Customer Reviews

The Irish Americans: A History

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Despite my Welsh surname the roots of my family tree run mostly to Ireland and for that reason I obviously found this book to be a fascinating read. As I read through this book though it became clear to me that any student of American history would find this to be a very interesting book because it is almost impossible to study American history without having to deal with the Irish. From the canals, railroads and tunnels built by Irish workers to Irish-Americans like John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan who reached the very pinnacle of American life, the Irish have been a key element if the success of America from its very beginning and this book covers its subject extraordinarily well.

One of the things that appealed most to me about this book was the author's coverage of the Irish who arrived in America before the potato famine. Many of my Irish Catholic ancestors arrived in America before the Revolution and almost all of them were here before the famine but those early immigrants are often ignored or it is assumed that they were all Protestant and for the most part Scotch-Irish. The further back into history that one looks the harder it is to come up with sources but this author has not let that deter him from including people like my ancestors in this book.

Given the vast nature of this subject I'm sure that it must have been tempting for Mr. Dolan to try to squeeze as many facts as possible into this book by hitting the reader with a rapid fire kind of approach that would have accomplished little except cause confusion but he has resisted that temptation and has written a thoroughly enjoyable and informative book. Many academics write in a somewhat dry style that makes extracting information from their books into almost a chore but this author writes in a very pleasing and readable manner. He takes the time to include little Shelby Foote type anecdotes that help to keep the text flowing and also serve as key insights into the lives of some very colorful characters. As one blurb for this book points out this is a sweeping and vast story but this author manages to tell that story while at the same time focusing on the individuals who helped to drive that story.

As the author points out at the end of this book it is now rather fashionable to be Irish. Quite a feat for a people who in the not so distant past were often met with signs saying, "No Irish" or "No Irish Need Apply." This is indeed a vast subject but Mr. Dolan has condensed this epic tale into a very enjoyable, factual and thorough survey that would make the perfect starting point for anyone interested in this subject. I ran across a couple of references to surnames in my family tree and learned a little about my personal heritage and a lot about my Irish heritage. There is no attempt to whitewash the darker episodes in the history of Irish-Americans and there are some disturbing episodes in that history. The author does however take the time to explain what might have caused those problems instead of just pointing them out in a critical manner and then moving on. We Irish aren't perfect after all but we are darn close.

This book succeeds well on a number of levels, and certainly succeeds for what it seems the author wanted it to be. Most importantly, it's a solid, accurate, and complete view of the subjects it covers, without being excessively detailed. (If this kind of book isn't accurate and complete, not much else matters!) If Irish Americans are a subject you're interested in, this book is a good choice.

Some, like me, might first approach such a book with a bit of dread. As much as the topic of the Irish in America is an interesting and varied one, for that very reason it can seem a well-worn path: the Great Hunger, No Irish Need Apply, Tammany Hall, John F. Kennedy. Luckily Dolan bookends the story that we are more familiar with by covering the Irish prior to the largest immigration (rightly termed "A Forgotten Era"); as well as some discussion of recent decades. (Though the question of what it means to be "Irish" in America today - another generation or two removed from Ireland, in a media-saturated environment, and in a more diverse country - isn't addressed in depth, and perhaps could be a book in itself.) And in between, you'll find you didn't know the story nearly as well as you thought you did! And gain an understanding of not just what happened, but why.

In looking for a comprehensive history of the Irish in America, though, I'd hoped it would be a bit broader. As the author acknowledges up front, the book does not cover the role of Irish Americans in literature, music, sports, etc. The focus is on politics, religion, labor and nationalism. (If that covers what you're looking for, though, this might be a five star book.)

From the topics covered and the style of the book, it's a little hard not to feel that the book was written to allow it to be required reading for a university course, as well as appealing to a broader audience.

But of course there's always a tradeoff in what's covered and how - this topic could easily have justified a multivolume set, and who knows, maybe it will be! As long as this book fits what you're looking for, The Irish Americans is the book to buy on the subject.

