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Erin Go Braugh

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When I was growing up my home town, Syracuse , N.Y. had a green stop light on the top of a traffic signal at a major intersection. I left many years ago and don't know if it is still there.
This green "stop" light has always been a problem for out of towners and of course the color blind. Nevetheless I never heard about any major accidents occurring on Tipperary Hill. We were all very proud to have this symbol of our heritage in a public place. Imagine being able to switch a traffic light! There are many descendants of Irish immigrants living in the Northeastern United States and their tremendous influence in the cultural fabric is generally taken for granted. I, for one, didn't realize this until I lived in South Florida and North Texas both of which were settled by different ethnic groups. Gone were the days when your friends and neighbors were called by names like Cassidy, Robinson, Mullen, Cole, Sharkey and Reagan.

What is it about the Irish that makes us want to hang out together? Like many other immigrants and ethnic groups we feel most comfortable amounsgt our own. But because we are quite loquacious by nature and funloving you will find that we get along with just about everyone. We are sentimental and due to our prideoften stubborn.I can say this from experience because I am the great-grand daughter of an Irish immigrant. You might think that after 150 years we would have forgotten our past by now. Actually although many Americans are of Irish descent not all are aware of their family history. The circumstances under which we arrived prohibits us from even tracing the family history. Many of us are direct descendants of a disapora caused by a tragic series of events that occurred during a 4 year period. I personally believe that if not for these compelling circumstances our forefathers would have never left the Emerald Isle.

It was during the 150th anniversary of the Great Hunger that I began to study the history of my maternal ancestors. All I ever knew from my mother was that her grand-father and father had emigrated to New York State by crossing the Canadian border when her her father was 10 years old. William my grandfather was born in Brockville, Ontario.Their name was Bowman and I have been told that this family name is from the west coast of Ireland. As I learned more I became inclined to believe that these ancestors had indeed left during the massive emigration and like many others who went to Canada longed to flee the English. My Grandfather passed away before I was born but according to descriptions of him and the ways of my mother they were very Irish and quite Republican.

This page is dedicated to those who suffered. May they finally rest in peace in a better place.

In ancient times the art of story telling evolved as well as the tradition of oral history. During the colonization of Ireland by the English , the Irish language, was outlawed. And with the exception of the western region, Gaelic became less spoken in deference to English. It was also important to speak English for social and economic reasons. A Gaelic speaking peasant was considered ignorant. Ironically the best English language literature has been written by Irish authors. James Joyce, acclaimed for his incredible writing abilities, was Irish.

Our plight during the 4 year period of the Great Hunger (1846-1849) commonly called the Potatoe Famine, caused the death of millions. Starvation ,yellow fever and massive emigration caused a major decline in the population of Ireland. The British refitted many slave ships known as "coffin ships" and forced many to Canada against their wishes. U.S. immmigration policy was such at the time that visas for the Irish were limited. The price for passage also varied greatly, Ireland to Canada one way was 2 pounds versus 8 pounds to the U.S. At least 15% of the people leaving on ships were so weak from starvation that their immune systems could not fight off yellow fever and many died in transit. It has been said that if the North Atlantic were a cemetary it would be paved with gravestones. The population of Ireland was reduced from 8 million inhabitants to 5 million during this four year period. For the most historically accurate account of the events please read "The Great Hunger" by Cecil Woodham-Smith.

If and when we arrived in the United States we faced a wave of xenophobia fueled by economic problems. The "No Nothing Party", grew as an unprecedented third party in U.S. politics and won many congressional seats based on it's hateful anti-Irish propaganda. This was the first major immigration of Roman Catholics until this time. We were forced to compete with Afro-Americans for jobs and took any work offered in order to feed our families.Ditch digging, railroad & construction building and mining were the only jobs available to Irish immigrants. In order to overcome rampant discrimination strong political alliances were formed such as Tamany Hall, which guaranteed that the Irish would get better jobs. The popularity of Al Smith, son of a NYC lower east side immigrant family ,was due to his loyal base. He actually created the New Deal that FDR later made into a federal program.

Another extremely important factor was education, which had been denied by the English.
Every decent Irish-American mother encouraged her children to study. She would do laundry,
care for the children of others and literally work around the clock in order to educate her
offspring. Sadly the Great Depression of the 1930's forced many to abandon school for work. By the end of WWII most Irish-Amerians had assimilated into mainstream society.Today
on St. Patrick's Day everyone wants to be Irish!