“I’m Welsh.”
“Yeah, my grandmother was from Scotland.”
“I have some German in my family tree.”
Family roots run deep into the core of our beings and dictate a lot of cultural and personal significance for many. For those of European lineage, however, that genealogical record can be a little muddy – the result of the American “melting pot.”
For most, untangling the truth of your generational place of origin is a fun pastime – wondering “what if” as great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents from Germany, Italy and other faraway locales are unearthed.
Few feel as intensely connected as many of Irish descent do, however. There are many reasons – Ireland’s own struggle for its identity as it grasped at independence throughout the ages. The backbreaking labor and sacrifice that their own foreparents endured to build a life in America so long ago.
The history goes deep in these bones – deeper than the leprechauns and cereal mascots and mobsters of popular culture. There’s a lot to be proud of.
The National Museum of Ireland estimates that over six million Irish people have emigrated to the U.S. since 1820.
“The peak of Irish emigration resulted from the Great Famine of 1845-1852. It has been estimated that nearly two million people – about a quarter of the population – emigrated to the United States in a 10-year period at that time. In County Mayo alone, the population declined from 388,887 to 274,830 between 1841 and 1851.”
Today, according to census.gov (as of 2021), “More than 31.5 million residents claim Irish ancestry, second only to German (43 million).”
It wasn’t easy for those who left life as they knew it behind and struck out for a better life. A 2017 article from the History Channel titled “When America Despised the Irish: The 19th Century’s Refugee Crisis” paints a grim picture: “Forced from their homeland because of famine and political upheaval, the Irish endured vehement discrimination before making their way into the American mainstream.” They battled religious discrimination and “nativist backlash” (some of us remember “Irish need not apply” in history book photos) for a generation.
However, by the late 1800s, things had changed. The Irish-American contingent had found its foothold. Klein, the article’s author, closes with this excerpt:
“Yes, the Irish transformed the United States, just as the United States transformed the Irish. But the worst fears of the nativists were not fulfilled. The refugees of the Great Hunger and the 32 million Americans with predominantly Irish roots today strengthened the United States, not destroyed it. A country once reviled the Irish now wears green on St. Patrick’s Day. That’s something to raise a glass to.”
And raise a glass we shall! St. Patrick’s Day, though reduced simply to wearing green clothes or eating candy for so many, is a great touchpoint for celebrating Irish and Irish-American culture and remembering the stories of generations of Irish immigrants who came to America.
For the non-religious or the uninitiated, St. Patrick is a storied saint of the Catholic church, known to us from his writings: the “Confessio,” his spiritual biography, and his “Letter to Coroticus,” a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish Christians (Britannica.com/biography/Saint-Patrick). He is credited with bringing the Christian faith to Ireland. His fifth century work amongst the Celtic tribes and others changed Ireland forever.
“By the time of his death on March 17, 461, he had established monasteries, churches and schools. Many legends grew up around him – for example, that he drove the snakes out of Ireland and used the shamrock to explain the Trinity. Ireland came to celebrate his day with religious services and feasts.
“It was emigrants, particularly to the United States, who transformed St. Patrick’s Day into a largely secular holiday of revelry and celebration of things Irish,” according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
Looking for some authentic (or at least Irish-inspired) ways to celebrate? Check out some of the articles below for further reading!
Food Network: “52 St. Patrick’s Day Recipes You’ll Want to Make Year-Round”
Parade.com: “17 St. Patrick’s Day Traditions To Help You Celebrate Irish Pride”
Editor’s note: Interested in connecting with your Irish heritage locally, Mohawk Valley readers? We are fortunate to have a local organization passionate about just that! The Irish Cultural Center of the Mohawk Valley is located at 623 Columbia St., Utica. You can visit them online at www.iccmv.org or on Facebook.
Check out the H.A.R.P. Museum on-site. The museum was “created to document the accomplishments of the Irish in the Mohawk Valley” and features “collections of objects, artifacts, documents, etc.” as well as hosts educational and entertaining events designed to promote Irish culture.
I’m a map of the world and the ones before
One foot in sea and one on shore
Every step, every hope flung high
I’m a map of them all with my Irish eyes.
– Singer Rose Betts, Irish Eyes (2023)
