as forced labor. (Sometimes it was called "Barbados" in those days and other times "the Bardados". See Crowmwell.)

Ann and her husband were unfortunate enough to be among the Irish Catholics selected by Cromwell’s military to be sent by force to Barbados, never to see their relatives and friends and Ireland again. Ann’s husband was reportedly killed when he refused to abandon his Catholic beliefs. But little is known about Ann’s life while she was in the Barbados. What is known is that she and her daughter eventually arrived in Boston in the 1680s where Ann become a Goodwife or house servant who also minded children.

Ann worked for John Goodwin; and among her other duties, she cleaned the laundry. The story becomes muddled at this point. One version is that Ann became ill one day, and the children likewise became ill. The other version is that Goodwin’s children accused Ann (probably falsely) of stealing laundry which caused Ann to argue with the children who in turn became upset and ill. Whatever the case, the children fell sick and began to act in odd ways. A doctor was called who could not determine any cause or cure for the illness, whereupon the doctor -- in his learned wisdom -- concluded the problem must be the result of witchcraft.

Everyone blamed Ann, accused her of being a witch; and she was arrested. Having lived in Gaelic speaking Ireland in her youth, naturally Ann spoke primarily Irish Gaelic. She apparently knew some English, but Irish Gaelic was her main language. She could understand many English words, but she had great difficulty in speaking English words. So, being nervous and upset after being accused of such a horrible crime as witchcraft, she did most of her talking in Irish Gaelic. The legal authorities, confused by what she said to them, concluded that the alien language she spoke was the language of Satan.

A trial was held and presided over by a famous (or infamous) “religious” leader of the day named Reverend Cotton Mather, a graduate of Harvard and ostensibly a learned scholar, but nevertheless an incredibly bigoted and ignorant man -- despite his so-called education.

Reverend Cotton Mather
From Wikimedia Commons

Mather wanted to hear Ann recite the Lord’s Prayer. It was believed that a witch could not properly speak the holy words of the Lord’s Prayer, being possessed by the Devil. Cotton Mather eventually realized that she spoke almost exclusively Irish Gaelic, and sensibly a translator was summoned. This appeared to help procedural legal matters until Mather directly ordered Ann to say the Lord’s Prayer. Ann recited the prayer, but she spoke it in a mixture of Irish Gaelic, her native tongue, and broken Latin, which she no doubt learned from her Catholic faith.

The Reverend Cotton Mather eventually concluded that she must really be guilty because she was incapable of speaking the Lord’s Prayer properly in the King's English or even in proper Latin as all good people certainly could -- despite the fact that he knew her native language was Irish.

Seeking further evidence, the legal authorities searched Ann’s house and found what the court concluded were small dolls or figurines. Most likely these were homemade statues of Catholic saints. The Court concluded the dolls were “idols” and works of the Devil used for sorcery.

In addition to this “evidence” the Court also believed witnesses who testified that they saw “spectral evidence” against Ann. This idiotic form of evidence was testimony from a “witness” who claimed to have seen or even dreamt that the accused appeared to the witness as a spirit or a witch’s “familiar” such as a black cat. Incredibly, the court accepted this nonsense as persuasive evidence.

On top of this Cotton Mather somehow came to believe that Ann had engaged in sexual relations with the Devil. How he concluded such an absurdity is, of course, beyond any rational explanation.

A depiction of a witch trial
An engraving from 1876
From Wikimedia Commons

All of these matters show the extreme insanity of witch hunts and witch trials in those terrible days. But the trial of Ann Goody Glover shows us something else even more deplorable. It reveals the blatant prejudice that existed at that time based on ethnicity (being Irish) and religion (being Catholic). This was different from the clownish though deadly circus of the typical witch trial; this was a deliberate persecution and injustice committed against an innocent defendant because that person was Irish and Catholic. Being Irish and Catholic in Puritanical Boston was literally enough to get you killed.

(Note: Some may disagree with this analysis, but the evidence is there was systemic prejudice in Puritan New England against Irish Catholics.)

Now armed with what the court felt was sufficient evidence of witchcraft, it was decided that Ann Glover must die.

