Irish, American, Catholic? – conflicts of identity in Irish republican networks, 1916-1920

The Irish in America played a significant role in the ‘struggle for Irish Independence’, particularly in terms of raising money for the ‘Irish cause’. Their political commitment peaked after the Easter Rising of 1916 and continued through the 1917-1922 period. Much of the Irish-American activity was centred in cities with large Irish diaspora communities on the East Coast. These sites evolved as crucibles of ‘long-distance nationalism’ (Benedict Anderson) and saw American citizens with Irish roots campaign for Irish independence and international recognition of an Irish Republic. A significant amount of letters written during the 1916-1923 period advocating Irish Republicanism are preserved in the manuscript collections of the New York Public Library and in the American Irish Historical Society. A considerable number of these letters have been digitized for the Letters 1916-1923 project at Maynooth University (Ireland). They provide a unique window onto Irish-American identities and the cross-Atlantic networks advocating Irish independence. Prominent individuals as well as political societies such as the ‘Friends of Irish Freedom’ established an impressive informational infrastructure and mobilised large crowds. This paper analyses their correspondence with a focus on Irish-Catholic identities in the United States. It discusses the conflict lines which divided the Irish and Catholic communities between 1916 and 1920, painting a complex picture of ethnic, religious and political relations on both sides of the Atlantic.