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Irish in New York: A history both public and personal

From bridges to buildings to pubs, New York City will always have a touch of Ireland thanks to newcomers who arrived on our shores at the turn of the last century. FOX 5 NY’s Sharon Crowley shares a piece of her history in this look at the Irish legacy in the city.

NEW YORK – Here in New York City, the Irish community is one of our largest ethnic groups. Hundreds of thousands of Irish Americans live in the city, enjoying a long history rooted in religion and culture.

To understand Irish history in New York, you need to start at Watson House. It opened in 1885 on State Street in Lower Manhattan. 

"This was the first place these Irish immigrants, particularly the young women, who would consider Watson House their home," explained Rev. Brian McWeeney, the director of the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the Archdiocese of New York. "They would see it in the 1850’s. They came here knowing they would be safe."

The boarding house offered food, shelter and job placement to tens of thousands of young, unmarried, Irish Catholic women who left their families in Ireland to travel by steamship to New York City in the late 1800’s. Image 1 of 2 ?

Watson House opened in 1885 to help Irish women who arrived in New York. The role of the church

Catholic priests often met the ships to make sure the women made it to Watson House safely. 

"When they came, this was way different from where they came from," continued Rev. McWeeney. "There were some people here who were ready to take them in and help them and comfort them, but others were ready to take advantage of them." 

McWeeney himself is also a first-generation Irish New Yorker. His father arrived in New York City from Galway, Ireland in 1929. Watson House, run by a Catholic priest, was part of the Mission of Our Lady of the Rosary. 

"Oh, the church was very important. The mass was the center of their lives in Ireland. The priest was the well-educated man of the town. When they came here, the church took on that role of protector very easily."  Starting over in a new world

It’s estimated that more than one million people left Ireland to escape the potato famine and start a new life in New York City. Married couples might end up living in a tenement on the Lower East Side like the fifth-floor walkup apartment preserved by the Tenement Museum at 97 Orchard Street. 

"Hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants landed here in New York and many, many of them stayed, so much so that, by 1860, 25% of the city’s population is Irish-born," explained David Favaloro, the director of Curatorial Affairs at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

"Irish immigrants arrived largely unskilled," he added. "Most Irish men who arrived in the mid-19th century found jobs on construction or doing manual labor."

Favaloro says these newcomers from Ireland literally helped shape New York City at the turn of the century – laying bricks for the new Empire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Irish immigrants also became involved politics, leading them to municipal jobs in the fire and police departments. 

"The Irish become, in some ways, the grassroots of the Democratic Party political machine," Favaloro noted.  Challenges and struggles

The Tenement Museum at 97 Orchard St.

The museum recreates the 350-square-foot home of Joseph and Bridget Moore, who lived there in the 1860’s. 

"This building, 97 Orchard, was built in 1863 without any indoor running water, any indoor toilets," Favaloro said. 

Four of the couple’s eight children died in childhood. These newcomers also faced struggles with discrimination. Some classified ads at the time read "Irish need not apply." 

Plus, most of the men coming from Ireland had lived on farms and now had to adapt to a new urban environment. A toast to the pubs

McSorleys Old Ale House opened in 1854.

Irish pubs are also a central figure in Irish history here in New York City. Because Irish families had large families living in tight quarters, the pub for men functioned as a living room. It was a place to gather to network for jobs, socialize or just reminisce about home in Ireland. 

McSorley’s Old Ale House is one of the oldest Irish pubs in Manhattan. It was opened in 1854 by Irish immigrant John McSorley. It’s still operating today. 

"The history of McSorley’s has always been light and dark ale and no women," explained current owner Teresa Maher de la Haba. 

A court battle in 1969 forced the bar to allow women. Now one owns it. Teresa Maher de la Haba inherited the pub from her father. 

"Nothing really changes here unless we have to, unless it’s forced upon us," she said.

Teresa Maher de la Haba explains her pub’s history.