Ann Goody Glover was hanged to death on November 16, 1688. A crowd appeared at her hanging which was probably composed mainly of Puritans as that was the majority population of the time. Some denounced her as a witch and “Papist,” and at least one person observed that Ann’s cat was nearby, which some believed was further evidence of the Devil and witchcraft. Cats were seen as the Devil’s familiar or spirit.

The hanging of Ann was, of course, simply murder. The “trial” was a circus and a farce. It would have been comical had it not been so horrendous in its result. The trial and execution of Ann shows us the disgraceful state of education, medicine, organized religion, law, and society of that day. Ann died because she was Irish, Catholic, and -- lest we forget -- a woman, since the vast majority of innocent victims of witch hunts in those days were women, although some men and even children were also falsely accused.

Cotton Mather went on to be heavily involved in the equally atrocious Salem Witch Trials in 1692, probably the most infamous of all the witch trials in early America. These trials were directly influenced by the cruel and farcical trial of Ann Glover.

There are some people today who consider Ann to be a Catholic martyr who died for her faith. And there is strong evidence -- real evidence -- to support this claim. She never renounced her Catholicism despite great pressure to do so.

To its credit, the modern-day city of Boston in 1988, 300 years after Ann’s execution, made November 16 Goody Glover Day in her honor -- recognizing her innocence and the injustice done to her based on prejudice.

We can never undo the horrible injustice done to Ann, but by telling her story we can honor her memory and perhaps try to build a world were systemic prejudice and fanaticism are abolished and justice prevails.

Note: This article is dedicated to the late Professor Frederick Swaim of the Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans who taught me law ... and other things. He was my teacher, brother-in-law, and friend.

Sources and further reading:

“Was the Last Witch of Boston Actually a Catholic Martyr?” by Mary Rezac, article from CNA Catholic News Agency https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/was-the-last-witch-of-boston-actually-a-catholic-martyr-27747; Irish Boston History and Heritage website. “Goody Glover Day in Boston Pays Homage” at https://irishboston.blogspot.com/2012/11/goody-glover-day-in-boston-pays-homage.html;  Wikipedia article on Salem Witch Trials at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials; Wikipedia article on Ann Glover at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Glover; Photos are all from Wikimedia Commons and in public domain. Cotton Mather https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cotton_Mather.jpg; Witch Trial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Salem_witch2.jpg; Witch trial engraving https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Witchcraft_at_Salem_Village.jpg

The Fighting Sullivan Brothers: American Heroes

The Sullivan Brothers on the USS Juneau, 1942
L to R, Joseph, Francis, Albert, Madison, George
Photo from US Naval Historical
Center and Wikimedia Commons

By Adrian McGrath

On December 7, 1941 Japanese naval aircraft suddenly attacked the United States Pacific fleet and American military installations at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. The next day President Franklin D. Roosevelt went before the US Congress and asked for a declaration of war against the Empire of Japan. Immediately following this “day of infamy” -- when America was thrust into World War II and nearly 3,000 Americans, including civilians, were killed -- all across the USA citizens volunteered to defend their country.

In Waterloo, Iowa shortly after Pearl Harbor, five brothers enlisted together in the US Navy. They were Irish Catholic Americans whose last name was Sullivan. (The name “Sullivan” comes from the Irish Gaelic word “Suileabhain.”)  The brothers were George, Francis, Joseph, Madison, and Albert … Sullivan ...The Fighting Sullivans. Their mother, Alleta, and their father, Tom (whose grandfather was from Ireland), and their sister, Genevieve, were naturally apprehensive but still proud of the five brothers for wanting to serve their country. Their family personally knew at least one of the sailors who was killed on the USS Arizona during the Pearl Harbor attack. The brothers wanted to serve together, and they got their wish. They were assigned to a light cruiser called the USS Juneau.

The Japanese had not only attacked Pearl Harbor but had also overrun most of the Western Pacific Ocean and its islands and much of east Asia including the much of China, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia today), the Philippines (where they defeated an American and Philippine army), and threatened Australia and India. The Japanese war machine was on the march, and it appeared that nothing could stop it. To make matters far worse, the victorious Japanese were in alliance with Nazi Germany which was in the process of conquering most of Europe and North Africa. Adolf Hitler declared war on America only a few days after the Pearl Harbor attack.

