Found this on the Schuylkill River Canal in Philadelphia: http://www.schuylkillcanal.com/history/index.html Directly quoted from the above web page:  "But making the Schuylkill navigable was an engineering project that would cost a fortune for the period and require heroic human labor......The navigation company, using immigrant crews of Irishmen, constructed a chain of 32 dams, each with a deep dam pool two or three miles in length behind it." I have a bit of trouble with the word "using"  in reference to the immigrant crews of Irishmen.  Joan --- On Sun, 12/28/08, Jean R. <jeanrice@cet.com> wrote: From: Jean R. <jeanrice@cet.com> Subject: [IRISH-AMER] Irish Canal Diggers, America (1817-1830s) - Irish vs. Irish - Secret Societies To: IRISH-AMERICAN-L@rootsweb.com Date: Sunday, December 28, 2008, 6:53 AM SNIPPET: Many of the poor and unskilled Irish who arrived before the Famine found work building the earliest links in the emerging American transportation network. The greatest of these projects the Erie Canal (itself the brainchild of De Witt CLINTON, a descendant of Longford immigrants), was constructed largely using Irish labor between 1817 and 1825. It was a stupendous undertaking for any era - a massive trench 363 miles long across upstate NY connecting the Hudson River with Lake Erie. As this was the era before steam power, all of it was dug using manual and animal labor. The work was dangerous and poorly paid and conditions in the camps along the canal zone atrocious. One English visitor to the canal camps near Troy, NY, wrote that the shacks of the diggers were "more like dog-kennels than the habitations of men." Hundreds died from injury or disease in the making of the Erie and other canals such as Chesapeake and Ohio and the Illinois and Michigan, giving rise to the oft-repeated statement that the banks of America's canals are lined with the bones of stricken Irishmen. Perhaps the most extreme evidence of this raw exploitation occurred in New Orleans in the 1830s. There, the builders of the city's New Basin Canal expressed a preference for Irish over slave labor for the simple reason that a dead Irishman could be replaced in minutes at no cost while a dead slave resulted in the loss of more than one thousand dollars. An old song, likely exaggerating, put the death toll at twenty thousand: "Ten thousand Micks, they swung their picks/To dig the New Canal/But the choleray was stronger 'n they/An' twice it killed them all." Together, canal and road building, like the later railroad construction, explain why the Irish spread out so quickly across the country. Because few unions existed in the 1830s and none for unskilled construction workers, Irish immigrants often formed secret fraternal societies to militantly protest their welfare. Along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in MD, for example, Irish laborers from Co. Cork drove away workers who refused to join their association. When Co. Longford workers were brought in to undercut the Corkmen, fierce battles broke out and President Andrew JACKSON sent in the army to restore order. Years later when the company refused to pay them, they destroyed their work! In the long run this spirit of collective action and solidarity among Irish worker in the 1830s provided the foundation for their successful efforts to organize into unions in the decades to come. In the short term, however, it usually did little to relieve the world of hard and poorly paid work. -- Excerpts, "1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History," Edward T. O'Donnell (2002) ====Irish American Mailing List===== Add/check your surname to the Irish-American mailing list Surname Registry at: http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRISH-AMERICAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

