cAPTIONING PROVIDED BY CAPTION ASSOCIATES, LLC WWW.CAPTIONASSOCIATES.COM ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ CROWD NOISE ] [ HONKING ] TODAY IS GOING TO BE A GREAT DAY.

WONDERFUL DAY.

I'M GOING TO MOVE OFF THE STREET.

IT'S SHOW TIME.

♪ ♪ ♪ TOP OF THE MORNING TO YOU!

♪ ♪ ♪ HOW ARE YOU?

♪ ♪ GET THE BAND UP HERE.

>> THE IRISH.

>> WHY ARE THEY MOVING?

STOP THEM THERE.

[ CHEERING ] ♪ >> I DON'T KNOW HOW WE'RE GOING TO -- THAT'S MY JOB.

ALL RIGHTY.

WE'RE HEADING BACK THIS WAY NOW.

HEY JOHN, HOW ARE YOU DOING?

HAPPY DAY TO YOU, LADS.

>> WHO IS HERE?

[INDISCERNIBLE] GETTING TOGETHER WITH OUR FAMILY.

♪ ♪ >> WE'RE GOING TO START THEM.

WHERE IS JACK?

JACK, SHOULD I GO TELL THEM?

LET'S GO.

WE'RE GOING TO GO.

>> IS ANYONE OUT THERE?

AMERICA IS A PLACE WHERE ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.

WE STILL WONDER IF THE DREAM OF OUR FOUNDERS IS ALIVE IN OUR TIME.

[INDISCERNIBLE] GOES BACK 30 YEARS OR MORE.

♪ ♪ >> AND SO, MY FELLOW AMERICANS, ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU, ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY.

[ APPLAUSE ] >> IT IS INCONCEIVEABLE THAT ANY PATRIOTIC CONTROLS ANY COST WHILE GOING BACK TO WORK AND MINING COAL.

♪ ♪ [ ANIMAL NOISES ] >>> THERE ARE ABOUT 4,000 PERSONS IN THIS PARISH AND ALL CATHOLICS.

AS POOR AS I SHALL DESTROY, EVER AMONG THEM NO MORE THAN ONE COURT, NO REAL CAR, NO COACH OR ANY OTHER VEHICLE.

NONE OF THEIR MARRIED OR UNMARRIED WOMEN CAN AFFORD ANY MORE THAN A PIECE OF CLOTHING AND THE FEWEST NUMBER CANNOT AFFORD ANY.

AND MORE THAN HALF OF BOTH MEN AND WOMEN COULD NOT AFFORD SHOES FOR THEIR FEET.

NOR CAN MANY OF THEM AFFORD A SECOND BED, BUT WHOLE FAMILIES OF SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF MATURE AGE INDISCRIMINATELY LIE TOGETHER WITH THEIR PARENTS, MOSTLY IN THE BARE BUFF.

THEIR BEDS ARE STRAW AND ARE COVERED WITH RAGGED AND FILTHY BLANKETS.

AND WORSE THAN ALL I'VE MENTIONED, THERE'S A GENERAL PROSPECT OF STARVATION.

AT PRESENT, PREVAILING AMONG THEM AND THAT'S ORIGINATING FROM VARIOUS CAUSES, BUT THE PRINCIPLE CAUSE IS THE ROT OR FAILURE IN LAST YEAR'S POTATO CROP.

THERE'S CHILDREN CRYING, FAINT WITH HUNGER AND THEIR PARENTS WEAK FULL OF GRIEF, HUNGER, DEE BUILT AND DEE JEBING SHON.

LOOKING AT THE CHILDREN, LIKELY COULD STARVE IN THE JAWS OF -- COULD DIE IN THE JAWS OF STARVATION.

>> I IRISH HAD LIVED IN POVERTY IN THEIR NATIVE LAND FOR DECADES AND IN FACT, CENTURIES PRIOR TO THE GREAT POTATO FAMINE OF THE MID 19th CENTURY.

THEY WERE SURFS IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE, THEY WERE THE PEASANTS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.

CHIEF AMONG THOSE REASONS WAS BECAUSE OF THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.

THE IRISH WERE, OF COURSE, CATHOLIC AND WERE LOOKED DOWN UPON FOR THEIR SO-CALLED PAGAN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN KAT OL SISM BY THE PROT TANT AND BRITISH AIRS TOCK RAH SI.

BUT THE POTATO FAMINE MADE THE CONDITION ALL THE WORSE.

>> THESE PEOPLE WERE A CONQUERED PEOPLE.

THEIR LAND WAS TAKEN FROM THEM.

IT WAS GIVEN TO THE ENGLISH AND THEY BECAME TENANTS ON THEIR OWN LAND.

THEY HAD TO PAY RENT TO LIVE ON THAT LAND TO AN ENGLISH LANDLORD.

COULD SAY THE IRISH WERE SLAVES IN THEIR OWN LAND.

>> THE ENGLISH LANDLORDS WANTED THEM OUT AT ANY COST.

THERE WOULD NOT BE AN IRISH LANDLORD TO HIRE HIS OWN QUOTE-UNQUOTE POLICE FORCE TO BEAT AND CHASE THE IRISH OFF THESE LITTLE PLOTS OF LAND.

AND THAT'S ALL THEY HAD.

WELL, THE LANDLORDS WANTED THEM OFF THEIR PROPERTY SIMPLY BECAUSE THE LANDLORDS WANTED TO RAISE LIVESTOCK.

AND AS LONG AS THE IRISH WERE THERE, THEY COULDN'T DO THAT.

THEY NEEDED THE LAND FOR SHEEP AND LATER FOR CATTLE.

>> WHEN THE FAMINE CAME, THE ENGLISH DID NOTHING REALLY TO HELP THEM THROUGH THIS FAMINE, TO TRY TO SAVE LIVES.

TO THEM, THE FAMINE WAS A WAY OF GETTING RID OF THE IRISH PEOPLE BY SIMPLY DOING NOTHING AND LETTING NATURE TAKE ITS COURSE.

THEY'VE OFTEN BEEN ACCUSED OF IT BEING A GENTLEMEN'S GENOCIDE BECAUSE THEY DID DO NOTHING WITH THE HOPE THAT ENOUGH OF THEM WOULD IMMIGRATE AND THOSE WHO WOULDN'T WOULD DIE AND THE LANDLORDS COULD CLEAN THEM OFF THEIR LAND.

MANY OF THE CABINS IN WHICH THE IRISH LIVED WERE HOLES IN THE GROUND COVERED WITH A LAYER OF MUD AND NOT DISTINGUISHABLE AS HUMAN HABITATION FROM THE SURROUNDING UNTIL ONE CLOSED DOWN UPON THEM.

WE ENTERED ONE CABIN, STRETCHED IN ONE DARK CORNER, SCARCELY VISIBLE FROM THE SMOKES AND RAGS THAT COVERED THEM WERE THREE CHILDREN, HUDDLED TOGETHER, LYING THERE BECAUSE THEY WERE TOO WEAK TO RISE.

PAIL AND GHASTLY, THEIR LITTLE LIMBS PERFECTLY EMACIATED.

THEIR EYES WERE SUNK, THEIR VOICE WAS GONE.

THEY WERE EVIDENTLY IN THE LAST STAGE OF ACTUAL STARVATION.

>> WHEN I WAS IN IRELAND VISITING, I FOR THE FIRST TIME MY RELATIVES, TWO OF THE LITTLE COUSINS, THEY HAD TAKEN ME ACROSS THE FIELD, WE WENT OUT INTO THE BACK OF THE HOUSE AND WE WALKED OVER A FARMER'S FIELD, NOT VERY FAR AND WE GOT TO BA LURE SHORE AND THERE WAS A HUGE MOUND OF LIKE A SAND DO YOU KNOW, BUT A HUGE MOUND THAT STUCK WAY UP AND WAS QUITE PROMINENT.

THE CHILDREN TOLD ME THAT THAT WAS CALLED THE KILLEEN AND IN IRISH KILLEEN MEANS CEMETERY, BUT WHAT IT ACTUALLY WAS, WAS A FAMINE BURIAL MOUND.

WHEN THE PEOPLE IN THE AREA DIED, THE PEOPLE WERE SO SICK THAT THEY REALLY, TO DIG INTO SOLID GROUND AND BURY THEM, THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE ABILITY, SO THEY JUST IN THE SAND, THEY DUG OUT THE SAND AND THEY HAD A MASS GRAVE WHERE THEY KEPT PUTTING THEM, THE BODIES WITHOUT A COFFIN AND IT WAS IN THIS KILLEEN THAT ALL THESE FAMINE VICTIMS WERE BURIED.

EROSION HAD CAUSED THE SAND DUNE TO BE WORN AWAY AND IN THIS PROCESS, THE BONES OF THESE VICTIMS CAME UP OUT OF THE GRAVES.

WHEN THE CHILDREN TOOK ME THERE AND WE WERE STANDING THERE, BONES WERE LAYING THERE.

THERE WAS A JAW BONE, FINGER BONES, BACK BONES, ALL PIECES OF BROKEN BONES OF SKELETONS.

AND THESE WERE JUST LAYING ON THE GROUND AND I STOPPED THERE AND SOMETHING JUST CAUSED ME, I GOT DOWN ON MY KNEES AND I STARTED PULLING THE SAND AWAY WITH MY HANDS AND DIGGING INTO IT.

AND AS I WAS GOING DOWN, KEVIN CAME OVER AND HE STARTED, AND WE JUST WENT DOWN AND AFTER A SHORT WHILE, I UNCOVERED THIS, IT LOOKED TO ME LIKE THE TOP OF A SKULL.

AND I WAS JUST SO IN DISBELIEF.

BUT I HAD TOUCHED THAT SKULL.

I HAD MY HANDS-ON THAT SKULL AND I KNEW THAT THIS WAS A PERSON WHO HAD WALKED HERE ON THAT GROUND IN 1845, AND I WAS TOUCHING THE SKELETON.

THE REMAINS OF THIS PERSON IN THE GRAVE WAS PASSING ON TO US HIS STORY.

HE WAS SAYING, LOOK, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED.

♪ >> WHEN I CAME BACK TO AMERICA SEVERAL YEARS LATER, I GOT THE URGE THAT I WANTED TO SCULPTURE FAMINE FIGURES.

I WANTED TO TELL THE STORY OF WHAT PASSED THROUGH THAT TOUCHING OF THAT SKULL THAT DAY.

I FEEL SOMETHING WAS PASSED DOWN TO ME, A STORY THAT WENT THROUGH THE GENERATIONS OVER THE YEARS, AND I HAD A STORY TO TELL.

AND I MADE ROUGHLY MAYBE ABOUT 20 FIGURES OF VICTIMS OF THE FAMINE SHOWING WHAT HAPPENED BACK THEN, TELLING A STORY.

I THINK A GIFT WAS PASSED ON TO ME AT THAT TIME.

I CARRIED IT IN MY HEART.

I CARRIED IT ACROSS THE OCEAN.

I BROUGHT IT HOME WITH ME.

IT STAYED THERE, IT LIVED WITH ME, AND IT WAS GROWING INSIDE ME THE STORIES WHAT I WANTED TO REPRESENT, WHAT I WANTED TO SAY.

THE MOMENT THAT I UNEARTHED THAT SKULL AND I PUT MY HAND ON THE TOP OF THAT SKULL, I WAS MAKING HUMAN CONTACT GOING BACK THROUGH HISTORY WITH A BEING FROM THE FAMINE ERA.

IT AMAZED ME HOW FAR I HAD COME AND WHY I HAD COME TO FIND RELATIVES, NOT ONLY FINDING RELATIVES BUT FINDING A HISTORY, FINDING THE FAMINE HISTORY, FINDING A PERSON IN A GRAVE AND TOUCHING THEM.

THIS WAS SOMETHING I DIDN'T EXPECT WHEN I LEFT GENERAL TOE, PA.

I EXPECTED TO FIND RELATIVES, BUT I NEVER KNEW SO MUCH WOULD UNFOLD AND I WOULD ACTUALLY BE MAKING HISTORY AND GOING BACK IN HISTORY AND TOUCHING THAT HISTORY AND HAVING THAT HISTORY COME INTO MY BEING.

IT WAS FANTASTIC.

♪ >> THERE'S SEVERAL EVENTS THAT COME TOGETHER IN THE EARLY TO MID 19th CENTURY IN THE WESTERN WORLD THAT HAVE A TREMENDOUS INFLUENCE ON WHY THE IRISH COME TO THE UNITED STATES AND WHY THE IRISH COME TO PENNSYLVANIA.

AMONG THOSE EVENTS ARE IN IRELAND, OF COURSE, THE GREAT POTATO FAMINE.

THE IRISH FACING STARVATION HAD FEW CHOICES.

ONE OF THE CHOICES THAT THEY HAD WAS TO MIGRATE TO THE UNITED STATES TO FIND A DIFFERENT WAY OF LIFE, TO HOPEFULLY FIND WORK AND TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT THEIR FAMILIES TO BE ABLE TO EARN MONEY TO SEND FOR THEIR FAMILIES IN IRELAND SO THAT THEY COULD COME TO PLACES LIKE BOSTON AND PHILADELPHIA AND SCRANTON AND WICKS BAR AND POTS -- WILKES-BARRE AND POTSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, IN ORDER TO EEK OUT A LIVING.

WHAT IS ATTRACTING THEM HERE IS ANOTHER GREAT EVENT IN THE UNITED STATES AND THAT IS IS THAT THE EARLY TO MID 19th CENTURY, A GOOD PART OF THE WESTERN WORLD BEGINS TO INDUSTRIALIZE.

THE UNITED STATES IS CENTRAL TO THAT -- PENNSYLVANIA IS VERY MUCH CENTRAL TO THAT INDUSTRIALIZATION.

