The Columbia Guide to Irish American History / / Timothy Meagher.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Columbia University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Meagher, Timothy,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : Columbia University Press, , [2005]; ©2005
• Year of Publication: 2005
• Language: English
• Series: Columbia Guides to American History and Cultures
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (384 p.)

Once seen as threats to mainstream society, Irish Americans have become an integral part of the American story. More than 40 million Americans claim Irish descent, and the culture and traditions of Ireland and Irish Americans have left an indelible mark on U.S. society. Timothy J. Meagher fuses an overview of Irish American history with an analysis of historians' debates, an annotated bibliography, a chronology of critical events, and a glossary discussing crucial individuals, organizations, and dates. He addresses a range of key issues in Irish American history from the first Irish settlements in the seventeenth century through the famine years in the nineteenth century to the volatility of 1960s America and beyond. The result is a definitive guide to understanding the complexities and paradoxes that have defined the Irish American experience. Throughout the work, Meagher invokes comparisons to Irish experiences in Canada, Britain, and Australia to challenge common perceptions of Irish American history. He examines the shifting patterns of Irish migration, discusses the role of the Catholic church in the Irish immigrant experience, and considers the Irish American influence in U.S. politics and modern urban popular culture. Meagher pays special attention to Irish American families and the roles of men and women, the emergence of the Irish as a "governing class" in American politics, the paradox of their combination of fervent American patriotism and passionate Irish nationalism, and their complex and sometimes tragic relations with African and Asian Americans.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- PART ONE. A HISTORY O F I R I S H AMERICANS FROM THE SEVENTEENTH TO THE TWENTY- F I R S T CENTURY -- INTRODUCTION. The Irish as Immigrants and Ethnics -- CHAPTER ONE. Irish Immigration to Colonial America -- CHAPTER TWO. Irish America from the Revolution to the Famine -- CHAPTER THREE. The Famine Years -- CHAPTER FOUR. The Turn of the Twentieth Century -- CHAPTER FIVE. The Twentieth Century -- CHAPTER SIX. The 1960s to the Present -- PART TWO. ISSUES AND THEMES IN IRISH AMERICAN HISTORY -- CHAPTER ONE Irish American Gender and Family -- CHAPTER TWO. Irish Americans in Politics -- CHAPTER THREE. Irish American Nationalism " -- CHAPTER FOUR. Irish Americans and Race -- PART THREE. IMPORTANT PEOPLE, ORGANIZATIONS, EVENTS , AND TERMS -- PART FOUR. CHRONOLOGY OF IRISH AMERICA -- PART FIVE. BIBLIOGRAPHY -- Index