Untitled Document

The photo on the left is an image gathering of Irish immigrants together in their community. The image on the right is a picture of Irish immigrants stading outside a store (www.mch.govt.nz/ref/ enz/irish/irish-church.html)

When the first Irish immigrants came to America they had difficulty assimilating into American culture. They were regarded as inferior to the Americans. As a result to the discrimination from the Americans, the Irish immigrants were able to create a distinct community where they could carry on traditions while adjusting to a new country. Since most of the Irish were immigrated non workers, they had a hard time making a decent pay. The lack of wealth forced the Irish to stay in that current habitat, therefore most communities were set up South Boston and New York because they are off the cost America. In the communities, a main concern was helping “their own” by giving them jobs or housing. For amusement the Irish pub was set up and became the main social center for the men. They allowed neighbors to gather around to smoke talk and drink. For others church dances and mixers were their form of entertainment. To most Irish communities the Catholic Church was a huge cultural tradition that was carried on. These churches helped to unite different Irish families and new immigrants. Cultural and religious events such as St. Patrick's Day helped bring the culture together, both the poor (the majority of the Irish immigrants) and the rich (a small percentage of the Irish immigrants.) Another huge part of the community was the newspaper that had either a nationalistic or a religious base. Some newspapers published church organs and art. Their newspapers also wrote about current new, information and stories. For the poorer class who had more illiterates, plays were appealing because they depicted real life at the time. By later Irish communities like second and third generation born immigrants, education became more frequently taught. However the heritage and Irish culture still remained because it was a huge factor in the communities. There were still many Irish Americans who were to poor to even afford to send their children to parish schools to preserve their Irish heritage and Catholic background. It is evident that the Irish community was not granted as many opportunities as the Americans. It was hard for the majority of Irish to afford normal living condition. However as a whole many Irish immigrants were still able to function well and create a good community in the United States.

The photo on the left is a Roman Catholic Church located in Maryland where many Irish ame and were able to settle in communities like Cockeysville, Catonsvile, Hydes, Harford, and Belain.