The Celts Arrive in Ireland

In the early stages of the Iron age period a new culture started to evolve across Europe. This new culture is known as the Celtic Culture  and its influence made its way into Ireland.

When Did The Celts Arrive In Ireland?

Before the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, there was no actual written history. It is unclear exactly when the Celtic culture arrived in Ireland. The first sign of any Celtic influences to reach Ireland dates between 800 B.C. and 400 B.C. but this is often debated.

Did The Celts Invade Ireland?

There is a general belief the Celts invaded Ireland just like the Vikings or Normans did in the Medieval Period in Ireland. However, there is no direct evidence to support a large invasion as  they arrived in various stages and their migration was a lengthy process. It was likely, the influence of the Celts  arrived in Ireland from Travel and Trade with places such as Britain and Europe. Over time the spread of Celtic language, artwork, Iron work,  etc… would finally find its way into Ireland.

Famous Boston Irish Americans

Of the nearly million Irishmen who came to the shores of America during the Famine years, tens of thousands of Irish immigrants settled in Boston. In 1847 alone, the first year of the Great Famine, 37,000 Irish Catholics descended upon Boston. The Irish immigrants who landed in Boston settled into Boston waterfront along Battery March and Broad streets, then in the North End section and in East Boston. Today, it’s hard to imagine Boston without the Irish. Boston has become the most Irish American city of all, ultimately commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Irish Famine by unveiling a $1 million memorial park along the Freedom Trail. Considering the great Irish history in Boston, it’s no surprise many famous Irish Americans originated from Boston or spent many important years in the city.

Boston Harbor

Irish Visitors in New York

Nowhere was the influence of the Irish immigrant more pronounced than in America’s most powerful city, New York. 75% of the Famine Irish landed in New York Harbor, and by 1860, a quarter of New York city’s population was Irish. Within a few decades, the Irish held firm control over Tammany Hall, the Democratic party political  machine that controlled much of New York’s politics.The rise of the Irish in New York culminated when Al Smith, the grandson of Irish immigrants, rose from the tenements of the lower East Side to become governor of New York in the 1920’s.

For the Irish Immigrant who anchored in New York Harbor in the first decades of the twentieth century, were no longer prejudice, hatred and aggression there to spurn them. In their place was a new Irish-American identity, confident, proud, and irrepressible, ready to be assumed by the next greenhorn to step down from the deck of an Irish steamship.

Irish American Golden Age

In America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Irish immigrants in America began to rise from the depths of despair, finding salvation in the only political capital: the rising numbers, unbreakable unity, and irrevocable right to vote.

Throughout the later half of the 19th century, in cities across the Northeast, Irish immigrants banned together in support of political leaders who campaigned their causes. Labor unions became full with Irishmen who insured good paying jobs for Irish immigrants. Several Irish groups and Irish organizations released and gave Irish immigrants a sense of belonging. The Catholic church expanded to became a major force in representing Irish values socially and politically. By the end of the 19th century, the Irish had permeated American culture. Songs like “Sweet Rosie O’Grady” and “My Wild Irish Rose” became genuinely American. Irishmen like John L. Sullivan, Paddy Ryan, and Gentlemen Corbett dominated the popular sport of boxing. In America’s pastime, John McGraw and Charles A. Komiskey built baseball empires in New York and Chicago, respectively. And “The Fighting Irish”, were becoming the preeminent name in football.

Third wave of irish Immigration

Centuries-old problems continued to plague Ireland in the early 20th century as a majority of its people lived and died with agriculture. As agricultural experts sagged, many young Irishmen flocked to the cities for work, but low industrial wages and the condition of urban slums made life unbearable. In the 1920’s, over 20% of the Irish Urban population lived in inadequate, overcrowded housing

Facing little opportunity on the farms and deplorable conditions in the cities, the young people of Ireland continued their mass exodus to other lands of opportunity. For most Irish immigrants, departure for America would be preceded by a gathering of friends and family. It was called the American wake, because so often those left behind would be saying their final goodbyes.

Irish Struggle For Independence

Back in Ireland in the early part of the 20th century, Ireland suffered bloodshed as Irish Catholics made a push for self rule. In 1919, a secret organization was formed with one primary objective: Independence from Great Britain. The Irish Republican Army, financed heavily by Irish Americans, fought a Guerilla War against British Forces in Ireland, bombing police stations, convoys, and any outposts of British control. In a desperate effort to suppress the rebellion, British Auxiliary forces known as the Black and Tans burned villages, executed rebels, and murdered civilians. A brief cease-fire was extinguished by months of civil war. In 1922, England finally established, the Irish Free State among the twenty-six counties of the South, granting financial, judicial, political and educational Independence to Ireland.