The Japanese planned to take Midway Island next as a prelude to a possible invasion of Hawaii itself, but their naval forces were defeated at the Battle of Midway. Their next plan was to stop the American supply route by sea to Australia by using an important airfield on the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands north of Australia. Japanese airplanes from that base could attack American ships going to Australia and the South Pacific.

The USS Juneau (CL-52), the light cruiser where
 the five Sullivan brothers served together
and died together
Photo from US Navy and Wikimedia Commons

In response, the US Marines were sent in to take the airfield at Guadalcanal. In August 1942 the Marines landed, took the airfield, and established a base. But immediately the Japanese counterattacked with naval, air, and land forces. This six month long struggle for possession of Guadalcanal became the turning point of the war against Japan, along with the American naval victory at Midway.

The key naval battle which ended Japan’s hopes of retaking the island was called the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal which occurred in November of 1942. During this battle which had different parts over several days, fierce fighting occurred between surface ships firing their guns typically at night.

During the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on November 13, 1942, the USS Juneau, with The Sullivans onboard, was hit by a torpedo. The American ship was damaged, but did not sink. It sailed away damaged trying to make the US base at Espiritu Santo, an island to the east, along with several other US ships which had reinforced the Marines on Guadalcanal. But en route it was attacked again and hit near its ammunition magazine by a torpedo from a submarine. This time the Juneau exploded and sunk. Many men died instantly from the attack; but some survivors, around 100, were left in the water. For a number of reasons, a search was not made for several days.

A PBY Catalina flying boat reached what was left of the 650 crew members -- only 10 survivors -- eight days after the USS Juneau sunk. The survivors told a tale of horror as the men in the water died of thirst, injuries, delirium, various illnesses from exposure … and shark attack.

Then the news of the five brothers came. Francis, Joseph, and Madison were killed in the torpedo attack. Albert drowned in the ocean the day after the attack. George stayed alive somehow for about four days. He was on a raft, it was said. It is unclear exactly how he died. Some say it was the result of exposure to the perils of the sea, but others say the horror of the attack plus the knowledge of the loss of his brothers brought about his death. He simply disappeared in the water.

The Americans won the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and stopped the Japanese advance in the Pacific. This victory led eventually to a long campaign westward which resulted in total victory over Japan. The attack at Pearl Harbor was avenged. But it came at a terrible cost. Like the thousands upon thousands of parents and loved ones who had to be told of the loss of a son or loved one, Aletta and Tom Sullivan received the dreadful news as well. For them, however, it was not a son who died -- it was all five of their sons who died … and they died together.

President Franklin Roosevelt sent the grief-stricken parents a personal letter of condolence. The pope, Pius XII, sent the parents a religious medal, a rosary, and personal letter. The Fighting Sullivan Brothers were now national heroes, but the terrible tragedy was beyond description.

Tom and Aletta, despite their grief, helped the US Navy and the USA in war bonds drives. Genevieve served in the US Navy in the women’s corps called the WAVES.

Emblem of the USS The Sullivans, DD537
Photo from US military and Wikimedia Commons

In honor of the brothers, the US Navy named two ships after the Sullivans -- The Sullivans (DD-537) and later on The Sullivans (DDG-68). (The first ship -- DD-537 -- had an Irish shamrock design on its forward smokestack in honor of the Irish heritage of the family.) There is also a museum named after them -- Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum. A popular film was made about them as well called “The FIghting Sullivans.”

The Sullivans, DD-537, a US destroyer
named for the five Sullivan brothers
Photo from US Navy and Wikimedia Commons

The Sullivan brothers were descendants of Ireland; but they gave everything they had, including their lives, defending the United States of America. They were American heroes.

