While bearers of the Sheehan name today lead peaceful lives, not only in their original homeland of the Emerald Isle but also across the globe, this was far from the case in centuries past.
The sword was rarely out of their hands as they defended their ancient rights in the face of aggression and in defence of their beliefs.
Many have subsequently achieved acclaim through a rich variety of pursuits.
Born in 1905, Patrick Sheehan was the Irish journalist and Gaelic language activist better known as Pádraig Ó Siocháin, one of the founder members of the Irish Press and also the national Language Revival Movement.
A noted American contemporary writer is Neil Sheehan who, while working as a reporter for the New York Times in 1971, obtained the classified Pentagon Papers that controversially revealed a secret U.S. Department of Defense history of the Vietnam War.
The stirring tale of the Sheehans is chronicled here.
