New battle over most Irish town in America - SEE POLL

Well thats all very interesting, but most people in Ireland probably never heard of Scituate MA. What would be more interesting is the most Irish City, of say over 50,000 inhabitants. I mean in the United States of course. As for Ireland, to me the most Irish town is probably in Co.Clare and I would say the honour should go to Ennis.

OMG, I am so surprised to read about this! My family owned a summer house (not cottage, if you call 5 bedrooms and 3 baths a "cottage") in Scituate, North Scituate beach, to be exact. We had that house through the 50's to the 70's and Scituate was so Irish that we all went to confession in the same little chapel, and we'd have to sit far from the confessional so as not to hear each other's sins! Our street was composed of families of Irish descent who knew each other for a minimum of 2 generations, in our our cast, 3 generations. I'd see a father of a kid I played with and he's say: Oh, you look just like your mother did, etc. Our names were so very Irish (last names as well as first, generally) and we laughed and joked our way through the summers. The families came from places that were also pretty darned Irish (I would think, as Irish as Scituate): West Roxbury, Belmont, Watertown, Arlington, etc. I live in NYC and know Breezy Point. It is a much smaller enclave than is Scituate, but the Irish in that area are often immigrants making it very, very Irish. But you go down to Scituate and you see people who are all looking very Irish. I feel very happy there but we don't have a house there anymore (sigh). Far, far more beautiful than Breezy Point, by the way. Incredibly gorgeous, Scituate is. The people from Breezy Point need to visit Scituate and they will be stunned at the beauty of this magnificent New England fishing town, with it's gorgeous harbor, beaches, lighthouses and jettys, as well as the wonderful antique homes and lush gardens and greenery, the salt water marshes and magnificent birds and wildlife.

I feel the need to correct the author on the history of Breezy Point (as it was most certainly not purchased form the government at below market rate); In 1960 the predominantly Irish-American renters of Breezy point formed a Cooperative to purchase 400 out of 800 acres from a private developer who had plans to evict them and build high rise apartments. The land was purchased at a cost of $11MM from the developer who had recently paid $17.5MM for the full 800 acres. The only role the government played was to attempt eminent domain condemnation twice and outright seizure of the additional sand accretion over a period of decades. The restrictive nature the Cooperative was forced to adopt in defending itself is a large reason why turnover of properties has remained low over the years.

Breezy WINS

Scituate a.k.a the "irish riveria" enough said.

Bleaver We go to the Blarney Castle !! Bro

BREEZY !! The best in the Business

there is a beautifull little Inn in Scituate right on the Harbor that awaits all you Irishmen and women from Breezy Point and Spring Lake. It's pub serves the perfect pint of Guiness. So come on up and let's debate over a few shall we? By the by the Inn is owned by the Cooney's, Ferguson's and Leaver's (two out of 3 ain't bad!)

Who really cares if Scituate is the most Irish town in America? We Americans of Irish ancestry are well represented and we won't be dying off anytime soon.It really doesn't matter where we are in America. Cheers!

Agree totally with greengurl. Iowa and Minnesota also have a lot of communities filled with people of Irish descent.

How about culling the herd on this debate? If your "town" doesn't have a GAA club or is within a 30 mile radius of one, disqualify yourself as Irish; you may have, however, be eligible for West Brit status like Ballsbridge (that D4 or South Dublin for you uninformed Yanks).

@ markhanly – I have cousins and friends of Irish descent in US and Canada. Some of them did a similar exercise in their school years, writing back “home” for info and also using the internet. I’ll send email feelers off to them and see if they can help with advice and internet contacts. Maybe some others of Irish descent posting on ICentral could offer contacts and info to markhanly for the very interesting and worthy Programme that mark writes of (Jan 12, o2.44PM EST)?

I don’t know an awful lot about density of Irish-named descendants in the USA but I do know that the early Irish immigrants settled largely in NYC and State, Pittsburgh, Mass, and Chicago. However, there are stories about immigrants of the 1800’s being on the Oregon Trail and breaking off from the wagon trains to settle where they found the climate most resembling where they came from. I heard that most Irish broke off and settled in Oregon since that resembled Ireland at that time. It therefore surprises me that Oregon doesn’t get a mention above. Does Oregon have a large Irish presence today?

My great-grandfather Daniel O'Brien and his twin sons John and Miles came from Lisnagourneen, County Cork, to America circa 1870. They settled in New Britain Connecticut. So many Irish immigrants lived there that a large part of the town was called "Little Dublin." But I don't know how many Irish live there now

Great to see so many Irish Americans challenging for top Irish Town/City in USA. As an Irish Man living back home in Co.Kerry Ireland I am trying to find Schools that can link with mine in order to interact in our Irish Diasporas Cultural Development Programme that encourages students to investigate their family trees and find out exactly wher their Irish ancestors came from and also help us learn about their different cultures they are not living with. Any Ideas how to help?