Sophie Sweetman McConnell will speak about the conflict in the Sweetman family over the Home Rule issue in Ireland in the 19th century at the Irish Cultural Society meeting on Tuesday, September 13 at 8 p.m. in the Garden City Library, 60 Seventh Street, across the street from the Garden City Hotel. This meeting is open to the public.

The Home Rule issue divided Ireland into a camp which wanted Ireland to remain as part of the United Kingdom and a camp which wanted an Irish parliament free from Westminster. Internal struggles like Home Rule often lead to family members asking different sides of the conflict, as happened in the Sweetman family. Ms. McConnell will describe in her talk how the Home Rule conflict affected the prominent Sweetman family, well known for its being the brewer of Sweetman Ale.

Ms. McConnell earned her Master’s degree from NYU. She is currently editing a collection of forty years of letters written by her great-grandfather from 1866 to 1905 and planning to write a history of her family in Ireland which includes members who were active with the United Irishmen and Sinn Fein. Ms. McConnell is the author of the book Metropolitan Jewelry about jewelry in the Met’s art collection. The audience at this meeting will be impressed by Ms. McConnell’s thorough research and her passionate presentation skills.

At this first meeting of the season for the Society, dues will happily be collected and president Martin Kelly will sketch out the program for the season.