An Cartlann Gael-Mheiriceánach: An Introduction

On January 20th, 1897, the American Irish Historical Society (AIHS) was created in Boston, MA. The founding members, either descendants of Irish immigrants or immigrants themselves, wanted to share their story of American history. They felt that the Irish narrative had been an intentional exclusion on the part of American historians, and the discrimination they faced inspired them to share and preserve the history of their nation as they experienced it.

A major aspect of this work was to create and preserve an archive of materials that would shed light on the Irish American experience. Once they settled in New York, this expansion of their collection continued, bringing a wide range of materials to build a historical corpus that their country was lacking. For much of the society’s history, these materials were researched largely by their own membership. As the AIHS archives open again, they bring in outside scholars to uncover the treasures within them from a new perspective.

History is always missing chapters. In the society’s original publications–The Journal of the American Irish Historical Society (1898-1941) and The Recorder: The Bulletin of the American Irish Historical Society (1939-2017)–new tellings of history were written to engage the membership of AIHS. Featuring members of the society as well as famous authors like Seamus Heaney, these publications set the groundwork for further research. However, these pieces did not necessarily rely on the archives that had been accumulated by the society, save for those written by their historiographers and archivists.

In this new publication, An Cartlann Gael-Mheiriceánach or The Irish-American Recorder, student researchers dig into the AIHS archives, share their findings and write new chapters on the history of Irish America.

This issue features three researchers, presenting their scholarship from a semester-long study in the archives. Though they focus on different aspects, all are engaged with the history of archival practices within AIHS. Ella Fingado writes on The Recorder, analyzing the bulletin that presented the history of the society through events, honorees, and political discourse; Sammi Salyer centers on Irish antiquarian Mary Agnes Hickson and her place in the library collection as a scholar who debated the Catholic focus of Irish nationalism; and Susan Davey Getz writes on the presence (or “touches”) of female curation and historianship in a predominantly male archive. All three authors expand the history of the society through their engagement with its collections, utilizing their interdisciplinary backgrounds to create a wider range of discourse.

Mark Lindenburg, Editor, Lead Archivist. MA, MSLIS.