The bar is still home to those who are new to this country. Bartender Shane Buggy left Ireland right after college to come work. He’s been here more than 15 years. 

"It’s basically walking into a country pub back home," he offered. "No music, no TV's; everyone comes in here to share tables, to get to know everyone beside 'em. Very little social media here at McSorley’s. You get to sit beside somebody random and learn something new about a complete stranger."

Hosting the famous and the infamous, it’s still a favorite watering hold for the military, cops, firefighters and anyone with a thirst for nostalgia. 

"It’s the most historic bar you’ll ever walk into, from what we have on the walls to what we represent," Buggy added. "It’s a privilege to live here and work for a family, another great Irish family who moved over and have a great success story out of Ireland."  A personal note

FOX 5’s Sharon Crowley outside the brownstone where her grandmother lived.

Another family with roots in Ireland that has lived here in New York City for generations is my own. On West 95th Street is a brownstone where my grandmother lived as a little girl. 

Her father, Dr. Albert Scully, left his family’s farm in Ireland in the late 1800’s to practice medicine here in New York City. I am told he wrote a letter home to his family once he settled here in New York indicating he wouldn’t be returning to the farm in Ireland – he liked it just fine here in New York City.

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Robert Redford’s grandchildren pay tribute to Hollywood icon as they share family photos

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Robert Redford's grandchildren pay tribute to Hollywood icon as they share family photos

Robert Redford’s grandchildren have paid tribute to the Hollywood icon with a series of never-before-seen family photos.

Redford died on Tuesday at the age of 89 in the mountains of Utah “surrounded by those he loved”, according to his representative Cindi Berger.

Now Conor Schlosser, the 33-year-old son of Redford’s eldest daughter Shauna Redford, 64, has posted five photos on Instagram with the movie star, including three throwback pictures from his childhood of the pair together.

In them, they are riding a horse, opening a present and playing golf.

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Mr Schlosser, 33, also shared two more recent pictures with Redford, including one of them enjoying a meal and the other of him with his arm around his grandfather.

In a caption that accompanied the social media post, he wrote: “He was larger than life to the world, but to his family, he was simply that … family. “Rest in peace, Grandpa.🐎”.”

He added: “If anyone has a favorite story of him you’d like to share, please send it to me in a private message – I’d love to collect them.”

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Redford’s career in pictures

His cousin, Lena Hart Redford, the 29-year-old daughter of Redford’s late son, James Redford, also posted a number of pictures with the Hollywood star on Instagram.

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There were photos of her on a horse with her grandfather and also with him on a film set. She also included a photo of her late father with Redford in the post, which she captioned with a red heart emoji.

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And in a tribute on Instagram Stories, she shared a throwback image of her and Redford wearing Kangol-brand beanies. “Taught me so much. … Had us all in Kangol,” she wrote.

She also posted a picture of Redford and her father horseback riding. “Dad & grandpa, I feel like they are riding awesome horses in heaven,” she wrote.

Lena Redford’s brother, Dylan Redford, shared a picture with his grandfather on his Instagram Stories.

He wrote: “He was best grampa a grandson could ask for. He also made amazing things, helped others make amazing things, and tried to make the world a better place.”

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Pic: dredford_/Instagram/AP

Redford fathered four children with his first wife Lola Van Wagenen – sons Scott and James and daughters Shauna and Amy.

Scott died in 1959 from sudden infant death syndrome aged only two months, while his younger son James died aged 58 of cancer in 2020.

Redford is survived by his wife Sibylle Szaggars Redford, daughters Shauna and Amy and seven grandchildren.

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Trump state visit is all about deals to turn around UK economy

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Trump state visit is all about deals to turn around UK economy

For Donald Trump, today was primarily about one thing.

Before boarding Air Force One to make the transatlantic flight to the UK, he told reporters on the White House Lawn: “It’s to be with Prince Charles and Camilla, they’re friends of mine for a long time… you’re going to have some great pictures, it’s going to be a beautiful event.”

