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Boston is by far the most hardcore Irish city in the USA. Outside of the East Coast, I think, people associate Boston with blue bloods and college students, but the Irish presence on the ground is almost overwhelming, imo. Not uncommon to see Ireland tattoos at all. I see that a lot in Philly as well.
Upstate NY areas can be that way as well and many Irish here have roots going back to the building of the Erie Canal. Tipperary Hill in Syracuse and South Buffalo are a couple of areas that come to mind.
I think I mentioned earlier in this thread (or maybe another) that I met an Irishman who had been living in New York since the 1980s. When I asked him if the Irish in Boston were a "watered down" version of Irish, he replied "They're hard core f****** Irish." And he didn't say it in such a nice way. His tone was more corrective, if anything. Like, imagine walking into a Baptist Church in West Philadelphia and asking a middle aged Black woman, "So, do you think Michelle Obama is really Black? Or is she a watered down version of Black?" That was sort of the way he answered it.
Haha, that's funny. My favorite bartender when I lived in The Bronx was a woman from Derry that had been living in NYC illegally since the early '90's-she has since married haha.
I think the difference between Irish in Boston/NYC/Philly is that the Irish mob thrived in Boston while Italians dominated in NYC and Philly. But I still know plenty of old guys in Philly with IRA ties.
Using a Irish + Italian + Polish + Jewish measure (which obviously has some double-counting):
New York 40.4% (84% of NHW population)
Philadelphia 45.1% (69%)
Buffalo 53.1% (67%)
Boston 48.7% (65%)
Chicago 32.2% (59%)
Pittsburgh 46.9% (54%)
Rochester 41.4% (52%)
Cleveland 37.3% (52%)
San Francisco 22% (52%)
Baltimore 29.3% (49%)
Detroit 30% (44%)
Last edited by King of Kensington; 09-15-2014 at 01:27 PM..
Haha, that's funny. My favorite bartender when I lived in The Bronx was a woman from Derry that had been living in NYC illegally since the early '90's-she has since married haha.
I think Boston Irish are pretty deep in the game. The IRA had broad support in Boston. And you meet a lot of Irish there who were born in Ireland.
Quote:
There are an estimated 50,000 Irish illegal immigrants in the U.S.; 30,000 of them are thought to live in New York City. Today, this tiny corner in the northern reaches of the Bronx is perhaps the most heavily Irish-born neighborhood in New York, and advocates believe that as many as 40% of local immigrants are undocumented.
Using a Irish + Italian + Polish + Jewish measure (which obviously has some double-counting):
New York 40.4% (84% of NHW population)
Philadelphia 45.1% (69%)
Buffalo 53.1% (67%)
Boston 48.7% (65%)
Chicago 32.2% (59%)
Pittsburgh 46.9% (54%)
Rochester 41.4% (52%)
Cleveland 37.3% (52%)
San Francisco 22% (52%)
Baltimore 29.3% (49.3%)
Detroit 30% (44%)
Wow at NYC and it's surprising that San Francisco has a higher percentage than Baltimore.
I think the difference between Irish in Boston/NYC/Philly is that the Irish mob thrived in Boston while Italians dominated in NYC and Philly. But I still know plenty of old guys in Philly with IRA ties.
The mafia, yes. In Philly, the Irish dominated the police force for a very long time. People forget that Frank Rizzo was discriminated against by an overwhelmingly Irish police department, which at that time relegated Italian-Americans to the lower ranks of the force.
Wow at NYC and it's surprising that San Francisco has a higher percentage than Baltimore.
That's largely due to the Jewish population, and I'm pretty sure the figure I've got includes the broader Bay Area region and not just the MSA, so it's almost certainly a bit high. Still San Francisco stands out as having a more "ethnic" white population compared to other Western US cities.
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