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Irish American Gael-Mheiriceánach
Notable Irish Americans: 'Ronald Reagan' 'John F. Kennedy' 'Richard J. Daley' 'Mother Jones' 'Francis O'Neill' 'Mary McCarthy'
Total population
Irish 35,975,855 Americans [1] 12% of the US population (2006)
Regions with significant populations
Throughout the entire Northeastern United States, much of the Northwestern United States, the West Coast, Southern United States and Midwestern United States, and the New York and Philadelphia, Chicago and Boston areas
Language(s)
American English, Irish language
Religion(s)
Predominantly Roman Catholic Christian
Related ethnic groups
Irish people, Scots-Irish Americans, Scottish Americans, Welsh Americans, English Americans

Irish Americans (Irish: Gael-Mheiriceánach) are citizens of the United States who can claim ancestry originating in the west European island of Ireland. A total of 35,975,855 Americans (12% of total population) reported Irish ancestry in the 2006 American Community Survey.^[2] The only self-reported ancestral group larger than Irish Americans are German Americans.^[3] Note that this figure does not include those reporting Scots-Irish ancestry, who are counted separately.

Contents 1 Immigration to America 1.1 Catholics 1.2 Protestants 1.2.1 Scots-Irish 1.3 Occupations 2 Discrimination and prejudice 3 Stereotypes and images 4 Irish settlement in the South 5 Sense of heritage 6 Irish in politics and government 6.1 Presidents of Irish descent 7 Contributions to literature and the arts 8 Popular culture 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading 11.1 General surveys 11.2 Catholic Irish 11.3 Protestant Irish 12 External links 12.1 Communities

[edit] Immigration to America

[edit] Catholics

Irish Catholics have been migrating to the United States in steady numbers even before the American Revolution, some as domestic servants or as a result of penal deportations; their numbers increased immensely by the 1820s when migrants, mostly males, became involved in canal building, lumbering and civil construction works in the Northeast. Small but tight communities developed in growing cities such as Boston, Providence and New York City. The large Erie Canal project was one such example where Irishmen were the majority of the laborers used. During and after the "Great Irish Famine" (or Great Hunger; Irish: An Gorta Mór) of 1845-1850, millions of Irish Catholics came to North America. Many lived in Canada and the United States. Many Irish who left Ireland for America during the famine and subsequent years did not make their destination. Due to poverty, ill health and poor conditions a significant number died en route. As a result the ships they travelled on became known as coffin ships. Nearly a third of all Irish who left on ships during the famine period to North America emigrated from the United Kingdom to its dominion in Canada, having a large impact on a smaller population there as many arrived in a disease stricken state. Although the greater portion of these arrivals stayed on in Canada, particularly in Toronto and Ontario and remained as subjects of the British Empire, a significant number moved on to the United States to join quickly growing Irish American communities, some after staying in Canada for only a few years. Between 1820 and 1860, fully two-thirds of the Irish immigrants to the United States were Catholic and constituted fully one third of all immigrants to the United States. By the 1840s as a result of the famine fully half of all immigrants to the United States originated from Ireland.^[4]

Many of these immigrants went to the largest cities, especially Boston and New York, as well as Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, Missouri, Philadelphia and Detroit. Even today, many of these cities still retain a substantial Irish American community while New York City still has more people who claim Irish heritage than Dublin's whole population. These cities became the conduit through which Irish, both Protestant and Catholic entered American society. For example, recruiting drives to enlist recent Catholic Irish emigrants as field soldiers during the Mexican-American War and later the US Civil War proved troublesome for the U.S. Army, but without employment some Catholic Irish wound up enlisting anyway. Draft riots occurred, the most well known the New York Draft Riots resulting from conscription ordered by President Lincoln in 1863. Additionally, the Protestant Irish still held familial and clan ties to many Americans who had arrived in the preceding decades. As a result, although both the Protestant and Catholic Irish who immigrated in the years between 1820 and 1860 arrived under harsh conditions, their cultural, ancestral, religious and linguistic differences were sufficient to cause a huge divergence in experience. After 1860, Irish Catholic immigration continued, a lot of it chain migration mostly to the large cities where Irish American neighborhoods were previously established.

