Overview

Since Irish immigrants began settling in New Jersey during the 17th century, they have made a sizable impact on the state's history and development. As the budding colony struggled to establish a distinguishable identity for itself in the New World, its Irish citizens were forced to grapple with issues of their own: what did it mean to be Irish American, and what role would ""Irishness"" play in the creation of an American identity? In this history, Dermot Quinn calls upon a treasury of photographs and newspaper clippings that uncover the story of how the Irish of New Jersey maintained their proud heritage while also embracing their role in laying the foundations for the social, economic, political and religious landscapes of the country they now called home. The book tells many harrowing tales of poverty and struggles to adapt, as the Irish contended with anti-Irish and anti-Catholic prejudice. Using case histories of individuals and of the cities of Paterson, Jersey City and Newark, Quinn explores the troubled transition of the Irish from a rejected minority toward a middle class, secular and suburban identity. He explores the promotion of Irish American identity.

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9780813534213

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Reviews

Quinn offers a historian''s and an Irishman''s perspective on the second most populous ethnic group in New Jersey, and does it with a critical eye, salted with Irish wit. He goes beyond the stereotypes and offers a history of the Irish in New Jersey that will provide new information even to those who think they know the story already. --Augustine J. Curley OSB, New Jersey Catholic Historical Records Commission

This gem of a book is far from being either simple ethnic celebration or uncritical local history. It is a very subtle analysis of the phenomenon of the Irish in America with a special emphasis on New Jersey.--John P. McCarthy professor emeritus of history, Fordham University Quinn offers a historian''s and an Irishman''s perspective on the second most populous ethnic group in New Jersey, and does it with a critical eye, salted with Irish wit. He goes beyond the stereotypes and offers a history of the Irish in New Jersey that will provide new information even to those who think they know the story already. --Augustine J. Curley OSB, New Jersey Catholic Historical Records Commission Quinn offers a historian's and an Irishman's perspective on the second most populous ethnic group in New Jersey, and does it with a critical eye, salted with Irish wit. He goes beyond the stereotypes and offers a history of the Irish in New Jersey that will provide new information even to those who think they know the story already.--Augustine J. Curley OSB, New Jersey Catholic Historical Records Commission

Quinn offers a historian's and an Irishman's perspective on the second most populous ethnic group in New Jersey, and does it with a critical eye, salted with Irish wit. He goes beyond the stereotypes and offers a history of the Irish in New Jersey that will provide new information even to those who think they know the story already.--Augustine J. Curley OSB, New Jersey Catholic Historical Records Commission

Author Information

Dermot Quinn is a professor of history at Seton Hall University. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and New College, Oxford, he is author of Patronage and Piety: English Roman Catholics and Politics, 1850-1900 and Understanding Northern Ireland.

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