Philadelphia has been a magnet for the Irish since the 17th century. The Irish distinguished themselves in the Revolutionary War with dozens of heroes, such as Wexford-born sailor Commodore John Barry. When refugees from Ireland s Great Famine poured into Philadelphia after 1845, the city changed forever. The famine generation of Irish immigrants used their religious and cultural traditions to promote their own advancement by constructing a network of schools, Catholic churches, fraternal clubs, and cultural organizations. In Irish Philadelphia, images of their accomplishments and advancements are featured along with vibrant, personal stories of Irish residents. Prominent Irish Philadelphians highlighted include Bishop Francis Kenrick, Martin Maloney, Joseph McGarrity, Henry McIlhenny, Grace Kelly, Jack Kelly, Patrick Stanton, John McShain, and Fr. John McNamee."

Reveals a number of significant and interesting insights into Irish immigrant history in America

Outlines of a Gaelic public sphere -- Inserting the Gaelic in the public sphere -- Irish Philadelphia in and out of the Gaelic sphere -- Transatlantic origins of the Irish American Voluntary Association -- A microanalysis of Irish American civic life : Ireland's Donegal and Cavan emerge in Philadelphia -- The forging of a collective consciousness : militant Irish nationalism and civic life in Gaelic Philadelphia -- Sport, culture and nation amont the Irish of Philadelphia -- A Gaelic public sphere : its rise and fall.

Philadelphia has been a magnet for the Irish since the 17th century. The Irish distinguished themselves in the Revolutionary War with dozens of heroes, such as Wexford-born sailor Commodore John Barry. When refugees from Ireland's Great Famine poured into Philadelphia after 1845, the city changed forever. The famine generation of Irish immigrants used their religious and cultural traditions to promote their own advancement by constructing a network of schools, Catholic churches, fraternal clubs, and cultural organizations. In Irish Philadelphia, images of their accomplishments and advancements are featured along with vibrant, personal stories of Irish residents. Prominent Irish Philadelphians highlighted include Bishop Francis Kenrick, Martin Maloney, Joseph McGarrity, Henry McIlhenny, Grace Kelly, Jack Kelly, Patrick Stanton, John McShain, and Fr. John McNamee.

An extensively documented collection of essays examining various aspects of Irish-American life in Philadelphia over a major portion of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Ireland, Philadelphia and the Re-invention of America is a new study of the relationships across the Irish Atlantic at a vital period in the histories of Ireland and America. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, Maurice Bric analyses the controversial years between 1760 and 1800. Most of Ireland admired America from afar. Many also decided that it represented a better place to settle and chose to make their lives there. They were greeted in America with mixed emotions, not the least of which were concerns that after the Revolution they might de-stabilise the new republic. Yet the Irish accounted for the highest and most visible stream of immigrants into America and became a catalyst for how the post-revolutionary republic accommodated its new citizens. They also challenged America after 1776 as well as the ways in which the â??American characterâ? was being discussed at the time. This became even more obvious during the 1790s,òthe decade of the United Irishmen, when temporary exiles such as Wolfe Tone and Archibald Hamilton Rowan linked the nationâ??s capital at Philadelphia with radicalism in Ireland. This book analyses that story and re-imagines the Irish Atlantic as Ireland drifted towards the Union and America towards a steadier state.