Sources and further reading:

The American Heritage Picture History of World War II by C.L. Sulzberger, American Heritage Publishing Co., 1966. Federation of American Scientists website’s article “Origin of Ship Names: The Sullivans” at https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/sullivans.htm ; The US Navy website articles “The Sullivan Brothers: Ships Named USS The Sullivans” at https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/disasters-and-phenomena/the-sullivan-brothers-and-the-assignment-of-family-members/ships-named-uss-the-sullivans.html and “The Sullivan Brothers: The Loss of The Juneau, (CL-52)” at https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/disasters-and-phenomena/the-sullivan-brothers-and-the-assignment-of-family-members/the-loss-of-uss-juneau.html ; ArlingtonCemetery.net whose article on the Sullvans is at http://arlingtoncemetery.net/sullivan-brothers.htm ; and the Wikipedia article on the Sullivans Brothers at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sullivan_brothers; and Wikipedia article on the USS Juneau at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Juneau_(CL-52) .

Photo of the Sullivan Brothers in public domain from Wikipedia and US Naval Historical Center at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sullivanbrothers.jpg; Photo of USS The Sullivans DD-537 from Wikipedia and the US Navy at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USS_The_Sullivans_(DD-537)_off_Ponape_1944.jpg; Photo of the USS Juneau in public domain from Wikimedia Commons and the US Navy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USS_Juneau_(CL-52)_off_New_York_City_on_1_June_1942_(19-N-31264).jpg

Lafcadio Hearn: How an Irishman Managed to Write the First New Orleans Creole Cookbook

Lafcadio Hearn, 1889
Photo Wikipedia

By Adrian McGrath

Some of the finest cuisine in America, if not in the world, comes from New Orleans. With its rich background steeped in French, Spanish, and African cooking (and later Sicilian and Italian dishes), blessed with superb local ingredients abounding with unusual vegetables and an abundance of seafood, meats, and superb sauces, the Creole food from the Crescent City (the local nickname for the city) is world famous. Dishes like Jambalaya, File’ or Okra Seafood Gumbo, Shrimp Creole, Crawfish Etouffee’, Cafe au Lait and Beignets, Stuffed Artichokes, Fried Eggplant, and Red Beans and Rice with Andouille Sausage are culinary marvels. Visitors come from all over the world just to taste these fantastic creations which go way back into the history of Old New Orleans.

So, it should come as no surprise that the very first Creole cookbook published in English (as opposed to French) would have been written by … an Irishman. What?!

Please say that again? We’d better double check that ...

Yes, the very first English language New Orleans Creole cookbook was published in 1885 and written by … an Irishman. How can that be? The Irish do show up in the strangest places, and this time it happened in Old New Orleans.

The man in question was named Lafcadio Hearn (a.k.a Patrick Lafcadio Hearn), who lived from 1850 to 1904. Although he was technically a subject of Great Britain, since Britain occupied Ireland at that time, he was of Irish and Greek descent. (Lafcadio is a Greek name, after the island called Lefkada in western Greece where Lefcadio Hearn was born; Hearn is an Irish name derived from the Gaelic name O’huidhrin.) He is claimed by the people of the many places where he lived. He is claimed by Greece, Ireland, Japan, Cincinnati, Ohio, and, of course, New Orleans, Louisiana where he lived for ten years.

Hearn was born in Greece to an Irish father who was stationed there as a British army medical doctor -- who was originally from from Offaly, Ireland -- and a Greek mother. With a career in the army, Hearn’s father moved to various places; and for a while Lafcadio lived in Dublin, Ireland. Although he had been Christened Greek Orthodox, he studied at a Roman Catholic school in France. He also was taught by the Jesuits; but he had anxiety and misgivings resulting from his Jesuit experience throughout his life, although he apparently received an excellent education from the Society of Jesus. He also studied at a Catholic seminary and began calling himself “Paddy” to sound more Irish.

Hearn had been left in the custody of his aunt, as his parents had been unable to care for him. When his aunt became impoverished, he lived with aunt’s former maid. Needless to say, this was a difficult time for Lafcadio; but he soon developed an interest in life which was literature and writing.

