By Kristy McCaffrey
In 1847, the Choctaw Nation sent a donation of $170 (equivalent to $5,000 today) to the town of Midleton, Ireland, located south of Dublin to support the Irish during the Potato Famine, which ravaged Ireland in the 1840’s.
Irish President Mary Robinson visited the Choctaw Nation in
1995 to thank them for their aid to Midleton. In 2017 a large stainless steel
outdoor sculpture known as “Kindred Spirits” was dedicated in Bailick Park in
Midleton, County Cork, Ireland, to commemorate the Choctaw gift. The shape of
the feathers represents a bowl of food.
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| Kindred Spirits |
In 2018, Ireland’s prime minister visited Choctaw Nation headquarters in Oklahoma to thank the Choctaws and initiate the first of a continuing series of yearly scholarships for Choctaw students to study in Ireland.
In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck worldwide, the
Irish took up a sizeable donation to aid and assist the Navajo and Hopi who suffered
from a particularly high death toll. The people of Midleton stated they were
“paying it forward” with the Choctaws in mind.
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Oklahoma Territory
November 1899
Dr. Anna Ryan has been spurned by the Dallas medical community for the simple reason of being a woman. Wanting more than a rural practice alongside her mother, also a doctor, Anna accepts an invitation from a mentor to join a private hospital for disabled children in Oklahoma City. But when she falls in with a band of women attempting to liberate a town of innocents, she’ll need more than her medical training to survive.
Malcolm Hardy has skirted the line between lawlessness and justice since escaping the mean streak of his father and his no-good half-siblings a decade ago. In Oklahoma Territory he created enough distance from his family name to find a quiet purpose to his days. But then Anna Ryan walks back into his life, and his hard-won peace is in jeopardy.
The last time Malcolm saw Anna, she had been a determined girl he couldn’t help but admire. Now she was a compelling woman who needed his help to find The Swan, a mysterious figure with a questionable reputation. But one thing was clear—Anna’s life path was on a trajectory for the remarkable while Malcolm’s was not. Surrendering to temptation would only end in heartbreak.
Anna is the eldest daughter of Logan and Claire from THE DOVE.
The Wings of the West Series Reading Order
Book One: The Wren
Book Two: The Dove
Book Three: The Sparrow
Book Four: The Blackbird
Book Five: The Bluebird
Book Six: The Songbird (Novella)
Book Seven: Echo of the Plains (Short Story)
Book Eight: The Starling
Book Nine: The Canary
Book Ten: The Nighthawk
Book Eleven: The Swan (Coming Soon)
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2 comments:
That's a beautiful sculpture! Love the colors, and the history behind it. Best of luck on the new release, Kristy!
It is a pretty sculpture. And thanks, Julie!!
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