[edit] Protestants

[edit] Scots-Irish

The term Scots-Irish (aka Ulster-Scots) is usually used to designate descendants of immigrants from Scotland. Ulster is a region where much intermingling of Scots, English, and Irish people took place due to the Ulster Plantations. The number of this specific group is reported by the US Census of 2000 as being around 4.9 million. However, due to some disparity in naming convention, some estimate the actual number to be in the region of 23 million to 30 million with many descendants regarding themselves as Irish or American. Even some of the Irish Catholic population may have some distant Scottish ancestry with common Irish surnames such as Sweeney and McDonnell being attributed to Gallowglass (Scottish mercenaries) who settled in Ireland.

The primary origin of this large population is centered around a quarter of a million Scots-Irish who fled the economic distress and social upheaval. They emigrated to America primarily before 1776 as subjects of the British Empire moving from one region to another. They settled especially in frontier areas of Pennsylvania, Virginia and the Carolinas, where land was free and collective action against Indian raids was needed. Given large tracts of free land, subsidized by British and colonial authorities, tens of thousands of these Protestant Scots-Irish became the force which pacified the American frontier. Many joined Presbyterian and Methodist churches.

The term Anglo-Irish is usually used to designate Anglican (see Church of Ireland) and Protestant Irish of English descent. They primarily originated from the areas of Dublin, Cork, Wexford, and the old Pale of Ireland, and moved following the upheavals of the Irish wars and the economic depression caused by the take-over of commercial regulation from the Kingdom of Ireland to the Kingdom of Great Britain. Much like the Scots-Irish, these colonists were also veterans of low-intensity warfare, were often former soldiers, and thus were encouraged to settle in frontier areas. Here they intermingled with the Scots-Irish to such an extent that the ability to distinguish between the two groups slowly became extinguished.

Some see a distinction between Catholic 'Irish Americans' and Protestant 'Scots-Irish' and 'Anglo-Irish' (though not all Scots-Irish migrants were specifically Protestant). Many people of both Anglo-Irish and Scots-Irish descent before 1849 described themselves as, simply, Irish. As Irish Catholic began to enter the U.S. in greater numbers the distinction Scots-Irish became popularized.

Two possible reasons have been suggested for the disparity of the figures of the census and the estimation. The first is that the English and Scots-Irish may quite often regard themselves as simply having either Irish ancestry (which 10.8% of Americans reported) or Scottish ancestry (reported by 4.9 million or 1.7% of the total population) or English ancestry. The other is that most of the descendants of this historical group have integrated themselves into American society, even reporting their ancestry as simply "American" (the most common ancestry in areas historically settled by the English and Scots-Irish mostly throughout much of the Southern United States).

The 'English' and 'Scots-Irish' Protestants, in contrast with later Catholic Irish immigrants, assimilated quickly into the new society, many abandoning old-world characteristics they no longer found useful, as Frederick Jackson Turner explained in his Frontier Thesis. That is they became "American" and indeed helped redefine what it meant to be American.

In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the historical roots of Irish Protestants in North America.

The Protestant Irish, particularly of the Scots-Irish background usually retained a strong interest in farming, herding, and hunting. Additionally through the cousinage and clan ties many of the Scots-Irish were rapidly encouraged to move onto the frontier where fellow Scots-Irish and American natives of Scots-Irish background awaited. Nonetheless, a significant number of the Scots-Irish who remained in the cities of the United States quickly took advantage of the new Republic's opportunities and assimilated into the artisan, craftsmen, and small business classes. However, significant opposition in the political classes remained even against the Scots-Irish and they were discriminated against.

[edit] Occupations

Irish Catholic immigrants went directly to the cities, mill towns and railroad or canal construction sites in the east coast. Few became farmers. They were hired by Irish labor contractors to work in "labor gangs" as manual laborers on canals, railroads, streets, sewers and other construction projects, particularly in New York state and New England. Large numbers moved to New England mill towns, such as Lowell, Massachusetts, Fall River, Massachusetts and Milford, Massachusetts, where Protestant owners of textile mills welcomed the new low-wage workers. They took the jobs previously held by Yankee Protestant women known as Lowell girls. A large fraction of Irish Catholic women took jobs as maids in middle class households and hotels.

