This book covers immigrants in the area of origin, on the journey, and at the destination. The work is divided into four sections - bibliography, manuscript collections, government manuscripts and publications, and a statistical overview. It is based on a review of all extant books and journal articles (including theses and dissertations) and a ten-year US wide search for manuscript collections held by research libraries, archdiocesan centres, and other depositories; for government manuscripts and published documents; and for statistical sources at origin and destination. The bibliography section includes almost 10,000 entries, organized by categories which include sections on conditions in the area of origin, Irish-American literature, and a detailed listing of local studies on the Irish in locations throughout the entire country, especially the mountain and far west regions. In addition, this resource covers writings on the experience of Irish women throughout the United States. The listing of manuscript collections in archives and libraries surveys every state and city with institutions holding items on the Irish. The government documents sections and the listing of published government reports presents the only complete ethnic survey ever made of US government sources since they were first compiled. The final section, based on British, Irish and US data sources from the early 19th century up to the 1980s, presents a broad statistical survey of Irish immigrants in the United States. The work includes a detailed index to manuscripts and government documents. "The Irish in America" may be used as a research tool for historians, genealogists, social scientists, and anyone interested in almost any aspect of the Irish departure from their homeland, the cross-Atlantic journey, and settlement in the United States. The work has already won a national pre-publication award from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
