Irish Expert Talks Immigration, Nativism At Fairfield Club

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Gaelic American Club Genealogy and Language Groups will host “One half of my heart is Ireland’s, and the other half is America’s”: Irish Immigrants, Nativism, and the Meaning of Loyalty in 19th-Century America, the 17th in a series of Lectures on Irish History,.

Daily Voice

02/01/2017 7:17 p.m.

The lecture will be held on Feb. 19 19, from 2-4 p.m.in the Carolan Room at the Gaelic American Club, 74 Beach Road, Fairfield.

This lecture is presented by Ian Delahanty, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History at Springfield College, where he teaches classes on American history, the American Civil War, Immigration and Ethnic History, and African American history. His research and publications examine how Irish immigrants’ backgrounds in and connections to Ireland influenced their views on slavery and nationalism in the United States, especially during the American Civil War era.

Between 1815 and 1900, more than 4 million Irish immigrants settled in the United States. Throughout this century of mass Irish immigration, many native-born Americans alleged that Irish immigrants’ poverty, faith, and involvement in Irish political causes made it impossible for them to be loyal to the United States. Dr. Delahanty’s talk will examine how Irish immigrants refuted nativists’ charges that they were incapable of being loyal Americans, even as they refused to sever economic, political, and cultural ties to their native land.

This lecture is open to the public. Tickets are $5 and $2 for students with student ID. (Register on-line at: marroyo@optonline.net , subject: “Irish History” and mail your check payable to “Feile, Inc.” to: Mary Adams-Arroyo, 221 McGrath Court, Stratford, CT 06615. Please provide name, address, phone and email. For more information, call Mary at (203) 377-2346.

This event is sponsored by Feile, Inc.

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