The Butte Irish

About the Book

The copper mines of Butte, Montana, attracted a flood of Irish immigrants who soon coalesced into a large and assertive community. David Emmons’ pioneering study of Irishness in America follows these people from their backgrounds in Ireland to their creation of a powerful ethnic community in Buttle. As he shows, the complex interplay of Irish nationalism with worker consciousness and the nature and hazards of work in the mines influenced Irish community building. Emmons shows how the stalwart supporters of groups like the Ancient Order of Hiberians marched and drilled for Irish freedom and identity. As Irish immigrants ran the town, the miners' union, and the largest mining companies, they had the power to use a tradition of ethnic cooperation to ensure safe and steady work--Irish mines taking care of Irish miners. Emmons’ analysis uses this backdrop to illuminate how Butte’s unique setting tested the seam between class consciousness and ethnicity.