Irish Contributions to America Range from Presidents to Cars to Chocolate

Published March 18, 1988. Last summer my wife Susan and I toured Ireland for 10 days with the Shamrock Society. The group is composed mostly of former LDS missionaries to Ireland their spouses, families, and friends.

We still have vivid memories of the green countryside and the beautiful 100-mile drive along the Ring of Kerry coast in southern Ireland, where the movie “Ryan’s Daughter” was filmed. We remember the majestic Cliffs of Moher along with the impressive Giant’s Causeway and Glens of Antrim. We also visited the legendary Blarney’s Castle near Cork where people come from all over the world to kiss the famous Blarney Stone in hopes of acquiring eloquence.

Since we returned, we have learned some interesting things about Ireland and have come to appreciate the country and its people even more.

About a decade ago, Alex Haley’s book “Roots” prompted many people in America to search for their ancestors. It may surprise some that as many as 20 percent of Americans, or nearly 50 million, trace at least one ancestor to Ireland. Those of Irish decent include frontiersman Davy Crockett, song writer Stephen Foster, humorist Mark Twain, poet Edgar Allan Poe, Texan Sam Houston, and Catherine O’Hare, mother of the first white child born west of the Rockies. The child was delivered by Indian midwives in1862.

In 1789, Ramsey, an early American historian wrote, “The colonies which not form the United States may be considered as Europe transplanted. Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland, and Italy furnished the original stock of the present population and are generally supposed to have contributed to it in the order named. For the last 70 or 80 years no nation had contributed so much to the population of America as Ireland.”

Five million immigrants came to America from the Emerald isle, which is geographically one-third the size of Utah. Only Germany, four times larger than Ireland and four times the population, contributed more immigrants.

What have the Irish contributed to America’s heritage? Consider the following:

Of the 40 presidents of the United States, 16, including President Reagan, are of Irish ancestry (12 paternal and 4 maternal). John F. Kennedy was the most “Irish” of American presidents, all eight of his great-grandparents were Irish immigrants.

Among the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, eight were foreign born. Three of the eight were from Ireland, and another seven of the original signers were of Irish descent.

One-third of the officers in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War of 1776 were Irish-born or of Irish parentage. Nineteen of the officers with the rank of general in Washington’s army were either born in Ireland or were of Irish ancestry. Some reporters estimated the one-third to one-half of the 20,000 soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War were Irish-born or of Irish descent. In addition, when the French decided to aid the Colonies in the war, among those sent was their famous Irish Brigade, composed exclusively of Irishmen who had joined French fighting forces.

When Francis Scott Key penned the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner” in 1814, he later adapted them to the favorite marching tune of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, a famous Irish regiment serving in North America during the War of 1812.

Firsts in contributions of the Irish to the development of America included:

• The first daily newspaper in America was printed in 1784 by John Dunlap of Philadelphia, who was born in Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1747.
• The first American writer on political economy, Matthew Carey, was born in Armahgh, Ireland, in 1761.
• Harry Ferguson, the man who invented the modern tractor and the four-wheel drive systems for automobiles, was born near Hillsborough, Ireland in 1884.
• The first steam engine was built by Christopher Colles, who was born in Ireland in 1738.
• The first steamboat was built and operated by Robert Fulton, whose father came from Kilkenny, Ireland.
• The first grain-cutter was invented and manufactured by Robert McCormick, whose parents came from Northern Ireland. The first practical reaping machine was manufactured by Crys Hall McCormick, son of Robert McCormick.
• Irish immigrants were the first to introduce linen manufacturing into New England in 1718.
• The foot of linen (spinning wheel) so familiar in New England was also brought from Ireland at that time.
• Irish settlers were the first to introduce the potato into the New England colonies in the early 1700s.
• The first cut nails were invented and made by James Cohran, whose father came from Coleraine Ireland.
• And if all that is not enough, chocolate lovers, pay attention. The first chocolate in America was manufactured by John Hannan, who came to Boston from Ireland in 1784.

As we celebrate this St. Patrick’s Day we should appreciate all the Irish, particularly those who have contributed to our national heritage. President Kennedy once observed, “We are truly a nation of immigrants.” As such, we ought to understand the significance of Ireland and all other countries from which immigrants came.