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The remaking of Irish-america, 1845–80

DAVID NOEL DOYLE

in A New History of Ireland, Volume VI: Ireland Under the Union, II: 1870-1921

This chapter examines the history of Irish immigration to America during the period from 1845 to 1880, the pattern of which was, during this period, influenced by four major events. These include the ... More

This chapter examines the history of Irish immigration to America during the period from 1845 to 1880, the pattern of which was, during this period, influenced by four major events. These include the Great Famine, which led the more than a million Irish to migrate to America; the reduction in the protestant element in Irish America; the triumph of Irish nationalist ideology, which created an ethos of distinctiveness and techniques of group advancement; and America's rapid industrialisation, which provided new form and concentration to the expanded Irish migration.Less

Class, Culture, and Immigrant Group Identity in the United States: The Case of Irish-American Ethnicity

Kerby A. Miller

in Immigration Reconsidered: History, Sociology, and Politics

This chapter examines ethnicity, its origins, development, and consequences, with specific reference to Irish immigration and Irish America. It emphasizes class differences among Irish immigrants to ... More

This chapter examines ethnicity, its origins, development, and consequences, with specific reference to Irish immigration and Irish America. It emphasizes class differences among Irish immigrants to explain both the dynamics of immigration and the resulting Irish-American culture. By 1900, Irish ethnic identity had achieved an ultimate synthesis: a “good Irish American” was at least one if not all of the following: a good Democrat, a practicing Catholic, a good family man or devoted wife and mother, in most cases a loyal union member, and nearly always at least a passive supporter of Ireland's “sacred cause.”Less

Introduction

Lindsey Flewelling

in Two Irelands Beyond the Sea: Ulster Unionism and America, 1880-1920

This chapter provides a brief introduction to the two strands of history that intersect throughout Two Irelands beyond the Sea: the histories of Irish unionism and Irish-America. The chapter lays ... More

This chapter provides a brief introduction to the two strands of history that intersect throughout Two Irelands beyond the Sea: the histories of Irish unionism and Irish-America. The chapter lays forth the book’s central argument, that the reciprocal relationship between Irish unionism and the United States must be understood as part of a wider appreciation of the unionist movement in the Home Rule era. Moreover, the United States greatly influenced the ways in which Irish unionists conceived of themselves and of their own movement, through both their conflicted attempts to gain American support and their use of the United States and Scotch-Irish identity symbolically in their fight against Home Rule. The chapter also argues that the links between Protestant Irish-America and Ireland are a key part of understanding the development of Scotch-Irish ethnic organizations in this time period.Less

Ulster Unionists and Irish-American Nationalism in the Late Nineteenth Century

Lindsey Flewelling

in Two Irelands Beyond the Sea: Ulster Unionism and America, 1880-1920

Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, Irish unionists increasingly associated Irish-America with violence and extremism. This chapter examines the relationship of Irish unionists and ... More

Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, Irish unionists increasingly associated Irish-America with violence and extremism. This chapter examines the relationship of Irish unionists and the United States in this era, as unionists denounced American funding of Irish nationalism, condemned Irish Parliamentary Party connections to violence and crime, and feared the threat of separatism. Unionists also emphasized the international appeal of their own movement as they attempted to draw support from the United States in their campaigns against Home Rule. This chapter concludes that the unionists’ approach to the United States was paradoxical and multifaceted, as they attempted to condemn Irish-American influence and extremism while at the same time seeking American aid for their own movement.Less

The Third Home Rule Crisis, the First World War, and Partition

Lindsey Flewelling

in Two Irelands Beyond the Sea: Ulster Unionism and America, 1880-1920

This chapter analyses the third Home Rule crisis at the beginning of the twentieth century, as Irish unionism evolved to focus on a distinctive Ulster identity separate from the rest of Ireland. ... More

This chapter analyses the third Home Rule crisis at the beginning of the twentieth century, as Irish unionism evolved to focus on a distinctive Ulster identity separate from the rest of Ireland. Militancy was increasingly open, partially justified a violent image of Irish-America which the unionists themselves had created. Next, the chapter investigates the role of the United States in World War I-era Irish politics, which had the effect of increasing Ulster unionists’ sense that their loyalty to the British government had been betrayed. The unionist movement advanced during this period to become increasingly militant, focused in Ulster, and gradually accepting of partition. Unionists sought to discredit Irish-America and American government influence, and appeal to the American people to support their own movement.Less

Scotch-Irish Identity and Attitudes to Home Rule

Lindsey Flewelling

in Two Irelands Beyond the Sea: Ulster Unionism and America, 1880-1920

This chapter surveys the immigration and identity formation of the Scotch-Irish in America during the nineteenth century. Two ethnic organizations, the Scotch-Irish Society of America and the Loyal ... More