PENNSYLVANIA HAD A MICK NAME.

IT WAS CALLED FAT PENNSYLVANIA.

THE REASON IT WAS CALLED FAT PENNSYLVANIA WAS BECAUSE IT HAD ABUNDANT RESOURCES WHICH HUMANS WOULD LEARN TO HARNESS THE RESOURCES AND USE THEM FOR ALL KINDS OF MOSTLY INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION.

PENNSYLVANIA WAS A WILDERNESS.

IT HAD ABUNDANT FOREST RESOURCES, LOTS OF TREES, AND BY THE EARLY TO MID 19th CENTURY, THOSE TREES ALL OVER THE STATE WERE BEING HARVESTED, CLEAR-CUT FORESTS FOR BUILDING HOMES, MAKING RAILROAD TIES AND ALL KINDS OF INDUSTRIAL USES.

LUMBER WAS VERY VERY MUCH IN DEMAND.

IN 1859 A MAN BY THE NAME OF EDWIN DRAKE IN TITUSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, DISCOVERS OIL AND SUCCESSFULLY DRILLS OIL, AND FOR THE VERY, VERY FIRST TIME IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE WHERE A TREMENDOUS OIL BOOM OCCURRED IN WHICH THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WENT THERE TO SEEK THEIR FORTUNE AND THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE IRISH, WENT TO PLACES LIKE TITUSVILLE AND OIL CITY IN FRANKLIN, PENNSYLVANIA IN SEARCH OF SUBSISTENCE LEVEL WORK.

ALSO COAL, AN THROW SIGHT COAL IS DISCOVERED IN THE EARLY 19th CENTURY AND THEN THERE ARE WAYS DISCOVERED TO SUCCESSFULLY BURN THE COAL TO PRODUCE A VERY HIGH QUALITY HEAT AND A VERY CLEAN HEAT.

COAL IS THE CHOICE FUEL OF AMERICAN INDUSTRIALIZATION.

IT PROVIDES HEAT TO TENS OF THOUSANDS OF HOMES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, POWERS THE RAILROADS, POWERS THE INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES, IS USED IN THE IRON FORGES AND PLACES LIKE THAT FOR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION.

OF COURSE, INTO THAT ENVIRONMENT WHERE COAL WAS FOUND IN ABUNDANCE, THERE'S A TREMENDOUS DEMAND FOR LABOR, INCLUDING UNSKILLED LABOR, TO WHICH THE IRISH ARE BOTH RECRUITED AND ATTRACTED.

HERE IN SCRANTON, FOR EXAMPLE, THE SILK INDUSTRY AND THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY AND LATER THE GARMENT INDUSTRY BECOME WAYS OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION TO PRODUCE PRODUCTS TO GET THEM TO THE MASS CONSUMER MARKETPLACE.

CANALS ARE BEING DUG BECAUSE WATER AND CANALS BECOME A VERY IMPORTANT WAY TO TRANSPORT CONSUMER GOODS.

THE RAILROADS ARE BEING BUILT, MINING OF COAL IS BECOMING VERY, VERY ACTIVE.

THE FACTORY-BASED SYSTEM OF PRODUCTION IS BEING ADOPTED, ESPECIALLY ALONG THE EASTERN SEABOARD OF THE UNITED STATES TO PRODUCE ALL KINDS OF CONSUMER GOODS.

I THINK THERE'S A VERY CLEAR ARGUMENT THAT HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR PENNSYLVANIA'S NATURAL RESOURCES, AMERICA MAY NOT HAVE INDUSTRIALIZED AS QUICKLY AND AS PROFITABLY CERTAINLY AS IT DID IN THE 19th CENTURY.

ALL OF THESE FORCES COME TOGETHER IN THAT THE IRISH FLEEING STARVATION AND ALMOST CERTAIN DEATH IN THEIR NATIVE LAND SEE THAT THERE'S WORK IN THE NEW WORLD, IN THE UNITED STATES, AND OWNERS OF INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES AT THAT TIME REALIZE THAT THE IRISH ARE AN ABUNDANT SUPPLY OF INEXPENSIVE LABOR TO WORK IN THE MINES AND WORK IN THE FACTORIES AND WORK IN THE CITIES.

♪ THE MAIN EXPORT OF THE UNITED STATES BACK THEN WAS LUMBER.

THE SAILING SHIPS WOULD GO TO ENGLAND, GO TO SCOTLAND AND THEY WOULD BE FILLED WITH TIMBER FROM THE NORTHEAST.

WELL, WHEN THEY EMPTIED THE SHIPS, THEY NEEDED BALLAST, YOU SEE.

AND THEY WOULD ACTUALLY HAVE TO PAY FOR THE STONES AND THE ROCKS TO FILL THE BOTTOM OF THE SHIP FOR BALLAST.

BUT EVENTUALLY, THEY FOUND OUT THERE'S JUST AS ECONOMICAL TO FILL THEM FULL OF IRISH.

AND SO THE IRISH PAID ANYWHERE FROM $2 TO $5 FOR THEIR TRANSPORT TO AMERICA.

>> MY GREAT GRANDPARENTS WERE TALKING ABOUT PATRICK ROWAN AND BRIDGETT AND TO COME TO AMERICA TO IMMIGRATE, THEY WENT DOWN TO THE SHORE, THEY HAD WITH THEM THEIR TWO-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER BRIDGETT AND THEY HAD MY GRANDFATHER, JOHN, WHO WAS AN INFANT UNDER A YEAR OF AGE.

>> THE FAMILY SAID GOODBYE ON THE SHORE.

IT HAD TO BE VERY HARD HEARTBREAKING TO THINK, ESPECIALLY FOR BRIDGETT, A YOUNG MOTHER WITH TWO CHILDREN, WHO WOULD COME TO AMERICA AND HAVE MORE CHILDREN AND TO THINK THAT YOUR PARENTS ARE NEVER GOING TO SEE YOUR CHILDREN GROW UP, THE CHILDREN THAT WILL BE BORN TO YOU IN THE FUTURE.

YOU'RE GOING AND THE CHANCES OF YOU EVER COMING BACK ARE JUST ABOUT NONEXISTENT.

SO IT'S ALMOST LIKE A DEATH, IT'S ALMOST LIKE YOU'RE BURYING YOUR FAMILY AND YOU'RE GOING ON TO A NEW LIFE AND THAT FAMILY WON'T BE A PART OF IT ANYMORE.

WHO KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ONES AS THE YEARS WENT BY THAT STAYED, IF THEY DIED NOBODY KNEW WHERE THEY DIED OR IF THEY WERE BURIED OR WHAT.

THE ONCE WHO IMMIGRATED -- ONES WHO IMMIGRATED LOST TOUCH WITH THEM.

SO FAMILY CONNECTIONS WERE BROKEN AT THIS POINT AND THIS IS WHERE THE DIFFICULTY OF TRYING TO TRACE YOUR FAMILY BACK AND FIND THE CONNECTIONS.

♪ >> WE ARE THIRD, 4th, SOMETIMES 5th GENERATION IRISH NOW.

SO OUR CONNECTION TO IRELAND IS 120 YEARS NOW.

OKAY?

A LOT OF US DID NOT KNOW THE ORIGINAL ANCESTORS WHO CAME FROM IRELAND TO THIS COUNTRY.

BUT THE TRADITIONS REMAIN STRONG AND, OF COURSE, WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, YOU WERE IRISH.

AND YOU KNEW YOU WERE FROM MAYO, BUT THEN AGAIN, EVERYBODY WAS FROM MAYO.

IN FACT, I WAS TEN OR 11, I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE ONLY PLACE IN IRELAND WAS MAYO BECAUSE EVERYBODY SEEMED TO BE FROM MAYO.

BY THE TIME IT WAS TIME FOR ME TO DO JEAN LOGICAL RESEARCH TO FIND OUT EXACTLY WHERE WE CAME FROM AND WHO THOSE PEOPLE WERE AND HAD A BIT BETTER SENSE OF THE BRAVERY MUST HAVE TAKEN.

WHEN I GOT TO IRELAND AND WE ALL GOT TO IRELAND AND SAW HOW BEAUTIFUL IT WAS AND SAW HOW GREEN IT WAS AND SAW HOW KIND THE PEOPLE WERE.

♪ ♪ ALSO, WALKING DOWN THE STREETS WHERE WE GOT TO CERTAIN PLACES OR SOME OF THE OTHER CITIES IN IRELAND, IT WAS LIKE WALKING DOWN THE STREETS OF NATIVITY.

IT WAS THE SAME FACES.

IT WAS OH, MY GOSH, THAT LOOKS LIKE PAT MURPHY THAT I KNEW FROM HEMLOCK STREET.

THAT LOOKS LIKE JERRY Mc CLEAN.

I MEAN, IT WAS THE SAME FACES, THE SAME ATTITUDES.

SOMETIMES EVEN HOW WE TALKED, WE NO LONGER HAVE THE BROGUES, WE TALK LIKE AMERICANS.

SOMETIMES IF WE LISTEN, WE HAVE A WAY OF PHRASING THINGS, THE IRISH DO AND SOMETIMES YOU CAN SENSE THAT IRISH STILL THERE.

>> I UNDERSTOOD WHY NOBODY TALKED ABOUT IT MUCH BECAUSE MY DAD SAID AND MY GRANDFATHER HAD SAID, WELL, DAVID, MY ANCESTOR, DIDN'T TALK ABOUT IT MUCH.

IT MUST HAVE BEEN VERY HARD TO LEAVE THERE.

IT MUST HAVE BEEN VERY SAD, BECAUSE IN SOME CASES THEY NEVER SAW THEIR FAMILIES AGAIN.

THERE'S NO WAY THEY WERE GOING TO COME BACK TO IRELAND.

THAT MUST HAVE BEEN A HARD THING FOR THEM.

>> IMAGINE WHAT THIS IS LIKE.

YOU'RE LEAVING YOUR PRESENT HOMELAND, YOU'RE LEAVING THE FARM.

IN MANY CASES, YOU'RE LEAVING BEHIND YOUR FAMILY.

CERTAINLY, YOU'RE LEAVING BEHIND STARVATION AND YOU'RE COMING 3,000 MILES ACROSS THE OCEAN IN THESE SHIPS THAT ARE CALLED COFFIN SHIPS BECAUSE THEY'RE PACKED SO TIGHTLY AND BECAUSE THE ODDS OF DYING ON THAT SHIP IN PASSAGE ARE PRETTY HIGH.

YOU'RE COMING TO A STRANGE LAND, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT.

YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO YOU'RE GOING TO MEET.

YOU'RE TOLD THAT THERE IS WORK HERE.

YOU'RE TOLD THAT PERHAPS IF YOU WORK HARD ENOUGH, YOU MIGHT EVEN GET RICH HERE.

THAT YOU CAN EARN ENOUGH MONEY PERHAPS TO SEND FOR YOUR FAMILY.

YOU CAN EARN ENOUGH MONEY MAYBE EVEN TO GO BACK TO IRELAND SOMEDAY AND BUY A FARM OR LIVE MORE SUCCESSFULLY IN IRELAND THAN YOU COULD PRIOR TO COMING.

>> THE ENGLISH LANDLORD, YOU SEE, PROMISED A LOT OF THE IMMIGRANTS THAT WHEN THEY WOULD REACH THE NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA, BOSTON, THEY'D BE GIVEN FIVE POUNDS TO START THEIR NEW LIFE.

THEY WEREN'T.

THEY WEREN'T GIVEN THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY.

IT WAS NOT UNKNOWN FOR INSTANCE FOR A SHIP CONTAINING 200 IRISH IMMIGRANTS, A HUNDRED OF THEM WOULD DIE IN TRANSIT.

THEY WOULD DIE FROM SOMETHING CALLED SHIP FEVER OR OCEAN SICKNESS AND THAT FOR THE MOST PART, WAS TYPHOID FEVER, ALTHOUGH THERE WERE OTHER DISEASES AS WELL.

WHEN THE IRISH LANDED IN EITHER BOSTON OR IN MARYLAND OR IN NEWFOUNDLAND OR PHILADELPHIA, SOME OF THEM BARELY HAD ENOUGH CLOTHES TO COVER DECENCY.

♪ ♪ ♪ FROM 1840 TO ABOUT 1870, THERE'S OVER THREE MILLION IRISH WHO COME TO THE UNITED STATES.

A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THEM COME TO PENNSYLVANIA.

IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND, TOO, THAT IRISH PEOPLE WERE HERE PRIOR TO THE GREAT POTATO FAMINE.

THEY WERE HERE CERTAINLY AT THE TIME OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

CERTAINLY THE BULK OF THEM COME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 19th CENTURY IN WHICH OTHER IMMIGRANTS COME FROM EUROPE AS WELL, SUCH AS GERMANS.

OF COURSE, LATER ON IN THE 19th CENTURY, IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, SOUTHERN EUROPEANS AND EASTERN EUROPEANS.

BUT BY THE MIDDLE OF THE 19th CENTURY, THE IRISH IMMIGRANTS COMPETE WITH GERMANS TO MAKE UP THE BULK OF THE IMMIGRANT POPULATION COMING TO THE UNITED STATES AND TO PENNSYLVANIA.

♪ ♪ ♪ >> YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT IMMIGRATION TO AMERICA HAD PRETTY MUCH BEEN HALTED BY THE SERIES OF WARS THAT STARTED IN EUROPE AND BECAME INTERNATIONAL BEGINNING IN THE 1750s AND LASTING UNTIL THE END THE NAPOLEAN WARS IN 1815.

SO AMERICA HAD NOT SEEN AN INFLUX OF PEOPLE FROM THE OUTSIDE FOR A HALF CENTURY OR MORE.

