Irish and Irish-American History at The Nyack Library: a list of books and web sites: Irish American History & The Irish Diaspora

View the Table of Contents .   Read the Introduction . "Most will find this book alone as satisfying as a plate of praties or an endearing tin-whistle tune." —Foreword Magazine "This lavish compendium looks at the Irish and America from a variety of perspectives." —USA Today "For anyone with the slightest interest in the history of Irish immigrants in America, Lee and Casey's book is a wonderful foundation on which to build a knowledge base." —Northeast Book Reviews "From the double-meaning of its title to its roster of impressive contributors,Making the Irish Americanis destined for the bookshelves of all readers who aim to keep up on Irish-American history." —Irish America "For the astute editorial selection of the number of general and somewhat specialized articles, expertise of the authors, and documentation in articles and appendices plus notes and biographies,Making the Irish Americanis a major text tying together this field of ethnic studies with American history and social history." —Midwest Book Review Irish America- a land of pubs, politics, music, stories and St. Patricks Day. But of course, it's also so much more....Making the Irish Americanis one of the most comprehensive books of its kind." —NYU Today "InMaking the Irish American, editors J.J. Lee and Marion R. Casey have compiled an illustrated 700-page volume that traces the history of the Irish in the United States and shows the impact America has had on its Irish immigrants and vice versa. The book's 29 articles deal with various aspects of Irish-American life, including labor and unions, discrimination, politics, sports, entertainment and nationalism, as well as the future of Irish America. Among the contributors are Calvin Trillin, Pete Hamill, Daniel Patrick Moynihan and the editors." —Associated Press "This massive volume, copublished with Glucksman Ireland House at NYU, covers the Americanization of the Irish in 29 chapters. Eileen Reilly takes a comprehensive, albeit sanitized, look at the history of Ireland up to the present, covering everything from famine to the Good Friday accords. One thing that stands out is the remarkable misogynistic burden that Eamon DeValera's policies placed on Irish women (a married woman could not teach, and the government seemed to have a vested interest in her sexual habits, even through the 1980s). As the Irish inundated America during the Great Famine, we see them crawl up the ladder of success with the help of the 'Ubiquitous Bridget,' the indispensable Irish maids whose work spanned two centuries. Novelist Peter Quinn looks at 'Irish progress from Paddies to Pats.' The importance of labor unions in the rise of the Irish into the middle class is documented, as well as how, through battle in two world wars, the Irish finally earned their acceptance as nonhyphenated Americans, capped off by John F. Kennedy's election as president in 1960. This extremely thorough, thoughtful volume covers all the Irish bases up to the present." —Publishers Weekly Featuring 29 classic and original essays on the turbulent, vital, and fascinating story of the Irish in America. The contributors include Linda Dowling Almeida, Margaret Lynch-Brennan, Marion R. Casey, David Noel Doyle, Pete Hamill, Kevin Kenny, Rebecca S. Miller, Mick Moloney, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Peter Quinn, and Calvin Trillin. All it takes is one St. Patrick's Day in the United States to realize that the Irish did not dissolve into the melting pot, they took possession of it. Few othe

More than 45 million Americans today can claim some degree of Irish ancestry. Kevin Kenny covers the period of 1700 - 2000 when more than seven million Irish men, women and children migrated to the USA and examines the concentrated mass migration of five million which occurred between 1820 - 1920. This vast movement of people played a significant role in the shaping of modern Ireland and America. Offers an extended analysis of the conditions in Ireland which led to the mass migration, as well as, the effects in the economic, political and cultural development in the United states.

Rich in human detail, penetrating in analysis, this book is social history on an epic scale. The first "transatlantic" history of the Irish, Emigrants and Exiles offers the fullest account yet of the diverse waves of Irish emigration to North America. Drawing on enormous original research, Miller focuses on the thought and behavior of the "ordinary" Irish emigrants, as revealed in their personal letters, diaries, journals, and memoirs as well as in their songs, poems and folklore. Miller shows that the exile mentality was deeply rooted in Irishhistory, culture and personality, and it profoundly affected both the traumatic course of modern Irish history and the Irish experience in America.