The Encyclopedia of the Irish in America [Hardcover]

Michael Glazier (Editor), Daniel Patrick Moynihan (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

A detailed reference work chronicling the effects of Irish immigration on the American story begins with the mass emigration of the 1840s and traces the many contributions made by Irish-Americans over the next century and a half.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Hailing itself as the first encyclopedia of its kind, this ambitious reference work tries mightily to document every meaningful person, place, or thing Irish in America. Glazier (The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History) devotes several dual-column pages of dense text to such well-known topics as emigration and the famine--but he also mentions Christopher Columbus because he visited Ireland and had an Irishman in his crew. Every state, including Hawaii, has had Irishmen in it, and so every state gets an entry. What may earn this title space on the shelves, however, is its exhaustive coverage of Irish American clerics, politicians, artists, actors, writers, and little-known businessmen. The entries, written by almost 250 contributors, cite scholarly books, other encyclopedias, magazines, and a couple of web pages. Useful for any public collection.
-Robert C. Moore, Raytheon, Sudbury, MA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1012 pages
• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press; First Edition edition (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0268027552
• ISBN-13: 978-0268027551
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.8 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,114,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Reliable Information - NOT!, January 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Encyclopedia of the Irish in America (Hardcover)

I purchased this book as a researcher to assist me in my work and serve as a tool to both speed-up processes and use as a source to back-up my findings. One would imagine that the publishers would have provided accurate information. I found several errors in the information provided which demonstrates a lack of research and sloppiness in proofing of material contained within it. For instance; Judy Garland (a well known Irish American with very public information) is listed as the granddaughter of a FITZGERALD she was a FITZPATRICK ( big difference when you are using the information for research and genealogy and want a reliable source document for footnotes or bibliographies! the errors can result in un-substantiated work and wrong information. There are other errors less obvious but are too numerous to list. In short, this book was a waste of money and time on my part being of no help at all. I question all the data contained in it. The publisher has not provided a correction of the page as requested by me.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive, definitive survey of Irish-American history., March 3, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Encyclopedia of the Irish in America (Hardcover)

This weighty volume will appeal to holdings with strong Irish history interests: it is compiled by a panel of scholars drawn from various nations and details the Irish people in Ireland and America. The inclusion of listings by state and area allows students to narrow their studies to local Irish history, while the listings include notable individuals, events, and social and religious topics affecting the Irish. A comprehensive and important addition to any serious Irish history collection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough Big Book, November 6, 2005

By 

John P. Rooney "John" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Encyclopedia of the Irish in America (Hardcover)

"Encyclopedia Of The Irish In America", Edited by Michael Glazier. University of Notre Dame Press, 1999.

At almost a thousand pages, this is a big book, listing, alphabetically, many, many Irish Americans, from the very famous to those know only to historical specialists. Further, there are subject sections that are very interesting. For example, from pages 275 to 292, the section, entitled, "Ethnic Relations", gives a concise summary of the history of how the Irish in America dealt with the Blacks, Germans, Italians, Jews and Poles. There is also a state by state examination of the history of the Irish immigrants; some sections are only a few pages (e.g.. Montana), while other state sections (New York, New Jersey) are necessarily larger. If you are interested in which state had the greatest collection of Irish-born, take a look at the table on pages 461-462.

You could spend many a night going alphabetically through this excellent reference, and you will be surprised with the achievements of the Irish-Americans, ranging from their many different occupations to the many awards the Irish-Americans have garnered. Page 635: Audie Murphy, most decorated soldier in World War II. Page 369: Andrew Greeley, priest, sociologist and novelist (his books are listed on Amazon). Page 601: Thomas Francis Meagher, Civil War General and editor. If you wanted to know more about the Irish in America, this book is a good place to start.