SNIPPET: After 1820, three-fourths of the Irish who came to America were Roman Catholics, and by 1920 the devotion and donations of immigrants had transformed Catholicism in the States from a tiny, insignificant church into America's largest and wealthiest denomination. In return, Catholicism became the immigrants' greatest source of solace and pride. >From 1853 to 1855, Fr. James DONNELLY, a priest - and later a bishop - in Ulster visited America to collect funds for Ireland's new Catholic university. His diary entries illustrate the immigrants' religious faith as well as the harshness of their lives: 15 Dec 1853: Reading, Pennsylvania. Oh! The poor Irish. Met six of them carrying the body of a carpenter who fell off a railroad bridge. 22 Jan 1854: Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Said Mass for the miners, all from Mayo and Sligo, in a shanty church, wind whistling through it. Never felt such cold. 23 Feb 1854: Summit, Pennsylvania. More Irish miners - good, simple people but behind the times, still fear ghosts... 16 July 1854: Cohoes, New York. Sang High Mass, preached at both Masses. Got $233 cash, all from servants and factory girls. 14 Nov 1854: Boston, Massachusetts: Yesterday election day in this state. "Know-Nothings" won by immense majority. Awful times at hand, I fear. 21 Dec 1854: Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Many Irish here, but as yet no church or priests. Attended a dying Irishman who burst into tears when he saw me. His room full of people, praying for him to live until a priest would come. Died before midnight. Never saw a clearer proof of God's mercy. -- Excerpts, K. & P. Miller, "Journey of Hope: The Story of Irish Immigration to America" (2001).