The Scots-Irish were frontiersmen who retained a strong interest in farming, herding, and hunting. (McWhinney 1989)

The main business enterprises set up by the Irish were taverns and construction.

Large numbers of unemployed Irish Catholics lived in squalid conditions in the new city slums.^[5]

Although the Irish Catholics started very low on the social status scale, by 1900, they had jobs and earnings about equal on average to their neighbors. After 1945, the Catholic Irish consistently ranked toward the top of the social hierarchy, thanks especially to their high rate of college attendance. ^[6]

The Irish quickly found employment in the police departments of major cities, particularly in the North East. In the 1860s more than half of those arrested in New York City were Irish born or of Irish descent but nearly half of the City's law enforcement officers were also Irish. By the turn of the century, five out of six NYPD officers was Irish American. Irish Americans continue to have a disproportionate membership in the law enforcement community, especially in New England, where they continue to have a dominating role. When the Emerald Society of the Boston Police Department was formed in 1973, half of the city's police officers became members.

[edit] Discrimination and prejudice

It was common for Irishmen to be discriminated against in social situations. Intermarriage between Catholics and Protestants was uncommon (and strongly discouraged by both ministers and priests). An important response was the creation of a parochial school system, in addition to numerous colleges, that isolated about half the Irish youth from the public schools.

Nativist prejudice against Irish Catholics reached a peak in the mid-1850s with the Know Nothing Movement, which tried to oust Catholics from public office.

After 1860 the Irish sang songs (see illustration) about signs reading "HELP WANTED - NO IRISH NEED APPLY", which were also referred to as "the NINA signs." The song had a deep impact on the Irish sense of discrimination. The issue of job discrimination against Irish immigrants is hotly debated among historians, with some insisting that the "No Irish need apply" signs so familiar to the Irish in memory were myths,^[7], and others arguing that the Irish continued to be discriminated against in various professions into the 20th century. While the Irish dominated such occupations as domestic service, building, and factory work, they were not present in large numbers in the professions, finance, and many businesses. In response, the Irish clung to their occupational niches fiercely, blocking attempts by newer immigrant groups and African Americans to enter them, and earning them a reputation for violence. (See also: Anti-Irish racism)

[edit] Stereotypes and images

Irish Catholics were always the subject of stereotyping. According to historian George Potter, the media often stereotyped the Irish in America as being boss-controlled, violent (both among themselves and with those of other ethnic groups), voting illegally, prone to alcoholism, and dependent on street gangs that were often violent or criminal. Potter quotes contemporary newspaper images:^[10]

You will scarcely ever find an Irishman dabbling in counterfeit money, or breaking into houses, or swindling; but if there is any fighting to be done, he is very apt to have a hand in it." Even though Pat might "'meet with a friend and for love knock him down,'" noted a Montreal paper, the fighting usually resulted from a sudden excitement, allowing there was "but little 'malice prepense' in his whole composition." The Catholic Telegraph of Cincinnati in 1853, saying that the "name of 'Irish' has become identified in the minds of many, with almost every species of outlawry," distinguished the Irish vices as "not of a deep malignant nature," arising rather from the "transient burst of undisciplined passion," like "drunk, disorderly, fighting, etc., not like robbery, cheating, swindling, counterfeiting, slandering, calumniating, blasphemy, using obscene language, &c.

The Irish had many humorists of their own, but were scathingly attacked in German American cartoons, especially those in Puck magazine from the 1870s to 1900. In addition, the cartoons of German American Thomas Nast were especially hostile; for example, he depicted the Irish-dominated Tammany Hall machine in New York City as a ferocious tiger.^[11][12]

Most of the Irish on the media and in real life have being portrayed as policemen.

