Irish Americans in New York City

Last updated

St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City.jpg
St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York

The Irish community is one of New York City's major and important ethnic groups, and has been a significant proportion of the city's population since the waves of immigration in the late 19th century.

Contents

As a result of the Great Famine in Ireland, many Irish families were forced to emigrate from the country. By 1854, between 1.5 and 2 million Irish had left their country. In the United States, most Irish became city-dwellers. With little money, many had to settle in the cities that the ships landed in. By 1850, the Irish made up a quarter of the population in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Baltimore.

Today, Boston has the largest percentage of Irish-Americans of any city in the United States, while New York City has the most Irish Americans in raw numbers. [1] During the Celtic Tiger years, when the Irish economy was booming, the city saw a buying spree of residences by native Irish as second homes [2] or as investment property. [3]

History

Irish Hunger Memorial in Downtown Manhattan Irish Hunger Memorial.JPG
Irish Hunger Memorial in Downtown Manhattan

Irish Americans (most of whom are Irish Catholic) make up approximately 5.3% of New York City's population, composing the second largest non-Hispanic white ethnic group. [4] Irish American Protestants Scotch-Irish Americans first came to America in colonial years (pre-1776).The largest wave of Catholic Irish immigration came after the Great Famine in 1845 although many Catholics immigrated during the colonial period. [5] Most came from some of Ireland's most populous counties, such as Cork, Galway, and Tipperary. Large numbers also originated in counties Cavan, Meath, Dublin, and Laois. [6]

In the Civil War, the massive anti-draft riots of 1863 represented a "civil war" inside the Irish Catholic community, according to Toby Joyce. The mostly Irish Catholic rioters confronted police, soldiers, and pro-war politicians who were often leaders of the Irish community. [7] In the "early days", the 19th century, the Irish formed a predominant part of the European immigrant population of New York City, a "city of immigrants", which added to the city's diversity to this day. [8] After they came, Irish immigrants often crowded into subdivided homes, only meant for one family, and cellars, attics, and alleys all became home for the poorest immigrants. As they accumulated wealth they moved into better housing. [9] Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, was originally developed as a resort for wealthy Manhattanites in 1879, but instead became an upscale family-oriented Italian- and Irish-American community. [10] Another large Irish-American community is located in Woodlawn Heights, Bronx, [11] but Woodlawn Heights also has a mix of different ethnic groups. [12] Conditions were slow to improve in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen. [13]

Other sizable Irish-American communities include Belle Harbor and Breezy Point, both in Queens. [14] [15] Two big Irish communities are Marine Park and neighboring Gerritsen Beach. The Irish have also settled "to a far lesser extent [in] Maspeth, Woodside, and Sunnyside, Queens." [11]

The Irish Catholic men were successful in joining the New York City Police Department as well as the New York Fire Department. Religious women became nuns teaching in parochial schools; others became public school teachers. In the neighborhoods, the Irish organized to again control over territory, jobs, and political organizations. As the "new immigrants" from Southern and Eastern Europe arrived 1880s-1914, the Irish incorporating them into their established system. It was a process of "Americanization." The Irish dominated the Catholic Church as bishops, priests, pastors and nuns. [16] The Church worked hard to keep Catholicism strong among the new arrivals, opening parish schools and high schools. [17] After 1945, a large-scale movement to the suburbs was made possible by the steady upward social mobility of the Irish. [18]

Irish colleges and universities

Irish neighborhoods

Rory Dolan's Irish pub in Yonkers Rory Dolan's Irish Pub McLean Av jeh.jpg
Rory Dolan's Irish pub in Yonkers

Current

Historic

Notable Irish New Yorkers

Irish mayors

Irish Bishops of the Archdiocese of New York

Irish Bishops of the Diocese of Brooklyn

Notable Irish New Yorkers

Irish gangs

Entertainment about Irish in New York City

Music

Fairytale of New York by Irish band The Pogues refers to the NYPD choir singing Galway Bay. This is traditional because the force traditionally was largely made up of Irish Americans.

