Biographical Note

Eileen Houlihan Zurrell was born in New York in 1942 and grew up in Woodside, Queens. The daughter of 1920s immigrants from Co. Limerick, Ireland, her father was a member of Limerick Men's Association in New York. She held a career in administration. Eileen married her husband John in 1970 and began studying the Irish language after giving birth to her son and daughter in the early 1970s.

Scope and Content Note

Some of the key themes discussed in this interview include: different generations of Irish; 9/11 and loss of life in her parish; the 2008 election of Obama and comparisons with JFK; and her mother preparing the American parcel.

This oral history was digitally recorded on a Marantz PCM660. The interview is approximately 90 minutes long, on 2 CDs. The interview took place in New York City on November 6, 2008, and the interviewer was Myriam Nyhan.