The New York Irish

Now in paperback—the sweeping story of Irish immigrants and their descendants in New York—a story almost as old as the city itself.

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.

A joint project of the Irish Institute and the New York Irish History Roundtable