Notable films

Television

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bronx</span> Borough in New York City

The Bronx is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York City borough of Queens, across the East River. The Bronx has a land area of 42 square miles (109 km2) and a population of 1,472,654 in the 2020 census. If each borough were ranked as a city, the Bronx would rank as the ninth-most-populous in the U.S. Of the five boroughs, it has the fourth-largest area, fourth-highest population, and third-highest population density. The population density of the Bronx was 32,718.7 inhabitants per square mile (12,632.8/km2) in 2022, the third-highest population density of any county in the United States, behind Manhattan and Brooklyn. It is the only borough of New York City not primarily on an island. With a population that is 54.8% Hispanic as of 2020, it is the only majority-Hispanic county in the Northeastern United States and the fourth-most-populous nationwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queens</span> Borough of New York City and county of New York

Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest of the five New York City boroughs by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long Island and by Nassau County to its east. Queens shares water borders with the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, as well as with New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooklyn</span> Borough of New York City

Brooklyn is a borough of New York City. Located on the westernmost end of Long Island, it is coextensive with Kings County in the U.S. state of New York. With 2,736,074 residents as of the 2020 United States census, Kings County is the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City and the most populous county in the State of New York. The population density of Brooklyn was 37,339.9 inhabitants per square mile (14,417.0/km2) in 2022, making it the second-most-densely-populated county in the United States, behind Manhattan, and it had the ninth-highest population of any county nationwide. Were Brooklyn still an independent city, it would be the fourth most populous in the U.S. after the rest of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of New York City</span>

The written history of New York City began with the first European explorer, the Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524. European settlement began with the Dutch in 1608 and New Amsterdam was founded in 1624.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodlawn Heights, Bronx</span> Neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City

Woodlawn Heights, also known as Woodlawn, is a predominantly Irish-American working class neighborhood at the very north end of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by McLean Avenue to the north, the Bronx River to the east, Woodlawn Cemetery to the south, and Van Cortlandt Park to the west. Woodlawn Heights remains one of the few areas in New York City that still has young Irish immigrants still arriving to the area en masse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwood, Bronx</span> Neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City

Norwood, also known as Bainbridge, is a residential neighborhood in the northwest Bronx, New York City, U.S. It is bound by Van Cortlandt Park and Woodlawn Cemetery to the north, the Bronx River to the east, and Mosholu Parkway to the southwest. The area is dominated topographically by what was once Valentine's Hill, the highest point being near the intersection of 210th Street and Bainbridge Avenue, where Gun Hill Road intersects, and around the Montefiore Medical Center, the largest landowner and employer of the neighborhood. Norwood's main commercial arteries are Gun Hill Road, Jerome Avenue, Webster Avenue, and Bainbridge Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of New York City</span>

New York City is a large and ethnically diverse metropolis. It is the largest city in the United States with a long history of international immigration. The New York region continues to be by far the leading metropolitan gateway for legal immigrants admitted into the United States. The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York City is one of the world's most populous megacities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in New York City</span>

Education in New York City is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. New York City has the largest educational system of any city in the world. The city’s educational infrastructure spans primary education, secondary education, higher education, and research. New York City is home to some of the most important libraries, universities, and research centers in the world. In 2006, New York had the most post-graduate life sciences degrees awarded annually in the United States, 40,000 licensed physicians, and 127 Nobel laureates with roots in local institutions. The city receives the second-highest amount of annual funding from the National Institutes of Health among all U.S. cities. It also struggles with disparity in its public school system, with some of the best-performing public schools in the United States as well as some of the worst-performing. Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the city embarked on a major school reform effort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boroughs of New York City</span> Administrative divisions of New York City

The Boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that compose New York City. The boroughs are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New York: The Bronx is Bronx County, Brooklyn is Kings County, Manhattan is New York County, Queens is Queens County, and Staten Island is Richmond County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City ethnic enclaves</span> Ethnic group in New York City