Lafcadio Hearn in Japanese clothes.
A world traveler, he would ultimately live in Japan.
Photo Wikimedia Commons

Hearn’s aunt’s financial advisor arranged for Lafcadio to travel to Cincinnati, Ohio to launch a career of some sort with the aid of the advisor’s sister who lived in Cincinnati. The sister and her family were of little help, however; and Lafcadio survived by his wits and with odd jobs. All the while he spent his free time visiting public libraries and reading books. Eventually, because of his writing skills he got a job with the Cincinnati Daily Enquirer newspaper. He worked there from 1872 to 1875 covering crime stories and also doing features about the poor and the downtrodden -- something he knew about first hand. He became popular with the reading public because of his highly descriptive and emotional style of writing. He did all this while dealing with his own serious physical problem of bad eyesight -- he was blind in one eye, and badly nearsighted in the other.

Hearn had a falling out with the Daily Enquirer and went to work instead with the Cincinnati Commercial newspaper. He had married and later divorced an African American woman, although inter-racial marriage was actually against the law at that time. He was rapidly becoming dissatisfied with life and with Cincinnati, and he wanted a drastic change. So, when he convinced the Commercial that he could write articles for them and travel too, he headed south to sultry, exotic New Orleans.

It is not clear if, or to what extent, the Commercial paid Hearn for his articles about New Orleans. Whatever the case, Hearn was, by all accounts and despite being at first very poor and hungry, finally happy with life during his stay in New Orleans where he seemed to fit in, in a city known for its unique nature -- where being odd was, and still is, normal. It was said that some of Hearn's happiest times were when he ate New Orleans dishes at a boarding house run by a woman named Mrs. Courtney, She was Irish and befriended Lafcadio and helped him out at times when he struggled with day-to-day life.

In 1878 Hearn was living in New Orleans and began writing for two local newspapers -- the Daily City Item and the Times Democrat. He prospered in New Orleans somewhat becoming a news editor and even making illustrations or cartoons from woodcuts for the newspapers. Because of his knowledge of foreign languages, he began translation work too, translating books from French and Spanish. Despite all of his journalistic work, he somehow managed to remain consistently poor and often hungry. His personal hunger led to an interest in food and then to recipes and cooking.

New Orleans, with its unique culture, gave him much to write about from the French Opera to Voodoo. Hearn also wrote for Harper’s Weekly and Scribner’s Magazine. The portrait he made of New Orleans was that of a mysterious, exotic, European or Caribbean city. (Later on in his career, he would write about the paranormal and ghost stories. We have to wonder how much New Orleans influenced him on this.)

Woodcut cartoon of a charcoal cart
drawn by Lafcadio Hearn for
New Orleans Daily Item, 1880
Photo from Wikipedia

Lafcadio Hearn wrote a book about New Orleans proverbs called Gumbo zHebes, and he continued to write about New Orleans in Harper’s Weekly. But in 1885, he did the impossible -- he wrote the first cookbook in English on New Orleans Creole cooking -- La Cuisine Creole.

The book was subtitled: “A collection of culinary recipes from leading chefs and noted Creole housewives, who have made New Orleans famous for its cuisine.” And that is exactly correct.

Using his literary fame and personal charm, he maneuvered his way into the homes of prominent ladies and gentlemen in the old Creole city of New Orleans. He got a free meal and plenty of material to write his cookbook, to boot.

Hearn’s book was bold for its time, but it is not really functional today as a cookbook as the cooking equipment has changed radically since those days. (There were no microwaves or even electric stoves back then, of course. Even pots and pans were different.)

Many of his recipes are very simply written. For example, for Jambalaya which he calls Jambalaya of Fowls and Rice he basically says to stew a chicken, add rice and ham, spices, and cook. (Nowadays, a Creole chef would almost certainly add the “Trinity” of diced onion, bell pepper, and celery, and probably Andouille sausage or shrimp plus tomatoes.)

Hearn sometimes added comments to his recipes, saying, for example with Jambalaya, that Southern children like the dish and it is “very wholesome as well as palatable.” He added that Jambalaya can be made of many different things. Indeed, he was right. Many Creole recipes still do change from chef to chef and home cook to home cook. Nothing is written in stone.