My cousin did research on our Irish ancestors in Philadelphia from that time - her research included info on the Schuylkill River canals - also built primarily by the Irish.  I remember the comment she quoted from somewhere (sorry this is from memory and is not more detailed) that "the Irish were the hardest working of all." Joan --- On Sun, 12/28/08, dan hogan <hogan-4@sbcglobal.net> wrote: From: dan hogan <hogan-4@sbcglobal.net> Subject: Re: [IRISH-AMER] Irish Canal Diggers, America (1817-1830s) To: IRISH-AMERICAN-L@rootsweb.com Date: Sunday, December 28, 2008, 4:44 PM This is true and contradictory to standard US "History" being taught today that states that black slaves did most or all of this work and that America was "... built by slaves..." Slaves were too valuable for such conditions and it was cheaper to pay immigrants next to nothing as well as being expendible. Dan Hogan hogan-4@sbcglobal.net Enjoy the updated website for the Civil War Reenactment Society: www.cwrs.info ! --- On Sun, 12/28/08, Jean R. <jeanrice@cet.com> wrote: > From: Jean R. <jeanrice@cet.com> > Subject: [IRISH-AMER] Irish Canal Diggers, America (1817-1830s) - Irish vs. Irish - Secret Societies > To: IRISH-AMERICAN-L@rootsweb.com > Date: Sunday, December 28, 2008, 3:53 AM > SNIPPET: Many of the poor and unskilled Irish who arrived > before the Famine > found work building the earliest links in the emerging > American > transportation network. The greatest of these projects the > Erie Canal > (itself the brainchild of De Witt CLINTON, a descendant of > Longford > immigrants), was constructed largely using Irish labor > between 1817 and > 1825. It was a stupendous undertaking for any era - a > massive trench 363 > miles long across upstate NY connecting the Hudson River > with Lake Erie. As > this was the era before steam power, all of it was dug > using manual and > animal labor. The work was dangerous and poorly paid and > conditions in the > camps along the canal zone atrocious. One English visitor > to the canal camps > near Troy, NY, wrote that the shacks of the diggers were > "more like > dog-kennels than the habitations of men." Hundreds > died from injury or > disease in the making of the Erie and other canals such as > Chesapeake and > Ohio and the Illinois and Michigan, giving rise to the > oft-repeated > statement that the banks of America's canals are lined > with the bones of > stricken Irishmen. > > Perhaps the most extreme evidence of this raw exploitation > occurred in New > Orleans in the 1830s. There, the builders of the city's > New Basin Canal > expressed a preference for Irish over slave labor for the > simple reason that > a dead Irishman could be replaced in minutes at no cost > while a dead slave > resulted in the loss of more than one thousand dollars. An > old song, likely > exaggerating, put the death toll at twenty thousand: > "Ten thousand Micks, > they swung their picks/To dig the New Canal/But the > choleray was stronger 'n > they/An' twice it killed them all." > > Together, canal and road building, like the later railroad > construction, > explain why the Irish spread out so quickly across the > country. > > Because few unions existed in the 1830s and none for > unskilled construction > workers, Irish immigrants often formed secret fraternal > societies to > militantly protest their welfare. Along the Chesapeake and > Ohio Canal in MD, > for example, Irish laborers from Co. Cork drove away > workers who refused to > join their association. When Co. Longford workers were > brought in to > undercut the Corkmen, fierce battles broke out and > President Andrew JACKSON > sent in the army to restore order. Years later when the > company refused to > pay them, they destroyed their work! > > In the long run this spirit of collective action and > solidarity among Irish > worker in the 1830s provided the foundation for their > successful efforts to > organize into unions in the decades to come. In the short > term, however, it > usually did little to relieve the world of hard and poorly > paid work. > > -- Excerpts, "1001 Things Everyone Should Know About > Irish American > History," Edward T. O'Donnell (2002) ====Irish American Mailing List===== Add/check your surname to the Irish-American mailing list Surname Registry at: http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRISH-AMERICAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

This is true and contradictory to standard US "History" being taught today that states that black slaves did most or all of this work and that America was "... built by slaves..." Slaves were too valuable for such conditions and it was cheaper to pay immigrants next to nothing as well as being expendible. Dan Hogan hogan-4@sbcglobal.net Enjoy the updated website for the Civil War Reenactment Society: www.cwrs.info ! --- On Sun, 12/28/08, Jean R. <jeanrice@cet.com> wrote: > From: Jean R. <jeanrice@cet.com> > Subject: [IRISH-AMER] Irish Canal Diggers, America (1817-1830s) - Irish vs. Irish - Secret Societies > To: IRISH-AMERICAN-L@rootsweb.com > Date: Sunday, December 28, 2008, 3:53 AM > SNIPPET: Many of the poor and unskilled Irish who arrived > before the Famine > found work building the earliest links in the emerging > American > transportation network. The greatest of these projects the > Erie Canal > (itself the brainchild of De Witt CLINTON, a descendant of > Longford > immigrants), was constructed largely using Irish labor > between 1817 and > 1825. It was a stupendous undertaking for any era - a > massive trench 363 > miles long across upstate NY connecting the Hudson River > with Lake Erie. As > this was the era before steam power, all of it was dug > using manual and > animal labor. The work was dangerous and poorly paid and > conditions in the > camps along the canal zone atrocious. One English visitor > to the canal camps > near Troy, NY, wrote that the shacks of the diggers were > "more like > dog-kennels than the habitations of men." Hundreds > died from injury or > disease in the making of the Erie and other canals such as > Chesapeake and > Ohio and the Illinois and Michigan, giving rise to the > oft-repeated > statement that the banks of America's canals are lined > with the bones of > stricken Irishmen. > > Perhaps the most extreme evidence of this raw exploitation > occurred in New > Orleans in the 1830s. There, the builders of the city's > New Basin Canal > expressed a preference for Irish over slave labor for the > simple reason that > a dead Irishman could be replaced in minutes at no cost > while a dead slave > resulted in the loss of more than one thousand dollars. An > old song, likely > exaggerating, put the death toll at twenty thousand: > "Ten thousand Micks, > they swung their picks/To dig the New Canal/But the > choleray was stronger 'n > they/An' twice it killed them all." > > Together, canal and road building, like the later railroad > construction, > explain why the Irish spread out so quickly across the > country. > > Because few unions existed in the 1830s and none for > unskilled construction > workers, Irish immigrants often formed secret fraternal > societies to > militantly protest their welfare. Along the Chesapeake and > Ohio Canal in MD, > for example, Irish laborers from Co. Cork drove away > workers who refused to > join their association. When Co. Longford workers were > brought in to > undercut the Corkmen, fierce battles broke out and > President Andrew JACKSON > sent in the army to restore order. Years later when the > company refused to > pay them, they destroyed their work! > > In the long run this spirit of collective action and > solidarity among Irish > worker in the 1830s provided the foundation for their > successful efforts to > organize into unions in the decades to come. In the short > term, however, it > usually did little to relieve the world of hard and poorly > paid work. > > -- Excerpts, "1001 Things Everyone Should Know About > Irish American > History," Edward T. O'Donnell (2002)

