Irish Catholic "race"
The concept of the Irish Catholic "race" emerged from historical contexts of colonial oppression and cultural hierarchies, particularly during English colonial rule in Ireland. It was rooted in the intertwining of religious identity and perceived racial classifications, with Irish Catholics being marginalized socially and politically. Over time, these hierarchies were transported to North America by waves of Irish immigrants, notably during the Great Famine of the 1850s. Despite facing significant discrimination in the 19th century, the notion of an Irish Catholic "race" began to take shape among the wider American populace as Irish immigrants assimilated. As Irish Catholics found their place within the broader social fabric, the concept evolved, contributing to the expansion of the "White race" in America rather than forming a distinct ethnicity. By the mid-20th century, the struggles of Irish immigrants became part of a shared narrative of hardship and eventual acceptance, with prominent figures of Irish-Catholic descent, such as John F. Kennedy and Joe Biden, reaching high political office. Today, the legacy of Irish Catholic identity is celebrated in American culture, exemplified by events like St. Patrick's Day, while newer immigrant groups continue to experience challenges reminiscent of those faced by earlier Irish populations.
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Irish Catholic "race"
The English used notions of a “savage race” in colonialized Ireland to justify systems that dominated and oppressed the Irish long before the American colonies existed. These systems, which codified Irish Catholics by religion and placed them on the bottom of cultural hierarchies. Labels were given substance by combining religious identity with “race.” The English also used immigrant groups of English and Scots for social control, according to scholar Roy Forester in Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland (1989). Successive generations of English born in Ireland identified themselves as Irish Protestants rather than English. Scottish people were brought to Northern Ireland to serve as buffer groups against Irish kingdoms. These peoples—the Protestant Irish and Scotch-Irish—began identifying themselves as superior to the Irish Catholic “race.”
These hierarchies were transferred to North America along with the waves of immigrants. However, cultural and “race” demarcations lost their sharpness in the new land. The Scotch-Irish, as they had in Ireland, acted as buffers in the American colonies until the American Revolution caused distinctions to largely disappear within southern racial slavery hierarchies. Later immigration by Irish Catholics, especially during the 1850’s potato famine, in the end contributed more to the enlargement of the “White race” than to the creation of another ethnicity, according to Noel Ignatiev, in How the Irish Became White (1995). In the nineteenth century, Irish Catholics faced heavy discrimination, and through this process, a notion of an Irish Catholic “race” developed among other Americans.
These hierarchies were transferred to North America along with the waves of immigrants, yet cultural and “racial” demarcations lost their sharpness in the new land. The Scotch-Irish continued to act as buffers in the American colonies until the American Revolution caused distinctions to largely disappear within southern racial hierarchies. Later immigration by Irish Catholics, especially during the 1850s potato famine, in the end contributed more to the enlargement of the “White race” than to the creation of another ethnicity, according to Noel Ignatiev, in How the Irish Became White (1995). In the nineteenth century, Irish Catholics faced heavy discrimination, and through this process, a notion of an Irish Catholic “race” developed among other Americans.
By the mid-late twentieth century, Irish immigration to the United States had largely crested. In the twenty-first century the assimilation of the descendants of Irish immigrants into mainstream American society was complete. The Irish ethnicity became celebrated, evidenced by annual St. Patrick’s Day festivities throughout the United States. Two US Americans of Irish-Catholic descent, John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) and Joe Biden (2021-2025) had ascended to the presidency. The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish remained one of the country’s most favored college football teams.
The trials and burdens, and discrimination borne by earlier Irish populations in the United States now characterized the lives of more recently-arrived immigrant groups. In the 2020s, many commentators referred to groups such as immigrant Hispanics as “the new Irish.”
Bibliography
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Doorley, Michael. "Coming to America: The Making of the Irish-American Diaspora." OpenLearn, 11 Mar. 2023, www.open.edu/openlearn/openlearn-ireland/coming-america-the-making-the-irish-american-diaspora. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.
Ignatiev, Noel. How the Irish Became White. Routledge, 1995.
"Immigration to America in the 1700s." Ancestry.com. 18 Mar. 2023, www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/immigration-to-america-in-the-1700s. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.
Jensen, Richard. "No Irish Need Apply." University of Illinois. University of Illinois Press, vol. 36, no 2, 2004, www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/no-irish-need-apply-a-myth-of-victimization-DL1IE6Szm1 . Accessed 13 Apr. 2015.
"The Famine and the Irish Race." Understanding Race. American Anthropological Association, 2015. understandingrace.org/history/society/the-famine-and-the-irish-race-1840-1890. Accessed 13 Apr. 2015.