Although it may have its limitations in modern times, Hearn’s La Cuisine Creole was a marvel. It allowed for the English-speaking world to begin the great adventure of making real New Orleans Creole Cuisine at home.

Hearn did not remain in New Orleans, however, although he clearly loved the uniqueness of the Crescent City. He developed an interest in the Far East and Asian philosophy and wanted to travel again. (Reportedly, his interest in Japan was awakened when he saw the Japanese exhibit at the Cotton Exposition in New Orleans.) Lafcadio's interest in religion, philosophy, and spiritualism led him to an interest in Buddhism which in turn led him to Japan. He went to Japan as a journalist, but he stayed and made it his home. He married a Japanese woman, who was the daughter of a samurai, and adopted a Japanese name -- Koizumi Yakumo.

Hearn became wildly popular as a writer in Japan and even taught school for awhile. He also officially changed his religion to Buddhism. (So, he went through several religions in his lifetime -- Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Japanese Buddhism. For a while he also followed the philosophy of Herbert Spencer who believed in Darwinian evolution. Hearn was apparently always seeking "the answer.") Hearn then became a naturalized Japanese citizen.

Lafcadio and his wife
in Japan
Photo Wikipedia

Hearn continued to write for newspapers and to teach literature at Middle schools in Japan and eventually at Tokyo Imperial University and Waseda University.

Lafcadio was largely responsible for bringing some of the first descriptive images of exotic and then-isolated Japan to the Western world -- just like he brought images of exotic but not so isolated New Orleans to the rest of America. Sadly, in 1904 Hearn died from heart disease. He was only 54 years old.

Lafcadio Hearn’s grave is in Tokyo; yet he is remembered in Greece, Ireland, Japan, Cincinnati, and New Orleans. Today there is a memorial to Lafcadio in Matsue, Japan, the Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum. There is also a museum to Hearn on Lefkada in Greece called the Lafcadio Hearn History Center. Hearn's former house in New Orleans (at 1565 Cleveland Avenue and corner of Robertson Street) is listed with the National Register of Historic Places. Tulane University in New Orleans has a special section in its Louisiana Research Collection called the "Lafcadio Hearn Collection" with material about Hearn and his works.

In recent years Hearn was remembered in Tramore, Munster, Ireland. He spent many happy days during his summertimes in Tramore, Ireland when he was a child, while in the care of his aunt, Sarah Brenane. In 2015 a visiting delegation from Japan, where Hearn is popular to this day, presented the public officials in Tramore a bronze bust depicting Lafcadio Hearn. This was meant to honor Lafcadio and his works. It also displayed the connection between Ireland and Japan, which Hearn established through his life and works.

Today there is a memorial to Lafcadio Hearn in Ireland called the Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens. It serves as a permanent reminder of the ties between Ireland and Japan which Hearn helped to create. So, Lafcadio lives on all around the globe.

He was never an American citizen (so not really an Irish American); but for ten years, he lived as a New Orleanian and wrote its first English language Creole cookbook. Given the supreme importance of food in New Orleans culture, Lafcadio Hearn could easily be called an Irish New Orleanian.

Sources and Further Reading:

Wikipedia’s article on Lafcadio Hearn at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafcadio_Hearn; my earlier article on him at Old NOLA Journal at http://oldnolajournal.blogspot.com/2009/12/la-cuisine-creole-first-creole-cookbook.html; La Cuisine Creole by Lafcadio Hearn, Pelican Publishing House, New Orleans, 1967, with an Introduction by Hodding Carter. Photo of Lafcadio Hearn in pubic domain at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lafcadio_Hearn_portrait.jpg; Hearn and Japanese wife photo in public domain at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lafcadio_Hearn.jpg; Hearn ; photo of New Orleans woodcut cartoon of Hearn's at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Char_-_Coal_1880-08-25.jpg in public domain. Story about the bronze bust of Hearn in Tramore, Ireland at http://www.munster-express.ie/opinion/honouring-hearn-in-tramore/; photo hearb in Japanese dress at Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lafcadio_Hearn_in_Japanese_dress.jpg

Note: Read more about Lafcadio Hearn at Mitchellpublications.com at https://www.mitchellspublications.com/guides/la/no/bio/hearnl/index.htm