"The Irish Americans: A History" traces the history of the Irish in America from 1700 up through the current century. My previous knowledge of the Irish in America was gained through reading chapters in books specific to such subjects as immigration, politics, history, and religion. This book is the first title I have read in which the Irish Americans are looked at exclusively.

The author, Jay P. Dolan, divides the book into four sections: A Forgotten Era (1700 - 1840), The Famine Generation and Beyond (1840 - 1920), Becoming American (1920 - 1960), and Irish and American (1960 - 2000). Each section contains a wealth of information about the Irish experience. It should be noted that the author pays particular attention to the involvement of Irish Americans in politics, but also gives attention to religion, discrimination, education, family life, labor, and economy.

Something that needs to be mentioned is that this book is focused mainly on the Irish American experience in the cities. I would argue that this is a reasonably big weakness in a book with the objective of presenting a historical overview of Irish Americans. Irish Americans have a rich history in rural America that is largely absent in "The Irish Americans: A History."

The beautiful thing about "The Irish Americans" is that it is easily accessible and useful to the casual reader interested in the history of the Irish in America, while at the same time it contains solid scholarship and expertise to the point that it is a valuable tool for folks doing research. Dolan clearly has a strong grasp of the subject matter. Readers of this book will learn not only about the specific history of Irish Americans, but also learn a great deal about the general history of America. "The Irish Americans: A History" is a superb book for what it covers. Just be aware that the focus is on Irish Americans in urban areas, not rural ones.

If you are looking for a fairly comprehensive look at the contributions of the Irish to American politics and public life, then this is the book for you. A detailed study of the history of prominant Irish Americans, this book is a must-read for any Irish American.

The book does read a lot like a college textbook, and I can easily see it being used as such. Despite my high level of interest in the topic, the book was hard to sink into, and certainly required breaks to cleanse the palette. There is a certain amount of repetition which detracted from the reading experience, and I would have appreciated a less dry tone throughout much of the text. Regardless, the book was an excellent effort to record the historical contributions of a powerful minority population in the US, and I would recommend this book to others interested in this history.

Mr. Dolan does a wonderful job of retelling the Irish American experience in such a way that it repeats the key and critical aspects yet at the same time is fresh and interesting. By focusing on such areas as faith, labor and nationalism he does a great job of focusing on what the Irish excelled at in assimilating to the American experience. The book works because it treads on the familiar names and turfs (Kennedy's, Boston, New York) while also venturing to San Francisco and the South and other areas that don't get much attention.

I also think Mr. Dolan deserves special praise for treating Al Smith as more than just a trivia answer or as the failed Catholic candidate before Kennedy. Like a lot of people in this book Smith is treated with an honest view warts and all of what he did yet no axes to grind seem evident here.

All in all this is a great work and I recommend it to anyone interested in Irish American history.

Jay P. Dolan (Professor Emeritus of History, University of Notre Dame) presents The Irish Americans: A History, a narrative examination of Irish-Americans. "The Irish Americans" covers the saga of Irish-American immigrants and their descendants from the American colonial era to the historical potato famine that spurred an exodus of millions of poor immigrants, to rise of Irish political power and the election of John F. Kennedy as President of the United States, to the end of the twentieth century in the year 2000. "For those Irish who rode the economic escalator up to middle-class respectability, a move to the suburbs generally followed. But more was involved than just an increase in income. A decisive influence was the migration of blacks and Hispanics into the old Irish neighborhoods... The Irish were too numerous and too complex a group to be identified with only one side of the controversy. Many were conservative bigots, hurling epithets at King and his supporters; many were numbered among the liberal activists marching shoulder to shoulder with King. The same type of division present in Chicago was true in Philadelphia and other cities where the migration of blacks into old immigrant neighborhoods led to racial confrontation... a study done in the 1980s by the sociologist Andrew M. Greeley concluded that a majority of the Irish 'have been more sympathetic to integration' than other Catholic ethnics as well as all Protestants during the 1970s." A fascinating, account that academicians and lay readers alike can enjoy, The Irish Americans: A History is an especially welcome addition to public and college library shelves.

