1870: CLICK on this census map, drawn-up way before the Great Depression, that illustrates (in green!) the Irish population in America.
It shows that the Philadelphia area's Irish population, a deep emerald swath, was outdone only by New York and New England's dark-forest green saturation. Even then, were there more Irish living outside Ireland than in country, as is said today? The 2006 census reported there were nearly 35 million Americans that claimed Irish ancestry. A quick check of the Republic of Ireland's Census reports a population of fewer than 5 million.
On Saturday, I'm off to the Germantown Historical Society for a field trip in search of information about the Irish who chose Philadelphia, and Germantown, in particular, over Boston.
I'll try, but I think it might be difficult to ignore G-town's Revolutionary past.
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I really enjoy the idea of your blog. During my undergrad work, I was a history major, in addition to English. I can't wait to read about your trip to the Germantown Historical Society.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I didn't realize we had a historian in the class. Maybe you can give me some research tips.
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