By Brian Igoe
By Brian Igoe
The story of Ireland must include a piece about the story of the Irish in America - there are far more people of Irish descent there than there are in Ireland! Just under 36 million at the last count, or 12% of the population of the United States, compared with just over 4 million in Ireland.
The first Irishman in America may have been St. Brendan, or someone like him, between 510 and 550 AD. The Latin book Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot) was widely circulated in medieval times, but was treated as little more than a myth by serious historians until Tim Severin decided to investigate the myth in 1975. He has recreated a number of legendary voyages and journeys in order to determine how much of the legends are based on factual experience, and the first of these was 'The Brendan Voyage', when he was 35. It tells how he reconstructed a boat to Brendan's plans and sailed it to Newfoundland. I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in that sort of thing, but for this chapter the relevant bits are as follows:
The Navigati Sancti records that Brendan left with 17 monks in a currach, a large coracle, a wood-framed boat covered in sewn ox-hides, looking for ….
That is the first paragraph of the chapter, which then goes on to look at Ogham alphabet carvings found in West Virginia, Emigration from Ireland before the Great Famine, effects of the Napoleonic Wars, the Repeal disturbances, construction of the Erie Canal, the 'coffin ships', Canada, Grosse Isle, Quebec City, quarantining, Montreal and Kingston and Toronto, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio and New Jersey, railroads, the Civil War, the Union army, the Confederate army, Thomas Meagher, the Young Ireland, John Mitchell, the 'Irish Brigade', O'Donovan Rossa, the Fenians, Michael Cudahy, John Downey, William Grace, John F Kennedy, Grace Kelly, James Cagney, Bing Crosby, Walt Disney, John Ford, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Tyrone Power, Spencer Tracy, Ireland.
The Book is called 'The Story of Ireland'. It is available either as a paperback, an ebook, or a much smaller "pocket" sized paper back edition (4.2" x 6.8") for travellers.The printed books can be bought online here.
The E-book can be purchased directly from our site here.