Irish American

Meet Mickey Sullivan, a thirteen year-old Irish immigrant. His parents are Ava and Sean Sullivan. They arrived to the U.S. in 1847. They have considered changing their names to blend in with their surroundings, but decided against it. Their life in Ireland during the 1840s was very difficult. A blight, a disease that destroyed the leaves and the potatoes of the plant, wiped out almost all of their potato crop. The Irish relied heavily on one or two varieties of potato, and because of this it…

During the 1800’s, the potato famine in Ireland caused around one million Irish people to immigrate to America. They settled in cities and worked in factories, and generally, were pretty poor. With the Irish immigration came a lot of Anti-Irish Sentiment from the Americans. That leads us back to the question- were Irish considered white in the 19th century America? Well, that depends on what your definition of “white” is. Obviously, it is a color...or rather, lack of color. It can also be used…

Before the Irish Immigrants affected America, they immigrated to it. About 17% of the Irish immigrants came to America before the 1840s. Because of the Irish potato famine, most of the Irish immigrants arrived in America between 1845 to 1860. The Irish potato famine, or The Great Potato Famine, was caused by a late blight on potato crops year after year, starting in 1845 and slowing down by 1851. The blight, scientifically known as Phytophthora infestans, infects the leaves and edible…

immigrants faced stereotypes that ‘Clashed’ with Protestant American values. These stereotypes were highlighted to put down the Irish immigrant community and were created out of fear because these Irish immigrants challenged for job openings. The Irish immigrants were stereotyped as barbaric, unskilled, impoverished and unpolished. Anti-Irish cartoons for magazines such as Harper's Weekly featured cartoons by Thomas Nast and depicted Irish immigrants as ape-like barbarians prone to lawlessness,…

The Irish Diaspora in the US is massive with the 1990 census totalling an immense 43 million Americans consider themselves to be Irish American which at the time equated to roughly 19% of the American population(Feargal Cochrane 2007:218). Beyond just equating for a fifth of the American population, a third of American presidents having heritage to Ireland with four specifically having ties to what is now the…

great famine. During these years, the Irish dealt with starvation, poverty, and disease. And because of these conditions thousands of Irish fled to America. The Irish immigration experience was very hard. Many came to America with few skills besides cooking, cleaning, and they had just enough knowledge to work in factories. They constantly had to deal with bigotry and stereotypes. They were ostracized for being Catholic because many protestants and “native” Americans were distrustful of any…

mysterious castles, and vast tourism areas pull thousands of traveler to explore the country every year. Unbeknownst to most, there was a time when the Irish did not want to live there and began to immigrate…

the Irish Catholics in Ireland. Some of the laws included preventing the Irish Catholics from holding public office, limiting their rights to education, buying and selling land, bearing arms, serving in the army, obtaining certain jobs, or voting. These weren’t the only things the British took away from the Irish, they also decided to reform Ireland by eliminating the original Gaelic traditions and replacing them with British ways of life. These restrictions and limitations caused the Irish to…

country like starvation, lack of education, and hope for a better life in hopes of achieving the American Dream. Likely the most well known cause of voluntary immigration is the potato famine, in 1840 Ireland began to starve because of the potato famine. In the nineteenth century America's population increased from 30,000 to 100,000 in one year (The Irish in America: 1840's-1930's.). From 1820 to 1860 the American population held over…

own freedom, helped strengthen the fabric of liberty in American life” -John F. Kennedy. The Irish immigrants did exactly so when they faced the obstacle of having to come to the United States. In 1740, the Irish faced famine and persecution, forcing them to immigrate to the United States in hope of better opportunities, but instead were discriminated against their Catholic practices. The Protestant Reformation was a conflict for the Irish Catholics but led them to fight for their rights,…