AS A RESULT OF THAT, WHEN THE IRISH CAME HERE, AMERICA WAS A VERY ESTABLISHED PROTESTANT AND WHITE COUNTRY IN WHICH THERE WAS A BLACK UNDER CLASS SLAVES.

MOST OF THE PEOPLE IN AMERICA WERE FROM NORTHERN YEAR PEEN ANCESTRY AND LOOKED UPON ROMAN KAT OL SISM WITH A GREAT DEAL OF SUSPICION.

WHEN THEY CAME FROM THE MIDST OF DESTITUTION AND A BURDENSOME LIFESTYLE WITH FAMINE AND LACK OF JOBS, LACK OF SECURITY, LACK OF DAILY FUNDS, THE ONLY THING THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM BESIDES THEIR TALENT, THEIR COURAGE AND LAUGHTER FROM IRELAND WAS THEIR FAITH.

AND IN THE MIDST OF A BAD EXPERIENCE COMING TO THE NEW WORLD HERE, THAT WAS A SECURITY OF STRENGTH, LIKE AN UMBILICAL CORD FROM WHICH THEY COULD BE NOURISHED.

>> THE IRISH ENTER AMERICA AS THE FIRST LARGE SCALE FOREIGN GROUP WHO IS COMING HERE, AND AS A RESULT OF THAT, THEIR ROMAN CATHOLICISM IS SEEN AS A NEGATIVE AND THEY ENTER INTO A PLACE WHERE THEIR NEEDED FOR THEIR LABORING WORK IN THE MINES, MILLS AND FACTORIES, BUT THEY'RE ALSO BEING RESENTED BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THEY ARE FOREIGN AND THEY ARE CATHOLIC.

>> PEOPLE WERE SUSPICIOUS.

THEY HEARD OF THESE PEOPLE WHO HAD SOME KIND OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE POPE OR SOME KIND OF ALLEGIANCE TO A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT, THE VATICAN.

AND THAT, I THINK, BECAME A VERY, VERY DIFFICULT POINT FOR MANY PEOPLE, AND SOME PEOPLE THEN, AND SOME PEOPLE MIGHT DO NOW, CAPITALIZED ON THAT TO MARGINAL EYES THIS NEW GROUP OF PEOPLE COMING INTO THE COUNTRY AND TRYING TO WHIP UP A FRENZY IF YOU WILL ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE ALL ABOUT, WHAT THEY WERE GOING TO DO, WERE THEY OUT TO RUIN AMERICA.

AND THERE ARE PUBLICATIONS FROM THAT TIME THAT WOULD PUBLICLY PUT IN THE PRESS, YOU KNOW, THAT CATHOLICS OUGHT TO BE SENT HOME OR THESE PEOPLE SHOULDN'T BE WELCOME.

THAT WAS VERY, VERY PUBLIC IN MANY PUBLICATIONS THAT WERE PREVALENT IN THE DAY.

>> IRISH CATHOLICS AT THIS TIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY WERE VERY MUCH LOOKED DOWN ON.

IN SOME CASES, THEY WERE LOOKED ON AS SUB HUMAN.

THEY WERE TREATED IN MANY RESPECTS MUCH LIKE WHITE AMERICANS TREATED BLACK AMERICANS.

IT WAS VERY COMMON AT THAT TIME, ESPECIALLY FOR NEW IMMIGRANT GROUPS, TO BE TREATED AND TO BE FEARED AND TO BE TREATED WITH A GREAT DEAL OF FEAR AND DISCRIMINATION WAS RAMPANT.

>> IN A SENSE, THAT'S THE KIND OF FATE THAT MANY GROUP FACED IN THEIR OWN LIFE.

THEIR FAITH WAS INTENSIFIED BY THE ADVERSITY, BY THOSE WHO PUSHED THEM ASIDE OR SAID YOU DON'T BELONG.

>> SO THE IRISH CAME HERE VERY MUCH PREPARED FOR A STRUGGLE BECAUSE THEY HAD EXPERIENCED THAT AT HOME.

WHEN THEY GOT HERE, THEY BECOME IN MANY WAYS, AMERICA'S FIRST MINORITY GROUP THAT REALLY SEES PERSECUTION AGAINST THEM.

>> THERE'S A QUOTE ON THE WALL, ONE OF MY FAVORITE QUOTES, AT ELLIS ISLAND IN NEW YORK CITY.

AND THE QUOTE IS FROM AN IRISH IMMIGRANT.

AND THE QUOTE IS FROM THE 1870s, A LITTLE BIT LATER THAN THE POTATO FAMINE, BUT IT STILL CAPTURES THE ESSENCE OF IRISH IMMIGRATION.

AND THE QUOTE SAYS THAT I WAS TOLD IN THE OLD COUNTRY THAT IN THE UNITED STATES THE STREETS ARE PAVED WITH GOLD.

BUT WHEN I CAME TO THE UNITED STATES THE IRISH IMMIGRANT SAYS, I DISCOVERED VERY, VERY QUICKLY THAT THE STREETS WERE NOT AT ALL PAVED WITH GOLD.

SECONDLY, I DISCOVERED THAT MANY OF THE STREETS WEREN'T PAVED AT ALL.

AND THE THIRD THING I DISCOVERED WAS THAT I WAS THE ONE WHO WAS EXPECTED TO PAVE THEM.

AND THAT CAPTURES VERY MUCH THE EXPERIENCE OF THE IRISH IMMIGRANT WHERE THE EXPECTATIONS WERE THAT THEY WERE COMING HERE TO WORK AND THEY WERE COMING HERE IN MANY CASES TO WORK AT DIFFICULT, DANGEROUS, INDUSTRIAL JOBS IN COAL MINES AND CITIES, ON CANALS, ON RAILROADS.

THEY WERE COMING HERE BY AND LARGE AS UNSKILLED WORKERS.

>> WE WERE FORCED TO LEAVE OUR HOMES, OUR LANDS, COUNTRIES.

MY GOD, WE LEFT BEHIND OUR FAMILIES.

WE EVEN NOW FIGHT FOR THEIR LIVES.

WE'RE WEAK FROM HUNGER AND DESPAIR.

LOOK AT HER, LOOK AT HER.

AMERICA.

MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON US AND GIVE US STRENGTH FOR WE HAVE SURVIVED.

♪ ♪ YOU HAVE TO -- HELP FUEL THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN OUR COUNTRY.

>> COAL BECAME VERY POPULAR BECAUSE IN THE EARLY DAYS, THEY ACTUALLY BURNED WOOD AND MADE CHARCOAL.

HAD A LOT OF CHARCOAL.

AND ALL AT ONCE COAL BECAME ON THE MARKET AND IN THE BIG CITIES LIKE PHILADELPHIA AND NEW YORK STARTED BURNING A LOT OF COAL.

AND THAT MADE A GOOD HEAT AND IT WAS A GOOD SUPPLY.

AND BEING THAT THE COAL REGIONS IN NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA WERE CLOSE TO BOTH MARKETS, IT MADE IT A LOT BETTER FOR DISTRIBUTION OF THE COAL.

WELL, AS THE COAL BECAME POPULAR, THEY NEEDED MORE WORKERS.

♪ ♪ >> THE FACE OF STARVATION CONDITIONS, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF IRISH LEFT THEIR NATIVE LAND AND CAME TO THE UNITED STATES IN THE MID 19th CENTURY.

MANY OF THEM CAME TO PHILADELPHIA.

IT WAS A COMMON PORT FOR IRISH IMMIGRANTS TO COME BECAUSE PHILADELPHIA, OF COURSE, IN THE MID 19th CENTURY WAS A LARGE AND GROWING AND INDUSTRIOUS CITY.

WHAT THE IRISH WOULD ENCOUNTER IN A PLACE LIKE PHILADELPHIA WERE OFTENTIMES AT THE PORTS WHERE THEY WOULD DISEMBARK FROM THEIR SHIPS, VARIOUS EMPLOYERS, PERHAPS HOLDING UP SIGNS, PERHAPS SPEAKING TO THE PASSENGERS COMING OFF OF THE SHIPS, OFFERING THEM SOME KIND OF EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY.

SO IMAGINE WHAT THE EXPERIENCE WAS LIKE FOR AN IMMIGRANT FROM IRELAND TO LEAVE HIS HOMETOWN AND OFTENTIMES IT WAS THE MALE AND THE FEMALE WOULD FOLLOW LATER, TO LEAVE THEIR HOMETOWN WHERE THEY HAD EEKED OUT A SUBSISTENCE LEVEL LIFE LIVING ON POTATOES AND AGRICULTURAL LIFE AND A BAREBONES AGRICULTURAL LIFE AT THAT.

COMING TO THE UNITED STATES AND ALL OF A SUDDEN BROUGHT TO A TOWN LIKE SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA, WHERE THEY ARE EXPECTED TO WORK IN A DARK, DIRTY, WATER LADEN AND IN MANY CASES UNSAFE AN THROW SIGHT COAL MINE.

TO QUICKLY LEARN A SKILL TO WORK IN THAT MINE, WHATEVER THAT JOB MIGHT BE.

IMAGINE COMING TO LEBANON PENNSYLVANIA AND BEING EXPECTED TO DIG THE UNION CANAL THAT WENT TO THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER AS A WAY TO TRANSPORT MAINLY COAL IN THE 1840s, 1830s.

IRISH CANAL WORKERS TYPICALLY WERE PAID ABOUT A DOLLAR A WEEK AND EACH DAY WERE GIVEN A SHOT OR TWO OF WHISKEY.

THAT WAS THEIR COMMON PAY FOR WORKING 12 OR 15 HOURS BY HAND DIGGING CANALS ALL ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA.

THIS WAS NOT WORK THAT THEY WERE USED TO DOING, BUT IT WAS WORK THAT THEY HAD TO DO IN ORDER TO SURVIVE IN THE NEW WORLD.

>> ONE THING ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN THOSE DAYS IS THEY HAD A STRONG WORK ETHIC, THEY WEREN'T AFRAID TO WORK.

MAYBE MORE IMPORTANTLY, THEY TOOK PRIDE IN THEIR WORK, NO MATTER WHAT IT WAS.

I OFTEN THINK BACK OF MY LIFE IN HOW I GOT STARTED THINKING ABOUT MY HERITAGE AND FIVE, SIX YEARS OLD, IT WAS MY GRANDMOTHER THAT INFLUENCED ME THE MOST AND WATCHING MY GRANDMOTHER WORK.

I MEAN, SHE TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN WHAT SHE DID.

MY GRANDFATHER IS A YOUNG ADULT, HE WAS A GREAT BASEBALL PITCHER.

PITCHED FOR THE SEM PROFESSIONAL LEAGUES IN THE EARLY 1900s, 1910.

AND HE DIED.

OF COURSE, MY DAD WAS ONLY TEN AT THE TIME.

HIS SISTER WAS POOR.

THEY HAD A YOUNG INFANT WHOSE YOUNGER BROTHER FELLOW OWE MY GRANDMOTHER WOULD SPEND -- WITHOUT A HUSBAND AND REALLY WITHOUT INCOME.

SO SHE HAD TO RAISE A FAMILY.

AFTER SHE WENT THROUGH THAT TRAGEDY, SHE THEN GOT A POSITION AS THE LOCAL SCHOOL, THE WILLIAM PENN SCHOOL CLEANING UP THE SCHOOL WAS PART OF THE CLEANING CREW.

I WAS A KINDERGARTNER AT THE SCHOOL, AND I WOULD STAY AFTER SCHOOL AND HANG WITH HER, HELP HER SWEEP THE FLOORS, NOT SURE HOW MUCH WORK I REALLY DID, BUT I PUSHED THE BROOM AROUND.

GROWING UP, BEING AS CLOSE TO MY GRANDMOTHER AS I WAS, I MEAN, I HELPED HER.

I SAW HER WORKING, SO I WAS -- SHE GAIV ME A BROOM AND YOU KNOW WE WOULD SWEEP THE FLOORS TOGETHER AND YOU KNOW, I WITNESSED FIRSTHAND THAT SHE WAS A HARD WORKER AND THAT SHE TOOK PRIDE IN IT AND THAT WAS IMPORTANT.

I THINK SHE TRIED TO DO THE BEST JOB SHE COULD AND DIDN'T SEE IT ANYTHING ABOUT BUT -- AS ANYTHING BUT REWARDING WORK.

I CARRY THAT WITH ME.

SO THAT'S HER LEGACY.

I CARRY HER IN MY HEART, TRY TO DO THINGS THE WAY I THINK SHE WOULD HAVE LIKED THEM TO BE DONE.

YOU KNOW, I'VE WITNESSED THAT THROUGH MY LIFE.

MY FATHER WAS THE SAME WAY.

I MEAN, HE TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN HIS WORK AND I KNOW TIMES WHEN HE HAD DIFFICULTY, AND I THINK THAT WAS A HALLMARK OF THOSE DAYS.

WHETHER IN THE MINES OR ON THE DOCKS OR IN THE CLEANING CREWS, IT WAS A JOB THAT WAS WORTH HAVING AND WORTH DOING WELL.

>> THE VAST MAJORITY OF IRISH AMERICAN MEN WHO CAME HERE TOOK JOBS IN THE COAL MINES.

THEY WORKED AS MINE LABORERS AND THEY SETTLED IN BECOMES TWO KIND OF DISTINCT REGIONS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

IN THE NORTHERN REGION, THEY WERE THE COMING -- MORE URBANIZED AREAS AND THE TOWNS LOCATED IN WHAT BECAME METROPOLITAN AREAS WERE ALREADY ESTABLISHED.

THEY WORKED FROM THERE IN THE NEARBY AREAS.

A DIFFERENT SCENARIO HAPPENED IN THE SOUTHERN FIELD WHERE MANY OF THE TOWNS WERE BEING BUILT AT THAT TIME THAT BECAME KNOWN AS PATCH TOWN AND THEY WERE OWNED BY THE COAL COMPANIES.

