Softcover

ISBN 10: 0582278171 ISBN 13: 9780582278172

Publisher: Routledge, 2000

 The American Irish: A History, is the first concise, general history of its subject in a generation. It provides a long-overdue synthesis of Irish-American history from the beginnings of emigration in the early eighteenth century to the present day. While most previous accounts of the subject have concentrated on the nineteenth century, and especially the period from the famine (1840s) to Irish independence (1920s), The American Irish: A History incorporates the Ulster Protestant emigration of the eighteenth century and is the first book to include extensive coverage of the twentieth century. Drawing on the most innovative scholarship from both sides of the Atlantic in the last generation, the book offers an extended analysis of the conditions in Ireland that led to mass migration and examines the Irish immigrant experience in the United States in terms of arrival and settlement, social mobility and assimilation, labor, race, gender, politics, and nationalism. It is ideal for courses on Irish history, Irish-American history, and the history of American immigration more generally.

From the Back Cover:

THE AMERICAN IRISH: A HISTORY

The story of the Irish in North America reverberates through the modern period.

As many as seven million Irish men, women and children have crossed the Atlantic for North America since 1700. Almost five million of them went to the US between 1820 and 1920 alone. This vast movement of people was of great historical significance on both sides of the Atlantic: it played a fundamental role in the shaping of modern Ireland, and it determined in mnay respects the economic, political and cultural development of the United States, where 45 million people today claim some degree of Irish ancestry.

The American Irish: A History offers an extended analysis of the conditions in Ireland that led to mass migration and examines the Irish immigrant experience in the United States in terms of patterns of settlement, labour, race, gender, politics and nationalism. The first concise, general history of the subject in a generation, it covers the entire period from 1700-2,000 and it is augmented by full illustration and textual aids.

Review:

"a lucid synthesis of the work of countless scholars ... truly superb ..."Katherine Powers, "Boston Sunday Globe" "a balanced and reliable foundation for undergraduate courses in Irish Studies."David Fitzpatrick, "Times Literary Supplement" "One of the book's strengths is that ...it is still accessible to the general reader...a very valuable work indeed." Brian Hanley, Trinity College Dublin, "History Ireland" "Kenny...has produced an intelligent and well-written book."Lawrence McCaffrey, "Irish Literary Supplement" "an important contribution, offering a compelling narrative for the specialist and general reader alike, as well as being a must for students...points the way forward for American Irish history."Donald M MacRaild, "History"-"Reviews in History" "" "an invaluable teaching aid...it is such a comprehensive survey of existing scholarship that it highlights the strengths and weaknesses of current research about Irish America and the Irish diaspora...essential reading"Mary J. Hickman, University of North London, " Irish Studies Review .".."an ambitious compendium of the ever growing literature on the history of the Irish in America...a must read for all those with an interest in that history' "Journal of American Ethnic History"