The New York Irish

Book Overview

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

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801851998
• ISBN13: 9780801851995
• Release Date: February 1996
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 768 Pages
• Weight: 3.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.3" x 1.8" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Exhaustive and Significant

I received this book as a gift from a friend who knew I was fascinated with the history of New York City. She was hesitant to give me this gift because she figured I knew just about everything about the history of Irish immigration to New York. She need not have hesitated. This exhaustive and significant collection of essays and excerpts, brilliantly edited by Ronald Bayor and Timothy Meagher, will offer several nuggets of the Irish experience in NYC that that previously had been ignored, overlooked or misinterpreted. The essays are arranged chronologically from the first Irish to come to America through to the modern era. I particularly enjoyed the sections surrounding the roles of New York Irish during the era surrounding the American Revolutionary War. The discussions about how Protestant Irishmen defended the rights of Catholic Irishmen is extremely interesting and important, as these court decisions cemented the barrier between church and state. Also, the book is sprinkled with dozens of well-chosen and well-rendered illustrations. But this is by no means a coffee table book. It's demanding reading but the pay-off is extraordinary. You will learn a lot about one of the many groups that helped make New York City, and for that matter, America become great.Rocco Dormarunno, author of The Five Points