THESE WERE VERY ISOLATED COMMUNITIES THAT HAD A FEW HUNDRED PEOPLE IN THEM, THAT WERE SEPARATED FROM OTHER WHAT WERE CALLED PATCH TOWNS IN THAT REGION.

>> THE COAL OPERATORS AND THE MINE OWNERS, WHAT THEY DID WAS THEY BUILT THESE VILLAGES AS FAST AS THEY POSSIBLY COULD.

THEY BUILT THEM FAST BECAUSE THEY NEEDED THE LABOR, AND THEY BUILT THEM FAST ALSO BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO FILL THESE HOMES WITH AS MANY, MANY MALES AS POSSIBLE.

WHEN A MINER WENT TO WORK OR A LABORER WENT TO WORK, THE LADY OF THE HOUSE WOULD BE UP AT 5:00 IN THE MORNING, SHE'D BE PREPARING HER HUSBAND'S AND HER CHILDREN'S LUNCHES.

THE REST OF HER DAY WAS ALSO FILLED WITH HARD LABOR.

SOMETIMES THAT THERE WERE GIRLS IN THE FAMILY RNGS THE MOTHER WOULD TAKE THE YOUNG GIRLS AND THEY WOULD GO UP TO THE ROCK BANKS AND PICK COAL.

WHATEVER THE WIVES AND THESE YOUNG GIRLS COULD DO TO SUPPLEMENT THEIR INCOME WAS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT.

BUT IT WAS ALSO VERY HAZARDOUS.

BECAUSE IT WOULD NOT BE UNKNOWN FOR SOME OF THESE WOMEN TO BE BEATEN AND THEIR DAUGHTERS TO BE BEATEN FOR PICKING COAL FROM COMPANY PROPERTY.

>> ONE OF THE QUESTIONS IN AMERICAN HISTORY IS WHILE THERE WAS SO MUCH NEED FOR IMMIGRANT LABOR, ESPECIALLY IN THE 19th CENTURY, WHY WERE IMMIGRANTS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST?

THERE'S A NUMBER OF ANSWERS TO THAT QUESTION.

ONE OF THE ANSWERS IS THAT AMERICA U.N.

UNFORTUNATELY, HAS A LONG HISTORY OF DISCRIMINATION.

WE KNOW FROM HISTORICAL EVIDENCE THAT THE IRISH IMMIGRANTS WAS IN MANY CASES VIEWED BY THE AVERAGE AMERICAN IN THE 1840s AS SUBHUMAN.

THAT THE IRISH AMERICAN HAD CHARACTER DEFECTS, THAT THE IRISH AMERICAN, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS ALCOHOLIC AND COULD NOT BE COUNTED ON TO WORK HARD.

THESE ARE ALL STEREOTYPES AND ONE OF THE WAYS TO DEAL WITH THAT DISCRIMINATION, THAT SENSE OF FEAR ABOUT A NEW ETHNIC GROUP WAS TO SIMPLY SAY THAT WE'VE SEEN SIGNS TO THIS EFFECT THAT THE IRISH NEED NOT APPLY.

WHICH MEANT QUITE SIMPLY, THAT IF YOU'RE COMING TO THE UNITED STATES AND LOOKING FOR WORK AND YOU'RE COMING, LET'S SAY, TO PHILADELPHIA LOOKING FOR WORK, THE IRISH NEED NOT APPLY BECAUSE IN THE STEREOTYPICAL VIEW, THE IRISH COULDN'T BE COUNTED ON, THEY WERE LESS HUMAN THAN THE AVERAGE AMERICAN WAS, WHATEVER THAT MEANT AT THE TIME.

AND THERE WERE TOO MANY OF THEM THAT WAVE AFTER WAVE OF THE IRISH WERE COMING TO AMERICA AND A WAY TO SIMPLY DEAL WITH THEM WAS TO NOT DEAL WITH THEM AND TO NOT HIRE THEM AND NOT EMPLOY THEM.

>> WHERE THAT DIDN'T OCCUR WAS IN THE ANTHROCYTE COAL REGION.

WHAT DIDN'T OCCUR WAS PREVENTING THEM FROM GETTING EMPLOYMENT BECAUSE THERE WAS SO MUCH OF A DEMAND FOR LABOR IN THE ANTHROCYTE COAL MINE THAT THE IRISH WERE WELCOME TO APPLY AND IN FACT, THEY DID APPLY AND THOUSANDS WERE HIRED.

BUT THAT DIDN'T MEAN THEY WEREN'T DISCRIMINATED AGAINST.

CERTAINLY, THEY WERE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN THE ANTHROCYTE COAL MINE.

PERHAPS THE BEST EXAMPLE OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE IRISH IN THE COAL MINES WAS THE FACT THAT THEY WERE GIVEN THE LOWLYEST, THE DIRTIEST AND THE MOST UNSAFE JOBS IN THOSE ANTHROCYTE COAL MINES.

>> YOU HAVE TO REALIZE THAT EVEN TODAY COAL MINING IS A VERY DANGEROUS OCCUPATION.

BUT AT THAT TIME BEFORE ALL OF THE SAFETY REGULATIONS THAT WERE PUT INTO PLACE, IT WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

AMERICANS AT THAT TIME, THE CORPORATE STRUCTURE, IT WAS NOT BELIEVED THAT THE GOVERNMENT OR ANYONE ELSE SHOULD TAKE A ROLE IN THIS TO TRY TO ENSURE FOR THE SAFETY OF THE MINERS.

AND AS A RESULT OF THAT, THEY CAME INTO A WORK SITUATION THAT NOT ONLY WAS CHALLENGING FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MAKING A LIVING AT IT BECAUSE OF THE PAY, BUT WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND AS A RESULT, THOUSANDS WERE KILLED IN MINE ACCIDENTS AND MANY OTHERS WOULD DILATEER FROM A RESULT OF AN THROW SILICOSIS, BY WORKING IN THESE UNSAFE CONDITIONS.

>> IN THOSE EARLIEST OF DAYS, YOUNG KIDS, SOME AS YOUNG AS SIX, SEVEN YEARS OLD, PICKING OUT THE SLATE, THE WOOD, THE ROCK.

THEY HAD THIS IN FRONT OF THEM, COMING DOWN UNDERNEATH THEM AND THEY HAD TO PICK THAT STUFF OUT.

THESE KIDS HAD TO WORK ALL DAY IN THOSE EARLY DAYS, PROBABLY, 10, 12 HOURS.

THEY HAD AN OVERSEER OVER THEM.

THE OVERSEER, IF HE'D SEE YOU FALLING ASLEEP, HE'D GIVE YOU A JAM WITH THAT STICK AND WHEN YOU HAD SOME OF THE BIGGER KIDS, LIKE 12, 14, WOULDN'T TAKE THAT NONSENSE AND WOULD GRAB THAT CANE OR STICK OFF OF THEM OR MOUTH OFF AT THEM.

THEY WOULD PROBABLY FIRE THEM.

AND WHEN THAT YOUNG FELLOW WENT BACK HOME AND SAYS HEY, POP, I LOST MY JOB, THE FATHER WOULD PROBABLY SMACK HIM TOO BECAUSE, AS LITTLE AS THAT PAY SCALE WENT, REMEMBER, FIVE CENTS AN HOUR TIMES TEN HOURS, WOULD BE 50 CENTS A DAY.

THAT HELPED THE FAMILY BECAUSE IF YOU HAD A COUPLE BOYS, THAT HELPED THAT EARLY FAMILY.

>> CHILD LABOR WAS ACCEPTED.

IT WAS ALSO A MEANS OF KEEPING THE FAMILIES IN THEIR HOMES.

A YOUNG LAD AS YOUNG AS FIVE, SIX YEARS OLD WOULD START TO WORK IN THE BREAKERS.

AND HE'D BE SITTING ON A BOARD, OH, MAYBE ABOUT FIVE INCHES WIDE, SOMETIMES LESS AND HE'D BE PICKING THE BONY OR THE SLATE OUT OF THE COAL.

THAT'S HOW HE STARTED OUT.

THAT'S HOW HIS CAREER IN THE COAL MINES WOULD START OUT.

AND HE'D SIT THERE ON THAT LITTLE BENCH FOR 10 TO 12 HOURS A DAY PICKING SLATE AND CUTTING HIS HANDS LITERALLY TO SHREDS.

BREATHING COAL DUST.

THAT'S WHERE THE BLACK LUNG STARTED INITIALLY.

WHEN YOU WERE FIVE, SIX YEARS OLD.

AND IF YOU LOOK AT A PICTURE OF THESE BREAKER BOYS, YOU'LL FIND THAT THERE'S A CHUTE RUNNING BETWEEN THEIR LEGS, A WOODEN CHUTE WHERE THEY WOULD THROW THE PIECE WAS GOOD COAL.

AND A LOT OF THESE LITTLE LAEDZ WOULD FALL INTO THAT CHUTE AND IF YOU LOOK ON THIS, YOU'LL FIND HUGE GRINDERS WITH TEETH ABOUT FOUR INCHES AND THAT'S WHERE THESE LITTLE BOYS WOULD END UP AND PRODUCTION NEVER STOPPED.

COULD YOU IMAGINE THAT MOTHER WHEN THEY COME WITH THE NEWS, YOUR SON IS DEAD AT THE AGE OF SEVEN.

>> A LOT OF THESE FATHERS WOULD WALK THEIR YOUNG SONS TO THE MINES AND THEY'D DO IT WITH TEARS IN THEIR EYES.

THEY KNEW THE DANGERS THEY FACED ON A DAILY BASIS.

AND THEY ALSO KNEW THE DANGERS THEIR SONS WOULD FACE IN THE COAL MINES.

AND CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE A MOTHER IN THAT HOUSE AND A WIFE.

WELL, IMAGINE BEING IN THE HOUSE WITH ABOUT 12 PEOPLE GETTING UP AT 5:00 IN THE MORNING PACKING YOUR LUNCH FOR THE FATHERS AND THE SONS TO GO INTO THE MINES AND THAT NOT KNOWING WHETHER THEY'D COME BACK OR NOT.

CAN YOU IMAGINE YOUR DAUGHTER LOOKING AT YOUR DAUGHTER, THINKING WHAT KIND OF A LIFE SHE WOULD HAVE IN THE COALFIELDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

SEEING FAR AHEAD, SEEING HER MARRYING A COAL MINER OR A LABORER AND GOING THROUGH THE SAME THINGS SHE WAS GOING THROUGH ALL THESE YEARS.

IT WAS NOT AN EASY THING.

♪ GOD FORBID THAT DAY, THEY DAMAGE THE ENGINE OR MULE IN THE MORNING.

THE MULE -- WORTH MUCH MORE THAN A MINER.

IF A MINER GOT HURT IN THE MINES, HE HAD NO MEDICAL PLAN WHATSOEVER.

HE HAD NOBODY, NO COMPANY DOCTOR TO LOOK AFTER HIM.

THEY TOOK HIM AND BROUGHT HIM HOME, THREW HIM ON THE FRONT PORCH, WHICH THEY WOULD DO IF HE WAS KILLED IN THE MINE.

THEY WOULD THROW THE BODY ON THE PORCH AND ENDED UP TO THE WIDOW TO DISPOSE OF HIM, TAKE CARE OF HIM.

SAD PART ABOUT IT WAS THAT THE WIDOW WAS THEN GIVEN SO MANY DAYS AT WHICH TIME SHE HAD TO GET A MALE FROM THAT HOUSEHOLD TO WORK IN THE MINE.

EITHER A SON TO WORK IN THE BREAKERS AND/OR TAKE IN A BORDER OR REMARRY, SOMEBODY TO TAKE THE PLACE.

IF YOU DIDN'T, YOU WOULD LOSE THE RIGHT TO LIVE IN THE COMPANY HOME.

>> THE COMPANY SET UP COMPANY STORES AND THAT'S PROBABLY WHERE ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS.

THEY WANTED ALL THE MINERS, THEY INSISTED ON IT, YOU BUY IN THE COMPANY STORES.

AND IN THE COMPANY STORES, THE PRICES WERE ALL HIGHER.

THEY WERE HIGHER THAN SOMEWHERE ELSE.

BUT THE COMPANY DARN WELL DIDN'T LIKE WHEN YOU WENT SOMEPLACE ELSE LOOKING FOR A BETTER BUY.

IN OTHER WORDS, YOU BUY THERE.

AND EVEN THEN, HAVING A HIGH PRICES AND LIVING IN THAT COMPANY HOME, YOU LIVED IN A COMPANY HOME, YOU BOUGHT IN THE COMPANY STORE, I GUESS THE OLD STORY OF SAYING OWED YOUR SOUL TO THE COMPANY.

THAT'S THE WAY IT REALLY WAS.

BECAUSE IF THERE WAS SLACK TIMES, THAT COMPANY WANTED THEIR MONEY.

YET, THEY MIGHT HAVE HELD BACK AND THEN WHEN THEY FINALLY GOT BACK TO WORK, YOU OWED THEM AND YOU HAD TO PAY THAT ALL OFF.

AND THAT WAS TOUGH.

THAT WAS REAL TOUGH GOING FOR THEM.

>> A MAN WOULD GO TO THE MINES, FOR EXAMPLE ON A MONDAY AND 2,000 SHORT TON OF COAL MIGHT BE CHANGED THE FOLLOWING DAY TO 2800 POUNDS BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THE MINE OPERATOR NEEDED FUNDS TO OFFSET EXPENSES THAT HE DIDN'T RECEIVE OR HE JUST WANTED TO INCREASE HIS PROFIT.

SO HERE YOU HAD A MAN WORKING 800 MORE POUNDS OF COAL TO GET PAID THE SAME WAGES THAT HE HAD.

