Irish American and Irish History: Readings & Resources

Lengthy list of resources from the National Archives and other agencies related to Irish Americans, Irish immigrants, and Irish American history.

Smithsonian Institution collections related to Ireland and Irish American history and heritage including images and sound recordings.

"[M]akes thousands of Irish emigrant letters and memoirs from North America available to researchers and the public alike." Also includes maps and datasets related to the Irish emigrant experience. From the University of Galway.

"The refugees seeking haven in America were poor and disease-ridden. They threatened to take jobs away from Americans and strain welfare budgets. They practiced an alien religion and pledged allegiance to a foreign leader. They were bringing with them crime. They were accused of being rapists. These undesirables were Irish." Resources related to the History Channel documentary of the same name.

Biographical sketch of Mother Jones. Includes citations and links to further resources.

Full text of Mother Jones' autobiography from Project Gutenberg.

Extensive and wide-ranging archive from a venerable group dedicated to promoting the use of Gaelige (the Irish language) in Ireland. Materials included dates back to the Conradh's founding in 1893 and "covers material relating to Comhaltas Uladh, programmes for both the Ard Fheis and the Oireachtas, material relating to Campaigns, to Education, to The Gaeltacht, to International Regional and Minority languages and language organisations, to Media and Broadcasting, to Northern Ireland and to Political Parties and Domestic and European Elections."

Community archive of oral histories and other documentations from the black immigrant community of Galway, Ireland.

Irish History Online is an authoritative guide (in progress) to what has been written about Irish history from earliest times to the present. It was established in association with the Royal Historical Society Bibliography of British and Irish History (of which it is now the Irish component) and London's Past Online.

This website lists Irish Literary Collections at SIUC and other major universities, such as Boston College and the University of Texas at Austin. It is hosted by Emory University.

These are the sound recordings available-- the archive also has interactive scores, video, and images.

Oral history project collecting stories of Irish immigrants to England, Wales, and Scotland.

Largely bilingual digital humanities project "mapping the full range of cultural activity, across languages and ethnic groups, from 1541 to 1660" in early modern Ireland, presenting "the vibrancy of Gaelic culture at the height of its powers."

Archives of government records from the National Archives, Ireland (NAI) dealing with the conflict and politics in Northern Ireland, with the earliest dating to 1965, with a gap in coverage from 1988-1995. New records are added each year as 25-year embargo on release passes. Hosted by the Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN), part of Ulster University.

Archives of government records from the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) dealing with the conflict and politics in the region, with the earliest dating to 1968. New records are added each year as 25-year embargo on release passes. Hosted by the Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN), part of Ulster University.

Online archive of University College Dublin featuring a massive collection of materials related to Irish history and culture.

"This is an open-access resource, freely and permanently available online to all those interested in Ireland’s deep history at home and abroad."

Established in 1904 as home to the Irish Literary Society, Dublin's Abbey Theatre quickly became a center of drama. Under the leadership of W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn, and Lennox Robinson, it became Ireland's first National Theatre. The bulk of this collection consists of programs from the Theatre as well as photographs, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, correspondence, architectural briefs and designs, and financial records documenting 65 years productions. Other items include programs from the Abbey Experimental Theater, Apollo Theatre, Dublin Gate Theatre, Q Theatre, and the Royalty and Royal Court Theatre, and material relating to Sara Allgood, a leading actress of the Irish stage. Photographs include some scenes from Abbey plays as well as photographs of the theatre before and after the 1951 fire that destroyed the entire backstage.

The papers of Irish novelist, poet, and playwright Francis Stuart, span the years 1932 to 1971, and consist of three series: manuscripts, workbooks, and letters and clippings. Manuscripts, 1940-1971, form the bulk of the collection and contain primarily drafts of novels, plays, and short stories by Stuart. The letters and clippings file includes letters from Stuart's family, friends, and acquaintances, among them the writers Heinrich Boll, Compton Mackenzie, Liam O'Flaherty, Ezra Pound, and George Bernard Shaw. Most of these letters relate to literary matters, including criticism of Stuart's works and discussion of the other writers' works.

The Gaiety Theatre is located on South King Street in Dublin, Ireland, off Grafton Street and close to St. Stephen's Green. It specializes in operatic and musical productions, with occasional dramatic shows. Designed by architect C.J. Phipps and built in less than 7 months, the Gaiety was opened on 27 November 1871 with the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland as guest of honor and a double bill of the comedy She Stoops to Conquer and the burlesque La Belle Sauvage. The Gaiety was extended by renowned theatre architect Frank Matcham in 1883, and, despite several improvements to public spaces and stage changes, it retains its Victorian charm and remains Dublin's longest-established, continuously producing theatre. This collection consists of a scrapbook of performances at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. It contains black and white photographs of performances including "The Mermaid," "Eleanor's Enterprise," and "General John Regan."

"This collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts and miscellaneous materials. The correspondence, covering the years 1885-1929, contains over 200 letters to Tynan. Correspondents include members of the Yeats family, Lady Wilde, Wilfrid Blunt, Douglas Hyde, Padraic Colum, Jane Barlow, T.M. Healy, Edith OE. Somerville, Alice Milligan, Lennox Robinson, Sir Horace Plunkett, Lady Gregory, and George Russell, among others. Also present are several letters to her daughter Pamela Hinkson."

Theatre director, playwright, and author, Lennox Robinson's career is documented through correspondence, play manuscripts, short stories, non-fiction writing, and scrapbooks of Abbey Theatre newspaper clippings and playbills. Nearly every aspect of this collection reflects Robinson's involvement with Irish theatre. Correspondence spans 1909-1954 and includes letters from William Butler Yeats, Lady Gregory, George Russell, George Bernard Shaw, Sean O'Casey, Sean O'Faolain, and James Stephens.

"The collection consists of 23 notebooks comprising more than 1,000 hand-written pages, under the full title: "Ireland. Book of Anniversaries, Dates and Epochs. With Notices on the Origin, Nature, Rise or Source of Principal Events Recorded in the Annals of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. Ending with the Period of the Union Between Great Britain and Ireland A.D. 1800. By Marc Pontet C.E. Late Deputy Curator Royal Irish Academy Dublin. Commenced May 1878."