[edit] Irish settlement in the South

While only 2% of Southerners were Irish Catholics, they concentrated in a few medium-size cities where they were highly visible, such as Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans. They became local leaders in the Democratic party, supported slavery, favored the Union in 1860, but became staunch Confederates in 1861. Starting as low skilled manual laborers, they achieved average or above average economic status by 1900. As one historian explains, ^[13]

Native tolerance, however, was also a very important factor in Irish integration [into Southern society].... Upper-class southerners, therefore, did not object to the Irish, because Irish immigration never threatened to overwhelm their cities or states....The Irish were willing to take on potentially high-mortality occupations, thereby sparing valuable slave property. Some employers objected not only to the cost of Irish labor but also to the rowdiness of their foreign-born employees. Nevertheless, they recognized the importance of the Irish worker to the protection of slavery. The Irish endorsement of slavery and the efforts of the Irish to preserve the South as "a white man's country" after emancipation only endeared them further to southerners. The Catholicism practiced by Irish immigrants was of little concern to Southern natives.

The influence of the Presbyterian Irish Americans on the very foundation of the nation cannot be understated. The Declaration of Independence was drafted in handwriting by, and printed by, one such man — John Dunlap; the Great Seal of the US was designed by another — Charles Thomson. Much to the chagrin of Quakers, Irish-descended Protestants took a very active part in the political makeup of the country. More than one third of all US presidents have connections to Ulster, while thirteen of them are descended from Ulster Protestants. In Northern Ireland, the ancestral homes of presidents Arthur, Jackson, Wilson and Grant are tourist attractions.

[edit] Sense of heritage

People of Irish descent, particularly Roman Catholics, retain a sense of their Irish heritage. A sense of exile, diaspora, and (in the case of songs) even nostalgia is common in Irish America. It is unclear to what extent the sense of kinship with Ireland is embraced or resented by the actual Irish Citizens of Ireland, now that the country is increasing its ties to Europe and becoming increasingly multi-racial. The term "Plastic Paddy", meaning someone who was not born in Ireland and who is separated from their closest Irish-born ancestor by (often) many generations, but who still likes to think of themselves as "Irish", is occasionally used in a derogatory fashion towards Irish Americans, but is more often used good-naturedly. It should be noted that the term is freely applied to relevant people of all nationalities, not solely Irish Americans.

Many Irish Americans were enthusiastic supporters of Irish independence; the Fenian Brotherhood movement was based in the United States and launched several attacks on British-controlled Canada known as the "Fenian Raids". The Provisional IRA received significant funding for its paramilitary activities from a group of Irish American supporters — in 1984, the US Department of Justice won a court case forcing the Irish American fundraising organization NORAID to acknowledge the Provisional IRA as its "foreign principal".^[14]

Irish Catholic Americans settled in large and small cities throughout the North--railroad centers and mill towns especially. They became perhaps the most urbanized group in America, as few became farmers.^[15] Strongholds include the metropolitan areas of Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco, where most new arrivals of the 1830-1910 period settled. As a percentage of the population, Massachusetts is the most Irish state, with about a quarter of the population claiming Irish descent.^{[citation needed]} The most Irish American town in the United States is Milton, MA, with 38% of its 26,000 or so residents being of Irish descent. Boston, New York, and Chicago have neighborhoods with higher percentages of Irish American residents. Regionally, the most Irish American part of the country remains central New England. Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Delaware are the three states in which Irish heritage is the most dominant. Interestingly, in consequence of its unique history as a mining center, Butte, Montana is also one of the country's most thoroughly Irish American cities. Greeley, Nebraska (population 527) has the highest percentage of Irish American residents (43%) of any town or city with a population of over 500 in the United States. The town was part of the Irish Catholic Colonization effort of Bishop O'Connor of New York in the 1880's.

[edit] Irish in politics and government

The Catholic Irish moved rapidly into law enforcement, and (through the Catholic Church) built hundreds of schools, colleges, orphanages, hospitals, and asylums. Political opposition to the Catholic Irish climaxed in 1854 in the short-lived Know Nothing Party.