AND ANY MINUTE, HE COULD BE FIRED IF HE OPENED HIS MOUTH AND SAID ANYTHING.

WHEN HE DID BRING THE COAL OUT, THEY WOULD LOAD UP THE COAL CARS ABDOMEN PUT THE LUMPS ON THE TOP.

THE FOREMAN WAS THERE AND WOULD LEVEL THE CART, DEDUCT FOR ROCK FOR SHALE FOR MOISTURE, DIRT ANYTHING ELSE THEY CAN DEDUCT FOR.

A MAN MIGHT MINE TEN TON OF COAL AND GET PAID FOR FIVE.

>> ONE OF THE CHALLENGES WAS THE MIND-SET OF AMERICA AT THE TIME WAS REGARDING LABOR AND MANAGEMENT.

AMERICA WITH ITS STRONG SENSE OF INDIVIDUALISM AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP BELIEVED THAT THE MANAGEMENT, THE OWNERS OF COMPANIES SHOULD HAVE THE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THAT COMPANY.

AND THEY WERE DOING YOU A BENEFIT BY HIRING YOU.

AND THAT YOUR RIGHTS WERE VERY LIMITED.

WELL, THE CHALLENGE OF COAL MINING WAS THAT IT WAS A VERY DANGEROUS OCCUPATION.

AND THE ONLY WAY SEEN TO TRY TO MAKE THAT A LITTLE BIT SAFER AND GET A LITTLE BIT MORE MONEY FOR THEIR WORK WAS TO ORGANIZE.

NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA BECOMES A TESTING GROUND FOR THE LABOR MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES.

AND IT WAS THE IRISH-AMERICANS WHO BEGIN THAT.

♪ >> BEFORE THEY START GETTING SOCIAL HALLS AND GATHERING S TOGETHER AND OF COURSE THE MORE THEY GOT TOGETHER, THE MORE THEY STARTED UNDERSTANDING THAT OTHER PEOPLE WERE GOING UP THE LADDER, YOUNGER PEOPLE THAN THEM WERE GOING UP THE LADDER, SOME WERE BECOMING BOSSES, SOME WERE GETTING THE BETTER JOBS AND THEY WERE LEFT BEHIND.

THEY WERE BEING DISCRIMINATED ON.

THEY DIDN'T LIKE WHAT THEY SAW.

THEY DIDN'T LIKE WHAT THEY HEARD.

AND THAT'S WHEN THEY STARTED SAYING WE HAVE TO ORGANIZE.

WE HAVE TO START SOME TYPE OF ASSOCIATIONS THAT'S GOING TO HELP US AT LEAST MAKE EVERYTHING MORE EQUAL.

EQUALIZATION AMONGST THEMSELVES AND ALL.

BECAUSE BEING LEFT BEHIND, THAT DIDN'T GO WELL WITH THE MINERS.

THAT DID NOT GO WELL AT ALL.

>> WHEN THE IRISH ARRIVED, THEY FOUND THEMSELVES IN A UNIQUE SITUATION THAT THEY WERE CONFRONTED WITH WORKING, THEY NEVER EXPECTED TO HAVE, CONFRONTED WITH AN ANTI-IRISH CATHOLIC ATTITUDE.

BUT THEY WERE ALSO PUT DOWN UPON BY THE MINER OWNERS IN THE SENSE THAT YOU WILL WORK FOR US FOR WHAT WE TELL YOU WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO WORK FOR, YOU WILL NOT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM DISCUSS UNIONISM OR ANYTHING OF THAT NATURE.

YOU WON'T SPEAK ILL OF THE COMPANY.

>> THIS WHOLE TIME AND CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE IRISH PEOPLE AND THE IRISH MINER JUST SORT OF BOILED OVER.

IT WAS LIKE A VOLCANO THAT FINALLY STARTED TO SPEW ASHES OUT ON TO THE PUBLIC.

WHERE THEY START TO REALIZE THAT SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE.

>> PRETTY SOON THEY'RE STARTING TO TRY TO ESTABLISH THE UNIONS AND THE COMPANY THEY DIDN'T LIKE THAT AT ALL.

THAT WAS NOT THE THING TO BE HAVING THESE GUYS SETTING UP UNIONS AND GOING TO START DICTATING TO THEM.

THE COAL AND IRON INDUSTRY STARTED UP WITH THE COAL AND IRON CROPS.

THE COAL AND IRON CROPS WERE, THEY WERE BRUTAL.

NATURALLY, WHEN THEY STARTED TRYING TO FORM UNIONS AND ALL, THEY HAD THEIR PEOPLE GET INTO THEM TALKS AND STUFF AND TRY TO PUT A STOP TO THAT REAL QUICK.

BECAUSE IF THEY LIVED IN A COMPANY HOUSE, THEY WERE SOON GOING TO BE OUT OF THAT COMPANY HOUSE AND THEY'LL BE SOON OUT OF A JOB BECAUSE THAT'S THE NEXT THING.

THEY WEREN'T UNIONIZED AND IT WAS NO PROBLEM TO SAY, HEY, WE CAN'T USE YOU ANYMORE AND YOU'RE OUT OF A JOB.

>> THEY FOUND IF THEY LEFT THE GROUPS, WHICH WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE UNION, IF THEY LEFT THIS GROUP SUCCEED, IT WOULD COST THEM MONEY.

THEY HAD TO PAY HIGHER WAGES, THEY HAD TO PREPARE THE MINES, THEY HAD TO KEEP THEM UP.

THIS IS COSTING THEM MONEY AND THEY DIDN'T WANT IT.

PERSON OF THE PHILADELPHIA AND REDDING RAILROAD AND THE PHILADELPHIA COAL COMPANY SAID THERE WILL BE NO UNIONS.

AND HE FOUGHT AGAINST THEM.

AND BASICALLY, IT WAS HIS WORK AND HIS EFFORTS THAT CAUSED THE PROBLEMS FOR THE MINERS IN NOT BEING ABLE TO SUCCEED.

>> THE IRISH, OF COURSE, MAKE UP A VERY LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE UNSKILLED LABOR IN THE ANTHROCYTE COAL MINES OF NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

AND BY THE 1860s AND 1870s, THERE IS HISTORIANS HAVE ARGUED AN UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT CALLED THE MOLLY MAGUIRES WHICH IN SOME EYES WAS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION IN THE VIEW OF OTHERS WAS SIMPLY AN ORGANIZATION THAT WAS FORMED AND POPULATED MOSTLY BY THE IRISH TO SEEK REDRESS FOR MANY OF THE HARSH CONDITIONS FOR MANY OF THE GRIEVANCES THAT THE IRISH FACED IN THIS PART OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE HARSH CONDITIONS OF THE ANTHROCYTE COAL MINES.

>> WELL, YOU KNOW, AS I WAS GROWING UP, I CONSTANTLY HEARD ABOUT THE QUOTE-UNQUOTE MOLLY MAGUIRES AND I CONSTANTLY HEARD ABOUT HOW MY GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS AN INNOCENT MAN AS WERE MANY OTHERS.

NO ONE SEEMED TO BE DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

I GOT UPSET WITH THE FACT.

PARTICULARLY, MY MOTHER TOLD ME WHEN SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL, SHE SAID, I CAN REMEMBER ONE WOMAN THEY WERE SHOPPING AND I COULD HEAR THEM WHISPERING ABOUT MY MOTHER SAYING THEY WERE MOLLY MAGUIRES.

>> THE STORY OF THE MOLLY MAGUIRES WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT MY HUSBAND AND I PURCHASED THIS BUILDING IN 1995 IN ORDER TO PRESERVE IT.

AND WE TURNED IT INTO A MUSEUM.

IN ORDER TO SHOW PEOPLE AND TELL PEOPLE THE STORY OF THE IRISH HERE IN CARBON COUNTY AND IN THE COAL MINES.

THE MOLLY MAGUIRES FORMED A GROUP IN ORDER TO HELP EACH OTHER.

THEY STARTED OUT AS THE ANCIENT ORDER, THE WORKERS BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION AND THEY WORKED TO WORK HERE IN THE MINES TO TRY AND MAKE THINGS BETTER.

THEY WERE ACCUSED OF MURDERS, THEY WERE ACCUSED OF ATROCITIES, BLOWING UP COAL CARS, BLOWING UP TRAINS.

SOME OF THESE THINGS ARE TRUE, SOME OF THEM ARE FABRICATIONS THAT HAVE JUST GONE ALONG WITH THE FACT THAT ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED, ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN THE MINES WAS AUTOMATICALLY BLAMED ON A MOLLY.

I WOULD IMAGINE AT THE TIME THAT THE PEOPLE WERE NOT IN FAVOR OF THE MOLLIES BECAUSE THEY ONLY KNEW WHAT WENT ON IN THE NEWSPAPERS.

THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLES WERE PUT OUT BY THE OWNERS OF THE COAL COMPANIES.

SO YOU HEARD THESE WERE -- THESE WERE THUGS, NOBODY EVER SAID ACCUSED MOLLIES OR BEING A MOLLY, YOU WERE ACCUSED.

IF YOU WERE A MEMBER OF THE AOH, YOU WERE AUTOMATICALLY CONSIDERED TO BE A MOLLY MAGUIRE.

>> IN 1875, THE MEN WERE WORKING, THE MINES WERE DOING WELL, THE OWNERS WERE MAKING A PROFIT AND THE MEN'S WAGES WERE SATISFACTORY.

AT LEAST THE SATISFACTORY AS THEY COULD BE FOR THE TIME.

HOWEVER, FRANKLIN DARWIN, BEING ON THE AVERAGE SIDE DECIDED HE WANTED TO PRECIPITATE THE BREAKING UP OF THE CONTROL OF THESE MEN AND OF THE WORKING MINERS, PARTICULARLY JACKIE HULL, BY BUYING UP THE COAL RIGHTS OF ALL THE INDEPENDENT MINE OPERATORS.

HOWEVER, HE HAD TO HAVE SOME KIND OF A METHOD OF DOING SO.

AND HE DECIDED TO RAISE THE PRICE OF SHIPPING COLBY RAIL.

IN DOING SO, THE INDEPENDENT MINE OPERATORS HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO LOOK FOR A WAY TO MAKE UP FOR THE LOST REVENUE AND AS THEY WANT TO DO IN THOSE DAYS, THEY TURNED TO THE MINERS AND CUT THEIR WAGES.

THE MEN DECIDED THEY WERE WORKING LONG HARD HOURS ENOUGH FOR THE LITTLE BIT OF MONEY THEY WERE GETTING AND THE MINERS STAYED OUT ON STRIKE, WORK BECAME KNOWN AS THE 1875 LONG STRIKE.

BECAUSE OF THE STRIKE AND THE DEMAND TO GET THE MEN BACK TO WORK, FRANKLIN ENLISTED THE SERVICES OF ALLEN PINKER TON.

BETWEEN HIM AND HIMSELF, THEY ENLISTED A DETECTIVE AGENT BY THE NAME OF JAMES MCFARLAND WHO INFILTRATED THE STRIKING MINERS.

>> FRANKLIN GOU WAN LOWERED THEIR PAY BEFORE THEY WENT OUT ON STRIKE.

WHEN THEY CAME BACK TO WORK, THEY ACCEPTED THE 10% CUT IN PAY AND GOU WAN SAYS NOW YOU'RE BACK, WE'LL CUT YOUR PAY ANOTHER 10%.

THIS IS WHEN THE TROUBLES BEGAN AND THE FIGHTING STARTED.

AND IN THE FIGHTING, THERE WERE MEN KILLED.

EMPLOYEES OF THE COAL COMPANY.

AND THEY WERE REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN KILLED BY THE MOLLY MAGUIRES.

THE MEN WERE BROUGHT TO TRIAL.

THE TRIALS WERE A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE IN THAT THE ATTORNEYS FOR THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA WERE REMOVED FROM THE CASE AND REPLACED WITH COAL COMPANY EMPLOYEES.

>> THEY FOUND THEMSELVES UP AGAINST A COURT AND A SYSTEM THAT WAS OBVIOUSLY TILTED TOWARDS THE PROSECUTION.

NEEDLESS TO SAY, THEY WERE ALL FOUND GUILTY.

>> AND THEY WALKED UP THE STREET WITH THINGS AROUND THEIR NECKS, BROUGHT IN THE FRONT DOOR AND BROUGHT INTO THE CELLS.

[ HERE WE GO.

>> HERE WE GO.

♪ ♪ [INDISCERNIBLE] >>> THESE ARE, OF COURSE, REPLICA.

>> IT'S A REPLICA.

I WISH IT WERE THE REAL ONE.

THE REAL ONE HAS THE INITIALS OF THE MEN WHO DIED ON IT, CARVED UP ON THE TOP BEAM.

YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THERE'S FOUR NOOSES UP ON IT.

THE GALOS WOULD HAVE BEEN MADE TO HANG ONE MAN AND THEN THEY HAD A MEETING HERE IN THE JAIL AND DECIDED THE GOVERNOR WANTED A BIG CELEBRATION, A BIG FESTIVE IDEA TO END THE STORY OF THE MOLLY MAGUIRES, SO HE DECIDED TO HANG FOUR MEN AT ONE TIME AND THAT'S WHEN ON JUNE 21st OF 1877 KNOWN TODAY AS THE TODAY DAY OF THE ROBE, THE FOUR MEN WERE HANGED.

>> I CAN REMEMBER STORIES MY GRANDMOTHER, HER TELLING A STORY WHEN SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL IN THE PRISON CELL, HOW SHE WAS JUMPING AROUND AT THE TIME BEFORE HE WAS TO BE HANGED AND HE PICKED HER UP AND HE GAVE A COUPLE SLAPS ON THE BOTTOM AND SHE SAID MY MOTHER YELT YELLED MY FATHER AND SAID JACK YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT, NOT AT A TIME LIKE THIS.

