Irish-American Heritage

Iowa offered freedom and prosperity to the Irish fleeing famine and poverty. They became the second-largest immigrant group to come to the state, and they acquired influence well beyond their numbers. The first hospitals, schools and asylums in the area were established by Irish nuns. Irish laborers laid the tracks and ran the trains that transported crops to market. Kate Shelley became a national heroine when she saved a passenger train from plunging off a bridge. The Sullivan family became the symbol of sacrifice when they lost their five sons in World War II. Author Timothy Walch details these stories and more on the history and influence of the Irish in the Heartland.

To leave or stay was the question for the Irish in the nineteenth century. In Ireland, people suffered persecution, poverty and famine. America offered freedom and opportunity. For those who left and came to Michigan, the land’s abundant natural resources encouraged them to become loggers, miners, fishermen, traders and farmers. Others became rail workers, merchants, lawyers, soldiers, doctors and teachers. Governor Frank Murphy advocated for civil rights. Sister Agnes Gonzaga Ryan administered schools and hospitals. Charlie O’Malley provided generously to suffering Irish people. Lighthouse keeper James Donohue never let physical disability deter him. Prospector Richard Langford discovered iron ore and then left others to mine its wealth. Authors Pat Commins and Elizabeth Rice share one story from each Michigan county about Irish immigrants or their descendants.

Country music in the Carolinas and the southern Appalachian Mountains owes a tremendous debt to freedom-loving Scotch-Irish pioneers who settled the southern backcountry during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These hardy Protestant settlers brought with them from Lowland Scotland, Northern England and the Ulster Province of Ireland music that created the essential framework for "old-time string band music." From the cabins of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains to the textile mills and urban centers of the Carolina foothills, this colorful, passionate, heartfelt music transformed the culture of America and the world and laid the foundation for western swing, bluegrass, rockabilly and modern country music. Author Michael Scoggins takes a trip to the roots of country music in the Carolinas.