You don't have to be Irish or Irish-American to love this book. Whoever you are, you are in it. This is the kind of book you will want to bestow on anyone with, or without, a hyphen in their history.---Frank McCourt

An exceptionally thoughtful and interesting inquiry into Irish America.

A sweeping tale of disaster, survival, and triumph.

A wonderful addition to the story of the Irish in America...teem[ing] with deep, surprising insights.---Pete Hamill

Charming... A timely reminder that controversy over immigration exists as very much part of a continuum.

The Irish American story—a 150-year saga—is a fascinating one, and Quinn tells it superbly. A charming, informative, and memorable book.

Peter Quinn is a novelist, political historian, and foremost chronicler of New York City. He is the author of Banished Children of Eve and a trilogy of historical detective novels—Hour of the Cat, The Man Who Never Returned, and Dry Bones.

Foreword | 11

I. Family and Memory
Looking for Jimmy | 19
In Search of the Banished Children | 43
The Skillins | 57
The Perils of Pat | 67
Stones of Memory | 74

II. Politics and Place
Plunkitt of Tammany Hall | 87
Local Politics, Irish-American Style | 101
Life of the Party | 112
Civil Service | 122
The Bronx is Burning | 127
Cast a Cold Eye: William Kennedy's Albany | 138

III. Faith and Imagination
Confessions of a Bronx Irish-Catholic | 155
Sic Transit | 164
The Catholic Imagination | 172
Holy Orders | 188
City of God, City of Man | 193

IV. Silence and History
The Triumph of Bridget Such-a-One | 211
An Interpretation of Silences | 231
Closets Full of Bones | 246
Lost and Found | 257
A Famine Remembrance | 267

Conclusion
Irish America at the Millennium: How the Irish Stayed Irish | 273