Irish Americans

For more information on Irish history and culture, seeVol. 4: Irish.

OVERVIEW

Irish emigration to America began in colonial times but reached its peak in the Great Famine years of the 1800s. Early Irish immigrants were mostly Scotch-Irish from Ulster, or Northern Ireland (see Scottish and Scotch-Irish Americans ). Irish Catholics did not begin to immigrate in large numbers until about 1800, and then they came en masse. In 1790, the U.S. Census counted 44,000 Irish Americans, most of whom were Scotch-Irish. By 1800, the Irish population of America had swelled to 150,000. Most of the newcomers were Irish Catholics fleeing British oppression and the resulting famines.

The Irish constituted the first major Catholic presence in the predominantly Protestant United States and as such met with virulent discrimination. The majority of the immigrants were illiterate farmers with few, if any, other job skills. However, they had been so disillusioned with farming in Ireland that they preferred to starve in the cities of America rather than return to growing crops. Irish immigrants congregated in the large industrial centers of the Northeast, Middle Atlantic, and Midwest regions of America, living in overcrowded slum housing and working whatever jobs they could find.

The worst famines in Ireland, caused by a grossly unjust economic system imposed on Ireland by Britain, combined with a potato blight, occurred in 1800, 1807, 1816, 1839, 1845–1848, 1863, and 1879. Between 1800 and 1830, 300,000 Irish immigrated to the United States. In 1846–1851, more than one million Irish fled to America. Another 873,000 immigrated in the decades of 1860–1880. Many settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By 1880, the Irish Catholic population in Philadelphia had reached 6,000, the highest of any community in North America. Other cities, such as New York, Boston, and Chicago, also had large Irish American populations.

Irish immigration to the United States continued, with some one million more immigrants arriving between 1880 and 1900. Ireland lost more of its population to the United States than any other country. In 1860, there were only five Irish persons left in Ireland for every Irish person in America (compared to 33 Germans in Germany for every German American, and 42 British in Britain for every British American). In the early 1900s, however, Irish immigration to America slowed considerably, and once Irish independence was declared in 1921, immigration virtually ceased. Small numbers of Irish have continued to come to the United States since that time, but the mass migration was over.

The Irish were victims of discrimination and violence in the United States not only because of their religion but also because of their willingness to work for extremely low wages. Other Americans felt threatened by this huge influx of unskilled laborers whom they perceived to be glutting the job market. Stereotypes of "Paddy" and "Bridget" (common Irish names) as drunken, disorderly, ignorant brutes took shape in American culture. However, when the United States embarked in the mid- and late-1800s on extensive construction operations of canals, railroads, and bridges and expanded its mining industry, Irish Americans were ready to fill the vast need for workers. These jobs, though dangerous and underpaid, were a ticket out of the city slums. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Erie Canal were both essentially built by Irish Americans. They also laid much of the railroad track across the United States. Without the labor of Irish Americans, U.S. development would have occurred much more slowly. Their hard work and enormous contributions to American expansion began to earn Irish Americans some measure of respect among their fellow Americans.

Participation in the armed services also helped improve the image of Irish Americans in the United States. Irish American naval captain Oliver Hazard Perry became a hero in the War of 1812, uttering the famous words, "We have met the enemy and they are ours," after defeating a British fleet on Lake Erie. Irish Americans fought on both sides of the American Civil War (1861–65), but most—some 200,000—fought for the Union.

During the Mexican-American War of 1846–1848, a number of Irish Americans defected to the Mexican side. The rate of desertion was very high for the U.S. Army during this war because at least half of the soldiers were recent immigrants (particularly Irish and German), and many of the American-born officers treated them quite badly. When the Mexican army learned that the Irish were Catholic, as were the Mexicans, they tried to lure them to Mexico with offers of land and religious fellowship. Some 250 Irish American soldiers deserted the U.S. Army and joined up with the Mexicans. Led by Captain John Riley, they formed the San Patricio (St. Patrick) Battalion along with about 200 other deserters, many of them German Americans. The San Patricio Battalion fought bravely for the Mexican side, but Mexico was finally defeated, and the deserters were brought to justice. Of those who had survived the fighting, 50 were executed for treason, 5 were pardoned, and another 15 (including Captain Riley) were branded and flogged, then released. Riley and others formed two infantry units that continued to serve the Mexican army for a number of years before disbanding. Some of the Irish American soldiers then returned to the United States, but others remained in Mexico, Riley among them. Intermarriage with Mexicans led to the creation of a small Mexican-Irish community. One of its best-known members is actor Anthony Quinn.

