Eccentric Nation: Irish Performance in Nineteenth-Century New York City

by Rohn Stephen

Eccentric Irish Performance in Nineteenth-Century New York addresses the ways that Irish nationalism was constructed as a cultural phenomenon in the American diaspora. A study of several performance events in New York City, Eccentric Nation reveals the diverse ways that musicians, orators, parade participants, athletes, actors, and dramatists created a range of Irish identities in the burgeoning metropolis. It also examines how the events that often were thought to inspire crowds of urban dwellers into nationalist passions evoked varied and even contradictory notions about what the Irish identity represented. The author investigates a multitude of sources depicting Irish national culture in the city, and uncovers conflicts that arose as the community was attempting to define itself in the United States.

262 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2009