Chief O’Neill: Second Excerpt
Continuing the theme from the previous post: here is the next excerpt from my forthcoming novel, Chief O’Neill. This second excerpt has also already been published by the Celtic Junction Read More …
A Merry Christmas
Looking back on 2020 like Scrooge from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, there is much cause for gloomy reflection: a global pandemic wreaked (and is still wreaking) havoc all around the Read More …
Chief O’Neill: First Excerpt
I would like to start a new series on the Chief O’Neill blog. The next few posts will excerpt portions of the forthcoming book. Some of these excerpts have already Read More …
Sketchy Recollections of an Eventful Life in Chicago
The above image is of my personal copy of Chief O’Neill’s memoirs, collected and extensively annotated by his great-granddaughter Mary Lesch and Chicago historian Ellen Skerrett. I was fortunate enough Read More …
The Sherlock Holmes of Chicago
Francis O’Neill was a Chicago detective for many years before his appointment as police chief. His memoirs outline several interesting cases: how he helped upset confidence schemes and violent crimes Read More …
Francis O’Neill Irish Arts Week 2020
2020 has been a tough year in so many ways, and yet people are adapting like never before. Take for example, the Irish Music School of Chicago. For ten years Read More …
Two Years Before the Mast
Francis O’Neill is remembered for his huge contribution to Irish music while Chicago police chief at the turn of the last century. But not many know about his life at Read More …
The Kid On The Mountain
If you drive about ten minutes outside Bantry, you might come upon a solitary flute player in a quiet glen, surrounded by the foothills of the Kerry mountains. It’s Chief Read More …
Chief O’Neill: The Movie
This blog is delighted to announce the forthcoming movie adaptation of Chief O’Neill. Cork native John Crowley (Brooklyn, Intermission) is to direct. Cillian Murphy, also a native of County Cork, Read More …
Saint Patrick’s Day
What would Chief O’Neill have made of some of the more outrageous aspects of modern Saint Patrick’s day? I remember, as a teenager in the 1980s, visiting downtown Chicago to Read More …