SNIPPET: Many of the poor and unskilled Irish who arrived before the Famine found work building the earliest links in the emerging American transportation network. The greatest of these projects the Erie Canal (itself the brainchild of De Witt CLINTON, a descendant of Longford immigrants), was constructed largely using Irish labor between 1817 and 1825. It was a stupendous undertaking for any era - a massive trench 363 miles long across upstate NY connecting the Hudson River with Lake Erie. As this was the era before steam power, all of it was dug using manual and animal labor. The work was dangerous and poorly paid and conditions in the camps along the canal zone atrocious. One English visitor to the canal camps near Troy, NY, wrote that the shacks of the diggers were "more like dog-kennels than the habitations of men." Hundreds died from injury or disease in the making of the Erie and other canals such as Chesapeake and Ohio and the Illinois and Michigan, giving rise to the oft-repeated statement that the banks of America's canals are lined with the bones of stricken Irishmen. Perhaps the most extreme evidence of this raw exploitation occurred in New Orleans in the 1830s. There, the builders of the city's New Basin Canal expressed a preference for Irish over slave labor for the simple reason that a dead Irishman could be replaced in minutes at no cost while a dead slave resulted in the loss of more than one thousand dollars. An old song, likely exaggerating, put the death toll at twenty thousand: "Ten thousand Micks, they swung their picks/To dig the New Canal/But the choleray was stronger 'n they/An' twice it killed them all." Together, canal and road building, like the later railroad construction, explain why the Irish spread out so quickly across the country. Because few unions existed in the 1830s and none for unskilled construction workers, Irish immigrants often formed secret fraternal societies to militantly protest their welfare. Along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in MD, for example, Irish laborers from Co. Cork drove away workers who refused to join their association. When Co. Longford workers were brought in to undercut the Corkmen, fierce battles broke out and President Andrew JACKSON sent in the army to restore order. Years later when the company refused to pay them, they destroyed their work! In the long run this spirit of collective action and solidarity among Irish worker in the 1830s provided the foundation for their successful efforts to organize into unions in the decades to come. In the short term, however, it usually did little to relieve the world of hard and poorly paid work. -- Excerpts, "1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History," Edward T. O'Donnell (2002)

THE LARK IN THE CLEAR AIR Dear thoughts are in my mind And my soul soars enchanted, As I hear the sweet lark sing In the clear air of the day. For a tender beaming smile To my hope has been granted, And tomorrow she shall hear All my fond heart would say. I shall tell her all my love, All my soul's adoration; And I think she will hear me And will not say me nay. It is this that fills my soul With its joyous elation, As I hear the sweet lark sing In the clear air of the day. -- Sir Samuel FERGUSON. - Lawyer, Poet, Antiquarian, President Royal Irish Academy was born in Belfast in 1810 to a well-off ascendancy family, married Mary GUINNESS of the wealthy brewing family, couple lived at 20 North Great George's Street, Dublin.

