Despite the fact that I’m about ¾ Irish, my dad wanted to name
me “Bridget” and I have vivid memories of my elderly uncles
pulling their whiskey bottles out from under the kitchen sink,
the struggle of the Irish was never something talked about in my
family or in history class. It just wasn’t something they
dwelled on. When I learned just how tough it really has been
over the centuries, I am amazed at where Irish Americans are
today and what we can learn from their experiences. The Irish
immigrants came to America with a shocking past including
starvation, slavery and racism, yet their path became one of
assimilation rather than separatism. Some people might say that
we can’t compare the Irish to ethnic and racial groups of today,
but I say we absolutely can. Consider just a few things from
their past: In the 12 year period during and following the
Confederation revolt, from 1641 to 1652, over 550,000 Irish were
killed by the English and 300,000 were sold as slaves, as the
Irish population of Ireland fell fro