This book was created for the bicentennial of the first Irish arriving in Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1820s. It is a collaborative effort that reviews the contributions of the Irish in education, labor, politics, culture, and everyday life. Edited by David McKean and Richard P. Howe Jr., chapter authors include Gray Fitzsimons, Robert Forrant, Joyce Burgess, Christine O'Connor, and Walter Hickey, plus McKean and Howe.