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This interview was conducted by Íde B. O'Carroll at Geoffrey Keating's office in Dublin, Ireland on June 20, 2014.  The interview covers Keating's family, his early life, and his working life. Keating describes his parents, his father's work as an Irish diplomat, and his mother's work as a medical doctor.  He recounts his early life living in various countries and his education at different schools in Ireland and England. He recounts his decision to join the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1981, his postings to Italy, Bulgaria, and the United States, and the impact of these postings on his family.

This interview was conducted by Íde B. O'Carroll at Orla Kelleher's office at the Aisling Irish Center in Yonkers, New York on April 21, 2016.  The interview covers Kelleher's family, early life in Ireland, her immigration to the United States (US), and her working life. Kelleher describes her early life in a small village in County Kerry, Ireland; her family; and her experience entering the workforce in County Cork in 1990.  She recounts her visits to the US, her decision to take an extended break from work in 2004 in the US, and her decision to remain in the US permanently. She describes the work of the Aisling Irish Center to provide support and advice to Irish immigrants and its role in the community. She also discusses her work with the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers.

This interview was conducted by Íde B. O'Carroll at the Joseph Kelley Law Firm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 17, 2015.  The interview contains Joseph Kelley's family history and his father's involvement with the Philadelphia Council of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). He details his motivations for attending law school and his work representing labor unions in Philadelphia. He recounts the beginning of his involvement with the Commodore Barry Arts and Cultural Center in Philadelphia to rework the center's Internal Revenue Service status and his continuing presence on their Board of Directors.

This interview was conducted by Íde B. O'Carroll at the Irish Pastoral Centre in Boston, Massachusetts on March 12, 2015.  The interview covers Sister Marguerite Kelly's early life in Ireland, her life as a religious sister, and her working life in Boston, Massachusetts.  Kelly describes her family members and her childhood on a farm in County Galway, Ireland. She discusses her education, her decision to join the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in 1955, and the reaction of her parents to her vocation.  She recounts her early experiences of religious life, her postings in Italy and the United States (US), and her missionary work in Bolivia between the late 1960s and 1980. She discusses her education at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, her experiences teaching in the Boston area in the 1980s, and her work as a missionary in Peru in the late 1980s.  She discusses her return to the Boston area in 1989, her experiences between 1989 and her introduction to the Irish Pastoral Centre in 2004, and her work at the Centre between then and the time of the interview. She describes her responsibilities at the Centre, including her involvement in the senior citizen program and her work to write the Centre's by-laws.

This oral history was digitally recorded on a Marantz CDR420. The interview took place in New York City on January 17, 2009, and the interviewers Myriam Nyhan and Marion Casey.

Sister Theresa begins the discussion with a description of her parents lives in Ballinlough, County Roscommon, Ireland. She includes information such as what life was like there in general, as well as the work involved with owning a family farm. She recalls that her parents lived on the same street but came over to America separately and for different reasons in the early 1920s.

Sister Theresa talks about her parents' occupations after arriving in America. Her mother worked as a housekeeper and was later promoted to cook. Her father's occupation as a police officer in combination with her mother's strong money management enabled the couple to buy their own home. This was the house that Sister grew up in the Brooklyn, New York neighborhood of Bushwick with her two older siblings, James and Mary Anne. When Sister was five, her older brother left to attend the seminary, St. Joseph's College in Princeton, New Jersey, eventually fulfilling his passion and becoming ordained as a Vincentian priest. Sister explains the differences between Vincentian and diocesan priests, and goes on to describe a typical day for a priest and his duties in general.

Sister Theresa attended the single-sex Catholic educational institution St. John the Baptist grammar school. She went on to attend Bishop McDonnell Memorial High School in Brookyln, also a single-sex Catholic school. Sister Theresa mentions that being around religious figures her whole life played a part in motivating her to become a nun. However, after graduating in 1952, she was not yet sure of what she wanted to do, and went on to work in the accounting department at Pfizer Incorporated. After five years, in 1957, Sister Theresa chose to join the Brooklyn Sisters of Mercy. She talks about her various assignments at different schools, ranging from her first teaching assignment in Sunnyside, Queens, to a librarian at St. Patrick's on Kent Avenue in Brooklyn, as well as her work as principal at Our Lady of Refuge in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

It was during her assignment at St. Patrick's on Kent Avenue that Vatican II occurred. Sister Theresa describes the changes she saw in the Church, the effects the movement had on Catholic educations and the habit, as well as on the convent itself and the women within it. Sister's opinion of the reforms were mostly negative. She believes that before Vatican II the women in the convent had a strict schedule that was followed, and without that kind of structure the women felt lost; she points to this as one of the changes that provoked many women to leave. She also disliked the changes in the habit. She discusses in detail the full habit nuns used to wear before Vatican II, as well as why she enjoyed wearing it and why she still wears the modified habit today, even though it is not a requirement. However, she does mention that she enjoyed the new freedom nuns had to vacation and visit family whenever they chose, as compared to before when time away from the convent was limited. She describes her family's home in Breezy Point, Queens, and the joy it brought her to be able to go back there for vacations. Sister also discusses the effects Vatican II had on the convent, the Church and religion in general, as well as its impact on Catholic educations.

Sister Theresa also discusses her Irish identity throughout the interview. She remembers listening to the Irish radio stations with her mother, and mentions that her sister took Irish dancing classes. She describes her Irishness as being inherent, and something that has always simply been a part of her. When asked about her Irish-American identity she explains that although she does not necessarily think about it, she knows she is Irish, and describes herself as more Irish than American, but that the greatness of America is also simply a part of who she is.

Sister Theresa ends with a discussion about her current position at Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Syosset, New York, as event coordinator, where she organizes school events and fundraisers. She mentions the various events she handles yearly and the amount of money raised at some of them.

This oral history with Sister Theresa Kelly was digitally recorded on a Marantz CDR420. The interview is 2 hours, 28 minutes long, on 3 CDs, and has been logged at ten minute intervals. Sister Theresa Kelly was interviewed on November 8, 2007, at Glucksman Ireland House at New York University by Kristina Galati, Linda Dowling Almeida, and Joseph Ready.

The interview is approximately 1 hour, 36 minutes long. The interview took place on December 14, 2005, and the interviewers were Tess Sheridan and Linda Dowling Almeida.