Sherlock Holmes & Terry Golway Join Irish Stew LIVE at New York's Most Fenian Pub

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 HolmesAdventure, the debut novel from journalist and historian Terry Golway, and thequestion Irish Stew podcast cohosts Martin Nutty and John Lee set out to answerbefore 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 decadesof political reporting at the New York Observer, Golway has written more than adozen acclaimed works of nonfiction. But fiction, he tells us, unlocks somethingfacts alone cannot: "You can learn as much about history through a novel as youcan in a history book."His novel imagines Britain dispatching the world's greatest detective to infiltratethe Irish American revolutionary underground of 1885 New York, a missionrooted in a real and largely forgotten chapter of history. "The original crime isbased on something that actually happened," Golway explains. "Several IrishAmericans were going to try to blow up London Bridge…instead they blewthemselves up."Holmes's investigation pulls him into the orbit of real historical figures, nonemore compelling than John Devoy. In a dramatic reading brought brilliantly tolife by actor Mick Mellamphy, Devoy records in his diary what Charles Parnellhad told him when they met: "The American people are now the arbiters of theIrish question,” to which Devoy replied, "I almost had tears in my eyes when Iheard those words. That was exactly what we in New York wished to be, thearbiters of the Irish question."And what does Holmes make of the Fenians he encounters? After infiltrating NewYork’s Irish revolutionary underground as an itinerant fiddler at Clan na Gaelgatherings, Sherlock observed, "The Fenians who inhabit the back rooms of NewYork's clubhouses and taverns bear little resemblance to the crude caricaturesportrayed in some less reputable newspapers. Formidable not because of theircapacity for mayhem, but because of the power they yield over the production ofmemories."Fiddler Eileen McLain provided the evening’s musical accents while MickMellamphy 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 andIrish American Writers & Artists president Liza Engesser.LINKSTERRY GOLWAYWebsiteSubstack: ObserverLinkedInBook: Terror From AmericaAmazon: Terror From AmericaERNIE O'MALLEY'SWebsiteIRISH STEW LINKSWebsite Home PageFacebookInstagramLinkedInMedia Partner: IrishCentralEpisode Details: Season 8, Episode 19; Total Episode Count: 160Send us Fan Mail