By the 1850s, the Irish Catholics were a major presence in the police departments of large cities. In New York City in 1855, of the city's 1,149 policemen, 305 were natives of Ireland. The creation of a unified police force in Philadelphia opened the door to the Irish in that city. By 1860 in Chicago, 49 of the 107 on the police force were Irish. Chief O'Leary headed the police force in New Orleans and Malachi Fallon was chief of police of San Francisco.^[16]

The Irish had a reputation for being very well organized^[17], and, since 1850, have produced a majority of the leaders of the Catholic Church in the U.S., labor unions, the Democratic Party in larger cities, and Catholic high schools, colleges and universities. Politically, the Irish Catholic typically voted 80-95% Democratic in elections down to 1964. John F. Kennedy was their greatest political hero. Al Smith, who lost to Herbert Hoover in the 1928 presidential election, was the first Irish Catholic to run for president. From the 1830s to the 1960s, Irish Catholics voted 80-95% Democratic, with occasional exceptions like the election of 1920.

Today, most Irish Catholic politicians are associated with the Democratic Party, although some have become Republican leaders, such as former GOP national chairman Ed Gillespie, House Homeland Security Chairman Peter T. King and retired Congressman Henry Hyde. Ronald Reagan boasted of his Irishness. (The son of an Irish Catholic father, he was raised as a Protestant.) Historically, Irish Catholics controlled many city machines and often served as chairmen of the Democratic National Committee, including County Monaghan native Thomas Taggart, Vance McCormick, James Farley, Edward J. Flynn, Robert E. Hannegan, J. Howard McGrath, William H. Boyle, Jr., John Moran Bailey, Larry O'Brien, Christopher J. Dodd, and Terry McAuliffe. The majority of Irish Catholics in Congress are Democrats; currently Susan Collins of Maine is the only Irish Catholic Republican senator. Exit polls show that in recent presidential elections Irish Catholics have split about 50-50 for Democratic and Republican candidates; large majorities voted for Ronald Reagan.^[18] The pro-life faction in the Democratic party includes many Irish Catholic politicians, such as senator Bob Casey, Jr., who defeated Senator Rick Santorum in a high visibility race in Pennsylvania in 2006. ^[19] Presidential hopeful Barack Obama is "at least three per cent Irish" and may have roots in County Meath, according to the Sunday Independent (18 March 2007).

In some states such as Connecticut, the most heavily Irish communities now tend to be in the outer suburbs and generally support Republican candidates, such as New Fairfield^[20][21].

Many major cities have elected Irish American Catholic mayors. Indeed, Boston, Cincinnati, Houston, Newark, New York City, Omaha, Scranton, Pittsburgh, Saint Louis, Saint Paul, and San Francisco have all elected natives of Ireland as mayors. Chicago, Boston, and Jersey City have had more Irish American mayors than any other ethnic group. The cities of Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Oakland, Omaha, St. Paul, Jersey City, Rochester, Springfield, Rockford, San Francisco, Scranton, and Syracuse currently (as of 2006) have Irish American mayors. All of these mayors are Democrats. Pittsburgh mayor Bob O'Connor died in office in 2006. New York City has had at least three Irish-born mayors and over eight Irish American mayors. The most recent one was County Mayo native William O'Dwyer, elected in 1949.

The Irish Protestant vote has not been studied nearly as much. Since the 1840s, it has been uncommon for a Protestant politician to be identified as Irish (though Ronald Reagan notably did and Bill Clinton claims to have Irish ancestry). In Canada, by contrast, Irish Protestants remained a cohesive political force well into the 20th century with many (but not all) belonging to the Orange Order. Throughout the 19th century, sectarian confrontation was commonplace between Protestant Irish and Catholic Irish in Canadian cities.

[edit] Presidents of Irish descent

At least thirteen presidents of the United States have some Irish ancestral origins, although the extent of this varies. For example, both of Andrew Jackson's parents were Irish born while George W. Bush has a rather distant Irish ancestry. President Kennedy had far stronger Irish origins, which fell much closer in terms of date. Also Ronald Reagan's father had some Irish Catholic ancestry, and his mother some Scots-Irish. James K. Polk also had Scots-Irish Ancestry. Only Kennedy was raised and a practicing Catholic.

