Erin Go Bragh

"Erin Go Bragh" is the Anglicization of a Gaelic phrase used to express allegiance to Ireland. Generally it's translated as "Ireland Forever." You'll hear and see this phrase posted each year in March because it's Irish American Heritage Month and also because of St. Patrick's Day on March 17.

St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, and the Irish brought Christianity to the Irish by teaching in Ireland for 29 years. St. Patrick is best known for driving all the snakes out of Ireland. The anniversary of his death (March 17, 461 A.D.) is celebrated as St. Patrick's Day by Irish Americans, Canadians, and millions of other Americans, with parades, parties, wearing of green, Irish songs, and Irish jigs.

Between 1820 and 1860, and mostly as a result of the Irish potato famine, fully half of all immigrants to the U.S. originated from Ireland. Many of these immigrants went to the largest cities, especially Boston and New York. Even today, many of these major cities still retain a substantial Irish American community. New York City has more people who claim Irish heritage than Dublin's whole population.

More than 35 million Americans (12% of the total population) reported Irish ancestry in the 2006 American Community Survey. The only ancestral group that is larger than Irish Americans are German Americans.

Assign students a report of about at least 150 words that cites at least three of the resources listed from the pathfinder search below. Essential questions are necessary for students to integrate critical thinking and original thought in their reports.

Without essential questions for critical thinking, most students will report facts from a single article and most reports on a topic will be very similar or identical--plagiarism. The report should address these examples of essential questions (you may want to substitute or add others):

• What are the major contributions of Irish immigrants to American culture?
• How are the experiences of Irish American immigrants similar to or different from other immigrants?
• How did economics play a role in the Irish immigration to America?
• What are some of the prejudices that exist about Irish Americans and why?
• Why did most of the Irish settle in the big cities of the U.S.?

Select Basic Search > Type Irish American history and culture (300 results) or > Try American history AND Irish Americans (30 results)

Use our custom ProQuest models for written and PowerPoint-style reports.

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