WOW- what superb detail of the Irish History - My husband is Irish and he kept saying WOW - I didn't know that- He remembered some facts that Jay described, that his Dad had told him - So Jay has accurately depicted the History of some Good & Proud people-This is a good read for those who are a little bit interested in the IRISH - You will not be able to put this one down.

For any student of American history the study of the Irish in America is essential and Jay Dolan has written an outstanding and highly readable chronicle. Considering the volume of Irish that immigrated to the United States their tale is very much the story of America since they serve as examples of the social and economic mobility that is a central feature to the United States. Because of their distinct history and cultural traits, the tale of the Irish also serves as the story of American Catholicism, urbanization, municipal politics, and the labor movement. Covering the 18th century to the present, Dolan provides delicious morsels of information that elucidates aspects of American society that would be difficult to understand if not understood within the context of Irish American history.

Dolan provides the origin of Catholic Maryland and a biography of the sole Irish Catholic who signed the Declaration of Independence. He explains the causes behind the various waves of Irish immigration before, during and after the Great Irish Famine. He provides the background of the Scot-Irish who were the 18th century Protestant Ulster Irish who later claimed a new identity to distinguish themselves from later waves of Catholic Irish. He explains the nature of Irish discrimination and how their exclusion from many social spheres led them to create strong Catholic enclaves, which centered on the establishment of parishes which included social support institutions such as orphanages, hospitals, shelters, and schools. These enclaves also served as platforms for their dominance in politics where, over other ethnic immigrant groups, they were able to take advantage of their ability to speak English and their inherited knowledge of Anglo-Saxon style of government.

Until the early 19th century urban Irish and blacks congregated in the same areas, even marrying each other; however, according to Dolan, relations eroded as competition for jobs intensified, and the Irish gravitated towards the Democratic Party, in part because they were excluded from nativist sentiment in the Republican party, and because the pro-slavery Democrats kept blacks secluded in the south out of competition against the Irish for low-skilled jobs in the north. Dolan highlights that the Irish attachment to the Democratic party's and it's pro-slavery position contributed to their relatively low participation rate (in proportion to their population) in the Union Army during the Civil War.

After the Civil War, with a devastated south, the Democratic Party was in a weakened condition. As a result of the ever-increasing numbers of Irish in the north due to immigration and birth, they strongly influenced the growth of the Democratic party with their social circumstances and elements of their culture. For example, because of their experiences in contending with English rule in Ireland, Irish immigrants brought with them a tradition of political adeptness. Because of discriminatory attitudes which exluded them from areas in the private sector, the Irish used politics as a means for economic advancement by establishing a powerful patronage system that galvanized Irish voters to elect Irish politicians that provided them with municipal jobs. Additionally, because the Irish were Catholics, their faith's concern for the downtrodden fueled the party's social liberalism which evolved into its involvement with the labor movement. Despite the strong union strain in the party, it never veered off towards towards socialism because of the Catholic Church's opposition to it, which also kept the party relatively conservative. Under the influence of Irish Americans municipal resources were used to address the social and economic needs of the destitute which also helped them churn out new votes. According to Dolan, all of this contributed to the `machine politics' reputation the Democratic party earned especially in cities like New York, Boston and Chicago, which all had large Irish populations. These cultural influences from the late 19th century and onward softened the Democratic party's earlier and traditional attachments to Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, anti-mercentalism and small government philosophy.

There are many important lessons to learn from the Irish American experience with regards to cultural nationalism, identity politics, and the role of religion in civic life. Dolan's work is a very important and appreciated contribution not only in the understanding a people, but their influence on the character of a nation.

This is my first purchase of any Irish American books and I must say I am impressed. The information of John F. Kennedy and being Catholic is great. I highly recommend this book. Great read.

This book focuses on the history of the Irish in American from the seventeen hundreds through to the present time. The author is a professor at Notre Dame and teaches immigration and ethnic history.

This is a wonderful book, full of detail, that tells the stories of Irish immigrants and the history of their life if America.

It's a very detailed, complete and interesting narrative and recommended for anyone who wants to learn more about the Irish experience in America.