Since its founding in 1625 by Dutch traders as New Amsterdam, New York City has been a major destination for immigrants of many nationalities who have formed ethnic enclaves, neighborhoods dominated by one ethnicity. Freed African American slaves also moved to New York City in the Great Migration and the later Second Great Migration and formed ethnic enclaves. These neighborhoods are set apart from the main city by differences such as food, goods for sale, or even language. Ethnic enclaves provide inhabitants security in work and social opportunities, but limit economic opportunities, do not encourage the development of English speaking, and keep immigrants in their own culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatowns in Brooklyn</span> Overview of Chinatowns in Brooklyn

The first Brooklyn Chinatown, was originally established in the Sunset Park area of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia, as well as within New York City itself. Because this Chinatown is rapidly evolving into an enclave predominantly of Fuzhou immigrants from Fujian Province in China, it is now increasingly common to refer to it as the Little Fuzhou or Fuzhou Town of the Western Hemisphere; as well as the largest Fuzhou enclave of New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographic history of New York City</span>

The racial and ethnic history of New York City has varied widely; from its sale to the Dutch by Native American residents, to the modern multi-cultural period.

New York City has the largest population of Italian Americans in the United States as well as North America, many of whom inhabit ethnic enclaves in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. New York is home to the third largest Italian population outside of Italy, behind Buenos Aires, Argentina (first) and São Paulo, Brazil (second). Over 2.6 million Italians and Italian-Americans live in the greater New York metro area, with about 800,000 living within one of the five New York City boroughs. This makes Italian Americans the largest ethnic group in the New York metro area.

John J. O’Malley was an American architect based in Brooklyn, NY, known primarily for his work as an architect for the Archdiocese of New York. He founded John O’Malley & Associates, which designed approximately twenty churches, thirty schools, and thirty other buildings for the Catholic Church. His firm designed more than 150 buildings during his career. O’Malley also designed public buildings and private residences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Irish Americans in Philadelphia</span>

People of Irish descent form the largest ethnic group in the city of Philadelphia and its surrounding counties. The Irish have lived in Philadelphia since the pre-American Revolution period. Irishmen had participated in pro-Revolutionary activities in Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War. Like many American cities in the 19th century, Philadelphia, which was once a Quaker stronghold, changed dramatically with the influx of European immigrants. The first major influx of Irish came in 1844 from rural areas, spurred by the Irish Famine. Because of the Quaker belief and pledge of religious tolerance, Irish Catholics and Protestants, among others, made the city incredibly diverse. Philadelphia at the time had a need for industrial labor, and at the time Philadelphia was becoming a major industrial center in the United States. Irish took industrial positions. In the 1840s and 1850s, anti-Catholic sentiment grew against the Irish, and eventually led up to riots, such as the Philadelphia nativist riots and the Lombard Street riot. Eventually the Irish gained financial and social status in the latter half of the 19th century and founded institutions during the period. Many Irish Philadelphians would later move on to other major Americans cities, such as Detroit, Milwaukee, Seattle, and St. Louis.

This article is a timeline of the history of New York City in the U.S. state of New York.

The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to New York City. New York City is a city in the United States state of New York.

