ANALYSIS:Beyond the 'begorrahs' and 'top o' the mornin's, the nature of Irish America, in Chicago and elsewhere in the US, is changing, writes PAUL CULLEN
THE SKIRLS of pipes, the prayers of a bevy of priests and a rousing rendition of The Soldier’s Song greeted the keynote speech delivered by Taoiseach Enda Kenny in Chicago this holiday weekend. Enthusiastic applause and a standing ovation ensued as he rhapsodised about the bright future lying ahead of Ireland.
Yet even this was as nothing compared to the reception accorded to William T Cosgrave when he arrived as the leader of Cumann na nGaedhael in Chicago in 1928. Then, the streets were lined with well-wishers for his arrival on an overnight train from New York and more than 5,000 packed into the Irish Fellowship Club, the same venue addressed by Kenny this weekend, for Cosgrave’s address. The crowd included Patrick Collins, a brother of “The Big Fella”, who was a police captain in the city.
Chicago is home to the largest population of Irish-Americans in the United States and their influence in local politics is evident in the names of city mayors over the past 70 years: Corr, Kelly, Kennelly, Daley (two of them), Byrne and Orr.
Mind you, the Irish influence is also evident in names such as Coll, Bulger, Collins, Madden and Diamond, all notorious hoodlums from a city with a colourful past.
On the face of it, it was business as usual in the third biggest city in the US this St Patrick’s weekend – green dresses, T-shirts and hats were given their annual outing, the river and the beer turned green and the parade was livelier than ever, thanks to unseasonably warm weather and the fact that “St Pat’s” fell this year on a Saturday.
Beyond the “begorrahs” and “top o’ the mornin’s”, however, the nature of Irish America, here and elsewhere in the US, is changing.
The city’s mayor, Rahm Emanuel, made the point without great fuss when he spoke with Kenny at functions in the city over the week.
Emanuel, Chicago’s first Jewish mayor after decades of near unbroken Irish control of city hall, chose to mark the day by stressing the various strands of the city’s heritage rather than its overweening Irish history. The Windy City is home to large Polish, German and Jewish communities, as well as the fastest-growing Mexican population outside Mexico City, he said.
“It is America’s most American city,” he added, gently taking his Irish-American audience down a notch.
The demographics paint a picture of slow decline. The Irish are still the biggest ethnic group in Chicago but their numbers have fallen almost one-fifth since 1990.
“City’s Irish accent fades,” the Chicago Tribune reported somewhat dolefully at the weekend, citing reasons such as a decline in emigration, the departure of older Irish-Americans from the city and the fact that some descendents no longer identify with their Irish heritage.
A new wave of Irish emigration is gently breaking across American shores at present, as refugees from the collapse in construction seek to build new lives across the Atlantic. For now though, these mostly male emigrants have yet to make their way in any numbers inland from the cities of the eastern seaboard of the United States, where traditional Irish-American communities are gently ageing and shrinking.
Across America, the distinctions between European ethnic groups are fading and with it that acute, specific sense of Irishness. The tide has gone out a bit on Irish-American political power too, as Emanuel’s ascendancy shows.
The heavy-hitters with Irish names are still around, as evidenced by the packed room for Kenny’s appearance in the fellowship club, where the tickets were $200 (€150) a head.
To put that in perspective, though, in a country where cash is king, President Barack Obama returned to his home town in a fundraising drive on the same day the Taoiseach arrived and spoke at a $2,500-a-plate lunch. More than 600 turned up, 60 of these paid $10,000 each for a smaller roundtable discussion.
Although President Obama was only two blocks away from Kenny’s hotel, there was no attempt to meet up, even if it was just for the cameras.
This year, the White House events to mark St Patrick’s Day have been shunted to tomorrow, three days after the big day. In an election year, Obama is bound to make much of his successful visit to Ireland last year and his “President O’Bama” T-shirts are already selling well.
Unfortunately, they are emblazoned with a four-leaved clover rather than our national trefoil, an error which has caused some offence in the Irish-American community.
Whether all of Irish America is entirely at ease with the new Ireland is also a moot point. A notable absentee at the dinner for Kenny was Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal Francis George.
Local political commentators interpreted his absence as a rebuke to the Taoiseach over the Government’s policy on the Vatican. Cardinal George has denied this, saying he had a prior engagement, but neither was he present at Old St Pat’s Church on St Patrick’s Day to hear the Taoiseach do a reading. Again, he had a prior engagement.
For the most part, rumblings about his policy on the Vatican apart, Kenny is going down well with his American audiences. They warm to his energy and optimism and are well used to hearing sales pitches such as he is delivering.
Moreover, as several people noted this weekend, when Brian Cowen came here several years ago it rained, but this year has seen record temperatures and sunny skies for the duration of Kenny’s visit.
Yet the Government would do well to note these changes in the Irish-American demographic and its outlook.
The Global Irish Economic Forum has worked well to inform the diaspora of Ireland’s needs, but the forthcoming Constitutional Convention could usefully examine what the mother country can do for its 70 million descendants. Or, to paraphrase John F. Kennedy: “Ask not what your diaspora can do for you, but what you can do for your diaspora.”
Paul Cullen of The Irish Times political staff is covering the Taoiseach’s St Patrick’s Day visit to the United States