Irish American
Shamrock heritage stateside
An Irish American is a person of Irish descent living in the United States.
The term encompasses both recent immigrants and those whose ancestors arrived generations ago—particularly during the Great Famine of the 1840s.
Irish Americans constitute one of the largest ethnic groups in the U.S., with strong cultural associations around St.
Patrick's Day, Catholicism, and urban political machines of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
My grandfather was Irish American on both sides.
Fatal emigrant transport vessels
- Ellis IslandHistoric immigrant processing center
- emigrationLeaving homeland permanently
- famineSevere food shortage
- transatlanticSpanning the ocean between continents
steerage · tenements · remittance · homeland · nostalgia · exile · passage · Liverpool
Of Irish-Welsh descent
- GaelicCeltic linguistic tradition
- shamrockThree-leafed Irish emblem
- Emerald IsleNickname for verdant Ireland
- Book of KellsIlluminated medieval Irish gospel manuscript
Blarney Stone · Hibernia · folklore · stepdance · Riverdance · hurling · Gaelic football · soda bread
Legal path to belonging
- citizenshipStatus as state member
- assimilationAbsorbing into a whole
- BostonMassachusetts state capital
- New YorkNortheastern metropolis and state
Chicago · Philadelphia · Tammany Hall · ward boss · discrimination · nativism · Know-Nothings · labor
Local church community
- CatholicPapal church adherent
- pubLicensed drinking establishment
- HibernianOf or from Ireland
- fraternalOf sibling bonds
solidarity · neighborhood · Southie · Hell's Kitchen · clan · kinship · wake · Knights of Columbus
coffin ships
Fatal emigrant transport vessels
- Ellis IslandHistoric immigrant processing center
- emigrationLeaving homeland permanently
- famineSevere food shortage
transatlantic · steerage · tenements · remittance · homeland · nostalgia · exile · passage · Liverpool · workhouse
Celtic
Of Irish-Welsh descent
- GaelicCeltic linguistic tradition
- shamrockThree-leafed Irish emblem
- Emerald IsleNickname for verdant Ireland
Book of Kells · Blarney Stone · Hibernia · folklore · stepdance · Riverdance · hurling · Gaelic football · soda bread · colcannon
naturalization
Legal path to belonging
- citizenshipStatus as state member
- assimilationAbsorbing into a whole
- BostonMassachusetts state capital
New York · Chicago · Philadelphia · Tammany Hall · ward boss · discrimination · nativism · Know-Nothings · labor · canal
parish
Local church community
fraternal · solidarity · neighborhood · Southie · Hell's Kitchen · clan · kinship · wake · Knights of Columbus · sodality
- Irish-AmericanSouthie, South Boston, Ellis Island, potato famine, immigration wave
- IrelandDublin, Cork, leprechaun, Galway, Eire
- Irish cultureshamrock, shamrocks, leprechaun, leprechauns, Celtic cross
- American EthnicityPuerto Rican, Hispanic, Latino, Chicano, Chicana
- European American heritageEuropean descent, ethnic heritage, ancestry
- KennedysJFK, Kennedy, Kennedy family, Robert Kennedy, Ted Kennedy
Irish AmericanWASP
Anglo establishment shorthand
Anglo-American · Native American · Yankee · African American · Asian American
Irish, American, America, Irishman, Irishwoman, Irishness, Americanize, Americanization, Americanism