References

  1. Irish American Fun Facts & Trivia
  2. The Real Estate Bloggers
  3. An Irish Taste for Real Estate in Manhattan, by Patrick McHeehan, N.Y. Times, May 8, 2007 (The page number is not available; it is available on-line with registration).
  4. "New York city, New York – QT-P13. Ancestry: 2000". census.gov American Fact Finder. United States Census Bureau. 2000. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  5. Ronald H. Bayor and Timothy J. Meagher, eds. The New York Irish (1996) pp 12-18.
  6. Anbinder, Tyler (2015). "Which Irish men and women immigrated to the United States during the Great Famine migration of 1846-54?". Irish Historical Studies. 39 (156): 620–642. doi:10.1017/ihs.2015.22. S2CID   163537029.
  7. Toby Joyce, "The New York Draft Riots of 1863: An Irish Civil War?" History Ireland (March 2003) 11#2, pp 22-27.
  8. Helmreich 2013, p. 25.
  9. Bayor and Meagher, eds. The New York Irish (1996) pp. 88, 400-401.
  10. Goode, Kristen. "Bay Ridge, Brooklyn". about.com. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on June 23, 2009. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  11. 1 2 Helmreich 2013, p. 27.
  12. Wilson, Claire (February 16, 2003). "If You're Thinking of Living In/Woodlawn; A Bronx Enclave With a Suburban Feel". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  13. Manhattan|work=primemanhattan.com|publisher=Prime Manhattan Realty|accessdate=May 4, 2009
  14. "Walking Around – Belle Harbor – Irish New York City's Ethnic neighborhoods". walkingaround.com. 2004. Archived from the original on 2009-03-02. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  15. "Walking Around – Breezy Point – Irish New York City's Ethnic neighborhoods". walkingaround.com. 2004. Archived from the original on 2009-03-02. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  16. Thomas Shelley, " 'Only One Class of People to Draw Upon for Support': Irish-Americans and the Archdiocese of New York." American Catholic Studies (2001): 1-21.
  17. James R. Barrett, and David R. Roediger, "The Irish and the 'Americanization' of the 'New Immigrants' in the Streets and in the Churches of the Urban United States, 1900-1930." Journal of American Ethnic History 24.4 (2005): 3-33, focus on New YHork and Chicago.
  18. Morton D. Winsberg, "The Suburbanization of the Irish in Boston, Chicago and New-York." Eire-Ireland 21.3 (1986): 90-104.
  19. A bit o' the Irish brogue: Woodlawn: An Irish enclave in the far reaches of the Bronx, by Patrick Ward, amNY, February 8, 2007, at pp. 34, 36, 38; see also at .
  20. Answer.com page on Woodlawn
  21. Irish restaurants in N. Riverdale
  22. NY Times article, requires registration
  23. "Irish fire-fighter obit". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  24. "Top 7 Brooklyn Irish Pubs and Bars", by Wendy Zarganis, About:New York:Brooklyn web site Archived 2007-07-07 at the Wayback Machine
  25. Blog: "A Shamrock Grows in Brooklyn"
  26. Henry Grattan's Pub web site Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
  27. Congressman' s site Archived 2007-04-30 at the Wayback Machine
  28. Answers.com
  29. "Neighborhood web site". Archived from the original on 2013-06-17. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
  30. "Civic group". Archived from the original on 2013-11-16. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
  31. Irish dance group
  32. Forgotten NY web site
  33. ""Close up on Vinegar Hill", by Danial Adkinson, Village Voice web site". Archived from the original on 2008-06-09. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  34. "If You're Thinking of Living in Vinegar Hill...", by Dulcie Leimbach, N.Y. Times, August 31, 2003 on line.
  35. 1 2 Ellen Freudenheim, Queens: What to do, where to go (and how not to get lost) in New York's Undiscovered Borough, pp. 15-16 (Woodside), 262-265 (Rockaways), 267-275 (Sunnyside), 277-287 (Woodside). (St. Martin's NY 2006) ISBN   0-312-35818-0.
  36. Bayor and Meaghar (1996). The New York Irish . Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN   978-0-8018-5199-5. (p. 414)
  37. Staten Is. Cultural web site Archived 2007-05-06 at the Wayback Machine
  38. Staten Island Irish Fair web site [ permanent dead link ]
  39. Information on Norwood, a.k.a. Bainbridge:Answers.com page on Norwood
  40. St. Barnabas' Parish web site
  41. Diana Shaman, If You're Thinking of Living In /Woodhaven, Queens; Diversity in a Cohesive Community, New York Times September 20, 1998, found at NY Times article on the diversity of Rego Park including Irish-Americans. Accessed November 8, 2007.

Further reading