Britain delivered. After a military welcome, lunch with the King and Queen and a Red Arrows flypast, the president has already got more than enough photographs to admire on the plane back home. Luckily, pomp and circumstance is something we do well.

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But this was not an altruistic display. These things rarely are. As British governments have done in the past, the Starmer team leveraged Britain’s soft power to advance its own aims. Beyond the fanfare, Starmer wants to catch the president’s ear on foreign policy issues, including Gaza and Ukraine. But they are also there to talk money: investment and trade.

On trade, we faltered. The US refused to budge on its 25% tariff imposed on the aluminium and steel Industry (a reminder perhaps that no amount of tea with the King will get the US to act against its interests).

But in the arena of investment, the British government is already declaring victory. Trump arrived in Britain along with a who’s who of the US tech scene.

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Jensen Huang, chief executive of the AI chipmaker Nvidia, Apple’s Tim Cook, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, and Sam Altman of OpenAI all made the journey over. Today, they are attending a state dinner at Windsor Castle along with the president but they had other reasons for coming too.

Many of them were here to announce major investments, running into the tens of billions of pounds, to build AI data centres in the UK under a new US-UK tech deal.

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These are private investments but the government is viewing them as a win for Starmer. His administration is – like the one before it and the one before that – scrambling to unlock economic growth in the UK. It is pinning its hopes on the transformational promise of AI.

The prospect of greater economic growth, productivity and jobs is an alluring one for Britain and, indeed, most of Western Europe’s ailing economies. The hope is that these investments will build the digital infrastructure needed to turbocharge the AI industry in the UK.

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Both sides of the road leading up to the castle were packed with onlookers as the presidential helicopter Marine One circled overhead shortly after 12pm.

The government said the deals, which came from Nvidia, Microsoft, OpenAI, Google among others, were a “vote of confidence in the UK”. And there are, of course, compelling reasons why Britain’s existing AI ecosystem is attracting these companies. It has little to do with the King.

World-class researchers, universities and scientific research have contributed to an ecosystem in Britain that is ripe for take off. Deep Mind was perhaps the most famous success story, a company that Google swooped in to acquire in 2014.

That is something Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia was keen to remind us. Ahead of his trip to Windsor, he expressed surprise at Britain’s sometimes dysphoric attitude about its own capabilities.

“This week we’re here to announce that the UK is going to be a superpower… but you know, Britons can be a bit humble, even deprecating, about their successes. Really, this is a moment to celebrate the UK ecosystem.”

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Government celebrates tech win – but challenge lies ahead

He said that Britain was at the cusp of a new Industrial Revolution, and it should seize the moment.

“This is the home of the origins of artificial intelligence and some of the brightest minds in AI are here. So the expertise of creating artificial intelligence and creating and training large language models is deep here.”

The UK has obvious expertise and appeal. It is the third largest AI market in the world, after the US and China. It is home to a third of Europe’s AI start-up companies and twice as many as any other European country.

Where it falters is infrastructure. High energy costs and a creaking grid are holding back growth in data centres. The government has promised to rectify this (which has caught the attention of the tech giants, hungry as they are for energy and computational power). The deal with the US will also see both sides cooperate to expand nuclear energy in the UK.

Not everyone is comfortable with all this attention from the Americans, however. US dollars will help to fund the expansion in data centres, but US AI companies like OpenAI, which is partnering with Nvidia and Nscale to open a data centre in Blyth, will be at the forefront of the opportunities too.

Open AI will secure the access to infrastructure, energy and computing power to run and train its models. Meanwhile Nvidia will provide the chips. Nscale, the British data centre company, is set for huge growth but, where France boasts Mistral, the UK has no comparable national AI champion. For all the claims of “sovereign AI”, some may wonder whether building data centres in the UK is enough to give us sufficient control over this powerful new industry, when so much of the technology is American.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Huang batted away those concerns.