1. Andrew Jackson, 7th President 1829-37
2. James Knox Polk, 11th President 1845-49
3. James Buchanan, 15th President 1857-61
4. Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President 1869-77
5. Chester Alan Arthur, 21st President 1881-85
6. Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President 1885-89, 1893-97
7. William McKinley, 25th President 1897-1901
8. Woodrow Wilson, 28th President 1913-21
9. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President 1961-63
10. Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President 1963-69
11. Richard Milhous Nixon, 37th President 1969-74
12. Ronald Wilson Reagan, 40th President 1981-89
13. William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd President 1993-2001 (his mother's maiden name was Cassidy)

Also, Jefferson Davis, first and only President of the Confederate States of America ^[22] and ^[23].

[edit] Contributions to literature and the arts

Irish Americans have made numerous contributions to the arts, especially in literature and on the stage. One of the most well-known Irish American authors is Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning playwright Eugene O'Neill. Others from his generation include F. Scott Fitzgerald, James T. Farrell and Raymond Chandler. Henry James was also of partly Irish descent. Also well known is the Irish American short story author Flannery O'Connor.

Wayne S. Peck - Artist born in 1987 Is know for his Comics as well for his Poetry.

Painters include Georgia O'Keeffe and William Harnett.

Irish American William F. Buckley was perhaps the most prominent intellectual force behind American conservative politics in the 20th Century, as his magazine National Review was a vocal ally of such successful Republican candidates as Ronald Reagan.

Showbiz personalities such as: Walt Disney, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Grace Kelly, Tyrone Power, John Ford, Conan O'Brien and James Cagney often reflected upon their Irish heritage. Irish born actress Maureen O'Hara became a naturalized American citizen and her image as the stereotypical "Irish Colleen" in popular films such as The Quiet Man and The Long Gray Line established her beautiful but feisty image firmly within Irish American culture.

Dropkick Murphys are a celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA and Pierce Brosnan of 007 James Bond fame is also an Irish import who became a naturalised American Citizen.

[edit] Popular culture

Irish authors, songsters and actors made a major contribution to American popular culture, often portraying police officers and firefighters as being Irish American. In fact, the urban Irish cop and firefighter are virtual icons of American popular culture. In many large cities, the police and fire departments have been dominated by the Irish for over 100 years, even after the populations in those cities of Irish extraction dwindled down to small minorities. Many police and fire departments maintain large and active "Emerald Societies", bagpipe marching groups, or other similar units demonstrating their members' pride in their Irish heritage. Another place Irish American life is the most notably predicted is in movies such as Little Nellie Kelly, The Cardinal, The Boondock Saints, the labor epic On the Waterfront, gangster films Angels with Dirty Faces and The Departed and on television in series such as Ryan's Hope and The Black Donnellys. Martin Scorsese's film Gangs of New York centered on the violent 19th century confrontations between nativists and Irish immigrants in the Five Points area of lower Manhattan. In contemporary popular music, the indie band The Decemberists' CD "The Crane Wife' (with Irish American singer and songwriter Colin Meloy) contains the song "Shankill Butchers," depicting the Ulster Loyalist cell. The Irish Americans also maintain many fraternal organizations like the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

Saint Patrick's Day is widely celebrated across the United States as a day of celebration of all things Irish and faux-Irish, especially in New York with the largest celebration of over 2 million. Savannah has the(second-largest celebration), though the largest per capita. Parades, parties, and other festive events mark the day.

The majority of Irish immigrants probably spoke English; some were bilingual or native speakers of Irish. According to the latest census, the Irish language ranks 66th out of the 322 languages spoken today in the U.S., with over 25,000 speakers. New York State has the most Irish speakers, and Massachusetts the highest percentage, of the fifty states.