Irish Americans themselves unfortunately contributed to their bad image in 1863 when Congress passed the first national draft for military service. Outraged by this invasion of their freedom, Irish Americans in New York City took out their frustrations on the African American community there, which at that time was quite small. With 200,000 Irish Americans against 10,000 African Americans, the African Americans never had a chance. After four days of rioting and violence, 1,200 people (mostly African American) were dead or seriously injured, and the Irish Americans had burned Manhattan's Colored Orphan Asylum to the ground.

Conditions in Irish American slums had become intolerable in the mid-1800s, with epidemics of typhoid (1837), typhus (1842), and cholera (1849) sweeping the population, and chronic outbreaks of tuberculosis and pneumonia claiming even more lives. In 1857, some 85% of the people admitted to New York City's hospital were Irish immigrants. Infant and child mortality were so high among Irish Americans that immigrant children were expected to live no more than 14 years on the average after arrival in the United States. Many IrishAmericans turned to alcohol to numb the pain of their squalid lives. Often times, Irish American women and children became prostitutes, and women, children, and men took up other criminal activities to survive.

When gold was discovered in California in 1849, thousands of Irish Americans joined the rush west. A few struck it rich. The rest continued to languish in poverty, either returning to the East and Midwest or settling in the cities of the West. Things were beginning to change, however, for the Irish Americans. New waves of immigrants, this time from Eastern Europe, began to arrive. Dark-haired, dark-eyed, and speaking completely foreign languages (Western European languages are at least related to English), these new immigrants made Irish Americans seem much more "American" in contrast. Irish Americans began to be welcomed somewhat more into mainstream society. The Irish American community was also beginning to make itself known in politics.

The Irish American political machine was based on the units of family, block, and neighborhood. Each neighborhood had a block captain, a ward captain, and a precinct captain. Irish Catholic parishes also provided a political base, with most parishioners following the lead of the priest or local bishop. Irish Americans, therefore, could deliver significant blocs of votes. Years of fighting the British for their rights in Ireland had taught the Irish how to work the political system for their benefit. By the mid-1800s, Irish Americans had taken over the Democratic Party and city hall in several major cities and were becoming a voice to be reckoned with in American politics.

New York City's Tammany Hall was one of the most significant political arenas for Irish Americans in the 1800s. William Marcy "Boss" Tweed, an Irish American, became its leader and ruled New York City, and exercised a great deal of influence in state and federal politics as well, from his political throne. Tweed and other Irish American politicians used their positions to promote the welfare of other Irish Americans, providing employment (particularly in blue-collar jobs such as police officers, fire fighters, etc.), food, and services to Irish American citizens and their neighborhoods. Corruption was rampant in American politics at that time, and the Irish American political machine was not immune. Boss Tweed himself was imprisoned in 1873 for illegal activities. But Irish American politicians were no more dishonest than any other. Irish Americans made politics work for them, and they improved their situation in America dramatically with their successful political maneuvering. The high point in Irish American Catholic politics occurred in 1960 when Irish American John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected president of the United States, the first Catholic president in U.S. history. In fact, one has only to look at the number of Irish American presidents over the years to see how Irish Americans gained increasing acceptance in mainstream American society: from 1789 through 1921, only 8 out of 28 presidents had confirmed Irish ancestry, but since the election of John F. Kennedy, all but one president (Gerald Ford) can claim some degree of Irish heritage.

