Redefining Irishness in a Coastal Maine City, 1770–1870

Download or read book Redefining Irishness in a Coastal Maine City, 1770–1870 written by Kay Retzlaff and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-11-18 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Redefining Irishness in a Coastal Maine City, 1770–1870: Bridget's Belfast examines how Irish immigrants shaped and reshaped their identity in a rural New England community. Forty percent of Irish immigrants to the United States settled in rural areas. Achieving success beyond large urban centers required distinctive ways of performing Irishness. Class, status, and gender were more significant than ethnicity. Close reading of diaries, newspapers, local histories, and public papers allows for nuanced understanding of immigrant lives amid stereotype and the nineteenth century evolution of a Scotch-Irish identity.