Two Irishmen identified in one of New York's most famous pictures

My grandfather Arthur Collins, who died back in 1999 at the age of 95 is the guy in the center (holding the lunchbox w/ a cigarette in his mouth). He grew up in an orphanage in NY and later moved to Colorado Springs. He also was one of the builders for the Hoover Dam. His parents emigrated from Cork at the turn of the century. Grandpa never understood all the hoopla over that picture; he just said it was just a 'job'.

I love this picture! Im terrified of heights and everytime I see this I feel really ill but its still amazing to see. How the hell did they get back in off the beam!?

Really enjoyed reading these comments...like a conversation between friends...I've got a copy of this print...always makes me a bit sad when I see the hard work and dangerous jobs the gangs of Irish emigrants had to do...still I that's probably what forged the bonds of friendship between them...shame they don't all get a cut of every picture sold...wonder if they were asked if their images could be used..mar dhea..!

For some reason Irish Central doesn't allow separated paragraphs in one post. Looks strange.

Cecil Adam's article is interesting but, out dated and limited. Nothing that hasn't been written in history books and museum pamphlets for years. Even a bit insulting to the many Indian iron-workers that followed those brave first crews. The Mohawks should get credit for being the first Indian iron-workers. They were. After all the first bridges and skyscrapers were built in their part of the country. As pointed out in Adam's article, "They were hand picked and trained." Now days it's just not fair to say "It's not just any American Indian who goes into ironwork, it's mostly Iroquois, specifically Mohawks....." Many Indians from many western reservations became iron-workers as the building of bridges, dams and skyscrapers moved west. Especially after WWII. With their card they could go anywhere in North America and make a good living, difficult to do on most reservations. Again in the sixties and seventies many young Indians upon graduating from The Kicking Horse Job Corp center in Montana (the nations only Job Corp center for American Indians) were recruited into an iron-worker pre-apprenticeship program. My own brother being one. americano-"...that is to say they have no vertical restriction in their bran cells,....." Really? Most of them would tell you at first they were scared sh!tless but also thrilled by those heights. Indians identify themselves first by the tribe they are enrolled with, second by Indian. Actually the old folks say Indin, proudly claiming "I'm Indin." Seldom if ever will an Indian use Native American. A title most likely bestowed upon them by a well meaning white bureaucrat.

It is not a matter of being fearless, it is a matter of their mental state, that is to say they have no vertical restriction in their brain cells, thus they can walk on those high iron beams without balancing and vertigo problems, as a result they are not afraid doing the high-iron job and they have no fear. Looking at the picture of those eleven chaps on the 69th floor iron beam it is clear to note that they are relaxed, have their lunch, drink and smoke, read a newspaper,and chat, thus no fear at all. Nevertheless they were no doubt aware of the fact that their movements on top high-up there had to be planned and carefully controlled and that they did.

Antoman, I come from a very large family, going back several generations of Irish, Welsh, and American Indian mix on both sides. My grandpa, father, stepfather, and many, many uncles were all Iron Workers. They would leave the Indian Reservation for long spells, to take those jobs working on skyscrapers and dams, not just for the big bucks (more money than they could make on the Rez or ranching) but also because they were adrenaline junkies. They loved their work. And Wjbltex, I will vouch for them closing up the bars and returning to work a few hours later. I will also bet they never missed a day of work and put in many hours of over-time as well.

The man far right who is directly staring at the camera with empty bottle of whisky is a slovak man called Gusto Popovic. I have searched an internet sources.

In the south before the Civil War, Irish did most of the dangerious work. The value of a slave was lost, if the slave was injuried or killed in an industrial accident. When an Irish immigrant in the south died from an industrial accident, it did not cost the Southern Aristocrat anything. So it is not a surprise to see Irish immigrants as Iron Workers. (Iron Worker is the American Name for the workers pictured.)

Thank-you so much jacersagain, mamaginnty and antoman. Jacersagain it is the pronunciation that is the hardest to learn. I do know about the genitive case, though I'm not so sure when I see other sources that have it wrong. I appreciate you're taking the time to explain it. If I ever get back to Ireland I will have to treat all of you to a cup of tea or a pint, whatever your preference. Slán tamall.

@ conchuhair - it appears ICentral is set up to stop urls being posted by spammers. Try giving the name of a site without using w w w

Searlit - it is spelt ‘Am lóin’ – literally meaning ‘Time of lunch’. No fada on the letter ‘A’ and an ‘i’ before the letter ‘n’. Lunch is Lón (pron Loan) but because Time of lunch is a possessive expression, you put the letter ‘i’ before the ‘n’ to pronounce it ‘lowen’. >>> I saw a very old framed copy of this photograph years ago and the name of every man on the girder was printed below it. They were all Irish. Antoman is right - American Indians and the Irish were noted for no fear of heights and were widely employed on building New York’s Empire State Building and other skyscrapers. I get vertigo just looking at that picture.

Automan..Searlit might have lunch time in irish near enough, my kids used to say ám lón when getting thier lunch box ( brown paper bag ) for school. I also remember years ago seeing pics of native americans scaling the heights on skyscrapers. I have taken a pic..of this pic and will get it enlarged, I think it is great.

When i first saw it i thought it's a fake and amazingly some people are not bothered by hights at all.The Mohawks being among those and is there any rational explanation for it?

LOL! Slainte :)