The New York Irish

When Ellis Island opened in 1892, nearly four million Irish men and women had already made the journey to America. By the 1990s, Ireland had sent another million or more. New York has been both port of entry and home to the Irish for three centuries. During that time, America's premier city has undergone massive changes, and the Irish—one of the country's oldest ethnic groups—have played a vital part in its history.

The New York Irish tackles subjects like the medicalization of anti-immigrant prejudice; entrepreneurship in business; the impact of music and language on ethnic social life; the effect of nationalist movements on local politics; the dynamics of Irish relations with African-Americans, Chinese, and Dominicans; the battle for freedom of religious expression; and the problem of illegal immigration. It offers a fresh perspective on an immigrant people's encounter with the famed metropolis.

A joint project of the Irish Institute and the New York Irish History Roundtable

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New York was the primary entry point for most Irish immigrants coming to America, so the history of the Irish in New York is, to some extent, also the history of the Irish in America. And it's safe to say that reading the essays in The New York Irish would enrich anyone's understanding of American history, which is, of course, the story of how different ethnic groups came together to form a nation. Of particular interest in the collection are essays about the Irish in New York's early days, from the Colonial period up to the years of the Great Famine (which led to the "Great Migration" of Irish to America). The history of the Irish as they sought to become Americans is often painful, and riots, church burnings, and rampant discrimination are recounted in chilling detail. Yet the essays, which have been intelligently selected and organized, are quite readable and often entertaining. ...Read more

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