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Irish Iowa
9781467139700
Regular price $21.99 Sale price $16.49 Save 25%
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.
Irish Immigrants in Michigan
9781467146319
Regular price $23.99 Sale price $17.99 Save 25%
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.
Irish American Heritage Center
9780738582887
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%
In 1976, a small group of Irish Americans was looking for a permanent place to celebrate and share its heritage and culture. After many fundraisers and Irish Family Days, they purchased an abandoned, graffiti-covered building on the northwest side of Chicago. Over the past 25 years, a crew of passionate volunteers has transformed the derelict structure into a premier institution. Through dance, music, festivals, language, history, and art, the Irish American Heritage Center delivers on its mission as a nonprofit organization enhancing the lives of every member and the community. But for the vision of those original dreamers, and the blood, sweat, and tears of the thousands of volunteers, it would not exist.
Irish Chicago
9780738520384
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%From musicians and mobsters to mayors and men of the cloth, discover the fascinating history of Chicago's Irish history.
The history of the Irish in Chicago goes back to the days when the city was little more than an outpost on the prairie shores of Lake Michigan. Drawn by opportunities in the growing frontier town, Irish men and women who were fleeing economic hardship and famine in Ireland were quick to make their mark on Chicago's political, religious, and economic life. The unique position of the Irish among immigrant groups-English speaking and more culturally attuned to Anglo-American institutions, yet Catholic-allowed them to flourish in occupations and social positions for which they have become known. Most notably, the Irish in Chicago have produced eight mayors and many bishops. But Irish Chicago is also the story of those who built and enlivened the city: the policemen, firemen, priests, nuns and brothers, tavern owners, educators, transit workers, musicians, and ward politicians made good, and the north, south, and west side neighborhoods and parishes they inhabited.
Irish Cleveland
9781467113496
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%
In the early 19th century, the Irish arrived in Cleveland in search of opportunity. Construction on the Ohio and Erie Canal in 1825 attracted many Irish seeking employment. After the canals were completed, many who survived grueling labor conditions left northeastern Ohio, but others became dockworkers and shipbuilders. The Irish who made Cleveland home impacted the city significantly. The Roman Catholic Church became a mainstay for Irish immigrants, and parochial schools offered Irish youth an education steeped in faith and knowledge. Irish pride is evident by enthusiastic participation in clubs, festivals, cultural organizations, and public service. Irish Americans are now one of the largest and most active of the many ethnic groups represented in Cleveland, as demonstrated by the much-anticipated and well-attended annual St. Patrick's Day parade.
Chicago's Historic Irish Pubs
9780738583914
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%
From dancing at Hanley's House of Happiness to raising pints at Kelly's Pub on St. Patrick's Day, the history of the Irish community in Chicago is told through stories of its gathering places. Families are drawn to the pub after Sunday church, in the midst of sporting events, following funerals, and during weddings. In good times and bad, the pub has been a source of comfort, instruction, and joy--a constant in a changing world. Based on interviews with tavern owners, musicians, bartenders, and scholars, Chicago's Historic Irish Pubs explores the way the Irish pub defines its block, its neighborhood, and its city.
Irish Cincinnati
9780738594354
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%
Just one year after a settlement was established on the Ohio River in 1788 and one year before its name was changed from Losantiville to Cincinnati, an Irish immigrant brought his family to the cabins located there. Shortly thereafter, Francis Kennedy established a ferry service to support his wife and children, and more Irishmen followed over the next few decades. It was a diverse group that included Methodists, Presbyterians, Quakers, and Catholics who were manufacturers, stevedores, and merchants. The Irish in Cincinnati have always contributed to the culture, politics, and business life of the city. Their traditional strengths are found in churches, schools, and fraternal organizations like the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. There is also richness in their ethnic heritage that includes art, dance, music, literature, and festivals involving everything from the annual mock theft of the St. Patrick statue in Mt. Adams, the St. Patrick's Day parade, and the various ceili throughout the year to the events at the Cincinnati Irish Heritage Center. Using rare and evocative images, Irish Cincinnati embraces 200 years of their lives in the Queen City.
Irish in Youngstown and the Greater Mahoning Valley
9780738532189
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%
In 1796, Daniel Shehy of Tipperary was the first Irish man to settle in Youngstown. In the early nineteenth century, the Ulster Irish moved into the region. Later, massive waves of Irish refugees from the Potato Famine settled in the area and filled the labor needs of the steel mills, canals, and railroads. Irish in Youngstown and the Greater Mahoning Valley recounts the history of the first Irish immigrants to settle the Valley up to the present and their prominent roles in community politics, arts, business, sports, entertainment, and religion. Through vintage images of families, church leaders, business owners, politicians, Irish dancers, and philanthropists, this book celebrates the influence of the Irish on the Greater Mahoning Valley.
Chicago's South Side Irish Parade
9780738577227
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%Considered to be one of the largest neighborhood-based St. Patrick's Day parades outside Dublin, Chicago's South Side Irish Parade began quite modestly, with 17 children under the age of 10 marching twice around the block.
Dubbing themselves the ""Wee Ones of Washtenaw and Talman,"" the founders of this great parade marched with homemade signs, costumes, and a baby buggy while neighbors and family members cheered them on. Over the next 31 years, the parade grew into an annual event, attracting hundreds of thousands who came to celebrate Irish heritage with family and friends. In 2009, Pres. Barack Obama encouraged Taoiseach Brian Cowen of Ireland to visit the parade, calling it ""one of the great events in America.""
Irish Milwaukee
9780738532134
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%This visual history captures the story of Milwaukee's Irish community in photographs, covering everything from the early wave of immigration to today's annual Irish Fest.
Milwaukee's Irish can claim a long and distinguished heritage throughout the city's history. The fact that Irish immigrants could speak English gave them an advantage and enabled them to become community leaders and gain economic independence. Irishman Thomas Gilbert was village president in 1844, two years before Milwaukee became incorporated. In 1839, Fr. Patrick Kelly built Milwaukee's first Catholic Church, St. Peter's.
Irish St. Louis
9780738532226
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%
It's quite unlikely that Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau could have comprehended the scope of their undertaking in 1764 when they laid out the settlement on the western banks of the Mississippi that was to become the metropolis of St. Louis. Founded by the French, governed by the Spanish, and heavily populated by the English and Germans, the role that the Irish had in making St. Louis what it is today is often overlooked. The Irish are steeped in tradition, and that trait did not leave the Irish immigrants when they arrived in St. Louis and called this place home. Like many other cities in America, the heritage of Ireland is alive and well in St. Louis. This book visually captures their Irish spirit, and portrays a few of the Irish movers and shakers alongside the Irish commoner in their new and challenging lives here in St. Louis.
