1001 Ways of Looking at an Irishman

1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish-American History, by Edward T. O'Donnell (Broadway Books, US$15.95 (352p) ISBN 0-7679-0686-1)

If you're like us, you have at least 1001 questions about Irish-American culture. (For example: Is Kathy Ireland named after the country, or is it the other way around?) To quench this intellectual fire, we opened Edward T. O'Donnell's new book, 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish-American History. It seemed like just the ticket, but we were in for a surprise.

Dear reader, be warned: The festive colors on the cover, as well as the lighthearted title, are a ruse. One is likely to be at least halfway through the first chapter before realizing that this is not a book of frivolous kelly-green factoids, but a substantive history of a nation—of two nations, in fact. We were shocked—shocked!—to realize that we were not only learning, but learning new things, and furthermore absorbing rich, intelligent substance. It was as though someone had replaced our Lucky Charms with Wheaties and we didn't notice until we were at the milk in the bottom of the bowl.

Here's a great example: O'Donnell notes that over 40 million Americans claim Irish ancestry; this is unsurprising. It is surprising, however, to read that a majority of these identify themselves as Protestants. Not content to simply wow his reader with this news, O'Donnell goes on to supply the simple demographic reason for this: "Huge numbers of Irish immigrants came to America in the colonial period…from Ulster…. The Protestant descendants of these early Irish arrivals have been multiplying ever since. In contrast, the great migration of Irish Catholics began only in the 1830s…" (#561).

O'Donnell's experience as a professor of American history at Holy Cross serves him well. He wisely divides the book into 10 chapters:

Ireland Before 1850
Coming to America
Politics and the Law
Nationalism
Religion
The Military Tradition
Culture
Medicine and Science
Work, Business, and Innovation, and
Sports.

This structure allows for a sort of layer-by-layer enjoyment of the subject matter, rather than the more typical and muddling method, which attempts to render a multidimensional cultural experience as linear narrative.

With this terrific book, O'Donnell has scored that rare hat trick of historical writing: 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish-American History is researched thoroughly, organized expertly, and presented with a voice that will keep the rapt attention of both the historian and layperson.

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