Wherever Green Is Worn: The Story of the Irish Diaspora

by Tim Pat Coogan

Overview

The population of Ireland is five million, but 70 million call themselves Irish. Here is their story in all its richness and complexity. Tim Pat Coogan traveled around the world where green is indeed worn to talk to the people who weaved the tale of "a dream born in a herdsman's shed and the secret scriptures of the poor." Along with American presidents, best-selling authors and Riverdancers, Ireland gave the world a caring tradition borne by missionaries and teachers who spread a message of hope and the panorama of their life abroad comes alive in this magisterial work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403960146
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/18/2002
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	768
Sales rank:	1,119,149
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.73(d)

About the Author

Tim Pat Coogan is one of the best known journalists and historians in Ireland. Author, broadcaster, and former editor of the Irish Press, he has written several books, and two definitive works just published by Palgrave, The Troubles and The IRA.

Table of Contents

Introduction * Europe * United Kingdom * United States of America * Canada * Australia * New Zealand * Africa * Caribbean * Latin America * Japan, Rice Paddies and an Asian Perspective

Editorial Reviews

A journey into our own psyche...Tim Pat Coogan has dug, Heaney-like, into the past while opening doors to faraway places.” —Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes

“Rich in characterization and detail—not to mention the Coogan wit—this is an invaluable reference volume that belongs on the bookshelf of every Celtophile.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

More than 70 million Irish are scattered throughout the world, taking part in a complex and emotional relationship with their mother country. Tim Pat Coogan, one of the best-known Irish journalists and historians, takes a far-reaching look around the world. His goal: to see how these transplanted countrymen and -women are faring as they continue to proudly "wear the green."

bn.com

Coogan, biographer of Michael Collins and Eamon DeValera, again tackles a boisterous, unruly Irish subject the diaspora. Irish emigration first began, Coogan tells us, in the 12th century, when the Normans invaded Ireland. Cromwell's terrorist campaign in the 17th century drove many Irish to France and Spain, while Cromwell deported many more to the West Indies and Virginia. Emigration took a more sinister turn with the advent of the famine in the 1840s. Coogan estimates that "a million died and probably as many as two-and-a-half million people left Ireland in the decade 1845-1855." He also estimates that another five million emigrated between the end of the famine and 1961. Where did they all go? Everywhere: Europe, U.K., U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia. Coogan breaks down by chapter the geographical travels, and includes some very colorful tales. For example, Mexico still embraces the memory of the wild San Patricios (St. Patrick) Brigade soldiers who deserted the American army during the Mexican War to fight on the side of their fellow Catholics. The first Irish came to Canada looking for cod fish, but many Canadians still remember the invasion of the quixotic Fenians, whose aim was to "liberate" Canada from British rule after the American Civil War. Chile still celebrates its Liberator, one Bernardo O'Higgins, and Australia remembers its Irish Robin Hood, Ned Kelly. The U.S. chapter is filled with stories of Tammany and the Kennedys, and there is an extremely interesting section on Bill Clinton and how he brokered the Good Friday Agreement. Rich in characterization and detail not to mention the Coogan wit this is an invaluablereference volume that belongs on the bookshelf of every Celtophile. (Sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Irish journalist Coogan, who has written several books on Irish history and culture (e.g., The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins), here details the story of the Irish Diaspora, or emigration, which began with the Irish Potato Famine and the subsequent emigrations of the 1840s. Coogan writes easily, giving an often fascinating survey of the many places the Irish emigrated to, not only the United States but destinations like Argentina that will be less familiar to Americans. He relates the story of Irish emigration to these places, sketches the lives of various Irish figures there, and surveys today's Irish Diaspora descendants. Other titles like Thomas Keneally's The Great Shame (LJ 8/99) cover the Irish Diaspora but to a lesser geographic extent. Coogan does tend to overromanticize, at one point profiling an Irish harpist and singer who happens also to physically striking and a brilliant Gaelic football player. More significant, though, is his failure to address the question why these far-flung emigrants cling so to their Irish Catholic heritage. Nevertheless, this broad-ranging narrative history should be a popular title in many public and academic libraries. Charlie Cowling, SUNY at Brockport Lib. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal