by Terry Kenneally
Shanty Irish
By Jim Tully
Black Squirrel Books, 2009. ISBN 978-60635-023-2; 292 pp.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently ran an article about Jim Tully, an Irish born and raised “forgotten” Irishman, who achieved more than a modicum of success during the 1920’s as a writer, primarily in Hollywood, CA. Tully was born in St. Mary’s, Ohio (Auglaize County) to dirt poor “shanty Irish” parents who were Irish immigrants. Probably his most well known book is Shanty Irish, originally published in 1928, but recently reissued by Kent State University in 2009.
Within its pages we learn about what life was like in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Ohio, in the dirt poor, hard scrabble existence of an Irish immigrant family. We learn about his ditch digger father, from whom Tully inherited his love of reading; his mother, Biddie, who died when he was only six, forcing his father to send him to an orphanage to live for six miserable years; an Uncle, John Lawlor, who was convicted of horse theft and spent fifteen years in the Ohio Penitentiary; and his hard drinking grandfather, Hughie Tully, who dominated the book.
The all but forgotten life of Tully has been resurrected in the recent biography, Jim Tully, American Writer, Irish Rover, Hollywood Brawler, written by Paul J. Bauer & Mark Davidajiak. I found Shanty Irish to be a MIDDLE SHELF read.
Celtic Warrior—The Rise And Fall Of Danny Greene
By John J. Moriarty
Third Millennium Publishing, 2008. ISBN 1-934805-40-8; 978-1-934805-40-4; 232 pp.
For those of you who haven’t had your fill of the saga of Danny Greene, what with the movie, Kill the Irishman, the documentary Danny Greene: The Rise and Fall of the Irishman, and the book, To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia by Rick Porrello, I give you Celtic Warrior—The Rise and Fall of Danny Greene, by local writer, John J. Moriarty (Akron).
This is a fictionalized story of Greene’s life based in part on the author’s boyhood association with young gang members who served as Greene’s underlings. Written in 2008, it tells the now familiar story of Greene’s rise from longshoreman union boss in the 1960’s to his struggles with Cleveland Mafia leaders in the 1970’s. It is a MIDDLE SHELF read.
*Terrence J. Kenneally is an attorney and president of Terrence J. Kenneally & Associates in Fairview Park, Ohio. His practice consists of representing insured’s and insurance companies in insurance defense litigation throughout the State of Ohio. He is also pursuing a Masters Degree in Irish Studies at John Carroll University. He may be reached at
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