Redefining Irishness in a Coastal Maine City 1770–1870

<p><em>Redefining Irishness in a Coastal Maine City 1770–1870: Bridget's Belfast</em> examines how Irish immigrants shaped and reshaped their identity in a rural New England community. Forty percent of Irish immigrants to the United States settled in rural areas. Achieving success beyond large urban centers required distinctive ways of performing Irishness. Class status and gender were more significant than ethnicity. Close reading of diaries newspapers local histories and public papers allows for nuanced understanding of immigrant lives amid stereotype and the nineteenth century evolution of a Scotch-Irish identity.</p>