What Irish American heritage sites should I see in the United States?
Start with the two places that tell the story from opposite ends. The Irish Hunger Memorial in Manhattan rebuilds a piece of Famine Ireland on a raised half acre, and Ellis Island, where about twelve million immigrants were processed, tells the arrival side of the same story. In Boston, the Irish Heritage Trail links the Famine Memorial and twenty downtown landmarks on one three mile walk. Albany's Irish American Heritage Museum covers the Irish in America in one building, library included. Further west, the Irish Cultural Center and McClelland Library in Phoenix holds a genealogy library of more than 6,000 books. Our Irish in USA section lists the heritage places we have checked, state by state, with the festivals and cultural centres near them.
Useful pages: Irish in USA · The Irish surnames map · Trace your Irish roots · Coming home · Irish around the world
Sources
- Battery Park City Authority: the Irish Hunger Memorial, bpca.ny.gov
- National Park Service: Ellis Island, Castle Garden and tracing immigrant ancestors, nps.gov
- Boston Irish Tourism Association: the Boston Irish Heritage Trail, irishboston.org
- Irish Escapes Irish in USA listings and the centres' own sites: programmes, libraries and classes
More in Irish in USA and the diaspora
- What is the Foreign Births Registration, and who qualifies?
- What documents do I need for a Foreign Births Registration application?
- Does my child qualify if I register my own foreign birth after they are born?
- What is the difference between citizenship by descent and the Foreign Births Register?
- Can I claim Irish citizenship through a great-grandparent?