Looking for Jimmy

A Search For Irish America

Peter Quinn

Pages: 320

Fordham University Press
Fordham University Press

This book can be opened with

Glassboxx eBooks and audiobooks can be opened on phones, tablets, iOS and Android devices

Paperback / softback
ISBN: 9780823299478
Published: 22 March 2022
$19.95
eBook (ePub)
ISBN: 9781531500849
Published: 22 March 2022
$18.99
In this stunning work chronicling the author’s exploration of his own past—and the lives of many hundreds of thousands of nameless immigrants who struggled alongside his own ancestors—Peter Quinn paints a brilliant new portrait of the Irish-American men and women whose evolving culture and values continue to play such a central role in all of our identities as Americans. In Quinn’s hands, the Irish stereotype of “Paddy” gives way to an image of “Jimmy”—an archetypal Irish-American. From Irish immigration to modern politics, Quinn vibrantly weaves together the story of a remarkable people and their immeasurable contribution to American history and culture.

You don't have to be Irish or Irish-American to love this book. Whoever you are, you are in it. This is the kind of book you will want to bestow on anyone with, or without, a hyphen in their history.—Frank McCourt

An exceptionally thoughtful and interesting inquiry into Irish America.—The Washington Post

A sweeping tale of disaster, survival, and triumph.—San Francisco Chronicle

A wonderful addition to the story of the Irish in America...teem[ing] with deep, surprising insights.—Pete Hamill

Charming... A timely reminder that controversy over immigration exists as very much part of a continuum.—The New York Times

The Irish American story—a 150-year saga—is a fascinating one, and Quinn tells it superbly. A charming, informative, and memorable book.—America Magazine

Peter Quinn is a novelist, political historian, and foremost chronicler of New York City. He is the author of Banished Children of Eve and a trilogy of historical detective novels—Hour of the Cat, The Man Who Never Returned, and Dry Bones.

Author Website

Foreword | 11

I. Family and Memory
Looking for Jimmy | 19
In Search of the Banished Children | 43
The Skillins | 57
The Perils of Pat | 67
Stones of Memory | 74

II. Politics and Place
Plunkitt of Tammany Hall | 87
Local Politics, Irish-American Style | 101
Life of the Party | 112
Civil Service | 122
The Bronx is Burning | 127
Cast a Cold Eye: William Kennedy's Albany | 138

III. Faith and Imagination
Confessions of a Bronx Irish-Catholic | 155
Sic Transit | 164
The Catholic Imagination | 172
Holy Orders | 188
City of God, City of Man | 193

IV. Silence and History
The Triumph of Bridget Such-a-One | 211
An Interpretation of Silences | 231
Closets Full of Bones | 246
Lost and Found | 257
A Famine Remembrance | 267

Conclusion
Irish America at the Millennium: How the Irish Stayed Irish | 273