This chapter surveys the immigration and identity formation of the Scotch-Irish in America during the nineteenth century. Two ethnic organizations, the Scotch-Irish Society of America and the Loyal Orange Institution of the United States, are analysed as windows to Scotch-Irish ties back to Ireland the involvement in the unionist cause. The chapter explores the ways in which the Scotch-Irish responded to Irish-American calls for Home Rule and independence, attempted to support the unionists, and remained connected to Ireland. The Scotch-Irish were influenced by and remained interested in conditions in Ireland. In addition, the Ulster Scots themselves were affected by the actions and legacy of the Scotch-Irish. They used Scotch-Irish ethnic heritage to help form their own “Ulsterman” identity, which was in turn utilized to unify the unionist movement.Less

Unionist Visits to America

Lindsey Flewelling

in Two Irelands Beyond the Sea: Ulster Unionism and America, 1880-1920

This chapter examines three transatlantic visits by unionist propagandists between 1886 and 1920. These visits emphasized the unionists’ concerns for the cultivation of Anglo-American friendship and ... More

This chapter examines three transatlantic visits by unionist propagandists between 1886 and 1920. These visits emphasized the unionists’ concerns for the cultivation of Anglo-American friendship and Protestant unity, as well as their focus on countering Irish-American influence. They hoped to foster the development of a transatlantic unionist community with resultant moral and financial support against Home Rule, and to diminish Irish-American nationalist credibility. These three cases reveal how the unionists marketed themselves while overseas, their approaches to the opposition of nationalist influence in America, and their views of the United States. These visits also show the pitfalls in the unionists’ American tactics which help to explain the limited success of their movement.Less

The Idea of America

Lindsey Flewelling

in Two Irelands Beyond the Sea: Ulster Unionism and America, 1880-1920

The United States played a significant role in unionist political thought and rhetoric throughout the Home Rule era. Ulster unionists used American examples to emphasize the need to maintain unity ... More

The United States played a significant role in unionist political thought and rhetoric throughout the Home Rule era. Ulster unionists used American examples to emphasize the need to maintain unity between Great Britain and Ireland, and to provide historical justification for unionist actions. This chapter examines the ways in which the American Revolutionary War, Civil War, and Constitution were utilized in unionist rhetoric. Unionists drew upon these American historical and constitutional examples to highlight ethnic connections to the United States, underscore the failed obligations of the British government to fight to save the Union, and legitimize Ulster militancy.Less

Conclusion

Lindsey Flewelling

in Two Irelands Beyond the Sea: Ulster Unionism and America, 1880-1920

Two Irelands beyond the Sea concludes with a brief examination of the continued relationship with Ulster unionists and the United States to the present day, determining that the inability of ... More

Two Irelands beyond the Sea concludes with a brief examination of the continued relationship with Ulster unionists and the United States to the present day, determining that the inability of unionists to effectively deal with the United States has roots in the Home Rule era. The Ulster unionists’ efforts at the turn of the twenty-first century echoed the problems and precedents of the anti-Home Rule campaign between 1880 and 1920. The chapter draws together the separate themes of the preceding chapters within the context of Irish unionist and Irish-American history. The book concludes by reinforcing the importance of the United States to Irish unionists, while emphasizing the inconsistencies and contradictions which limited the effectiveness of their appeal.Less

From peace to reconciliation

TD Dermot Ahern

in Peacemaking in the twenty-first century

This chapter reflects a key phase in the Northern Ireland peace process. It addresses the next steps that would need to be taken to pave the way for true reconciliation. It reflects on three ... More

This chapter reflects a key phase in the Northern Ireland peace process. It addresses the next steps that would need to be taken to pave the way for true reconciliation. It reflects on three important issues; building prosperity; tackling sectarianism; and ensuring that the peace process must leave no one behind.Less

MacBride and the Irish Government

in The Macbride Principles: Irish America Strikes Back

This chapter describes how the publication of the MacBride Principles placed the Irish government in a difficult position. The Irish government did not wish to antagonise the UK. It did not want the ... More

This chapter describes how the publication of the MacBride Principles placed the Irish government in a difficult position. The Irish government did not wish to antagonise the UK. It did not want the perception that it was, particularly covertly, encouraging support for the MacBride campaign. However, it could not ignore the moral implications of the MacBride campaign and its importance to Irish-America.Less

The search for direction, 1923–6

Gavin Wilk

in Transatlantic defiance: The militant Irish republican movement in America, 1923-45

The militant Irish republican movement in America witnessed a difficult period from 1923 to 1926. Once the IRA failed in its efforts to debilitate the new Irish Free State through military action, ... More

