Southern Illinois University Press

Today over a million people in Illinois claim Irish ancestry and celebrate their love for Ireland. This concise narrative history brings together both familiar and unheralded stories of the Irish in Illinois, highlighting the critical roles these immigrants and their descendants played in the settlement and the making of the Prairie State.

Shows the interplay between the major groups travelling the roads and waterways of the Upper Mississippi Valley during the crucial decades of 1830-1860. It's a lively, extensively illustrated account which will help Americans everywhere better understand their diverse heritage.