The Boston Irish

A Political History

Pre 1845 Immigration and Conditions

• Small numbers of Irish came to Boston

• Pre-1840s mostly Scotch Irish (Irish of Scottish descent, and usually Protestant)

• The Scotch Irish were generally from the north of Ireland, had a bit of money, were literate, and Protestant

• After 1820 more Irish Catholics (still not many) came to Boston and other large cities

• In Boston they (the Catholic Irish) were not particularly well received, as many from Boston did not like Catholics, and felt the Irish Catholics were uneducated, poor, drunk, and prone to violence, unlike their Protestant counterparts.

Post 1845 Immigrations and Conditions

• The Potato Famine of 1845-1849 brought Irish to Boston by the thousands.

• Were not well received – they were poor, uneducated, without job skills, and arrived in huge numbers.

• As stated earlier Boston Protestants were suspicious of Catholics, their devotion to the Church (and by extension the Pope) and the pomp and ceremony that their faith brought.

• Protestant Irish started calling themselves “Scotch-Irish” distinguish themselves from the Irish Catholics.

• Irish women became domestic servants

• A period where great nativist movements started.

The Irish Organize a Political Machine

• As a result of the poor living conditions in Boston, and the discrimination that Irish experienced, they began to organize.

• The treatment grew worse with the rise of the Know-Nothing party, and eventually the Irish began to unify and rebuild the dwindling numbers of the Democratic Party in Boston.

• Local Republicans, noticing this, and realizing the overwhelming numbers of Irish Catholic voters in Boston began to also woo the Irish.

• Eventually, the Democrats won the favor of Irish Catholics in Boston, often playing to the Irish American interest in a free Ireland for their Irish brothers left at home in the old country.

• After electing O’Brien the first Irish Catholic mayor of Boston, the Irish began to organize wards with bosses to help continue the dominance and influence of the Irish in Boston.

Joseph F. FitzgeraldAKA- Honey Fitz

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James Michael CurleyAKA- The Rascal King

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Joseph P. KennedyAKA - Joe Kennedy

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John F. KennedyAKA - JFK

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Hugh O’Brien AKA – Hugh O’Brien

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