HE SAID HE PICKED ME UP AND HE HUGGED ME AT WHICH TIME SHE STARTED CRYING BECAUSE HE SAID HE MADE THE REMARK, SAYS NEVER MIND, IT'S SOMETHING, EXCUSE ME.

IF SOMETHING MY LITTLE DAUGHTER WILL REMEMBER ALL OF DAYS OF HER LIFE.

SHE WENT TO HER GRAVE, THAT WAS THE LAST TIME SHE CURSED HER FATHER.

I GET EMOTIONAL OVER THAT BECAUSE I CAN'T FATHOM WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO SIT THERE WITH SHACKLES ON YOU IN A CELL PROFESSING YOUR INNOCENCE, HOLDING YOUR DAUGHTER, YOUR INFANT DAUGHTER, KNOWING WITH HOURS THEY'RE GOING TO PUT A NOOSE AROUND YOUR NECK AND HANG YOU.

IT'S GOT ME IN HERE.

AND I THINK HER STORIES LIKE THAT, THAT'S WHAT REALLY MOVED ME TO GO ABOUT TRYING TO RIGHT WHAT WAS WRONG.

AND SHE WAS, NEVER TOLD THAT STORY TOO OFTEN.

BUT WHEN SHE DID, I'M SURE SHE GOT AN INSTANT MENTAL PICTURE IMAGE OF HER FATHER IN THAT CELL HOLDING HER.

>> THERE WERE 20 MEN HANGED, SEVEN OF THEM WERE HANGED RIGHT HERE IN THIS BUILDING.

SIX MORE WERE HANGED OVER IN PERIOD OF TIMESVILLE.

MORE IN BLOOMSBURG ON DIFFERENT DATES.

I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE FEELING THEY MUST HAVE HAD COMING UP ON TO THE GALOS.

THE MEN WERE PUT UP ON THE GAL OWES, THE HOODS OVER THEIR HEADS AND THEN ON A CERTAIN SIGNAL, ROPES PULLED FROM UNDER THE DOORS AND THE MEN DROP ABOUT FOUR FEET.

THE NOOSES TIGHTEN AROUND THEIR NEXT.

IT WASN'T A VERY EFFICIENT HANGING IN THAT IT TOOK 14, 15 MINUTES FOR ONE OF THE MEN TO DIE.

THE MEN WERE THEN TAKEN DOWN, LAID HERE ON THE FLOOR AND THE HOODS TAKEN OFF AND THE GUESTS WERE ALLOWED TO COME UP AND VIEW THEM.

AND THERE WERE OVER 185 PEOPLE HERE.

BUT WHEN THOMAS FISHER WAS HELD IN 1877, THERE WERE OVER 480 PEOPLE SITTING AND THEY WERE SITTING RIGHT HERE.

NOW, YOU CAN'T GET 400 PEOPLE IN THIS BUILDING.

SO THEY HAD TO BE IN HERE, THEY WERE PROBABLY LINED UP ALONGSIDE HERE.

THIS WAS REAL.

>> YEAH.

>> THESE WERE REAL MEN.

THEY WERE SCARED TO DEATH.

>> THIS IS THE HISTORY THAT AMERICA DOESN'T SEE.

>> DOESN'T SEE IT.

DOESN'T KNOW.

>> YOU CAN'T APPRECIATE WHAT THE IRISH WENT THROUGH.

>> WHAT THE IRISH WENT THROUGH AND WHAT THEY GAVE AND WHAT THEY'VE DONE.

THERE'S BEEN INJUSTICES IN LABOR AND MANAGEMENT IN ALL THE NATIONALITIES AS THEY CAME INTO THIS COUNTRY, BUT THIS WAS KIND OF LIKE THE CULMINATION AND THE VISUALNESS, WHERE YOU COULD SEE THE INJUSTICE BEING DONE.

IT WASN'T JUST DOWN IN THE MINES OR IN A PICKING FIELD OR IN THE HARBORS.

THIS WAS RIGHT HERE AND EVERYBODY CAME TO WATCH IT.

THIS IS A -- CELL 17.

THE HAND PRINT OF THE MOLLY MAGUIRES BEFORE THE EXECUTION.

BEFORE HE DIED, ONE OF THE MEN MOST PEOPLE FEEL IS ALEXANDER CAMPBELL WHO DIED IN 1877, PUT HIS HAND ON THE DIRTY FLOOR AND THEN UP ON THE WALL AND SAID I'M INNOCENT, MY HAND PRINT WILL STAY HERE TO SHOW THAIM INNOCENT.

AND TRADITION HAS IT THAT THE HAND PRINT HAS BEEN THERE SINCE THAT TIME.

VERY UNBELIEVEABLE, IT'S BEEN WASHED OVER, IT'S BEEN PAINTED OVER, IT'S BEEN DUG OUT, IT'S BEEN REPLASTERED, IT'S BEEN TESTED BY A GAS CHROMATOGRAPH OUT OF WILKES-BARRE AND THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER, THERE'S NOTHING ON THE WALL BUT YOU CAN SEE THE HAND PRINT ON THE WALL.

>> NO ONE IS GETTING IN THERE ONCE I HAVE THE PAD LOCKS ON.

COME ON IN.

WATCH YOUR STEP.

>> OH, BOY.

>> NOW, WE KEEP THE -- SO PEOPLE LIKE YOU CAN'T GET NEART AND PEOPLE OFTEN SAY, WHY IS IT SO HIGH?

BUT FOR A MAN WHO IS 6 FOOT 4, WHICH ALEXANDER CAMPBELL WAS TALL, HE WOULD HAVE NOT SAID I AM INNOCENT.

HE WOULD HAVE SAID, I'M INNOCENT.

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN HIS LEFT HAND BECAUSE HE WOULD HAVE BEEN -- THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN TAKING HIM OUT OF HIS CELL.

SO THE HAND PRINT IS UP THERE.

IT'S QUITE HIGH.

IT'S LIKE A BIG HAND PRINT.

>> FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS A -- THIS IS SO SPECIAL TO BE.

>> I KNOW.

I CAN ONLY IMAGINE.

>> OH, BOY, THIS IS -- >> YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT HE MUST HAVE FELT WHEN YOU SEE THE HAND PRINT.

>> SITTING HERE -- COMING IN.

>> YOU'VE LISTENED ALL NIGHT TO HERE THE GALLOWS BUILT, YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO DIE, YOU KNOW YOU'RE INNOCENT.

AND YOU KNOW YOU'RE A POOR, UNEDUCATED IRISHMAN WHO CAN'T FIGHT BACK.

♪ ♪ >> BY 1890, THE PREMIERE UNION REPRESENTING MINE WORKERS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, BUT ESPECIALLY PENNSYLVANIA, WAS THE UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, WHICH WAS FOUNDED IN OHIO IN THE YEAR 1890.

BUT A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF ITS MEMBERSHIP COMES FROM PENNSYLVANIA.

SCRANTON WAS A KEY HUB OF THE UNITED MINE WORKERS ACTIVITY, ESPECIALLY IN THE KEY YEAR OF 1902 WHEN THERE IS UP TO THAT POINT IN AMERICAN HISTORY, AMONG THE LARGEST STRIKES EVER TO OCCUR IN ANY INDUSTRY, KNOWN AS THE GREAT STRIKE OF 1902 IN WHICH MINE WORKERS STRUCK BECAUSE OF HORRIBLE WORKING CONDITIONS, BECAUSE THEY WERE REQUIRED TO TAKE A PAY CUT, BECAUSE THE MINE OWNERS WOULD NOT RECOGNIZE THE UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA AND SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA, IN FACT, THE COURTHOUSE IN SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA, BECOMES THE FOCAL POINT BECAUSE PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT, THEODORE ROOSEVELT AT THAT TIME, REPLACED THE ANTHROCYTE COAL COMMISSION WHICH HOLDS MOST OF THE HEARINGS IN THE LACKAWANNA COURTHOUSE.

REPRESENTED AT THOSE HEARINGS WERE, OF COURSE, THE INTEREST OF THE OWNERS AND THE INTEREST OF LABOR, SPECIFICALLY THROUGH THE UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA WHERE DAYS OF TESTIMONY IS TAKEN FROM BOTH SIDES.

GEORGE BARE REPRESENTING THE MINE INTEREST MADE A STATEMENT THAT MEN SHOULD GET ON THEIR KNEES AND THANK GOD WE'RE HERE TO GIVE YOU WORK.

IT'S SIMILAR TO THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS IN ENGLAND.

BUT THIS TIME THEY HAD AN ATTORNEY REPRESENTING THE MINERS BY THE NAME OF CLARENCE DARROW.

CLARENCE DARROW FOUGHT THIS CASE BEFORE THE COMMISSION AND OUT OF THAT CAME WHAT WAS BEGINNING OF FINALLY THE BEGINNING OF LABOR RIGHTS AND LABOR OPPORTUNITIES AND NOT ONLY GET AHEAD AS FAR AS PROMOTIONS CONCERNED, BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS ARE CONCERNED, HEALTH BENEFITS, WHAT HAVE YOU, AND THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE OF ALL WAS THE COMMISSION STATED, BECAUSE OF THE YOUNG BOYS WHO HAD TO QUIT SCHOOL GANED INTO THE MINES, 10, YEARS OF AGE, BREAKER BOYS, THAT WOULD CEASE AND DESIST.

THAT A BOY, A CHILD RATHER, HAD A RIGHT TO A CHILDHOOD.

ONE OF THE MOST PROFOUND STATEMENTS THAT EVER COME OUT OF ANY LABOR DISPUTE IN THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY.

>> THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EVENTUALLY THROUGH THAT COMMISSION MEDIATES A SETTLEMENT OF THAT STRIKE IN WHICH THE UNION DOES NOT GET RECOGNIZED BUT HOWEVER, THE WORKERS DO RECEIVE SOMEWHAT OF A PAY INCREASE AND THERE IS A BOARD OF ARBITRATION SET UP TO HEAR GRIEVANCES BETWEEN MINE OWNERS AND MINE WORKERS.

SO THERE IS A PARTIAL VICTORY, BUT IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF IMMIGRANTS AND IRISH IMMIGRANTS ESPECIALLY IN BRINGING ABOUT REALLY THE POWER OF ORGANIZED LABOR.

IT BROUGHT ABOUT A RENAISSANCE IN THE ANTHROCYTE COALFIELDS THAT EVENTUALLY SPREAD ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

A WORD THAT WOULD NEVER EVEN BE SPOKEN EXCEPT THE WHISPERS IN SILENCE.

THEY WOULD FIND OUT WHO YOU WERE AND HAVE YOU EVICTED AND EVEN BEATEN AND THAT WAS CALLED UNION.

THEY WENT AND SHOWED THAT WE HAVE A RIGHT AS A HUMAN BEING, HAVE THE RIGHT TO, CHILDREN HAVE A CHILDHOOD AND AN EDUCATION.

WE HAVE A RIGHT TO BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS, BUT NOT ONLY FOR US, BUT FOR ANYBODY WHO IS INVOLVED IN LABOR.

>> THE MEN DO DID NOT KNOW IT ET, THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY IDEA OF THE IMPACT THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE ON CIVILIZATION BY FORMING THESE UNIONS.

THEY WERE ONLY INTERESTED IN THE IMMEDIATE DAY.

THEY NEEDED TO SURVIVE AND THIS IS WHAT THEY HAD TO DO.

THEY DID NOT SEE IT AS COMING DOWN TO OUR TIME.

BUT FOR US, IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE DIGNITY OF MAN AND THAT MAN CAN STAND UP FOR HIMSELF AND HAS A RIGHT TO STAND UP FOR HIMSELF WITH VERY DEFINITELY THE RESULTS OF ALL THESE MEN STRUGGLES.

OUR WAY OF LIVING AND OUR LUXURIES THAT WE HAVE ARE ONLY BECAUSE MEN LIKE THIS STOOD UP FOR THEMSELVES AND DID SUCCEED IN BEING DIGNIFIED HUMAN BEINGS.

♪ >> I IRISH ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF MANY ETHNIC GROUPS IN THE UNITED STATES.

IN THAT THEY CAME FROM CONDITIONS OF SEVERE POVERTY IN THEIR NATIVE LAND.

GENERATIONS AGO, BECAUSE OF THE IRISH POTATO FAMINE, THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL OF SUFFERING AMONG THE IRISH PEOPLE AND THEY CAME TO THE UNITED STATES INITIALLY AS A WAY TO SURVIVE.

BUT THEY ALSO VERY MUCH ASCRIBE TO THE AMERICAN IDEA OF UPWARD MOBILITY, SOCIAL MOBILITY.

>> THE IRISH AMERICANS WERE ABLE TO MOVE FROM THESE LOWER LEVEL POSITIONS, WHETHER IT WAS A MINE LABORER HERE IN NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, A HOED CARRIER IN THE URBAN AREAS OF PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK, BOSTON, THEY WERE ABLE TO MOVE IN A GRADUAL STEP.

THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE THAT THE STREETS WERE PAVED WITH GOLD WHEN THEY CAME HERE TO AMERICA.

THEY KNEW THAT THEY WERE IN FOR HARD WORK.

THE THING IS THAT THEY WERE USED TO IT IN IRELAND, THE HARD WORK, AND WHAT THEY SAW AS DIFFERENT HERE IS THE CHANCE TO MOVE AHEAD.

WE'RE NOT TALKING BIG STEPS HERE.

WE'RE TALKING MAYBE HOMEOWNERSHIP HERE IN AMERICA AND MAYBE A BETTER JOB, IF NOT FOR YOU, FOR YOUR CHILDREN.

