The Columbia Guide to Irish American History (review)

The distinguished historian of Irish America Timothy Meagher has produced the first ethnic volume in the Columbia guides to American history. This volume is divided into five parts. The first examines the history of Irish America chronologically from colonial times to the present. In part two Meagher examines separately four major themes in Irish American history, respectively, gender and family, politics, nationalism, and race. The final three sections are a descriptive list of "people, organizations, events, and themes," a detailed chronology, and an annotated bibliography. In the process, Meagher and his research assistants, Henry Meagher, Joseph Turrini, Mary Elizabeth Fraser Connolly, and W. John Shepherd, have produced a succinct and a valuable synopsis of the Irish American experience which will be a must for the shelves of all those interested in the subject.

Meagher, however, moves beyond a mere synopsis to produce a very analytical account. This book is full of analysis, interpretation, and historiography. In the introduction he describes the historiography of Irish America, but also puts the Irish American story in the context of various ethnic theories. He dismisses the traditional model of counting immigrant versus natives traits "on some measuring stick of assimilation" and concludes that "plotting the changes in Irish American culture, therefore, is a messy business" (p. 9). The danger is that it becomes so "messy," because of the variance in Irish origins, religion, and region of settlement, that one may ask whether there is such a thing as "Irish America" at all? Meagher avoids this pitfall by acknowledging the commonalities in Irish American history. For example, he correctly accepts the "Scotch-Irish" as part of the story, even though their Irishness was sometimes very ambiguous. In the chronological section one sees similar themes emerging among the various groups of Irish in America. Through the generations then one can see their continued interest in Ireland, their participation at the lower and middle parts of the American economy, and their active involvement in American politics. Meagher highlights the exceptions to these rules, such as the new immigrants of the 1980's' disdain for traditional Irish American politics, but he still recognizes these usual themes.

Meagher recognizes this reality more explicitly in the second section, where he has a chapter devoted to Irish nationalism in America and one on the Irish in American politics. From the United Irishmen to NORAID and from the Paxton Boys to the Daley machine the Irish have shown a keen interest in Irish and American politics respectively. But, he also acknowledges other less noticed themes. His chapter on gender and family is very important, not only because of his fine description of its historiography, but also because he highlights how much more needs to be done on the subject. Similarly, his chapter on the Irish and race is comprehensive in its examination. Here, in particular, Meagher provides a very sharp analysis of the whiteness debate and challenges what he describes as "the [axiomatic] notion that the non-white Irish became white" (p. 216).

Part three on people, events, and so forth is also excellent. Meagher and his assistants cover all the major figures and events, but also include less familiar Irish Americans such as Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, who emigrated to North America from County Cork in 1841. Although it is difficult to criticize such a comprehensive section, the one glaring omission here is Bishop John England, who although mentioned in one chapter, does not receive a biographical sketch. Indeed to broaden this criticism, Meagher could have had a whole section dedicated specifically to the Irish involvement in organized religion in the United States, an area, like politics, where Irish engagement continued across generations and denominations. Nonetheless, this work will take its place among studies by historians such as Kevin Kenny, Lawrence McCaffrey, and Kerby Miller as the first references given to those who ask for recommendations on the best histories of the Irish in America.