Irish Immigration After the Great Famine

After the Great Famine struck the potato fields of Ireland in the 1840’s, Irish immigration to America took on a strikingly different character. The famine Irish were not the Protestant, relatively, well to do immigrants who had assimilated seamlessly into American society for nearly a century. The new Irish immigrants were largely poor, unskilled, unfamiliar with urban and Catholic life. These Irishmen were not welcome.

Contrary to America’s renown for Liberty and tolerance, the famine Irish were met with bigotry and hatred. Many Americans came to believe an excess of foreigners and Catholics would destroy the system of democracy. Anti-foreign and Anti-Catholic mobs attacked convents and Catholic schools throughout the Northeast. Riots erupted in Philadelphia and New York. Irish Catholics were shunned by landlords and denied work in the factories.

Unfavorable reception, coupled with immigrant loneliness and missing Ireland, intensified growth of Irish slums. Filth, disease, crime, and alcoholism prevailed in the Irish ghettos. Ex-peasant Irishmen battled a debilitating sense of inferiority and longed for respectability.

Irish American Journey

Irish Immigration To America: How America Became Irish

The Irish began sailing to America in significant numbers by the 18th century. Hamstrung by English trade restrictions, mostly Protestant Irish from the North Boarded ships in search of greater opportunity on the other side of the Atlantic. By the time of the American Revolution, a quarter of a million Irishmen had already immigrated to America.

After 19th century industrialism took hold, legions of agrarian laborers abandoned American farms in favor of factor work in the cities. Cities grew rapidly, and the mode of connecting cities and expanding trade routes became a priority. The Irish who landed on American soil found ample opportunity in factories and along canals and railroads. Irish enclaves were formed across an ever- expanding America, with Irish concentration on the Eastern seaboard in New England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Irish Immigration 1846 to the early 20th century

Irish Immigration to America after 1846 was Predominately Catholic. The vast majority of those that had arrived previously had been Protestants or Presbyterians and quickly assimilated, not least because English was their first language and most (certainly not all) had skills and some small savings on which to start to build a new life. Very soon, they had become independent and prosperous.

Irish Immigration To America: The Famine Years

The arrival of destitute and desperate Catholics, many of whom spoke Irish or a bit of English, played out differently. Suspicious of majority Anglo-American Protestants & limited by a language barrier, illiteracy, and lack of skills this wave of Irish Immigrants sought refuge among their own kind.

At this time, when famine was raging Irish Immigration to America came from two directions: Transatlantic Voyage to East coast ports (Primarily Boston and New York) or by land or sea from Canada, then called British North America. Ireland was also part of Britain, and fares to Canada were cheaper than fares to the United States, especially after 1847. Huge numbers of sick and starving Irish tried to escape certain death in Ireland by setting sail for Canada, enduring appalling conditions on vessels that have become known as coffin ships.

Around The World with Gillooly/Gillooley/Gilhooly/Gilhooley/Gilhouly/Gilluly/Gilluley/Hooly/Hooley

Hi. My name is Rachel Gillooly. I am in St. Louis, Missouri (United States)  putting together a Family Genealogy & life histories and stories of the branches of our families from Ireland & Beyond. I am the granddaughter of Richard Peter Gillooly and Rose Beatrice Corapi Gillooly. I have been curious about my grandfathers Gillooly family for several years. As time had gone on, I have come to learn there are many versions of our name. Gillooly Gillooley , Gilooly , Gilooley, Gilhooly , Gilhooley, Gillhooly , Gillhooley, Gilhouly , Gilhouley , Gilluly , Gilluley , Giluly , Giluley , Hooly , Hooley, Hooli, Hoolie , McGillooly , McGilhooly , MacGillooly , MacGilhooly , and McHooley etc…..

Our name means: “The son of the follower of the shoulder” One whom leads by good example shall follow in their pathways.

At one time many of us were led to believe the meaning was: “Son of a Glutten” That may have been true at one point.

I am here to tell the stories of Gaelic Irish and Scottish Histories and learn how we came to be and of our original origins. My other purpose is to connect  hundreds to thousands of us across the globe uniting family branches to continue on for future generations. I am one of the first Gillooly’s  in the 21st century to connect more than 1,000 of us across the Globe.