Sunday, March 13, 2016

Happy St. Patrick's Day!




Ann Malone Kern, the main character in my Malone mysteries, is of Irish descent but, as far as I know, I don’t have a drop of Irish blood in my veins. However, we both live in Cincinnati, a city where the Irish played an important role. Next to the Germans, they were the largest group of immigrants between 1840 and 1910.

Cincinnati was a major destination for immigrants from Ireland who left their homeland because, due to the potato blight and resulting famine in their country, they couldn’t pay their mortgages and they were starving. Many were poor, spoke English with a brogue and were Roman Catholic with large families. Some came with nothing more than a few pieces of clothing.

The city offered many opportunities for work on the riverfront, digging for the Miami and Erie Canal and on railroad construction. Although most had hoped to become farmers, with no money and desperate to feed their families, when they arrived in the Queen City, many Irish took jobs that were dangerous and unskilled with low pay.

Through the years, the Irish have contributed greatly to our city’s growth and culture. During the Civil War, the Irish formed several militia units, which became the core of the Ohio 10th Regiment. Later, many became policemen and firemen, some were prosperous in industry and others were active in politics.

Today, we have The Irish Heritage Center of Greater Cincinnati. The IHC was founded to promote the Irish Culture through the study of customs, dance, education, film, genealogy, history, language, lectures, literature, music, mythology, poetry, social interaction, song, sport, theater and the visual arts.

Cincinnati's Irish Festival

And the annual St. Patrick's Day parade!


   “May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

8 comments:

  1. What a wonderful post! I enjoyed learning more about Cincinnati and the Irish population. And the poem at the end is something I've grown up reading and hearing, and I love it.
    Marja McGraw

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  2. Very enjoyable post, Patricia! I'm a Chicago native, and St. Patrick's day is a "holiday" from my young adulthood I will never forget! Good memories...

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    1. Thanks for commenting, Madeline!
      As I said in my post, I'm not Irish but I've always loved St. Patrick's Day. I'll be "wearin' the green today."

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  3. From an Irish Patricia (my mother's maiden name was Kennedy), what a lovely tribute to the Irish.

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    1. Well, they're a grand bunch and that's no blarney. LOL

      Thanks for commenting, Pat!

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  4. I'm half Irish and half German, from a similar Queens, NY neighborhood ethnically. So great to read this, Patricia -- and I'm the proud recipient of Desperate Deeds, which arrived yesterday. Happy St. Patrick's Day to you, and to all!

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    1. Thanks for letting me know you got the book, Eileen. And, thanks for commenting!

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