Another important arena for Irish Americans was the labor movement of the 1870s–1930s. Many Irish Americans led the way as workers organized for better working conditions and higher wages. By 1900, over 50 of the 110 unions in the American Federation of Labor (AFL) had Irish American presidents. Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, a powerful leader of the labor movement, was Irish American. The AFL's first official organizer of women was Mary Kenney, an Irish American who organized the garment workers in Boston, most of whom were also Irish American women. The garment workers mounted a successful strike for better wages and pay in 1894, establishing women as an important force in labor politics. Irish Americans continue to be a significant presence in American labor unions today. In 1955, Irish American George Meany became head of the largest union organization in the United States, when the AFL merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) to form the AFL-CIO. Meany was re-elected president of the AFL-CIO for the third time in 2005 for another four-year term.

Some 30,528,470 people listed themselves as of "Irish" ethnicity on the 2000 U.S. Census. Another 4,319,232 chose "Scotch Irish," and 65,638 claimed "Celtic" ancestry. Irish Americans currently make up the second-largest ethnic group in the United States (12.3% of the total U.S. population), behind German Americans. There are over seven times as many people in the United States who claim some Irish ancestry than there are people in Ireland today. Although early Irish immigrants settled mostly in the Northeast, Middle Atlantic, and Midwest areas of the United States, today's Irish Americans are spread fairly evenly throughout the entire country. The top

"most Irish" states in terms of percentage of Irish Americans are Massachusetts (24.1%), New Hampshire (21.7%), Rhode Island (19.5%), and Connecticut, Delaware, Vermont, and Pennsylvania (all about 18%).

The most obvious contribution Irish Americans have made to American culture is the observance of St. Patrick's Day on 17 March. Nearly every community in the United States holds a St. Patrick's Day parade, and many Americans, whether Irish or not, wear green on that day. Shamrocks and leprechauns are familiar to all Americans, and several Irish tunes have become American standards ("When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," "Danny Boy," etc.). Irish Americans dominated the American Catholic Church into the 20th century, and Irish Catholicism still tends to define the Catholic Church in America. Many Irish Americans are also Protestant, particularly among those who call themselves "Scotch Irish." The parochial school system started in the 1830s–1840s by Irish American Catholics continues to thrive in parishes across the United States. Irish and non-Irish Americans, Catholics and non-Catholics alike send their children to parochial schools for the solid and affordable education they offer.

Individual Irish Americans who have made significant contributions to American culture are far too numerous to recount. A few of the best-known are composers George M.Cohan and Victor Herbert; musicians Bing Crosby, Jim Morrison, John Fogerty, Mariah Carey, and Alicia Keys; and dancers Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. The composer of the song "Dixie," which became the "national anthem" of the South, was Irish American Daniel D. Emmett. Irish American actors include Spencer Tracy, James Cagney, Grace Kelly, Errol Flynn, Buster Keaton, Helen Hayes, Gregory Peck, Walter Brennan, Jackie Gleason, Jack Lemmon, Peter O'Toole, Pierce Brosnan, Brian Dennehy, Patrick Duffy, Mia Farrow, Jack Nicholson, Carroll O'Connor, Ryan O'Neal, Ben and Casey Affleck, Lindsay Lohan, Rosie O'Donnell, and actor/director Robert Redford. Directors John Ford and John Sayles are also Irish American. Walt Disney was originally Irish Canadian, before moving to the United States.

The best-known Irish American artist by far is Georgia O'Keeffe. Irish American architect Louis H. Sullivan developed the skyscraper design, and Matthew Brady was a well-known photographer. The only American playwright ever awarded the Nobel Prize is Eugene O'Neill, an Irish American. Other Irish American writers include John O'Hara, Flannery O'Connor, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mary Higgins Clark, Tom Clancy, Kate Chopin (born Katherine O'Flaherty), Margaret Mitchell, William Kennedy, Mary Gordon, Mary McCarthy, Andrew Greeley, J. P. Donleavy, Cormac McCarthy, Frank McCourt, and poets Galway Kinnell, Frank O'Hara, Robert Creeley, and James Whitcomb Riley. Among the many noteworthy journalists and other media personalities of Irish descent are Chris Matthews, Conan O'Brian, Norah and Kelly O'Donnell, and Bill O'Reilly.

