RSS
Irish America


Home Page > Irish America > 1969: A crazy year for Irish America
 Helpful Links

comment on article Make a comment
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail

1969: A crazy year for Irish America

The year that exploded myths and time-worn stereotypes

By
TOM DEIGNAN
,
Irish America Magazine
Published Monday, September 28, 2009, 4:14 PM
Updated Monday, September 28, 2009, 4:14 PM
Read more: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Football), Culture and Lifestyle, Irish Ancestry, Jimmy Breslin, United States


The British Army, seen here in a 1971 clash with women in Belfast, arrived in Derry in August 1969 and stayed for 38 years
The British Army, seen here in a 1971 clash with women in Belfast, arrived in Derry in August 1969 and stayed for 38 years

It is fitting that the 1969 Nobel Prize for literature went to the Irish playwright and novelist Samuel Beckett. After all, in works such as "Waiting for Godot" and "Endgame," Beckett alternated between tragedy and comedy, drama and farce.

The same could be said about 1969.

It has now been 40 years since that eventful year which gave us Woodstock, the moon landing, the Manson family and revelations about a massacre in a Vietnamese village called My Lai.

But 1969 was also a decisive year in Irish-American history. That year, it seemed as if Irish Americans in Chicago and New York, California and Philadelphia were fighting their own civil war. The causes of the conflict were religious, generational and geographic. Whatever the cause, these conflicts made for quite a crazy year.

 

Troubles in Belfast and the Bronx

Bernadette Devlin, who toured America in 1969, is pictured here in January 1982, shortly after an assassination attempt
Bernadette Devlin, who toured America in 1969, is pictured here in January 1982, shortly after an assassination attempt

Most importantly, the Troubles in Northern Ireland reached a boiling point in August of 1969, with the clashes that came to be known as the Battle of the Bogside. Support for Catholic civil rights in Northern Ireland was initially strong in America. But then a new generation of Northern Ireland activists toured America and challenged Irish-American Catholics to look closely at what was going on in their own homeland.

Similarly, in 1969, when legendary New York journalist Jimmy Breslin served as fellow author Norman Mailer’s running mate in the race to be New York’s mayor, many assumed the semi-comical run could get some serious attention. It was believed that Mailer would appeal to the intellectual elite while Breslin would win the votes of Irish Americans and other ethnic Catholics.

That thinking went out the window, however, when Breslin was greeted with derision in, of all places, the Bronx’s Gaelic Park.

Gerry Adams and Senator Daniel Moynihan in the Washington, D.C. office
Gerry Adams and Senator Daniel Moynihan in the Washington, D.C. office

Also in 1969, the great Irish-American political clan – the Kennedys – remained in the spotlight just one year after Bobby was gunned down. In July, a strange new word –“Chappaquiddick” – was suddenly on everyone’s lips, especially those who looked to sink the once-promising career of Ted Kennedy. A few months later, Ted’s father, Joe Kennedy Sr., passed away at the age of 81.

1 2 3 4 5 Next page >

Vote now - Buzz this story up!


1969: A crazy year for Irish America | Irish America | IrishCentral


print this article Print
email this articleE-mail


Be the first to make a comment.







remember me on this computer
forget your password?     
IrishCentral.com is also home to Irish Voice and Irish America magazine