The New York Irish [Paperback]

Ronald H. Bayor (Editor), Timothy Meagher (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0801857643 | ISBN-13: 978-0801857645 | Publication Date: July 30, 1997

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

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

New York was the primary entry point for most Irish immigrants coming to America, so the history of the Irish in New York is, to some extent, also the history of the Irish in America. And it's safe to say that reading the essays in The New York Irish would enrich anyone's understanding of American history, which is, of course, the story of how different ethnic groups came together to form a nation. Of particular interest in the collection are essays about the Irish in New York's early days, from the Colonial period up to the years of the Great Famine (which led to the "Great Migration" of Irish to America). The history of the Irish as they sought to become Americans is often painful, and riots, church burnings, and rampant discrimination are recounted in chilling detail. Yet the essays, which have been intelligently selected and organized, are quite readable and often entertaining.

Review

A handsome, weighty tome that boasts contributions from the cream of Irish history specialists.

(Irish Echo )

A landmark work for Irish-American scholarship.

(Irish Literary Supplement )

This reading should be compulsory... [for those] who would like to view New York City's history from a different but most significant angle.

(New-York Genealogical and Biographical Record )

This Bayor and Meagher collection repays slow, careful reading, from beginning to end, notes and all. The notes and references are excellent.

(Irish Studies Review )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 768 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (July 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801857643
• ISBN-13: 978-0801857645
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > History > Europe > Ireland

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exhaustive and Significant, January 20, 2004

By 

Rocco Dormarunno (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The New York Irish (Paperback)

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

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Resource, February 14, 2010

By 

M. Cassidy (Omaha) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The New York Irish (Paperback)

I first saw this book years ago and purchased it in 1997 or so. It has sat on my shelves for years with occasional perusals but never could get interested enough to read it cover to cover. With all the recent snow I have finally done so and am glad I did. The book is a set of essays written on a variety of topics.

I have the quality paperback and have to share that it is losing quite a few pages. I know it is a dozen years old but books should stay in one piece better than this one has.