What's Sherlock Holmes doing in New York's most Fenian pub?

That's the intrigue at the heart of Terror From America: A Sherlock Holmes
Adventure, the debut novel from journalist and historian Terry Golway, and the
question Irish Stew podcast cohosts Martin Nutty and John Lee set out to answer
before a packed, raucous house at Ernie O'Malley's on the first of June.

A Staten Island native with a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Rutgers and two decades
of political reporting at the New York Observer, Golway has written more than a
dozen acclaimed works of nonfiction. But fiction, he tells us, unlocks something
facts alone cannot: "You can learn as much about history through a novel as you
can in a history book."

His novel imagines Britain dispatching the world's greatest detective to infiltrate
the Irish American revolutionary underground of 1885 New York, a mission
rooted in a real and largely forgotten chapter of history. "The original crime is
based on something that actually happened," Golway explains. "Several Irish
Americans were going to try to blow up London Bridge…instead they blew
themselves up."

Holmes's investigation pulls him into the orbit of real historical figures, none
more compelling than John Devoy. In a dramatic reading brought brilliantly to
life by actor Mick Mellamphy, Devoy records in his diary what Charles Parnell
had told him when they met: "The American people are now the arbiters of the
Irish question,” to which Devoy replied, "I almost had tears in my eyes when I
heard those words. That was exactly what we in New York wished to be, the
arbiters of the Irish question."

And what does Holmes make of the Fenians he encounters? After infiltrating New
York’s Irish revolutionary underground as an itinerant fiddler at Clan na Gael
gatherings, Sherlock observed, "The Fenians who inhabit the back rooms of New
York's clubhouses and taverns bear little resemblance to the crude caricatures
portrayed in some less reputable newspapers. Formidable not because of their
capacity for mayhem, but because of the power they yield over the production of
memories."

Fiddler Eileen McLain provided the evening’s musical accents while Mick
Mellamphy served as producer. Past Irish Stew guests Peter Quinn, Larry Kirwan,
and Maura Clare were in the house as were Black 47 co-founder Chris Byrne and
Irish American Writers & Artists president Liza Engesser.

LINKS

TERRY GOLWAY

• Website
• Substack: Observer
• LinkedIn
• Book: Terror From America
• Amazon: Terror From America

ERNIE O'MALLEY'S

• Website

IRISH STEW LINKS

• Website Home Page
• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Media Partner: IrishCentral

Episode Details: Season 8, Episode 19; Total Episode Count: 160

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