[edit] See also

• Saint Patrick's Day
• Irish Catholic
• Irish diaspora
• It's A Great Day for the Irish
• Plastic Paddy
• Scots-Irish American
• Irish-American organized crime
• Irish Americans in New York City
• South Side Irish
• Race and intelligence (media portrayal)
• List of Ireland-related topics
• List of Irish-Americans
• List of Irish-American communities
• Immigration to the United States
• Great Irish Famine
• Irish Canadian
• 69th Infantry Regiment (United States)
• Irish Brigade (U.S.)
• Saint Patrick's Battalion
• Notre Dame

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

[edit] General surveys

• Glazier, Michael, ed. The Encyclopedia of the Irish in America, (1999).
• Kenny, Kevin. The American Irish: A History (2000). New York: Longman.
• Meagher, Timothy J. The Columbia Guide to Irish American History. (2005).
• Miller, Kerby M. (1985). Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Negra, Diane (ed.) The Irish in Us (Duke University Press 2006).
• George W. Potter. (1960). To the Golden Door: The Story of the Irish in Ireland and America. New York: Greenwood Press.

[edit] Catholic Irish

• Anbinder, Tyler. Five Points: The Nineteenth-Century New York City Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum (2001).
• Bayor, Ronald and Timothy Meagher, eds. The New York Irish (1996) comprehensive overview by numerous scholars
• Blessing, Patrick J. The Irish in America: A Guide to the Literature. Longaeva Books (1992)
• Clark, Dennis. The Irish in Philadelphia: Ten Generations of Urban Experience (1973)
• Diner, Hasia R. Erin's Daughters in America : Irish Immigrant Women in the Nineteenth Century (1983).
• English, T. J. (2005). Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. New York: ReganBooks.
• Erie, Steven P. Rainbow's End: Irish-Americans and the Dilemmas of Urban Machine Politics, 1840—1985 (1988).
• Gleeson; David T. The Irish in the South, 1815-1877 University of North Carolina Press, 2001
• Greeley, Andrew M. The Irish Americans: The Rise to Money and Power. (1993).
• Ignatiev, Noel. How the Irish Became White (1996).
• Jensen, Richard. "No Irish Need Apply": A Myth of Victimization," Journal of Social History 36.2 (2002) 405-429
• McCaffrey, Lawrence J. The Irish Diaspora in America (1976).
• Meagher, Timothy J. Inventing Irish America: Generation, Class, and Ethnic Identity in a New England City, 1880-1928 (2000).
• Mitchell, Brian C. The Paddy Camps: The Irish of Lowell, 1821—61 (1988).
• Mulrooney, Margaret M. ed. Fleeing the Famine: North America and Irish Refugees, 1845-1851 (2003). Essays by scholars
• O'Donnell, L. A. Irish Voice and Organized Labor in America: A Biographical Study (1997)

[edit] Protestant Irish

• Blethen, Tyler Ulster and North America: Transatlantic perspectives on the Scotch-Irish (1999) online at ACLS History e-book project
• Fischer, David Hackett. Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (1991), major scholarly study tracing colonial roots of four groups of immigrants, Irish, English Puritans, English Cavaliers, and Quakers.
• Griffin, Patrick. The People with No Name: Ireland's Ulster Scots, America's Scots Irish, and the Creation of a British Atlantic World, 1689-1764. (2001)
• Leyburn, James G. Scotch-Irish: A Social History (1989), scholarly survey; good starting point.
• McWhiney, Grady. Cracker Culture: Celtic Ways in the Old South (1989), scholarly interpretation
• Webb, James. Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America(2004) by a popular novelist, not considered reliable by scholars.

[edit] External links

• Irish America magazine - magazine for Irish Americans
• Irish Voice - newspaper for Irish Americans
• The Boston Irish Emigrant
• The New York Irish Emigrant
• Ancient Order of Hibernians
• IMDb.com Irish-American
• The Ireland Funds
• The Eire Society of Boston
• New York Irish Bars
• FDNY Emerald Society
• FDNY Emerald Society Pipes and Drums
• National Conference of Law Enforcement Emerald Societies
• Irish Expatriate Discussion Forum
• Boston Irish Reporter
• American Presidents with Irish Ancestors
• IrishAmericanHistory.com - Irish American History

[edit] Communities

• Buffalo's Irish Community
• Detroit's Irish Community
• Kansas City's Irish Community
• Irish Community in Los Angeles
• Omaha's Irish Community
• Irish Philadelphia
• Pittsburgh Irish Network

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