The New York Irish

When Ellis Island opened in 1892, nearly four million Irish men and women had already made the journey to America. By the 1990s, Ireland had sent another million or more. New York has been both port of entry and home to the Irish for three centuries. During that time, America's premier city has undergone massive changes, and the Irish--one of the country's oldest ethnic groups--have played a vital part in its history. The New York Irish tackles subjects like the medicalization of anti-immigrant prejudice; entrepreneurship in business; the impact of music and language on ethnic social life; the effect of nationalist movements on local politics; the dynamics of Irish relations with African-Americans, Chinese, and Dominicans; the battle for freedom of religious expression; and the problem of illegal immigration. It offers a fresh perspective on an immigrant people's encounter with the famed metropolis. -- Publisher description.

The Irish and the emerging city : settlement to 1844 / Leo Hershkowitz -- "Upon a bunch of straw " : the Irish in colonial New York City / Joyce D. Goodfriend -- Religion, ethnicity, and history : clues to the cultural construction of law / Walter J. Walsh -- The development of an Irish American community in New York City before the great migration / Paul A. Gilje -- "The most Irish City in the union" : the era of the great migration, 1844-1877 / Hasia R. Diner -- "Desirable companions and lovers" : Irish and African Americans in the Sixth Ward, 1830-1870 / Graham Hodges -- Quimbo Appo's fear of Fenians : Chinese-Irish-Anglo relations in New York City / John Kuo Wei Tchen -- Illness and medical care among Irish immigrants in antebellum New York / Alan M. Kraut -- Shrewd Irishmen : Irish entrepreneurs and artisans in New York's clothing industry, 1830-1880 / William E. Devlin -- Union green : the Irish community and the Civil War / Edward K. Spann -- Forging forward and looking back / Lawrence J. McCaffrey -- Going to the ladies' fair : Irish Catholics in New York City, 1870-1900 / Colleen McDannell -- The Irish language in New York, 1850-1900 / Kenneth E. Nilsen -- Irish county so…