SO THE SECOND GENERATION THEN, WELL, SOME OF THEM ARE ABLE TO GET JOBS AS MINE FOREMEN, MINE BOSSES.

THEY GO UP A LITTLE BIT HIGHER.

BUT ONE THING I THINK THAT STANDS OUT, THAT IRISH-AMERICANS CAME FROM A CULTURE THAT WAS WILLING TO REALLY TRY TO GET AHEAD.

IN MANY OTHER CULTURES THAT MIGRATED HERE TO AMERICA, IT WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT BECAUSE OF THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF WHERE THE PEOPLE LIVED.

TO EVEN HOPE FOR BETTER LIFE.

BUT THE IRISH IN THEIR HOMELAND OFTENTIMES CHALLENGED THE SYSTEM.

AND WHEN THEY CAME TO AMERICA, THEY WERE READY TO CHALLENGE THE SYSTEM HERE.

OH, YES, TO BE A PART OF IT, BUT IN SOME WAYS YOU ALSO HAD TO CHALLENGE IT TO GET AHEAD, ESPECIALLY BEING A MINORITY AS THEY WERE.

SO THAT SINCE -- SENSE OF LET'S DO IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT IN THE IRISH CULTURE AND IT HELPED THEM ACHIEVE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MOBILITY AND STATUS.

>> MY FATHER WORKED IN THE MINES.

I THINK HE WORKED THERE FROM A VERY YOUNG CHILD.

HE HAD TO HELP WITH THE FINANCES OF THE FAMILY.

WHEN I WAS A CHILD, I KNOW HE MOVED FROM THE MINES AND INTO THE RAILROAD.

WHEN THE RAILROADS CAME IN, HE LEARNED HOW TO OPERATE A STEAM ENGINE.

AND HE DID THAT FOR SOME TIME.

AND THEN WHEN THE DIESEL CAME IN, HE LEARNED HOW TO OPERATE THE DIESEL.

I THINK THERE WAS A PRIDE IN HIS MOVING OUT OF THE MINES JUST IN THE FACT THAT HE WAS ABLE TO DO IT.

AND NOT ONLY ABLE TO DO IT, BUT DID IT, HAD THE WILL TO DO IT AND HAD THE INTELLIGENCE TO DO IT.

BECAUSE HE HAD TO LEARN THAT.

HE WAS VERY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE.

>> AS THE 1800s CONTINUED IN WAYS OF ADDITIONAL IMMIGRANTS CAME, OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF TO IRISH IMMIGRANTS.

THEY NOW HAD A CHANCE TO GET OUT OF THE MINES.

THE EASTERN EUROPEANS, THE POLISH, THE SLOVAKS, THE LITHUANIANS, THE UKRAINIANS WERE COMING OVER AND THEY BECAME THE MINERS, THE IRISH HAD A CHANCE TO MOVE UP.

AND THE JOBS OF CIVIL SERVICE BECAME JOBS VERY ENDEARING TO THEM.

>> MORE AND MORE PEOPLE OF IRISH HERITAGE BECOME INVOLVED IN PUBLIC SERVICE.

THEY ARE NOTED AS POLICE OFFICERS, FIREFIGHTERS AND MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS.

THERE'S A COUPLE OF REASONS THAT THAT HAPPENS.

ONE REASON IS BECAUSE IT'S A WAY OUT OF THE COAL MINES.

THE STEP UP OUT OF THE DANGEROUS AND DARK AND SOMETIMES SCARY CONDITIONS OF WORKING IN THE ANTHROCYTE COAL MINES IN PENNSYLVANIA.

NOT ONLY IS IT A STEP UP, BUT IT'S A MORE SECURE AND STABLE KIND OF EMPLOYMENT.

WORKING FOR A MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT AS A POLICE OFFICER OR A FIREFIGHTER, YOU'RE PRETTY MUCH ALWAYS GOING TO BE IN DEMAND.

>> SO AS THE IRISH AND OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS SETTLED, THEY SETTLED IN THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.

THE IRISH NEIGHBORHOODS AND AS THEIR NUMBERS GREW, THE NEED TO PROTECT THEIR OWN BROTHER, SISTER, IRISHMEN FROM THE HAZARDS OF FIRE, FROM OTHER DANGER BECAME VERY, VERY APPARENT.

HOMES BEING BUILT, WOODEN FRAMED STRUCTURES BEING BUILT BY THE HUNDREDS, YOU CAN IMAGINE THE HAZARDS OF FIRE.

NOVEMBER 12th, 188 3, THE WORSE OCCURS.

THE FIRE STARTS OFF AROUND NOONTIME IN THE SHENANDOAH HOTEL.

BY THE TIME THE FIRE WAS FINALLY CONTAINED BY THE MEAGER FIREFIGHTING RESOURCES AVAILABLE, OVER 300 HOMES WERE DESTROYED, MANY OF WHICH WERE THE NEWLY ARRIVED IRISH IMMIGRANTS.

THESE ARE FAMILIES WHO HAD NO FIRE INSURANCE, WHOSE ONLY POSSESSIONS WERE WHAT THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM.

SO YOU CAN IMAGINE JUST HOW TRAGIC THAT WAS.

OUT OF THE ASHES OF THAT FIRE CAME THE PHOENIX FIRE COMPANY HERE IN GENERAL TOE AND THE IRISH MADE A STATEMENT.

WE'RE GOING TO HAVE OUR OWN FIRE COMPANY TO PROTECT OUR IRISH CITIZENS.

MAKE SURE THAT THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN.

THEN IT BECAME A GREATER DUTY OF NOT ONLY PROTECTING YOUR OWN CITIZENS BUT PROTECTING ALL OF THE GOOD CITIZENS OF YOUR COMMUNITY.

AND THERE BEGAN A GREAT RIVALRY WITH THE FIRE COMPANIES AT THAT TIME AND WHEN THE IRISH COMPANY WOULD ARRIVE ON SCENE, THEY WANTED TO DO THEIR BEST.

THEY WANTED TO BE FIRST ON SCENE.

THEY WANTED TO BE WITH THE FIRST HOSE STRENGTH AND THEY WANTED TO SHOWCASE THEIR OWN PROWESS, THE MEDDLE OF THEIR OWN ETHNIC PEOPLE IN FRONT OF EVERYONE, OF ALL ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS IN THE COMMUNITY.

>> FIRE COMPANIES BECAME A -- WHAT'S CALLED A GREAT VEHICLE.

THEY WERE HARD WORK, BUT THEY WEREN'T GOING UNDERGROUND IN THE MINES TO TOIL FOR 8, 10, 12 HOURS A DAY.

INSTEAD, THEY COULD SERVE A HIGHER MORE NOBLE CAUSE, SERVING THEIR FELLOW MAN.

THE FACT THAT SO MANY OF THESE FIRE COMPANIES, SOME GOING BACK TO THE AROUND HERE, TO THE EARLY 1800s, STILL EXISTED TODAY IS A STRONG TESTIMONY TO THE DUTY AND DEDICATION THAT THE IRISH IMMIGRANTS HAD.

THIS DIDN'T END WHEN THAT FAMILY MOVED AWAY OR DIED.

THIS CONTINUED AND CONTINUES TO THIS DAY.

>> THE SECOND INSTITUTION THAT THE IRISH BOTH BECAME VERY MUCH INVOLVED IN AND WORK THAT INSTITUTION TO BENEFIT NOT ONLY THEMSELVES AS AN ETHNIC GROUP BUT AS A COMMUNITY WAS POLITICS.

NOW, NOT ONLY ARE THEY SERVING IN APPOINTED PUBLIC POSITIONS LIKE POLICE AND FIRE, BUT NOW THEY'RE BEING ELECTED AS POLITICIANS AT THE LOCAL, COUNTY AND STATE LEVEL.

AND THAT OCCURS IN MANY RESPECTS BECAUSE, LIKE ANY OTHER ETHNIC GROUP, THE IRISH WANT THEIR PIECE OF THE PIE.

IN THE UNITED STATES.

AND THE WAY THAT THEY'RE GOING TO GET THEIR PIECE OF THE PIE IS BY MAKING SOME OF THE RULES AS TO HOW THE PIECES OF THE PIE ARE DISTRIBUTED.

SO THE IRISH BECOME VERY, VERY INFLUENTIAL AS PUBLIC OFFICIALS IN ESPECIALLY THE 20TH CENTURY BECAUSE THEY SEE THAT IN ORDER TO REPRESENT THEIR INTEREST AND THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE, WHICH BY AND LARGE, THEY MAKE UP, A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE WORKING PEOPLE, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SAY IN THE PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS THAT GOVERN PEOPLE'S LIVES EVERY DAY.

>> IN THEIR TRANSITION FROM MINE LABORERS TO THE ROLE IN CIVIL DUTIES, THE IRISH HAD A TREMENDOUS IMPACT IN THE BUILDING OF AMERICA.

IT'S ALMOST THAT THEIR SPIRIT WAS UNLEASHED WHEN THEY CAME TO AMERICA.

AND THEY WERE ALLOWED TO SHOW WHAT THEY WERE TRULY MADE OF.

[ APPLAUSE ] >> FOR I HAVE COME BEFORE YOU AND ALMIGHTY GOD THE SAME SOLEMN OATH OUR FOREBEARERS PRESCRIBED NEARLY A CENTURY AND THREE QUARTERS AGO.

>> ONE OF THE QUESTIONS COULD BE, WELL, WHY HAS THERE BEEN AMONG IRISH AMERICANS THIS VERY CLEAR DRIVE FOR SUCCESS?

AND IF WE'RE TO LOOK FOR PERHAPS THE BEST EXAMPLE OF THAT IN THE UNITED STATES, WE CAN CERTAINLY LOOK TO THE KENNEDY FAMILY OF MASSACHUSETTS.

THE KENNEDYS ARE THE QUINTESSENTIAL OF THAT DRIVE FOR SUCCESS AND THEY HAVE BEEN VERY, VERY SUCCESSFUL.

>> FOR WHICH OUR FOREBEARERS FOUGHT ARE STILL AT ISSUE AROUND THE GLOBE.

>> WHAT WOULD DRIVE A PEOPLE TO WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL?

I THINK IN PART, WE CAN LOOK TO A SOCIOLOGICAL ANSWER FOR THAT.

BECAUSE THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT COMING FROM NEAR STARVATION AND COMING FROM NOTHING AND NOTHINGNESS SUCH AS THE IRISH EXPERIENCED IN THEIR HOMELAND THAT COMING FROM THAT SPARKED SOMETHING IN THE HUMAN SPIRIT, I THINK.

THAT MAKES THEM WANT TO SUCCEED, THAT MAKES THEM WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN WHATEVER WALK OF LIFE THEY CHOOSE.

AND I DON'T THINK IT'S ONLY A MATERIAL SUCCESS.

MATERIAL SUCCESS IS PART OF IT.

BUT IT'S ALSO A SUCCESS TO BE RECOGNIZED THAT WE CAN MAKE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS AS IRISH AMERICANS AND IT'S ALSO A SUCCESS THAT WANTS TO GIVE SOMETHING BACK.

THAT WE'VE BEEN GIVEN AS IRISH-AMERICANS OR OF ANY ETHNIC GROUP, A GREAT DEAL IN IN THIS COUNTRY.

WE'VE BEEN GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO PURSUE HIGHER EDUCATION, TO GET A DEGREE.

THEREFORE, WE WANT TO GIVE SOMETHING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY.

AND WE CAN GIVE SOMETHING BACK BY GETTING INVOLVED IN POLITICS, WE CAN GIVE SOMETHING BACK BY GETTING INVOLVED IN OUR CHURCH.

WE CAN GIVE SOMETHING BACK BY BEING SUCCESSFUL IN WHATEVER IT IS THAT WE CHOOSE TO DO.

AND I THINK YOU CAN REALLY ONLY UNDERSTAND THAT SENSE OF WANTING TO GIVE SOMETHING BACK AND WANTING TO BE SUCCESSFUL IF YOU COME FROM THE REAL SENSE OF NOTHINGNESS, WHICH CERTAINLY MANY MANY IRISH AMERICANS HAVE DESPERATELY CAME FROM THAT SENSE OF NOTHINGNESS.

AND THAT, UNFORTUNATE THAT THEY CAME FROM THAT.

BUT IT'S VERY FORTUNATE THAT THEY ADOPTED THAT SENSE OF GIVING BACK AND OF BEING SUCCESSFUL.

WHICH IS IN LARGE PART WHAT THE AMERICAN STORY IS ALL ABOUT.

♪ ♪ ♪ >> I GREW UP IN THE '50s AND '60s AND EVERYBODY I KNEW WAS IRISH.

IT WAS WHAT THE COMMUNITY WAS.

I HUNG AROUND WITH THE MCCLAINS AND THE BIG INS AND CHANCES ARE, MY BROTHERS HUNG AROUND WITH THEIR BROTHERS AND FAMILY OF SIX WAS PRETTY WELL NORMAL.

EVERYBODY HAD FIVE OR SIX KIDS AND IT WASN'T UNUSUAL TO HAVE NINE OR TEN KIDS AND HUGE FAMILIES AND GENERATIONS AND 6th GRADE, 5th GRADE, THAT WAS PRETTY MUCH THE NORM FOR THOSE TIMES.

GROWING UP IN THE '50s AND '60s, I HONESTLY DIDN'T KNOW ANYBODY THAT WASN'T IRISH OR IF I DID, I DIDN'T KNOW THEY WEREN'T IRISH.

I ASSUMED EVERYBODY WAS IRISH.

IT WAS JUST WHO YOU WERE.

IT WAS ALMOST LIKE I LED A SHELTERED LIFE THROUGH GRADE SCHOOL THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL.

I WENT TO CATHOLIC GRADE SCHOOL, I WENT TO CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL.

