Although it seems to be a continually moving target, according to Ancestry DNA, I am 17% Irish. My mother’s maiden name is one of the classic Irish names, and through genealogical research I have discovered my ancestors through her which came to Iowa before and during the Great Famine. I have also discovered Irish ancestors who first emigrated to Scotland or northern England before they, or their descendants, decamped to America.

My story is far from unique; a very high percentage of Americans have Irish heritage. Timothy J. Meagher has written Becoming Irish American: The Making and Remaking of a People from Roanoake to JFK to help us contextualize and understand ourselves and the experience of our ancestors.

Meagher begins by describing the history of Ireland as far as we can know it since soon after the fall of the Western Roman Empire until the discovery of America, describing the condition of the Gaelic Irish, how the Norman Irish came to be, and the reason for the existence of the Scots-Irish.

The rest of the book simultaneously explores Irish history and the history of Irish immigration in America until 1960 and the election of John F. Kennedy. The author describes how the Irish were understood in American society but also how various Irish groups saw themselves in America, at times maintaining ethnic distinctiveness, and at other times associating more strongly with the American ethos. The development, advancement, and challenges of Irish Roman Catholicism are set forth. The author does not shy away from the legacy of racism among the Irish American populations, especially in major cities.

The author is not only concerned about immigration itself; he also speaks of those who remained in Ireland, but also the second, third, and later generations of Irish Americans and how they related to Ireland and to America.

This is a helpful introductory history for those of us with some level of Irish or Scots-Irish ancestry, or for anyone interested in the Irish American experience. ( )