The Irish American Experience:
A booklist

Books for Children

Bunting, Eve. Dreaming of America: An Ellis Island Story. Bridge Water Books, 1999.: Real life story of Annie Moore, a 15-year-old Irish girl who was the first immigrant to pass through the Ellis Island immigrant processing station.

O Flatharta, Antoine. The Prairie Train. Crown Publishers, New York, 1997.: Conor is on the last stage of his trip from his home in Connemara, Ireland to the great American West where is family is settling.

Denenberg, Barry. So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl. Scholastic,1997.: Part of the Dear America series, the diary entries depict what life might have been like for this young heroine.
Holland, Isabelle. Paperboy. Holiday House, New York, 1999.: Kevin O'Donnell, an Irish immigrant in New York in the late 1800s, struggles to help his family make a living.
Holland, Isabelle. The Journey Home. Scholastic, New York, 1990.: Two orphan sisters in the late 1800s leave New York on the orphan train to seek a new home in the West.

Brownstone, David M. The Irish-American Heritage. Facts on File, New York, 1989.: Explores the history, culture, and contributions of Irish-Americans from colonial times to the late 1980s.
Hoobler, Dorothy. The Irish American Family Album. Oxford University Press, New York, 1998.: Immigrant experience comes alive through photographs, letters and an in-depth history of the Great Famine and the migration to America.

Massie, Elizabeth. 1870: Not With Our Blood. New York, 2000.: Patrick O'Neill is a teenage Irish immigrant working in a mill. He dreams of becoming a writer but must overcome everyday prejudices and dangerous work conditions to realize his goals.
Nixon, Joan Lowery. Land of Promise. Bantam, New York, 1992.: In 1902 15-year-old Rose travels from Ireland to join her family in Chicago, where she must use all her resources to deal with her father's drinking and her brothers' dangerous involvement in politics.

Coffy, Michael, ed. The Irish in America. Hyperion, New York, 1997.: A look at the history and the legacy of Irish Americans from the great famine to Irish culture in America today.
Griffin, William D. The Irish Americans. Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, New York, 1998.: A large pictorial history with text covering the Irish immigrant experience in the United States.
Miller, Kerby A. Emigrants and exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America. Oxford University Press, New York, 1985.: A close study of a country in crisis and an intimate look at the people who would help build North America.
Wood, Ernest. The Irish Americans: How the Irish Arrived and Became Part of America's Heritage. Mallard Press, New York, 1992.: Photographs and text covering the struggles and the achievements of generations of Irish Americans.
McCourt, Frank. Angela's Ashes. Wheeler Pub., Accord, MA, 1997.: Memoirs of author Frank McCourt, an Irish American born in Brooklyn during the depression who moved with his family back to Ireland where he grew up in poverty.
McCourt, Frank. ‘Tis. Scribner, New York, 1999.: Sequel to Angela's Ashes. Author Frank McCourt recounts his return to the United States as a young man looking for a future.

Stephens, Michael. The Brooklyn Book of the Dead: A Novel. Dalkey, Normal, IL, 1994.: When their father dies, the Coole children return to their old neighborhood in Brooklyn to revisit childhood memories, many that are better left forgotten.

The Irish in America [videorecording]. Greystone Communications, Inc. for A&E Network; produced by Rhys Thomas. New York, 1997. (VID 973.04 Iri): This program follows the nation's first immigrant group on their journey to the American dream. From back to Ireland war hero and President Andrew Jackson to union organizer Mother Jones, you'll meet the colorful Irish-Americans who fought and worked their way past oppression and into history.

Irish LIterature, Mythology, Folklore, and Drama: Collection of texts and links from Luminarium.org.
IRish-American: Answers.com encyclopedia entry.
Irish-American Heritage Month & St. Patrick's Day: US Census Facts for Features article.

Call the Reference Desk at 413-263-6828 ext. 213, your branch library, or Askalibrarian to reserve a book today!

updated : November 4, 2008