CHRISTMAS TREE little tree little silent Christmas tree you are so little you are more like a flower who found you in the green forest and were you very sorry to come away? see I will comfort you because you smell so sweetly I will kiss your cool bark and hug you safe and tight just as your mother would, only don't be afraid look the spangles that sleep all the year in a dark box dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine, the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads, put up your little arms and i'll give them all to you to hold every finger shall have its ring and there won't be a single place dark or unhappy then when you are quite dressed you'll stand in the window for everyone to see and how they'll stare! oh but you'll be very proud and my little sister and i will take hands and looking up at our beautiful tree we'll dance and sing "Noel Noel" -- e. e. cummings American poet Edward Estlin Cummings (1894-1962), renowned poet, painter, and playwright, was born in Cambridge, MA, the son of a prominent Boston clergyman and teacher. Cummings volunteered as an ambulance driver in WWI and wrote his experiences in a detention camp, "The Enormous Room." (1922). Seeking a spontaneous and fresh presentation in his writing, he generally disregarded grammar and punctuation, even in his own name - coined his own words, ran words and sentences together. After their divorce, his first wife and daughter went to live in Ireland. Cummings always stressed individualism. Some of his verses have been set to music and played in various venues including Ireland. In Kilkenny the former Augustinian Friary played host to "A Wind Has Blown The Rain Away," an evening of e. e. cummings songs with NY composer/pianist Ellen Mandel, accompanied by tenor Toss Almond. The Queen's University, Belfast, has one of Cummings lines on their website - "The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."

I have updated the County Down births section on my website, and i would like to wish everyone on the list a Merry Christmas and a good New Year,and the best of luck in your research. Raymond http://www.raymondscountydownwebsite.com

*From The Bunbury Papers in the P.P.P.* *March 1798* *Handed up to James Corrigan by Michael Nowlan of Ballon.* * * * Resolved: * * That the use of Spirituous Liquors has been a means of Creathing Disputation in* *among the lower orders of the people and thereby enriched and Supported their oppressors.* *Resolved: * *That to remedy this we recommend our Brethern to avoid as much as possible the use of Foreign or Domestick Spirituous liquors and to Substitute in its place that wholesome Beverage Irish Brewed porter And Ale.* *Resolved:* ***That the wear of Irish Manufacture be recommended to Our friends and we Expect no Brother will purchase for himself or family any other Knowingly.* *Resolved:* *That We recommend Irishmen not to purchase any Newspaper but such as Assert the Cause of our Country and the wrongs of our oppressed and persecuted Brethern.* * Resolved:* * That we recommend our Brethern not to Drink or purchase the porter or ale of any Brewer who is known to be an enemy to union or the freedom of our Country And that we Should at times Deal with a Brother and no Other. *

Jack - That is lovely, haven't heard it before, thanks for sharing. (I understand that the little stone-chat bird can be found in gorse bushes - its call reminiscent of two stones clicking together.) Helen Jane WADDELL, daughter of the Rev. Hugh WADDELL of Co Down, Ireland, was a very gifted medieval scholar, translator, teacher, assistant editor and novelist. Born in Tokyo to Presbyterian missionary parents in 1889, she was the youngest of ten children. She wrote bible stories for children, patriotic poems and served as Air Raid warden in WWII London, her own house being bombed. She died in 1965 in London and was buried in Magherally churchyard, County Down. Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: <JackLangton@aol.com> To: <IRISH-AMERICAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 10:11 AM Subject: Re: [IRISH-AMER] "Whinlands" - Derry's Seamus HEANEY (contemp.) > Here's another poem that mentions the whin, I Shall Not Go to Heaven When > I > Die, by Ireland's Helen Waddell. Not much of a hook to hang a hat on, but > any > excuse to air this fine poem. > > I Shall Not Go To Heaven When I Die > > I shall not go to heaven when I die, > But if they let me be, > I think I'll take a road I used to know > That goes by Shere-na-garagh and the sea, > And all day breasting me the winds will blow, > And I'll hear nothing but the peewits' cry > And the waves talking in the sea below. > > I think it will be winter when I die, > For no one from the North could die in Spring-- > And so the heather will be green and grey; > And the bog-cotton will have blown away, > And there will be no yellow on the whin. > > But I shall smell the peat, > And when it's almost dark I'll set my feet > Where a white track goes glimmering to the hills, > And see far up a light-- > Do you think heaven could be so small a thing > As a lit window on the hills at night?-- > And come in stumbling from the gloom, > Half-blind, into a firelit room, > Turn, and see you. > And there abide. > > It it were true, > And if I thought that they would let me be, > I almost wish it were tonight I died. >

