What's Sherlock Holmes doing in New York's most Fenian pub?
That's the intrigue at the heart of "Terror From America: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure," the debut novel from journalist and historian Terry Golway, and the question Irish Stew podcast cohosts Martin Nutty and John Lee set out to answer before a packed, raucous house at Ernie O'Malley's on the first of June.
A Staten Island native with a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Rutgers and two decades of political reporting at the New York Observer, Golway has written more than a dozen acclaimed works of nonfiction.
But fiction, he tells us, unlocks something facts alone cannot: "You can learn as much about history through a novel as you can in a history book."
June 1, 2026: The Irish Stew Podcast live from Ernie O'Malley's, with guest Terry Golway.
His novel imagines Britain dispatching the world's greatest detective to infiltrate the Irish American revolutionary underground of 1885 New York, a mission rooted in a real and largely forgotten chapter of history.
"The original crime is based on something that actually happened," Golway explains. "Several Irish Americans were going to try to blow up London Bridge…instead, they blew themselves up."
Holmes's investigation pulls him into the orbit of real historical figures, none more compelling than John Devoy. In a dramatic reading brought brilliantly to life by actor Mick Mellamphy, Devoy records in his diary what Charles Parnell had told him when they met: "The American people are now the arbiters of the Irish question,” to which Devoy replied, "I almost had tears in my eyes when I heard those words. That was exactly what we in New York wished to be, the arbiters of the Irish question."
And what does Holmes make of the Fenians he encounters? After infiltrating New York’s Irish revolutionary underground as an itinerant fiddler at Clan na Gael gatherings, Sherlock observed, "The Fenians who inhabit the back rooms of New York's clubhouses and taverns bear little resemblance to the crude caricatures portrayed in some less reputable newspapers. Formidable not because of their capacity for mayhem, but because of the power they yield over the production of memories."
Fiddler Eileen McLain provided the evening’s musical accents while Mick Mellamphy also served as producer. Past Irish Stew guests Peter Quinn, Larry Kirwan, and Maura Clare were in the house, as were Black 47 co-founder Chris Byrne, Irish American Writers & Artists president Liza Engesser, and Origin Theatre board chair Dr. Kate Kennon.
You can listen to Terry Golway on the Irish Stew Podcast here:
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