The first Irish-American conference exploring the role of the Irish on both sides in the American Civil War has been held, paving the way for further plans.
The inaugural event took place in three US cities last October - Boston, Washington and New York. It brought together Irish and US scholars under the aegis of the St Brendan Society, offering new insights into Irish involvement in the bitter conflict.
It is now expected that a book and a film on the subject will follow and next year, probably in October, a second conference will be held in the US. Ireland will then become the venue for the third and fourth conferences, which are likely to be held in Cork and Galway.
There is as yet no schedule but according to Mr Con Howard, the former diplomat who is a driving force behind the concept, one of the Irish sessions may be brought to Northern Ireland.
When I wrote about the first conference last year during the Merriman Summer School, a lot of memories were stirred. Many Irish people got in touch to describe memorabilia connecting them to relatives who had fought with the Union or Confederate sides.
The story of the Irish in the war is a blockbuster, says Mr Howard, and it's only beginning to be told.