Irish America (oxford Studies In Social And Cultural Anthropology)

Few writers on the Irish in America have looked beyond the nineteenth-century ethnic enclaves of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, or Chicago, or have asked how the notion of an Irish-American ethnic identity in contemporary America can be reconciled with five, six, or seven generations of intermarriage and assimilation over the last century and a half. This study, based on interviews with 500 people of Irish ancestry in Albany, New York, aims to discover in what senses and in what degrees the present-day descendants of nineteenth-century Irish immigrants possess distinctive social practices and ways of seeing the world, and raises questions about the social conditions in which ideas of Irishness have been created and re-created. This Study, Based On Interviews With 500 People Of Irish Ancestry In Albany, New York, Aims To Discover In What Senses And In What Degrees The Present-day Descendants Of Nineteenth-century Irish Immigrants Possess Distinctive Social Practices And Ways Of Seeing The World, And Raises Questions About The Social Conditions In Which Ideas Of Irishness Have Been Created And Recreated.--jacket. 1. Prologue -- 2. Colonists And Immigrants -- 3. As Irish As Any City In America -- 4. The Past In The Present -- 5. Over The Generations -- 6. Irish-catholic-democrat -- 7. The Importance Of Being Irish -- 8. The Wearing Of The Green -- 9. A Socioscape Of Irish America. Reginald Byron. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [301]-310) And Index. Few writers on the Irish in America have looked beyond the 19th-century ethnic enclaves of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, or Chicago, or have asked how the notion of an Irish-American ethnic identity in contemporary America can be reconciled with five, six, or seven generations of intermarriage and assimilation over the last century and a half. This study, based on interviews with 500 people of Irish ancestry in Albany, New York, aims to discover in what senses and in what degrees the present-day descendants of 19th-century Irish immigrants possess distinctive social practices and ways of seeing the world, and raises questions about the social conditions in which ideas of Irishness have been created and re-created Contents......Page 10 List of Tables......Page 11 1. Prologue......Page 12 2. Colonists and Immigrants......Page 29 3. As Irish as any City in America......Page 62 4. The Past in the Present......Page 95 5. Over the Generations......Page 134 6. Irish-Catholic-Democrat......Page 176 7. The Importance of being Irish......Page 214 8. The Wearing of the Green......Page 251 9. A Socioscape of Irish America......Page 279 Bibliography......Page 312 C......Page 322 E......Page 323 I......Page 324 L......Page 325 O......Page 326 S......Page 327 Y......Page 328 This study aims to discover in what senses and in what degrees the present-day descendants of 19th-century Irish immigrants have distinctive social practices and ways of seeing the world. It raises questions about the social conditions in which ideas of Irishness have been created and re-created.