What’s lost to us now is a perception of what America was like prior to the immigration of millions of Irish who were up to that point kept illiterate under British law.
Considering that the Irish ended up forming the backbone of the Democrat Party I’m not sure that they were an overall positive contribution to the nation.
At the web site of - can be found inspiring words about Irish emigrants to the U. S.
Of special note are the words of John Dunlap, who was responsible for the printing of the Declaraiton of Independence and wrote to his brother-in-law, Robert Rutherford, in Strabane, Co. Tyrone, extolling the advantages of the New World, on 12 May 1785. First, he referred to his brother, James Dunlap, who was likewise in America:
"... my brother James left this (sic) for Kentucky a few weeks ago; I expect him back in the summer; then perhaps he may take a trip to Ireland. The account he gives of the soil is pleasing but the difficulty of going to it from this is great; indeed the distance is not less than a thousand miles. I was there last year and must confess that although the journey is a difficult one I did not begrudge the time and labour it cost me. We are told the parliament of Ireland means to lay restrictions on those who want to come from that country to this; time will tell whether or no this will answer the purpose they intend. People with a family advanced in life find great difficulties in emigration but the young men of Ireland who wish to be free and happy should leave it and come here as quick as possible; there is no place in the world where a man meets so rich a reward for good conduct and industry as in America ... "
Also excerpted from the PRONI site is the following observation from the DUNLAP/DELAP PAPERS Introduction at: "John Dunlap's is not an untypical life story of many who 'went west' from County Tyrone in the 18th century to make a new life and create a new country to which they then encouraged and assisted others to migrate. One went and succeeded and therefore others followed. By the time he died, on 27 November 1812, aged 66, John Dunlap had amassed a large fortune and had subscribed £4,000 in 1780 to the National Bank formed to supply the American Army, and he held 98,000 acres in Virginia and the adjoining counties of Kentucky. He also owned the land on which Utica, Ohio, stands.
"He had played his part in military affairs during the War of Independence, as a founder in 1774 of the 1st Troop of Philadelphia City Cavalry; as a cornet he accompanied this command in the campaign of 1776-1777, taking part in actions at Princeton and Trenton. After the war, from 1789 to 1792, he was a member of the Common Council of Philadelphia. In 1812 he was buried at Christ Church, Philadelphia.
"The site of his birth at Meetinghouse Street, Strabane, is marked by a plaque erected by Strabane Urban District Council in 1965."
Oh you dont know if the Irish were an overall positive contribution huh?
Reagan was Irish. Case closed
Sad but true. They are responsible for the entrenched Democrat voting block in the northeast United States. They perfected graft and the "political machine".
It's the same thing the Hispanics are doing. Anyone who thinks legions of Mexicans are going to start voting Republican is deluded. 100 years from now they still will be solid "D"s. In their own "democratic" country of Mexico it's been a uni-party system for over a century.