The first volume in the series introduces the major themes in the study of Irish migrations: the importance of family, friendship and community in establishing the patterns of migration; the causes of migration; and interpretations of the phenomenon. The book is written around a number of case studies ranging from the 18th to the 20th century and covering Irish mercenaries in Europe, bandits such as Ned Kelly, and the emigrants of today - professionals and the urban poor.
Table of Contents:
"Like crickets to the crevice of a Brew-house" - poor Irish migrants in England 1560-1640, Patrick Fitzgerald; the wild geese - the Irish in European armies, John McGuirk; Irish migration to Argentina, Patrick McKenna; the Murphys and Breens of the overland parties to California, 1844 and 1846, Joseph King; Irish hooligans - Ned Kelly (Australia) and William Donnelly (Canada) in comparative perspective, John Sturgis; "a bigger, better and busier Boston", the pursuit of Irish political legitimacy in America - the Boston Irish, Alan Munslow; the Irish childhood and youth of a Canadian capitalist, T.D. Regehr; friendship patterns and social networks among postwar Irish migrants in Sydney, Seamus Grimes; graduate emigration - a continuation or a break with the past?, Gerald Hanlon; "And they still haven't found what they're looking for" - a survey of the new Irish in New York City, Linda Dowling Almeida.