Irish American leaders in science, industry, and politics include the Kennedy family (John Fitzgerald, Robert; Edward, or Ted; and Joseph Kennedy III, elected to the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts in 1986); former Chicago mayor Richard Daley (who served from 1955 to 1976) and his son, Richard M. Daley, also elected mayor of Chicago (in 1989); one-time New York State governor Alfred E. Smith, who became the first Irish American Catholic to run for U.S. president in 1928; Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to be appointed justice of the Supreme Court (in 1981); astronaut Kathryn Sullivan, the first woman to walk in space (in 1984); and Christa Corrigan McAuliffe, who was to be the first teacher in space in the ill-fated Challenger shuttle that exploded shortly after take-off in 1986. Henry Ford, builder of the first inexpensive automobile, the Model T, was Irish American, as was James Tobin, winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1981.

Sports, especially boxing, provided a way out of the slums for young Irish American men in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Irish American boxer Paddy Ryan held the title of world heavyweight champion in the 1880s. Ryan was defeated by Irish American John L. Sullivan in 1892, and Sullivan was subsequently defeated by Irish American "Gentleman Jim" Corbett in 1897. Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney were successful Irish American boxers in the early 1900s. Baseball has been another favored sport among Irish Americans. The best-known Irish American baseball players today are pitcher Nolan Ryan and shortstop Derek Jeter, who is half African American and half Irish American.

Two notorious Irish Americans were outlaw Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty), and Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, instigator of the American anti-Communist hysteria of the 1950s, which came to be known as "McCarthyism."

For the most part, Irish Americans today have become part of established mainstream U.S. culture and suffer little discrimination. Most are second- or third-generation Americans, at least; only a fraction of 1% of the Irish American population today is foreign born. A small group of Irish Americans today face a unique problem, however. Born to unwed Irish mothers in the 1950s and 1960s, some 400 infants (or more) were sent from Ireland to the United States for adoption. Viewed as shameful, these births were hidden and records were falsified to protect the women involved, and their families. Those adoptees are now reaching the age where they want to know about their birth parents. Agencies in Ireland remain largely uncooperative, however, and the falsification of many records makes the search that much more difficult. Adopted Irish American women and men struggle to find out where, and to whom, they were born in Ireland. Others who have not been told they were adopted may not even know they are Irish.

Irish culture has historically been very family oriented with traditional male and female roles. The Catholic Church further emphasizes those roles, and the immigrants to America during the famine years brought those traditional Catholic values with them. To some degree, the fact that many Irish settled in cities in the United States broke down those roles, at least for women. Irish American women were much more likely to work outside the home than were women of other immigrant groups. Their experience in the working world provided the opportunity for Irish American women to gain confidence and public influence. Gay Irish Americans have not fared so well, however. The stereotype of the Irishman as a pugnacious pub brawler expresses a truth of the Irish American culture that puts great pride in (heterosexual) masculinity and views homosexuality as an affront. Patriotic military duty has also become highly celebrated among Irish Americans, and discrimination against homosexuals in the military is persistent. The Roman Catholic Church, which views homosexuality as sinful behavior, contributes as well to the marginalization of gays and lesbians in the Irish American community.

This tension came to a head in 1992 when the Irish American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group (GLIB) of Boston applied to march in Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade. The parade has become much more than a celebration of the life of St. Patrick; it now serves as an affirmation of "Irishness" in all its patriotic American glory. The Veterans Council, responsible for running the parade, rejected the GLIB's application for a spot in the parade, but a judge ruled that +the GLIB had the right to participate. The ruling set off a huge and fractious debate over whose rights were being infringed: homosexuals by being excluded from the parade or the Veterans Council by being forced to include those whose views they do not support. Prior to the GLIB rejection, the only group to be denied a place in the parade was the Ku Klux Klan.

For the next three years, the GLIB and the Veterans Council fought it out in court, taking it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled in 1995 in favor of the Veterans Council. Although the ruling went against the GLIB, members of the gay and lesbian community still viewed it in some ways as a victory because the wording of the decision spoke of homosexuals as equal human beings deserving respect—the Court based their decision on the First Amendment right of the Veterans Council to include and exclude whomever they chose because they no longer receive public funding for the parade.

The only other group to be excluded from the parade since the GLIB was the Boston Veterans for Peace in 2003, rejected because of their opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq.

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—by D. K. Daeg de Mott