Irish Nationalists in America: The Politics of Exile, 1798–1998 by David Brundage (review)

The historiography of Irish-American nationalism is rich with studies of key periods of activism, the role of prominent leaders, and the achievements of specific groups and organizations. David Brundage focuses on some of these topics, but has instead written the first comprehensive history of Irish-American nationalism, from its roots in the waves of United Irish exiles arriving in the early American republic to the crucial United States involvement in the Northern Ireland peace process. Central to his analysis is the assertion that, "Irish nationalism in the United States was not the unmediated expression of some timeless, primordial Irish identity but rather an ongoing work of political invention and imagination, involving multiple generations of men and women." Brundage draws on an extensive collection of previously published primary and secondary sources and from a rich vein of archival materials on both sides of the Atlantic.

One of Brundage's central objectives is to highlight the "enormous impact" the Irish in America had on both constitutional and physical force nationalism in Ireland. Consequently, broad segments of the book are devoted to analyzing some of the most significant Irish-American interventions, from the United Irish League of America's bankrolling of the Irish Parliamentary Party's Home Rule campaign in the early twentieth century to Clan na Gael's central role planning the Easter Rising and supporting the IRA during the Anglo-Irish War. Brundage also tracks the continual fluctuations in power and influence between constitutional and physical force nationalists in America, providing nuanced assessments of why one or the other achieved dominance at certain periods. There are also valuable sections outlining the endemic clashes between Irish nationalists in Ireland and their counterparts in America over strategy and objectives, one of the most notable being the toxic relationship between Eamon de Valera and the leaders of the Friends of Irish Freedom from 1919 onward.

In addition to the conflicts between advocates of constitutional agitation and physical force, Irish-American nationalist groups were inevitably divided over social, political, and economic issues. This was particularly true of what Brundage describes as the "complicated and contested" relationship between Irish-American nationalists and African Americans. He shows that there was always a progressive strain within Irish-American nationalism that was deeply committed to African American equality, extending from Thomas Addis Emmet's fervent advocacy for the abolitionist movement in the 1820s to the National Association for Irish Justice's backing of the Black Panthers in the 1970s. There was also reciprocal assistance from African-American leaders and groups for Irish nationalism, exemplified by Marcus Garvey's support for Irish independence in the 1920s and former New York City mayor David Dinkins's efforts on behalf of the MacBride Principles campaign for fair employment in Northern Ireland in the 1980s. Brundage shows, however, that in contrast to the legacy of Irish and African American cooperation, there was a more pervasive anti-black racism at the core of Irish America. The manifestations of this reactionary strain ranged from Young Ireland exile John Mitchel's passionate defense of slavery in the 1850s, to the enraged condemnations from Irish-American conservatives of Bernadette Devlin's outspoken support for Angela Davis during her first visit to New York in 1969.

Similar to his focus on the complex relationship between Irish-American nationalists and the African American struggle for racial justice, Brundage provides a detailed examination of some of the tensions between progressive and reactionary wings of Irish-American nationalism over the struggle for women's rights. Whereas Clan na Gael assigned a subservient role to female activists and generally saw the fight for women's suffrage as "extraneous," women played a prominent role in the United Irish League of America, with some branches even threatening to withhold funding because of John Redmond's opposition to the women's movement. At the cutting edge of female activism was the Irish Progressive League, headed by a dedicated cadre that...