I recently attended the Washington launch of Douglas Hyde’s My American Journey (UCD Press 2019), an account of his travels across America for seven months in 1905/06 when he was President of the Gaelic League. At that time, in the wake of decades of post-Famine immigration, Irish America was probably at its peak in size and influence. Hyde attracted impressive crowds in the 55 US cities he visited and dined at the White House with US president Theodore Roosevelt, with whom he discussed Irish and Norse mythology. Hyde was one of many Irish public figures of that era who crossed the Atlantic in search of support from the Irish in America who were only too eager to aid Irish causes. Their passion for Irish freedom helped prepare the ground for the 1916 Rising.
Turn the clock forward a century and Caitríona Perry’s The Tribe represents a timely effort to gauge the current political influence of Irish America. She deserves credit for eliciting the co-operation of so many leading figures including president Bill Clinton. I was among those she interviewed for this book. There are many insights to be found here and Perry, who knows the subject well from the years she spent as RTÉ’s Washington correspondent, tells her story at pace, and in a crisp, accessible style.
During my two years as Ambassador in Washington, I have encountered communities proud of their Irish heritage in places as far flung as Savannah, Charleston, San Antonio, Kansas City, Cleveland, San Diego and Buffalo. In such cities, the number of Irish-born residents tends to be modest, but people with roots in Ireland, two, three, four or more generations back retain an enduring affection for our country. It is a moving experience to hear people reflect on how proud their Irish-born grandparents would be to know that they were interacting with Ireland’s Ambassador. Of course, the extent of Irish Americans’ affinity with Ireland varies greatly from person to person, but there are many whose Irish identity is genuinely meaningful to them.
Voting bloc
A question that runs through Perry’s inquiries is the extent to which there is an Irish voting bloc in today’s America. The conclusion she reaches is that, except in particular places, there is not. Former Boston mayor Ray Flynn recalls a time when having an Irish background was an asset in areas of Boston with concentrations of Irish Americans. Such circumstances are less common today as people of Irish heritage are socially mobile and scattered widely throughout the areas where they live. Congressman Richie Neal says that being “the Irish guy” remains an asset in his electoral district in Springfield.
Congressman Brendan Boyle of Philadelphia, whose father comes from Donegal, makes the point that even in his most Irish of American cities, less than 15 per cent of his electorate have Irish backgrounds, and even they do not vote as a consciously Irish bloc. This should not surprise us. Indeed, it would be astonishing if all 33 million Americans of Irish heritage shared a set political outlook and deployed their votes in a concerted fashion. The fundamental fact is that Irish America is American and not Irish. This diverse community is shaped by influences that well around the land in which they live. Elections are invariably decided on the basis of local and national issues.
Does the absence of an Irish voting bloc negate the relevance of Irish America? Not at all. It seems to me that today’s Irish America is essentially a cultural and ethnic entity, but one that continues to have political consequence. Hence, in March each year Washington’s political world devotes a full day to celebrating the ties that connect our two countries. No other country of our size, with the notable exception of Israel, enjoys such an advantage, and that is due to the positive profile our community enjoys in America. There is an active and effective Friends of Ireland group in Congress who are vigilant in support of peace and political progress in Northern Ireland. People of Irish descent are to be found occupying prominent roles in every walk of American life. Alongside the longstanding ties of kith and kin, Ireland has become a prime economic partner for the United States, with extensive, two-way flows of trade and investment across the Atlantic which gives contemporary substance to the Irish-US relationship.
Brexit
Irish America mobilised impressively during the 1980s and 1990s to sway American opinion in support of a political settlement in Ireland. It has again been active in countering risks to peace posed by Britain’s impending exit from the EU. On a recent visit to Scranton, Pennsylvania, I was surprised to find more than 400 people turning up to hear me speak about Brexit. Their deep-felt concern for its potential impact on the border in Ireland was palpable.
Ireland’s friends in Congress have been vocal in insisting that any threat to the Belfast Agreement would make a future US-UK free trade agreement a non-starter. I first heard this point made separately by the co-chairs of the Friends of Ireland, Congressmen Richie Neal and Peter King in February during the visit of Tánaiste Simon Coveney. By April, the same point was being made forcefully in London and Dublin by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The prospect of the US Congress standing in the way of a US-UK agreement must have weighed on the thinking of those in Britain who had been willing to contemplate a no-deal Brexit.
Given all that has happened to remake societies on both sides of the Atlantic, it seems to me remarkable that a distinctive sense of Irishness survives in 21st-century America. There is work to be done to nurture the Irish affiliations of new generations of Irish Americans, which I expect will be a focus of the Government’s new diaspora strategy. The good news is that many of today’s Irish Americans know Ireland better than their parents’ and grandparents’ generation did, having been to Ireland more often and at a younger age.
Irish America is a huge asset for Ireland. It helps increase our footprint in the world’s most powerful country. The Tribe whose political DNA is explored in this book provides an emotional anchor for a pivotal Irish-US relationship. Long may it thrive.
Daniel Mulhall is Ireland’s Ambassador to the United States
Caitríona Perry will be in conversation with Rick O'Shea in Smock Alley Theatre, Temple Bar for the Dublin Book Festival on Sunday, November 17th dublinbookfestival.com
