Irish in Minnesota

Irish immigrants to Minnesota performed two surprising feats. Generally thought in the United States to be unsuccessful as farmers, they built some of the country's most successful and enduring Irish farming communities. And in St Paul, where they were outnumbered by German immigrants, they nonetheless left a lasting legacy, so that today most Minnesotans think of St Paul as an Irish town. As farmers and labourers, policemen and politicians, maids and seamstresses, their hard work helped to build the state. Wherever they settled, the Irish founded churches and community organisations, became active in politics, and held St Patrick's Day parades, inviting all Minnesotans to become a little bit Irish. In this new book, author Ann Regan examines the history of these surprising contradictions, telling the diverse stories of the Irish in Minnesota.