Ireland Irishes Essay, Research Paper

Like most Americans, my family is made up of many different ethnic groups. My

mom?s side is Irish Protestant descent. My dad?s side is mostly English

descent and a little of Native American descent from his mother. There is some

in which I do not know because my dad does not know who his dad is. He was

adopted by a man named David Mitchell, this is where my last name comes from. My

grandmother died and never told my dad who his dad was. My dad could find out

from his birth certificate, which is sealed in Albany, who his dad is. He has no

desire to do that though. Over the summer, I tried to find out about my

family?s ancestry. I only searched on my mom?s side since it is easier. This

is for two reasons, first my mom?s parents are still alive. Second because

they came to the United States only about one hundred years ago. Both my

grandparent?s families came from Northern Ireland. My grandparents were born

in the United States. My grandfather brought me over my cousin?s house because

she had a copy of my great grandmother?s birth certificate. This told me what

town she was from. I also found out that I had other cousins that live in Canada

that were from Northern Ireland. Many Irish people immigrated to Canada because

it was cheaper than going to the United States. She told me that they would have

more information of family that lives in Northern Ireland. My grandfather gave

me a book called ? The World Book of Craig?s ? which is his last name. It

gave me places to write to for further information and also gave me addresses of

all the Craig?s all over the world. I learned that my grandmother?s family

is from Belfast and my grandfather?s family is from a town called Bellymena.

They are both located in the county of Antrim in Northern Ireland. They

descended from Presbyterian Scots who settled in Northern Ireland in the

seventeenth century. In doing further research I found that the Irish, both

Protestant and Catholic, was the largest immigration group in the United States.

At one point there were more Irish in the United States than in Ireland. The

Irish immigrated in two waves. The first wave was Scotch Irish from 1760 – 1775.

They found it easy to sustain old world ways because they came over in such a

large group. This is because they settled into towns. They were fleeing from

economic distress and religious distress since Irish laws favored Anglicans over

Presbyterians and Catholics. They wanted to obtain land and to make a profit in

the New World. The second wave came around 1845 – 1849. They were Irish

Catholics. The reason that they migrated to the United States in such mass

numbers is because first of overpopulation and then because of the Great Famine.

The failure of the staple crop, the potato, caused many Irish to starve to

death. When my ancestors migrated to the United States around the turn of the

century, like most immigrants they came for a better way of life. At the time in

history, Ireland was slowly getting over the Potato Famine and struggling with

England for independence. My family had an easy transition in the United States

because they already had family in New York and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Unlike Catholics which faced discrimination, my family didn?t because they

were Protestant. The Catholics were discriminated because of fear that the

unskilled Irish Catholic would displace American craftsmen. Also because the

slums inhabited in part by the Irish were undermining the nation?s values.

Every social problem from immortality and alcoholism to poverty and economic

upheaval was blamed on immigrant Irish Catholics. The country was Protestant -

biased. On my father?s side, I know very little. I have learned that my

ancestry runs all the way back to the seventeenth century from England. They

were one of the first people in the New World looking for wealth and

opportunity. I had ancestry that fought in the American Revolution. I also have

Native American ancestry from Cherokee and Iroquois. My grandmother?s last

name was Partington, which is a name of nobility in England. They were

loyalists. There was a Partington that died in the Civil War at the Battle of

Gettysburg. There was another ancestor by the name of Terry that was a commander

in the Civil War. This is all I know about my father?s family. I think that

all or most of our traditions are Americanized. We go to a Protestant church,

have turkey on Thanksgiving, put a real Christmas tree up at Christmas time and

get together on birthdays. Our family just does not have that many big

traditions that stand out. Though on Christmas Eve we go over my parents

friend?s house and we eat German food, even though we are not German.

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Vaughan, W.E. (1989). A new history of Ireland 1801-1870. New York: Oxford

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Publishing Group. (1968). Encyclopedia of Ireland. Dublin: Allen Figgs. Ernst,

R. (1949). Immigration life in New York City 1825-1863. New York: Octagon Books.