Donegal in Pennsylvania: chain emigration and the American Civil War pension files

In the great state of Pennsylvania there is a town and three other townships all called Donegal. While there seems little obvious evidence as to how the areas got the name, Damian Shiels’ amazingly detailed study below shows the great influence the Irish immigrants from Donegal had on the area.

Source: Damian Shiels is an archaeologist and historian who runs the IrishAmericanCivilWar.com website, where this article first appeared. His book ‘The Irish in the American Civil War’ was published by The History Press in 2013 and is available here.

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The thousands of American Civil War pension files relating to Irishmen represent one of the greatest available resources for uncovering the social history of the 19th century emigrant experience. It is a resource that is almost completely unrecognized in Ireland, a scholarly neglect that is symptomatic of the lack of awareness of the scale of Irish involvement in the American Civil War. I have come across few files that are more illustrative of this than the papers relating to Private Charles O’Donnell of the United States Marine Corps. His death during the American Civil War created a documentary record that allows us to explore not only his life, but also the connections between Donegal families from the parish of Donaghmore and Philadelphia’s textile industry.

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The Plough & The Stars
October 13 – 16, 2016  ·  Zellerbach Theatre
Direct from Ireland in October 2016 – Limited U.S. tour!

Dublin, Ireland, 1915. Revolution is imminent as violence sweeps through the streets. Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the historic Easter Rising and the birth of the Irish Republic, The Plough and the Stars tells the story of ordinary lives ripped apart by the idealism of the time. Olivier Award-winning director Sean Holmes brings a new and challenging perspective to Sean O’Casey’s provocative play.

Supported by Ireland2016, Culture Ireland and Villanova University.