“Sovereign AI starts with having your sovereign data… you have lots of your own data,” he said. “The data of your people, of your companies, of your society. That data is created here. It belongs to you. You should use it to train your own large language models. There’s going to be a whole bunch of different AI models being created here, and I have every confidence, so long as we provide the instrument of the science.”

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AI startup Nscale came out of nowhere and is blowing away Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

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AI startup Nscale came out of nowhere and is blowing away Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

Nscale, the UK-headquartered AI infrastructure provider.

Courtesy: Nscale

Two years ago, Nscale was a brand new startup in the U.K. that had yet to raise any outside funding or officially announce its existence.

Last year the London-based company came out of stealth, and in December announced that it had raised its Series A fundraising, totaling $155 million.

Now, Nscale finds itself at the center of the action in the hottest market on the planet: artificial intelligence. And it has close to $700 million in fresh capital from Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company.

In press releases on Tuesday, Nscale was named as an AI infrastructure partner for Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI, as the companies expand their buildouts in the U.K. Nscale then said it signed a five-year $6.2 billion agreement with Microsoft and Aker to develop “hyperscale AI infrastructure” in Europe, specifically Norway, where Aker is headquartered.

OpenAI made prior headlines with Nscale, announcing plans in July for a data center in Norway for a Stargate-branded AI data center. Nscale agreed to commit $1 billion for the project, with the goal of racking up 100,000 Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) at the site before 2027.

It’s a remarkably quick rise for a company that wasn’t even around when OpenAI kicked off the generative AI boom with the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. At that time, what’s now Nscale was part of Arkon Energy, which was established a year earlier to provide infrastructure for cryptocurrency mining. Nscale was spun out to address soaring demand for data centers capable of handling AI workloads.

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Like CoreWeave, which went public this year and now sports a market cap of $58 billion, Nscale is combining data center space, power and lots of GPUs with its own software in order to an provide end-to-end service for AI infrastructure.

CoreWeave, which supplies infrastructure to Microsoft, Google, Nvidia and OpenAI, also has roots in crypto. Founded in 2017, the company built up its initial fleet of Nvidia GPUs for ethereum mining before pivoting to AI.

Nscale didn’t respond to a request for comment following this week’s announcements, but CEO Josh Payne, who previously founded Arkon, told CNBC in late July that the company was targeting two big problems in Europe. One is a lack of sufficient computing capacity and the other is a “very fragmented market.”

“What the continent needs is large AI infrastructure projects deploying compute [power],” Payne said, after the announcement with OpenAI for the Norway buildout. “The ecosystem can consume from the project to build AI products, to generate productivity growth and economic benefit.”

Payne wrote in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday that the agreement with Microsoft and Aker is a “huge win for European-owned AI infrastructure.”

Europe has been pushing the concept of “sovereign AI,” requiring data centers and AI workloads to be located and processed on European soil. Nscale has quickly emerged as an important player in the U.K.’s bid to evolve into a global leader in AI. In January, Britain laid out an AI “action plan,” promising to reduce bureaucracy to help its domestic AI sector thrive.

Trump’s UK trip sparks tech investment splurge

While Nscale is addressing the European market, many of its early partners are big U.S. AI vendors. They timed their announcements on Tuesday to President Donald Trump’s state visit to the U.K.

On Wednesday, Trump visited Windsor Castle and met with King Charles, Queen Camilla and other members of the royal family. His trip comes at a contentious moment for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is under pressure to bring stability to the country after the exit of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over a house tax scandal and a major cabinet reshuffle.

Microsoft headlined the U.K. announcements, committing $15.5 billion of new investment to computing equipment. The software giant said it plans to work with Nscale to construct what will become the U.K.’s largest supercomputer in Loughton, a suburban town in the English county of Essex.

The site will initially house 23,040 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs to be delivered in the first quarter of 2027. When it goes live, it will generate 50 megawatts of AI capacity, scalable to 90 megawatts, according to a statement from Nscale.

“No one can make that kind of capital investment unless they’ve got somebody already committed to spend the money once the work is complete, and that’s the role we’re playing,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said Tuesday, adding the deal represents a major vote of confidence in Nscale.