Here's another poem that mentions the whin, I Shall Not Go to Heaven When I Die, by Ireland's Helen Waddell. Not much of a hook to hang a hat on, but any excuse to air this fine poem. I Shall Not Go To Heaven When I Die I shall not go to heaven when I die, But if they let me be, I think I'll take a road I used to know That goes by Shere-na-garagh and the sea, And all day breasting me the winds will blow, And I'll hear nothing but the peewits' cry And the waves talking in the sea below. I think it will be winter when I die, For no one from the North could die in Spring-- And so the heather will be green and grey; And the bog-cotton will have blown away, And there will be no yellow on the whin. But I shall smell the peat, And when it's almost dark I'll set my feet Where a white track goes glimmering to the hills, And see far up a light-- Do you think heaven could be so small a thing As a lit window on the hills at night?-- And come in stumbling from the gloom, Half-blind, into a firelit room, Turn, and see you. And there abide. It it were true, And if I thought that they would let me be, I almost wish it were tonight I died. **************One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now. (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025)

WHINLANDS All year round the whin Can show a blossom or two But it's in full bloom now. As if the small yolk stain >From all the birds' eggs in All the nests of spring Were spiked and hung Everywhere on bushes to ripen. Hills oxidize gold. Above the smoulder of green shoot And dross of dead thorns underfoot The blossoms scald. Put a match under Whins, they go up of a sudden. They make no flame in the sun But a fierce heat tremor Yet incineration like that Only takes the thorn-- The tough sticks don't burn, Remain like bone, charred horn. Gilt, jaggy, springy, frilled, This stunted, dry richness Persists on hills, near stone ditches, Over flint bed and battlefield. -- Seamus HEANEY Seamus Heaney, who writes incomparably about the mossy places of Ulster, grew up on the edge of the Sperrins. And it's true that in a mild winter the whin, or gorse, is in perpetual flower. The blossoms smell like sweet coconut. Boiling eggs in whin to dye them yellow is an Easter custom. Some farmers pound the prickles to feed to their horses - it's said to keep the coat glossy. Pigs like whin too. A good root in a whin bush is a pig's delight.

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The Fields of Athenry By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young girl calling "Michael, they have taken you away, For you stole Trevelyan's corn, So the young might see the morn. Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay." Chorus: Low lie the fields of Athenry Where once we watched the small free birds fly Our love was on the wing We had dreams and songs to sing It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry. By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young man calling "Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free Against the famine and the crown, I rebelled, they cut me down. Now you must raise our child with dignity." By a lonely harbor wall, she watched the last star fall As the prison ship sailed out against the sky For she lived to hope and pray for her love in Botany Bay It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry. "The Fields of Athenry" is an Irish folk ballad set during the Great Irish Famine (1845-1850) about a fictional man from near Athenry in County Galway who has been sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay, Australia, for stealing food for his starving family. http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/Charles_Edward_Trevelyan http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/begins.htm. http://www.irelandforvisitors.com/articles/black_47.htm Hi Roland - Suggested reading above, and you can "google" for more in hopes of answering your query. There are some reference books listed, too, to further study the rationale for actions/inactions of Charles E. TREVELYAN and others during the Great Famine in Ireland. Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roland Young" <skepglen@yor.net> To: <IRISH-AMERICAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, December 13, 2008 10:37 AM Subject: [IRISH-AMER] Ireland > Does anyone have info. on how much food was sent to the Irish people from > the USA in the famine that they didn't GET? > Roland

A well remembered donation to famine relief was that made by the Choctaw tribe of American Indians who in 1847 sent a donation of $710, the equivalent of more than $100,000 today. They had a special affinity with the hungry and those who had lost their homes, since it was only 16 years since their tribe had walked the "Trail of Tears" from Oklahoma to Mississippi, along which many of them died. This extraordinary gift from a people who were not themselves wealthy has never been forgotten. In 1997, the 150th anniversary of that generous gesture a group of Irish people walked the 500 mile Trail of Tears in reverse, back to the Choctaw homeland, and in so doing raised over $100,000 for Famine relief in Somalia

Hi Mary, That's Teach Ceann Tuí, with an accent on the i. It means 'house of a head of straw.' So in English we'd say 'house with a head of straw'. Best, - Jerry -------------- Original message from "maidremm" <maidremm@alltel.net>: -------------- > Jerry, > > Beneath a picture of a thatched cottage on a Christmas card is written Teach > ceann tuf, Eanach Mheán. Can you translate this prase? > > Thanks for your help. > > Mary > > > ====Irish American Mailing List=====Add/check your surname to the Irish-American mailing list Surname Registry at: > http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ > > -------------------------------To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRISH-AMERICAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Jerry, Beneath a picture of a thatched cottage on a Christmas card is written Teach ceann tuf, Eanach Mheán. Can you translate this prase? Thanks for your help. Mary