Irish Potato Soup

A pot and a bowl of homemade

Irish Potato Soup

Photo by Adrian McGrath

By Adrian McGrath

The potato came to Ireland in the late 1500s after it first arrived in Europe by way of Spain. Conquistadors brought the starchy vegetable back from the Andes Mountain region of South America where it originated. Eventually, the British experimented with it in Ireland (which was then occupied and governed by Britain) as an inexpensive food for Irish peasants. It was a highly nutritious crop and fairly easy to grow and maintain. It grew underground and was less susceptible to damage from most natural causes, as were wheat fields, for example, and man-made causes like wars and rebellions -- which occasionally occurred in troublesome Ireland.

A bowl of homemade
Irish Potato Soup

The potato has many vitamins and minerals; and when it was mixed with a dairy food like milk or cream or buttermilk -- which had the needed vitamins the potato lacked --  it provided a rather balanced meal. As a result, potatoes and buttermilk became the main food source for the vast majority of Irish peasants who worked on small farms throughout Ireland -- often owned by absentee English landlords.

From the early 1600s until 1845, it is safe to say, generally speaking, that the Irish lived on potatoes. In 1845 a fungus caused the potatoes in Ireland to blacken and rot and become inedible. The vast majority of Irish, who were dependent on this crop, mainly because of a long history of British oppression in Ireland, lost not only their food source but also their revenue source since they could not sell the diseased potatoes. Although there was an abundance of other food in Ireland, it was completely controlled by the British. Left with no livelihood and no food, under a British occupation, one million Irish people starved to death in Ireland and about another one million sailed away in disease-filled and often unseaworthy vessels called “coffin ships.” Most of the emigrants came to the United States.

By 1850 the worst of the “Potato Famine” or Great Hunger was over in Ireland. Eventually, the potato returned as a valuable food source for the Irish. As a result of this long, though often tragic, history, the potato is typically associated with the Irish.

So, when we eat a hot and nutritious bowl of Irish Potato Soup on a cold winter’s night, we should think about not only what a great, healthy, easy-to-make, inexpensive, and tasty dish it is, we should also think about the millions of Irish people in the past who endured great tragedies because of the destruction of the potato and bigoted indifference to human suffering.

Below is a description of a very simple and rustic Irish Potato Soup I made. As usual, I do not give a specific recipe for an Irish dish but just list the main ingredients and let the reader concoct his or her own version. If you look at cookbooks or scan the internet, you can find many different ways to make Irish Potato Soup. All are probably fine; there is no one “right” way.

Ingredients for Irish Potato Soup
Potatoes, yellow onion, milk, S&P,
parsley. And water, butter or oil (not shown).
Photo by Adrian McGrath

The Irish Food Board called Bord Bia gives its recipe for a fancy “Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup with Ham” here. And here is a potato-based soup called “St. Patrick’s Day Soup.”

Clearly the tradition of potatoes in Ireland has continued and expanded. Another Irish site is totally devoted to the potato, see potato.ie

It is significant to note that the potato is not just important in Ireland and in America, but it is the fourth largest food source cultivated in the world today behind corn, wheat, and rice.

For my simple “Irish Potato Soup,” I will use the following: Irish potatoes (baking potatoes), yellow onion, cooking oil or butter, milk, salt and pepper, dried parsley.  

To make it, simply chop and saute the onion in the oil, add the chopped, unpeeled potatoes, add a little water to steam the potatoes, cover and cook on top the stove. Add salt and pepper, and then add the milk. Do not boil the milk, just heat it on low until the potatoes are soft and mixed. Garnish with the parsley. The unpeeled potatoes give the soup a rustic look and add substance. (As with all food ideas and recipes, always consult your own medical adviser if you have any health questions.)

That is it. You have a delicious and filling meal that reaches back into Irish and Irish American history.

Sources and Further Reading:

https://www.potato.ie/ ; Bord Bia recipe for St.Patrick's Day Soup here; Delish.com article called "The Almighty Potato: A History and Recipes by Lauren Haslett here ; Wikipedia article on Potato here