Irish in America: Poverty to Power
American History Hit
History Hit
4.3 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 18 March 2024
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
At least 23 of the Presidents of the United States can have their ancestry traced back to Ireland.
So why did this diaspora come to America? What was their reception like? And how have they reached the top of the power structure so regularly?
We are finding out in this episode with historian Kevin Kenny, Professor of History and Glucksman Professor in Irish Studies at New York University. Kevin is the author of 'Making sense of the Molly Maguires' and 'Diaspora: A Very Short Introduction' among other titles.
Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The river flows past towering stone and glass structures, carrying boats looking too large to slip beneath the low steel bridges spanning over them. |
| 0:11.0 | Today the river is not gray or blue but green and not any |
| 0:16.2 | normal sort of green but a bright green because today is St. Patrick's Day. |
| 0:21.7 | Might assume something's wrong with our eyes, |
| 0:24.0 | except for the fact that a crowd of merry revelers just swarmed past us, |
| 0:29.0 | clad in the same unusual hues, |
| 0:31.0 | wearing not normal expressions on their faces. |
| 0:34.4 | We trundle up behind them and are immediately swept into a river of another sort, floats, |
| 0:39.2 | marching bands, and Irish dancers kicking and tapping as one. It's a parade, bag pipes blaring, bad tenors stretching for notes, |
| 0:48.1 | a general hubbub, filling the air with joy and bride, all in honor of Ireland's patron saint. |
| 0:54.0 | Only, this isn't Ireland. |
| 0:57.0 | It's Chicago, Illinois, on the Chicago River, |
| 1:00.0 | the bright green Chicago River, leading out to Lake Michigan. |
| 1:04.4 | It is St. Patrick's Day in America, |
| 1:07.2 | 3.5,000 miles from the Emerald Isle. |
| 1:21.0 | Welcome to American History, I'm your host Don Wildman. |
| 1:24.0 | It is a fact of life in this grand land of ours. |
| 1:27.6 | If any of your family tree branched out to American shores in the 18th or 19th century or even after. Odds are some DNA strand tracks |
| 1:36.5 | back to the Emerald Shores of Ireland. Obviously, many exceptions to this rule, many variations. But with the massive waves of immigration from |
| 1:44.7 | Ireland to the United States throughout the centuries, it's a strong likelihood there's Irish |
| 1:49.2 | in there somewhere. Americans are deeply proud of this heritage, sipping our green beer on St. Patrick's Day, |
| 1:55.5 | quoting Yates, singing Danny Boy at the top of our lungs. |
... |
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