Good point, but may be difficult to research. But this did get through : Donation A well remembered donation to famine relief was that made by the Choctaw tribe of American Indians who in 1847 sent a donation of $710, the equivalent of more than $100,000 today. They had a special affinity with the hungry and those who had lost their homes, since it was only 16 years since their tribe had walked the "Trail of Tears" from Oklahoma to Mississippi, along which many of them died. This extraordinary gift from a people who were not themselves wealthy has never been forgotten. In 1997, the 150th anniversary of that generous gesture a group of Irish people walked the 500 mile Trail of Tears in reverse, back to the Choctaw homeland, and in so doing raised over $100,000 for Famine relief in Somalia. On 12/13/08, Roland Young <skepglen@yor.net> wrote: > > Does anyone have info. on how much food was sent to the Irish people from > the USA in the famine that they didn't GET? > Roland > > ====Irish American Mailing List===== > Add/check your surname to the Irish-American mailing list Surname Registry > at: http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > IRISH-AMERICAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Does anyone have info. on how much food was sent to the Irish people from the USA in the famine that they didn't GET? Roland

FYI -- Per recent review, Jay P. DOLAN has written a very readable and informative overview of Irish-Americans from early times to the present. This interesting-sounding book begins with a short part on the "forgotten era" of 1700-1840, which emphasizes that early immigrants tended to be Protestant and that early Catholic immigrants were committed to more of an Irish national identity than a sectarian religious one. It was the specific immigrants in the 19th century who led to the common linkage of being Irish with being sectarian Catholics; indeed, the term "Scotch-Irish" was created to refer to Irish Protestants. Moreover, "to most Americans being Irish and Catholic was a liability," which generated discrimination. The heart of the book is the next two parts, "The Famine Generation and Beyond, 1840-1920" and "Becoming American, 1920-1960." Dolan vividly describes what the Irish call An Gorta Mor (the great hunger), caused by the failure of the potato crop in the 1840s. A typical adult male ate 12-14 pounds of the tubers per day, while women and older children consumed up to 11 pounds. More than a million people died in the five years between 1845-50 of hunger and associated diseases, this in a country of only eight million. During roughly the same period, between 1849-1854, about 250,000 people in 50,000 families were evicted from their homes by landlords. In eleven years, from 1845-1855, more people left Ireland (2.1 million) than in the prior 250 years. Almost 20 percent of Ireland's living population, 1.5 million people, came to the United States, with enduring consequences for both countries. Both Part Two and Part Three focus especially on three institutions that were central to the Irish experience in the succeeding century. One, not surprisingly, is the Catholic Church. As Dolan notes, until well after World War II, Irish Catholics tended to organize their lives around local parishes and the powerful co-ethnic priests who provided leadership. A second is politics. A significant part of American political history throughout this period is the rise of Irish-Catholic "bosses" in many great American cities, including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, not to mention the failed political presidential campaign of Al SMITH in 1928 and then the triumph of John F. KENNEDY in 1960. The third is labor unions. Many major leaders of American labor were Irish-Catholic. In the early 20th century, more than 50 of the total of 110 unions in the American Federation of Labor had Irish-Catholic presidents. A short final section, "Irish and American, 1960-2000" rather hurriedly takes his story into the present, though an important part of that story is the profound changes-in some cases outright collapse-that have taken place in the institutions that had formerly been dominated by the Irish. Indeed, immigration from Ireland has long since basically ended, not only because of changes in American immigration law, but also because of the prosperity of that country that has begun drawing emigrants from the United States! Per review, Dolan tells a fascinating story with verve and economy in "The Irish Americans" (Bloomsbury/USA 2008) -- a history of the Irish in America from the 18th century to today, by a leading scholar of the immigrant experience.

Tá an-fháilte romhat / You are very welcome. -------------- Original message from MCGOVGEN@aol.com: -------------- > Jerry thanks > **************Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and > favorite sites in one place. Try it now. > (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000010) > > ====Irish American Mailing List=====Add/check your surname to the Irish-American mailing list Surname Registry at: > http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ > > -------------------------------To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRISH-AMERICAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message