George Galphin was a married man in his late 20s when he left Armagh for a new life on the American Frontier in 1737. Across the four decades that followed Galphin built an extraordinary personal empire on the frontiers of colonial South Carolina and Georgia. At the heart of his success were his connections with the indigenous Muscogee (Creek) people, amongst whom he lived. In this episode, Fin and Damian are joined by Dr Bryan C. Rindfleisch--an expert on Galphin's life--to discuss this fascinating Ulster Scot emigrant, the people that surrounded him, and the world he inhabited.

Bryan outlines for us what life was like on the frontiers of Empire in the 18th century American south-east, and how Galphin found success as the key-go between in the lucrative deerskin trade with Native American peoples. He traces Galphin's Irish origins and how his transatlantic ties influenced him, not least through his efforts to support increased Ulster emigration to the Frontier. We also delve into some of the intimate relationships that were central to Galphin's life, particularly with women such as Metawney, the powerful Muscogee woman who made his career possible, and the enslaved women he held in bondage and with whom he fathered children.

Book: Bryan C. Rindfleisch George Galphin's Intimate Empire: The Creek Indians, Family and Colonialism in Early America

Discover Ulster Scots: The Scotch Irish of Savannah

Website of The Muscogee Nation

National Park Service History of The Muscogee Nation

Silver Bluff Audubon Center and Sanctuary

Initial Archaeological Investigations at Silver Bluff Plantation

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The Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the defining organisations in modern Irish history. Founded in 1884, it became the bedrock of community life across Ireland and played a significant role in the country’s political and cultural story. Its importance was starkly illustrated on Bloody Sunday in 1920, when Crown forces attacked spectators at a match in Dublin.

In this episode, we turn to the history of the GAA in the United States. Bennett Burke, Public Relations Officer of the United States Gaelic Athletic Association, joins Fin and Damian. Their conversation traces the story of Gaelic games in America from their earliest beginnings to the present day. They discuss how the games took root, the challenges they faced, and the role the GAA played in the lives of Irish emigrants and their descendants across the US and North America.

The USGAA governs Gaelic football, hurling, and camogie in the United States (except metro NYC), Mexico, and the Caribbean. Visit https://usgaa.org/usgaa-interactive-map/ to find a club near you

US GAA Homepage

New York GAA Homepage

The "Mayo Curse"

Video Footage of the 1947 All Ireland Football Final in New York

Michael O'Hehir speaks about "Just give us five minutes more" during the 1947 All Ireland radio commentary

Paddy Bawn Brosnan & the American Civil War: The Famed Gaelic Footballer's Links to Kerry's Greatest Conflict

New York Make History with Shootout Win Over Leitrim

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Today a little over 2,500 people live in Leadville, Colorado. But in the late 19th century tens of thousands of people flocked here, trying to eke out a living during the great silver mining boom. A huge number of those people were Irish. Nicknamed "Cloud City" because of its incredible altitude--over 10,000 feet up in the Rockies--there were few more difficult places to live. The harsh climate, shanty accommodation and terrible working conditions sent many to an early grave, with the least fortunate consigned to an unmarked pauper's burial ground. In this episode, Fin and Damian are joined by Professor Jim Walsh of the University of Colorado, Denver, who has worked tirelessly to recover these pauper's names --and their lives.

Jim describes for us what life was like for Irish men and women in Leadville during the 1880s and 1890s, sharing their stories and outlining their shocking life expectancies. He also traces the links that tie Leadville to Irish mining communities from Waterford, Tipperary and Allihies in West Cork, and Irish American ones in Pennsylvania's anthracite coal region and Butte, Montana. We also discuss the ongoing work of identifying the names of those interred in the pauper's cemetery, an effort that has led to the creation of the deeply moving Leadville Irish Miners' Memorial.

Professor Jim Walsh University of Denver, Colorado

Leadville Irish Miners' Memorial

The Lost Irish Miners of Leadville: PBS Documentary

Biographies of Leadville People

Molly Brown House Museum, Denver

Transatlantic Episode 14. The Irish in Pennsylvania Coal Country

Irish Stew Podcast Season 3 Episode 3: Unearthing Diaspora History

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