By Stephen McGuire

It is a story born out of trying times and the desire for an opportunity for a better life — the story of the Irish and Queens.

Building A City And A Better Life

In the years after the American Revolution, New York City saw an influx of immigrants from the island of Ireland where a population explosion coupled with low crop prices and the eventuality of the Potato famine made emigration to the United States a desirable option.

In the early years of Irish immigration, many new arrivals built close-knit communities and settled in various areas throughout the five boroughs – including sections of Queens.

In those communities, they built their families, lives, successes and in some cases, positions of prominence.

A local example of such success came in the form of Maspeth’s Dewitt Clinton who served as Mayor of New York City and Governor of New York State in the early 1800s.

Dewitt Clinton, a third-generation Irish-American, was the nephew of George Clinton – the first Governor of New York State.

During the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th Century, many of New York City’s Irish earned jobs as teachers, nurses, police, firefighters and civil servants.

Others labored on major public works projects, like the construction of the subway system and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Irish culture groups, with chapters throughout the borough, are havens for the preservation of Irish music and culture.

Building outward from Manhattan led to the establishment of summertime havens like the “Irish Riviera” – better known as the Rockaways.

“That’s where they often stayed,” said Kevin Callaghan, a retired FDNY lieutenant who served as the coordinator of the Rockaway Irish Festival – a get together that enjoyed a 19-year run in south Queens before ending in the early 1990s.

Callaghan said that some families enjoyed the summertime bungalow community so much, they decided to remain there, even after the bungalows were torn down to make way for urban renewal during the 1960s.

“Parents and grandparents, many of the Irish stayed,” Callaghan said.

And their families remain in neighborhoods like Rockaway Beach, Rockaway Park and Belle Harbor.  

Author and Irish immigrant Malachy McCourt told the Tribune, the Irish-American experience is one that is both individual and part of something bigger.

McCourt, who recalled spending time in Middle Village after arriving in the United States, described his experience in Ireland as difficult – a childhood that was detailed in part in his brother Frank McCourt’s best-selling book, Angela’s Ashes.

McCourt left the slums of Limerick, Ireland in 1952.

“For me, Ireland was a miserable place,” he said. “Some people have a sentimental attachment. They think of it as this lovely green place with mom in a cottage doorway handing out buttermilk. I came from a slum. It was dreadful.”

McCourt said there are minuses on both sides of the phrase “Irish-American” referring to the hyphen in the expression.

And then there are the stereotypes.

“We didn’t eat corned beef and cabbage,” McCourt said. “We are not the ‘fighting Irish.’ If that were the case we wouldn’t have been occupied for the past 800 years.”

“Above it all, the Irish are a decent and generous people” McCourt explained.

March, 2000 saw the first line of march for the Queens St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Sunnyside.

When it comes to a cultural identity, McCourt likes to think of himself simply as “a New Yorker.”

“We were born in Brooklyn,” he said.

Soon after, his family returned to Ireland.

“When we went back to Ireland we were Yanks. When we came back, we were Irish. I am a New Yorker. Here you are anything you want [to be].”

To new Irish immigrants who find themselves in Queens, McCourt advised, “Dive in and have fun. This land is your land.”

Over the last 20 years, a younger generation of Irish has joined the older immigrants and their American-born children in neighborhoods throughout the borough – especially in places like Woodside and Sunnyside where there has been a reinvigoration of existing traditional Irish culture.

As a reaction to the influx of new immigrants, groups with the aim of helping the Irish assimilate into American life were born.

One such group is Woodside’s Emerald Isle Immigration Center (EIIC), which was established in 1988.

The center’s purpose in its early stages was to help Irish immigrants obtain bank accounts, driver’s licenses, housing, insurance, education and protection under the law.

Since then, EIIC has grown to include job-training and placement services and has placed an emphasis on citizenship and voter registration among Irish immigrants.

EIIC has become so well-known among the Irish-American community that it has garnered visits from Irish President Mary McAleese in 1998 and then-Irish President Mary Robinson in 1995 – the same year that Chair of EIIC’s Board of Directors Brian O’Dwyer accompanied President Bill Clinton a historic trip to Ireland.

The Emerald Isle Immigration Center is located at 59-26 Woodside Ave.
Woodside. For more information, call 478-5502.

In March of 2000, the Queens St. Patrick’s Day parade stepped into the line of march for the first time.

 It has been billed as an alternative to the largest-in-the-world Manhattan parade organized by the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

Although the Hibernians have traditionally disallowed gay and lesbian groups to march under their own banner, the Queens parade has banners from all groups.

In 2002, Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Mayor Jimmy Mulroy of Drogheda, Ireland led the march along Skillman Avenue in Sunnyside.

For more information, log on to www.stpatsforall.com or call 670-7039.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), formed in New York City in 1836, is a place where Irish culture and heritage remains fostered and preserved.

The group has several local chapters in Queens, in neighborhoods, including  Flushing, Bayside, Whitestone, Woodhaven, Rockaway and Bellerose.

More information about the Queens chapters of AOH can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/aohqueens/.

Many of Queens’ Irish Americans have found a home away from home at the Irish American Society of Nassau, Suffolk and Queens located in Mineola.

The society is a place where “good Irish music” is alive and well, according to Bellerose resident and member Francis Lozito, whose maiden name is McHugh.

The Irish American Society of Nassau, Suffolk and Queens is located at 279 Willis Ave. in Mineola.

For more information, log onto www.irishamericansoc.com.