Irish Culture in America Essay

In Hasia R. Diner’s book Erin’s Daughters In America she discussed the history of the lives of Irish immigrants, specifically women, before the Famine and after they emigrated to the United States. After the Famine, Irish citizens had to make drastic changes in their lives in order to survive, such as having more variety in food and the crops that they grew, and changing their marriage patterns and how often they had children. Many people even decided to immigrate to America, the majority of which were women. When Irish women came to America their lives were greatly revolutionized when they were forced to adopt new economic opportunities by finding a job quickly and gaining economic stability, and they had to modify their marriage patterns by getting married later in life, if they got married at all.

Putting them on a boat and sending them home would end crime in this country.”(para. 4). Although the Irish were put down by Americans they never gave up and continued to press on. They were discriminated against but stuck together which helped them survive in America.

It 's so cold today. I sit on a suitcase packed for me, Norah. I am from a small town in Ireland called Cobh, and I live there with my mother, father and little sister. Glenn is my older brother, three years older than me. Oh, and I 'm sixteen. I guess you could call this feeling anxiety, but it really is more than that. It feels like I 'll never come home, and I 'll never see mother and father again. Everyone says (well, if you can call the newspaper editor and his wife everyone) that America is "paved with gold" and that "endless opportunities" await anyone who goes. But the stories I

     Irish-American. To some, this term merely designates one of the many ethnic groups which can be found in the United States; but to those who are Irish-American, it represents a people who faced a disaster of mammoth proportions and who managed to survive at great cost. The Great Hunger of 1845 changed, or more often, destroyed the lives of millions of Irish, causing them to seek refuge from poverty and starvation in other, more prosperous countries. However, not all countries would accept these victims of the Potato Famine. After an immense burst of Irish immigration to Great Britain, the British Parliament began to

The Irish experience in the U.S. was harsh. They fled Ireland due to the Potato Famine, and arrived here for opportunity, and even more importantly, a better life. They were also exceedingly poor, so that being

The book, “The Irish Way” by James R. Barrett is a masterpiece written to describe the life of Irish immigrants who went to start new lives in America after conditions at home became un-accommodative. Widespread insecurity, callous English colonizers and the ghost of great famine still lingering on and on in their lives, made this ethnic group be convinced that home was longer a home anymore. They descended in United States of America in large numbers. James R. Barrett in his book notes that these people were the first group of immigrants to settle in America. According to him, there were a number of several ethnic groups that have arrived in America. It was, however, the mass exodus of Irish people during and after the great

The Irish people would have freight, terror, death and eventually peace with these changes. The potato famine started with blight being discovered by European farmers. The Irish government started to export potatoes and grains to continental Europe to help the Europeans avoid a famine (Smith, 2011). By the end of August of 1845, Ireland was freighted to find out that blight had found its way to their produce (Smith, 2011). The blight in Ireland set off a chain of events that led to the Irish people dying in more ways to get out of Ireland. The government started trying to feed their people by importing corn and grains for food (Smith, 2011). This was not enough to help the young, old and sick. Many of theIrish people were led to complete financial ruin. By the end of 1851 more than a million Irish had died due to hunger and disease exacerbated by malnutrition(Smith, 2011).The only answer for many Irish families was to take a risk and get on a coffin boat and flee to another country. North America was a safe haven for many Irish people. They dreamed of the life they would live in the U.S.A. Nearly 1 million people arrived in many cities which include New York, and Boston (Smith, 2011). When the Irish people arrived, it was a sad reality they did not think they would face. The conditions were despicable. Many families were moved into small rooms with no sanitation, ventilation, day light or electricity (Smith, 2011). The families were charged about $1.50 per week to live in extreme poverty (Smith, 2011). This led to unsanitary conditions for the communities. Diseases were able to thrive in those conditions and one of the more common disease was cholera . The Irish people usually stayed in close proximity to each other and would make a small Irish community. The Irish community strived to make money. They were only hired for unskilled jobs

When many think of the times of immigration, they tend to recall the Irish Immigration and with it comes the potato famine of the 1840s' however, they forget that immigrants from the Emerald Isle also poured into America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The assimilation and immigration of the Irish has been difficult for each group that has passed through the gates of Ellis Island or South Boston. Like every group that came to America, the Irish were looked down upon; yet, in the face of discrimination,

The purpose of my paper is to show how the Scotch-Irish culture came to be in the United States. There were several things that led the Scotch-Irish to make the perilous journey across the Atlantic Ocean to America including famine and high rents. It is estimated that 40-55,000 Scotch Irish arrived in America from 1763 to 1775. (Everyculture) The Scotch-Irish is one of the strongest cultures in the United States and their influence has been generous.

When many think of the times of immigration, they tend to recall the Irish Immigration and with it comes the potato famine of the 1840s' however, they forget that immigrants from the Emerald Isle also poured into America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The assimilation and immigration of the Irish has been difficult for each group that has passed through the gates of Ellis Island or South Boston. Like every group that came to America, the Irish were looked down upon; yet, in the face of discrimination, political, social and economic oppression, the Irish have been a testament to the American Dream as their influence in

The life of Irish immigrants in Boston was one of poverty and discrimination. The religiously centered culture of the Irish has along with their importance on family has allowed the Irish to prosper and persevere through times of injustice. Boston's Irish immigrant population amounted to a tenth of its population. Many after arriving could not find suitable jobs and ended up living where earlier generations had resided. This attributed to the 'invisibility' of the Irish.

Irish had often lived in unhealthy and unclean tenements. Then when they arrived in America they too had faced discrimination. They had many organizations conspired against them to ensure the immigrants could not vote, or hold office (Baker 262). “In 1844 controversy arose in Philadelphia over whether Catholic children in public schools could be allowed to read from the Catholic version of the Bible rather than the King James version and other issues”(Baker 262). This caused a violent reaction of the people who were against the Irish and Catholics (Baker 262). “Catholic churches and priests were the most frequent nativist targets” (Baker 262). The Americans had thought that the Irish Catholics had used the U.S voting system to elect followers of the pope so the pope could have some power in the United States. The nativist did not just have conspiracies about the Irish but many other immigrants too (Baker 262).

The turmoil of the second decade of the twentieth century gave way to a greater sense of peace and stability in the third, with a peace treaty signed between Ireland and Britain in December of 1921 and Home Rule finally established for most of the Irish isle (Ferriter, n.d.). At the same time, this new society did not lead to instant prosperity, and indeed poverty remained a major and growing problem in Ireland during this decade (Ferriter, n.d.). Economic and social problems that persisted during this decade certainly could have been pushes to increased immigration.

The history of Ireland is one of early scholasticism and rich culture in times when the rest of Europe had less of a literary and artistic tradition. By the time of Hyde’s speech, the nation had become “one of the least studious and most un-literary”3 countries of the area, and he claims that the fault lies in a divergence from “the right path.”4 Progressive Anglicization has led the Irish to forget their own culture and its traditions. The British claim that because the Irish have forgotten much of their language and customs, they should be content as an integral part of the United Kingdom, and

Over time the Irish and Germans were finally accepted and considered part of the “American society”. By the time the next big wave of immigration occurred, the Irish and Germans were considered the old guard as opposed to the newcomers. The changing ethnic composition was critical and the Irish as well as the