The Origins and Character of Irish-American Nationalism

Abstract

The irish have always been proud of their ability to assimilate their conquerors, who often, like the Burkes and Geraldines, became hibernis ipsis hiberniores. No doubt the charm of Ireland explains this phenomenon as well as the boast of John O'Leary that one had but to live in Ireland six years and he was Ireland's. But why should the immigrant who abandoned the old country and his son who never saw it become in many ways more Irish than the Irish themselves? What was there in the immigrant experience that transformed the indifferent peasant into a fierce and aggressive Irish nationalist? What was the character of this nationalism that shifted the balance of Irish political power, so that in 1885 the London Times could say with confidence that “the Irish Question is mainly an Irish-American question?”