The militant Irish republican movement in America witnessed a difficult period from 1923 to 1926. Once the IRA failed in its efforts to debilitate the new Irish Free State through military action, the militant dimension of Irish republicanism became suddenly exposed. This chapter examines the state of the militant republican movement in the United States from the end of the Irish Civil War to a transatlantic agreement in 1926 that aligned the IRA and Clan na Gael. Attention is paid to the historical dynamics of the Clan including the leading role of Philadelphia republican Joseph McGarrity in the Clan, Éamon de Valera’s failure in uniting the political and militant Irish republican forces of Irish-America, and the burgeoning relationship between the IRA and the Clan na Gael.Less

Community Famine Commemoration in Northern Ireland and the Diaspora

Emily Mark-Fitzgerald

in Commemorating the Irish Famine: Memory and the Monument

This chapter surveys a range of community commemorations in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Canada and the United States that constitute smaller scale, vernacular counterparts to officially ... More

This chapter surveys a range of community commemorations in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Canada and the United States that constitute smaller scale, vernacular counterparts to officially sanctioned (and nationally scaled) monumental projects. Whether navigating volatile commemorative geographies marked by sectarian divisions; editing and refashioning traditional monumental forms like the high cross or megalithic stones; or indulging in fictive melodrama through bronze figurative groups – diasporic monuments reveal a surprising continuity with nineteenth-century methods of visualising Famine, substituting the heroic for the ugly, optimism for despair, sentimentality for horror. Adopting a transnational approach, the survey and case studies of this chapter demonstrate how Famine memorials bear a striking resemblance to one another and share a repetitive, often romanticized visual vocabulary, as well as strong threads of interconnection that bind monuments across three continents to one another. Though the rallying cry ‘Remember the Famine’ unites these memorials, their form indicates that questions of what diasporic Famine memory actually is and why it should be remembered remain far from consensual.Less

National and nationalist politics

Paul Huddie

in The Crimean War and Irish Society

This chapter will show that the Crimean War was perhaps the most positive chapter in Ireland’s nineteenth century history of governance, agitation and conspiracy and society’s relationship with the ... More

This chapter will show that the Crimean War was perhaps the most positive chapter in Ireland’s nineteenth century history of governance, agitation and conspiracy and society’s relationship with the executive. It will do this by illustrating that between the Famine and the rise of the IRB Irish people demonstrated an aversion for political upheavals, and that this was especially manifest during the Russian campaign. This will be shown to have stemmed from several factors, including a lack of external support and internal organisation, which ensured that there could be no nationalist response comparable to the Great War in the case of those involved in the Easter Rising. It will also be shown that, due to the rampant anti-British rhetoric and apparent active preparations of Irish-Americans to invade Ireland, precautions were taken the British government in Ireland – Dublin Castle. A specific policy was pursued in order to ensure that nothing disturbed what was deemed by the Irish authorities to be a prosperous, loyal and peaceful country. Finally, it will be shown that those positive attributes were also eagerly fostered and encouraged by the lord lieutenant of Ireland, through speeches, visits to invalided Irish soldiers and orchestration of a national banquet.Less

American Wake: Joyce and Irish America

Brian Fox

in James Joyce’s America

This chapter focuses on Joyce and Irish America. It argues that the phenomenon of Irish emigration to the United States, particularly in the post-Famine period, transformed the culture and society of ... More

This chapter focuses on Joyce and Irish America. It argues that the phenomenon of Irish emigration to the United States, particularly in the post-Famine period, transformed the culture and society of Ireland in ways in which Joyce was responsive in his writings. The chapter begins with an overview of connections between Ireland and America in the post-Famine period. It then moves on to a discussion of Joyce’s concept of that history as it is expressed in his so-called ‘Triestine writings’ (1907–12). Clear and specific allusions to Irish America are rare in Dubliners, A Portrait, and Ulysses, so the discussion jumps to Finnegans Wake and the significance of Irish America to several key features and characters in that work. It concludes with an analysis of Joyce’s correspondence in the mid-1930s with his son Giorgio as the latter pursued a music career in the United States.Less

‘Director for International Bluff’: Imagining a Role for Ireland on the World Stage

Gerard Keown

in First of the Small Nations: The Beginnings of Irish Foreign Policy in the Inter-War Years, 1919–1932

The emerging Sinn Féin worldview on Ireland’s place in the international order is examined in Chapter 3. Overlapping ideas of the country’s identity combined the role of mother country to a global ... More

The emerging Sinn Féin worldview on Ireland’s place in the international order is examined in Chapter 3. Overlapping ideas of the country’s identity combined the role of mother country to a global diaspora with that of small European state and Anglophone Catholic power. Irish nationalists were drawn to the emerging internationalist thinking that shaped the post-war settlement and strove to establish an international rationale for Irish independence based on the concepts of self-determination and freedom of the seas. They also saw themselves as having a leadership role for Egyptians, Indians, and other nationalities within the British Empire. A complex relationship with Irish America revealed the strengths and the limitations of Irish ability to influence events. These competing ideas were suffused with the notion of a moral foreign policy; that an Irish voice in world affairs would be an honest voice, free from the agendas of others.Less