This year marks the 140th anniversary of the Irish potato famine, that act of God and government which permanently altered the face of the Irish people and of the new American culture they helped cultivate.
Unlike any other immigrant wave to crash the shores of the New World, the Gaelic migration almost immediately spurred an entirely new breed of people, as American as any fruit pie or summer game: the Irish-American. And that breed was largely responsible for building such institutions as the American Catholic Church, urban political machines, the national labor union, and the American parochial school system. The Irish experience in America provides a unique example of the blending of two traditions.
To fully understand what the Irish-Americans are, and what impact they have had on the rest of the nation, try searching for the Irish in America. Oh, sure, you will find more than 40 million who claim Irish ancestry. And you can play Gaelic football and hurling at Gaelic Park in New York, or go to Irish dances and festivals in Philadelphia, or join Irish folk groups in Boston, or in scores of other American cities. And you can drink green beer on St. Patrick's Day, buy Lucky Charms cereal, laugh at the Irish wit, and say, "Top 'o the morning.'"
But where are the Irish?
They are no longer distinct in America and in fact never were, say many scholars and Irish descendants, because the Irish have blended in so completely. In the process they have added much that is their own, and in their turn they have permanently influenced the character and characteristics of America. As early as 1864, Thomas Lowe Nichols said in his two-volume work, Forty Years of American Life, that the Irish "are more American than the Americans."
"The Irish immigrants immediately became purely American," explains attorney John Cooke of the American Irish Historical and Cultural Society, based in New York. The Irish were too busy becoming American to stay Irish.
That is, until now. It is somewhat paradoxical that in New York, which along with Boston has been the hub of the Irish community in its country, there is a resurgence in interest among Irish-Americans about their heritage. Institutions that coordinate Irish concerts, dances, and feshans--festivals involving competition in music, dance, sports and oratory--report that for several years their festivals have been drawing more participants and larger audiences. Some teachers here report more students wishing to learn Gaelic, even while the language fades in the homeland.
What has been fading on this side of the Atlantic for generations is a clear concept of the Irish culture in America. Its identity is as difficult to grasp as the Irish wit, which long ago was able to play upon the fears that others had of the Irish, especially the Irish Catholics. Katherine McKenna, head of the Irish Studies department at Queens College in New York, recalled an Irish tale of two Protestant women talking about Irish Catholics moving into the neighborhood. A church was even going to be built, said one woman.
"Before you know it," said the other, "they'll be practicing celibacy on every street
...
Read Full Article
|
