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Irish in Michigan focus of new book |
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Stacy Moeller |
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Sep 29, 2006 |
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America has always been known as a giant melting pot of different ethnicities, and one of the largest groups is the Irish, who are the focus of a new book from Michigan State University Press, Irish in Michigan.
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| The main structure of St. Joseph's Shrine was built by 20 early Irish settlers in 1845 near Brooklyn, Mich. |
Dr. Seamus Metress, UT professor of anthropology, and his wife, Dr. Eileen Metress, UT professor emeritus of public health, wrote the book. Seamus is a specialist in Irish studies, with more than 30 books and numerous articles. His book Irish in Toledo was selected as the Best Local History Book for 2005 by the Center for Archival Collections at Bowling Green State University. Eileen is the author of several books and articles. She was the 2005 recipient of the National Irish Freedom Committee’s Pearl Flannery Award, presented in New York.
The book is an analysis of Irish settlement in Michigan, from Detroit to the scattered farms and lumber towns across the state, to the hardy Beaver Islanders of Northern Lake Michigan and the copper and iron mining settlements of the Upper Peninsula. It is a broad story of Irish immigration and the Irish contribution to the growth and development of the modern state, while the Irish maintained their identity.
There are numerous pictures in the book along with a map of the distribution of Michigan’s population claiming Irish ancestry from a 2000 U.S. census.
“Many of the pictures are from the Beaver Island Historical Society and personal photographs from local Irish descendants,” Seamus said.
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| This photo of Irish fishermen on Beaver Island is from the early 1900s. |
The work is one of 23 in the series Discovering the Peoples of Michigan. Other ethnic groups with books in this series include African Americans, Amish, Dutch, Germans, Latinos and Poles.
“This book is part of a series which does a marvelous job providing education materials as well as an appreciation for cultural backgrounds on a variety of ethnic groups,” Seamus said.
“The book is dedicated to a group of now deceased men from the Detroit Irish community who worked tirelessly in the cause of Irish freedom and the promotion of Irish culture,” he added.
Appendices offer more Irish information. The first gives resources for those wishing to find out more on Irish history in Michigan. The second lists nearly 80 Catholic parishes in Michigan with Irish or heavy Irish origin. The third lists recipes for Irish ethnic specialties that are still made by Irish descendents today; these include colcannon, wheaten bannock bread and scones.
For those who would like to read more books on Irish history by Seamus, they can look forward to his recently finished work based on 20 years of fieldwork in Ireland and America on Irish resistance to British rule. He also is working on a book about Irish women in the American labor movement.
Copies of Irish in Michigan can be purchased online through the Michigan State University Press at www.msupress.msu.edu. Cost is $11.95 plus shipping and handling.
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