OpenAI said it would launch a U.K. version of Stargate through a partnership with Nscale and Nvidia. OpenAI will deploy 8,000 GPUs in the project’s first phase early next year, with the option to expand capacity to approximately 31,000 GPUs over time.

Stargate U.K. will operate across a number of sites in the country — one of the early ones being Cobalt Park, an industrial state in the Northern English city Newcastle. Stargate was initially spawned in the U.S. in January as part of President Trump’s effort to push investments in AI infrastructure.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attends the “Winning the AI Race” Summit in Washington D.C., U.S., July 23, 2025.

Kent Nishimura | Reuters

Nvidia’s announcement on Tuesday included an investment of up to £11 billion ($15 billion) with Nscale and CoreWeave to boost U.K. AI infrastructure.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang separately revealed on Wednesday that the chipmaker had made a £500 million ($683 million) equity investment into Nscale.

“We convinced ourselves that Nscale could be a national champion for AI infrastructure in the U.K.,” Huang told journalists at a press conference in London.

Nick Patience, AI practice lead at the Futurum Group, told CNBC that Nscale is “a key part of Nvidia’s push in the U.K. market and an acknowledgment by the government that it has to do something to get the AI infrastructure built here, which has been a long slog.”

Rapid growth

After exiting stealth in May of last year, Nscale’s first public announcement came two months later, when the company partnered with UAE’s Open Innovation AI to deploy 30,000 GPUs. Around the same time, Nscale said it was acquiring Kontena, which was founded in 2018 and specialized in high-performance computing data centers.

The next month, Nscale announced an agreement with Asian telecom company Singtel to offer a “GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS),” and serve customers in Europe and Southeast Asia. Initially, Nscale’s infrastructure relied on GPUs from Advanced Micro Devices. Today, the startup promotes various offerings from market leader Nvidia.

Nscale’s big financing landed in December, when the company said it raised $155 million in a round led by Sandton Capital Partners, with participation from Kestrel0x1, Blue Sky Capital Managers and Florence Capital.

Sandton co-founder Rael Nurick said in the press release that with its “unique vertically integrated approach, Nscale is building the hyperscale AI platform to power AI at scale.”

Nscale said at the time that it had grown its AI data center pipeline to 1.3 gigawatts from 300 megawatts the prior year to and that it was aiming to have 350,000 GPUs running by the end of 2027.

By comparison, CoreWeave said at a banking conference last week that its portfolio consists of “about 2.2 gigawatts of capacity that’s coming online.” The company said in its IPO prospectus in March that its 32 data centers were running 250,000 GPUs.

It’s been a whirlwind few years for Payne, Nscale’s founder. While he was serving as executive chairman of Arkon, he was also operating chief at Australia’s Battery Future Acquisition Corp., a blank check company that says it’s “targeting critical battery minerals and related supply chains.”

He’s got a lot of work in front of him.

Building out AI data centers with costly GPUs is a capital intensive process that’s historically required a hefty amount of debt. CoreWeave had raised a total of $12.4 billion in debt through the end of 2024, in addition to well over $1 billion in equity financing before its IPO. It announced a $1.5 billion bond sale in July after a $2 billion debt offering in May.

Nscale was trying to raise $1.8 billion earlier this year through a private credit deal led by bankers at Goldman Sachs, according to Bloomberg.

In the December video tied to Nscale’s equity fundraising, Payne called it “one of the largest Series As raised in U.K., European history.” He said the company would use the cash to deploy up to another 4,000 GPUs in its data center in Norway and to develop up to 180 megawatts of capacity in the company’s portfolio.

The aim, Payne said, was to deploy 50,000 GPUs by the end of 2025 and 150,000 by the end of next year.

“The key challenges that we see in the market is the significant increase in density at the GPU level,” he said. “This funding allows us to scale up materially” he said, and to become “one of the largest players in Europe.”

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