Newtown, Connecticut, the site of the elementary school massacre, was never the same after a massive influx of Irish immigrants, many of whom came through the area as railroad workers in the early 19th century and stayed to farm land abandoned by earlier farmers, according to Wikipedia.
Most of the early Irish residents lived in the Sandy Hook area where the school massacre occured.
"The Irish were very polarizing socially, religiously, and politically in town," said Daniel Cruson, the town historian, in a 2007 interview. "There was very little Catholic presence in town when the Irish moved in, and with the increase in the Irish population, St. Rose (Roman Catholic Church) saw a big lift in membership, for instance."
Politically the town changed too. As more Irish moved into town in the 19th century, they changed the town's political majority from Republican to Democrat.
The proportion of the town's Irish-American population went from 5.6 percent in 1850 to 41.8 percent in 1890, and by 1900 it was up to 44 percent. Many of the immigrants came to Newtown from one small area of County Clare, according to Harlan Jessup, a local genealogist.
Many found work in the local factories and button shops. At one point, according to Jessup, the New York Belting and Packing rubber factory in town employed 200 people — 185 of whom were Irish. Many Irishwomen worked as domestic laborers, seamstresses and lace makers.
Tensions between the Yankees and Irish ran high. One Irishmen, James E. Madigan, published the popular Newtown Chronicle from 1880 to 1882, a Democratic, working-class rival to The Newtown Bee, a Yankee paper. The Chronicle devoted one page of each four-page issue to news from Ireland.
Not until after World War II were the Irish finally accepted, according to Cruson.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Portia_O'Neill | Jan 01, 2013, 02:33 PM EST
The Newtown Bee has published an online phone directory of the town's residents. A listing of surnames seems to indicate that the town's percentage of Irish residents is less than 41% of the population in 1850. That said, the Sandy Hook neighborhood is considered the low rent district by the standards of the town. Since the massacre the town is considering building a new elementary school.
Silling | Dec 16, 2012, 10:55 AM EST
perhaps that racist Corkman should read the last line of this article.
oaklongan | Dec 15, 2012, 06:21 PM EST
Thank you for your valuable insight and comments
Seanmor | Dec 15, 2012, 11:23 AM EST
One can easily understand why it took a few gererations for the Yankees (protestand to accept Irish Catholics, many of whom were descended form the Famine immkgrants. We should also remember that as recently as 6 or 7 years ago His Eminence, the NYC Cardinal, made a very determined effort to retroactively punish the Irish Great Hunger/Famine immigrants by ordering the demolition of St. Brigid's Church in the lower East Side which they built by donating the few dollars they could spare and volunteering their time. Finally, a kind-hearted Christian -apparently a Protestant -rescued St. Brigid's with a generous donation about $20 million for its renovation. May God bless him.
like2tweet | Dec 15, 2012, 10:40 AM EST
Amazing background