IT WASN'T VERY CULTURALLY DIVERSE.

THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY A GOOD THING, BUT SOMETIMES IT WAS A GOOD THING.

I MEAN, YOU CERTAINLY FELT COMFORTABLE, YOU FELT AT HOME.

>> MY COMMUNITY WAS ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH AND ST. PATRICK'S SCHOOL.

AND THEN WE WOULD PLAY BASKETBALL GAMES WITH OTHER PEOPLE, BUT THEY WERE ALSO CATHOLIC SCHOOLS.

SO MY HOMELAND WAS CATHOLIC AND NOT THAT WE DIDN'T MUCH HAVE -- NOT THAT WE DIDN'T MUCH KNOW PROTESTANTS BUT WE JUST DIDN'T OR ANY OTHER STATE WHATSOEVER.

WE JUST DIDN'T KNOW THAT.

THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS.

I GREW UP WITH MY FATHER WHO WAS AS IRISH AS IRISH COULD BE.

AND AS A MATTER OF FACT, MY FATHER, JIM CADDEN, BO ALWAYS SAY THERE'S TWO PEOPLE, THE IRISH AND THOSE WHO WANT TO BE.

I KIND OF -- YOU CAN'T HELP BUT BELIEVE THAT'S TRUE WHEN YOU GROW UP WITH A MAN WHO TELLS YOU THAT.

MY DAD WAS THE MIDDLE CHILD OF SEVEN CHILDREN.

HE HAD FIVE BROTHERS AND ONE SISTER.

HIS DAD PASSED AWAY WHEN HE WAS SIX YEARS OLD, LEAVING MY GRANDMOTHER WITH SEVEN CHILDREN TO RAISE ON HER OWN.

MY GRANDPA HAD A ICE BUSINESS AND MY GRANDMOTHER ENDED UP RUNNING HIS ICE BUSINESS AFTER HE PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 49.

DAD'S SENSE OF AS I CALL IT, WORK-AHOLICISM HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN TO ME AND MY SISTER AND MOST OF MY FAMILY MEMBERS BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED IN HARD WORK.

I DID KNOW THAT MY GRANDMOTHER WAS A VERY STRONG WOMAN.

I KNEW BY THE WORK THAT SHE DID.

I DO REMEMBER HER IN THE GARDEN DOING VERY HEAVY WORK.

BUT SHE WAS NOT ONLY STRONG PHYSICALLY, SHE WAS STRONG IN WILL.

ALL THE WOMEN IN MY FAMILY WERE STRONG OF WILL.

IF THEY THOUGHT THAT SOMETHING WAS GOOD FOR THE FAMILY, THEY WENT AFTER IT AND THEY WERE SURE THAT THEY GOT IT.

>> WE HAD GREAT ROLE MODELS AS WOMEN TO GROW UP AND KNOW THAT WE COULD BE AND DO WHAT THESE WOMEN HAVE ACCOMPLISHED AND YOU JUST LOOK AT WHAT THEIR LIVES WERE LIKE AND WHAT THEY HAD TO DO TO MAKE IT IN THOSE DAYS.

>> LOSING MY GRANDMOTHER THIS YEAR HAS BEEN VERY PAINFUL.

SHE WAS JUST AN INCREDIBLE LITTLE IRISH LADY WHO LOVED US.

BUT WHAT SHE LEFT WITH US, THE PRIDE, HER LOVE OF THE IRISH WAY, HER STICK TO IT, YOU CAN DO IT, WOMEN -- IRISH WOMEN ARE TOUGH.

THEY'RE TOUGH OLD BROADS.

>> THAT SENSE OF COMMUNITY, THAT SENSE OF FAMILY IS VERY MUCH A PART OF THE IRISH CULTURE.

EVEN NOW, THAT SENSE OF FAMILY, THERE'S NOBODY I'D RATHER HANG AROUND WITH OR BE WITH BUT MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

I'VE HAD FRIENDS MY WHOLE LIFE, BUT JUST TO BE WITH MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WE SPREAD ALL OVERT UNITED STATES, BUT JUST TO GET TOGETHER THOSE FEW TIMES A YEARS WE GET TOGETHER ARE PRECIOUS TO US.

>> THE BEST COMPANY THAT WE HAVE IS OUR SISTERS OR BROTHER.

WE GET TOGETHER WITH THEM, THAT ISN'T GOING OUT WITH A FRIEND.

THAT COMMON BACKGROUND WE HAVE, WE ENJOY IT SO VERY, VERY MUCH.

>> WE HAVE SO MUCH FUN WHEN WE GET TOGETHER.

WE HAVE SO MUCH FUN.

WE LAUGH, WE TELL STORIES.

>> TEASE.

>> WE TEASE.

WE TEASE.

>> YEAH.

>> OH, GOSH, IT'S WONDERFUL.

IT'S WONDERFUL WHEN WE GET TOGETHER.

>> WE ARGUE ONCE IN A WHILE.

>> YEAH.

>> WE FIGHT.

ALWAYS THERE FOR ONE ANOTHER.

ALWAYS THERE FOR ONE ANOTHER WITHOUT EVEN HAVING TO BE ASKED.

IF SOMETHING SHOULD HAPPEN, THEY'RE THERE.

♪ >> I REMEMBER GROWING UP IN MY FAMILY THAT MY PARENTS WERE VERY LOVING, BUT VERY STRICT.

WE HAD GREAT DISCIPLINE AND THEN OF COURSE, WE WENT TO CATHOLIC SCHOOLS.

AND THE SISTERS WERE RATHER STRICT.

EVERYBODY WAS DISCIPLINED.

I THINK THE STRICTNESS CAME FROM THE WHOLE IRISH HERITAGE.

I THINK ALL THE IRISH WERE LIKE THAT.

WE HAD A VERY STRICT UPBRINGING, OH, GOSH I CAN REMEMBER THAT.

MY FATHER WAS A HARD WORKING MAN, HE NOT ONLY WORKED IN THE DAY, HE WORKED A SECOND JOB.

HE HUNG WALLPAPER AND HE PAINTED.

YES.

HE EVEN -- IN THE EVENING.

SO HE WOULD COME HOME AND HAVE HIS DINNER AND THEN HE WOULD CHANGE AND HE WOULD GO OUT AND HE WOULD WORK SOME MORE.

I CAN REMEMBER SO MANY TIMES WHEN WE WERE CALLED FOR DINNER AND IF WE DIDN'T COME RIGHT AWAY, HE'D GO OUT TO THE BACKYARD AND HE'D GO TO THE OLD BUSH OUT THERE AND CUT OFF A LITTLE STICK AND THEN HE'D CALL US A SECOND TIME AND HE'D WAIT AT THE SCREEN DOOR AND AS WE COME IN, YOU HAD TO RUN BECAUSE IF YOU DIDN'T RUN BY HIM, YOU GOT A LITTLE NIP WHEN YOU WENT BY.

MOM WAS THE ONE THAT WOULD SOFTEN IT FOR US.

SHE WAS FUN.

SHE WAS A FUN WOMAN.

I CAN REMEMBER GROWING UP, SHE ALWAYS SAID SHE WAS NOT SUPERSTITIOUS AND THE IRISH ARE VERY SUPERSTITIOUS AND SHE SAID NO, NO, NO, SHE WAS NEVER -- BUT OH, DEAR LORD ALMIGHTY, WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE SURE WE DIDN'T OPEN AN UMBRELLA IN THE HOUSE AND WHEN WE WENT FOR A WALKS, I REMEMBER SHE WOULD TAKE THE FOUR OF US AND IF ONE OF US VEERED OFF AND WENT A DIFFERENT WAY, SHE WOULD YANK US BACK.

NO, NO, NO IT'S BAD LUCK.

BUT SHE WAS NOT SUPERSTITIOUS, SHE WOULD SAY.

WE ALWAYS HAD VERY, VERY, VERY CLOSE FAMILY TIES.

♪ CERTAIN SONGS IN THE MEMORIES.

I KNOW MY FATHER WOULD SAY OR TAKE -- I'LL TAKE YOU HOME AND WE USED TO SAY THAT WAS FOR HIS MOTHER.

BECAUSE SHE ALWAYS TOOK HER BACK TO IRELAND.

WHEN I HEAR THAT SONG, IT TRIGGERS HIM.

WHEN I LOOK BACK ON MY HERITAGE AND WHERE THE IRISH CAME FOR AND WHY WE WERE ALWAYS SO IRISH, SOME I SAW THAT I DIDN'T KNOW IF OTHER PEOPLE EXISTED, WHEN I LOOK BACK ON THAT, I THINK IT HAD TO BE A MATTER OF SURVIVAL AS IN MOST IMMIGRANTS I SUPPOSE.

WHEN THEY CAME TO THIS COUNTRY, THE ONLY ONES THEY KNEW WERE THE IRISH AND THEY HAD TO DEPEND ON ONE ANOTHER.

THEIR FAITH HAD A GREAT DEAL TO DO WITH THE IRISH SURVIVAL, I BELIEVE, AND STILL DOES.

I THINK THAT'S WHY THE CHURCHES WERE BUILT, ALTHOUGH THEY HAD VERY LITTLE, THEY PUT THEIR MONEY INTO BUILDING CHURCHES BECAUSE THE CHURCH WAS THEIR FAITH AND IT WAS ALSO THEIR COMMUNITY AND THEIR SUPPORT.

WITHOUT THE FAITH, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED, I AM SURE OF THAT.

[ CHURCH BELL ] ♪ ♪ [ ORGAN MUSIC ] >> GROWING UP IN THE IRISH FAMILY IS ONE THAT HAS RELIGION AS AN INTEGRAL PART.

EVEN THOUGH IN TODAY'S CULTURE AND SOCIETY, NOT AS MANY IRISH-AMERICANS WOULD FOLLOW THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WITHOUT QUESTION OR WITH GREATER INTENSITY.

BUT CERTAINLY IN MY OWN GROWING UP IN THE 1950s AND EARLY '60s, IT WAS STILL VERY MUCH A PART OF WHAT WAS EXPECTED AND DEMANDED OF YOU IN SOME CASES THAT CHURCH WAS SYNONYMOUS FOR THE MOST PART WITH BEING IRISH.

AND I THINK THAT RESULTS FROM THE STRONG FAITH THAT GREW UP IN IRELAND FOR SO MANY CENTURIES, REALLY.

THAT IF YOU WERE IRISH, YOU WERE VIRTUALLY CATHOLIC.

AND FROM THE IRISH -- IT HAD TO BE IRISH.

AND ALL THE OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS CAME ALONG WITH YOU AS IT WERE IN THOSE DAYS IN THE MIND OF SO MANY.

>> THE FAITH IN MY FAMILY WAS SO STRONG THAT THERE WAS NO SEPARATION BETWEEN LIFE AND FAITH.

IT WAS YOUR LIFE.

WE HAD -- YOU WERE MARRIED IN THE CHURCH, YOU WERE BAPTIZED IN THE CHURCH, CONFIRMATION, FIRST COMMUNION, GRADUATION WAS IN THE CHURCH.

AND MY FAMILY ALSO WE WENT ON TO HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE CATHOLIC INSTITUTIONS.

AND THE FAITH WAS JUST SO STRONG THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW -- YOU DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS ANYTHING ELSE EXCEPT THAT.

THAT'S HOW STRONG IT WAS.

♪ >> WELL, WHEN MY GREAT GRANDPARENTS CAME FROM IRELAND, OF COURSE, THE WORLD WAS VASTLY DIFFERENT THAN IT IS TODAY.

THEY CAME FROM A CATHOLIC MILL U, A CATHOLIC NATION IF YOU WILL FROM MOST OF IRELAND.

THEY LIVED IN A PARISH COMMUNITY MORE SO THAN AN URBAN VILLAGE FOR A COUNTRY VILLAGE.

THEY IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES WHERE THEY LIVED BY SAYING OH, I'M FROM ST. PATRICK'S OR I'M FROM ST.

HE HAVE RAM'S OR THAT'S HOW THEY IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD IN WHICH THEY LIVED.

AND THE INTENSITY OF THAT EXPERIENCE WAS NEVER TO BE FOUND NECESSARILY IN AMERICA.

ALTHOUGH WHEN THEY CAME HERE, THEY SETTLED IN A COMMUNITY THAT WAS WELCOMING.

THEY SETTLED IN A COMMUNITY THAT WAS LARGELY IRISH AS BEST THEY COULD.

AND WHERE VERY OFTEN THE PRIEST HIMSELF MIGHT HAVE BEEN FROM THE OLD SOD AS THEY WOULD SAY.

AND SO THEY HELD ON TO THAT IDENTITY IN THE MIDST OF A NEW WORLD.

AND THEY BROUGHT THEIR TRADITIONS AND EXPERIENCES TO THAT COMMUNITY.

I THINK THE SECOND GENERATION AND MY OWN GENERATION NOW CAME TO GROW INTO THOSE THINGS AS WELL.

>> I'M THE YOUNGEST OF SEVEN CHILDREN.

WE ENDED UP GROWING UP SAYING THE ROSARY EVERY NILT.

IF ANYBODY CAME INTO THE HOUSE, THEY HAD TO SAY IT WITH US.

>> SO NOBODY CAME.

[ LAUGHTER ] >> THAT IS ONE OF MY FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH HER.

[ LAUGHTER ] >> I WALKED IN AND HAD TO GET DOWN ON MY KNEES AND RECITE THE ROSARY WITH THEM.

>> OH, WOW.

>> AND WE DID HAVE TO GET ON OUR KNEES.

>> MY FATHER WAS A SKINNY MAN AND HE USED TO KNEEL ON A PILLOW.

SO ONE NIGHT WE KNELT ON PILLOWS AND WE SAID THE ROSARY AND ALL OF A SUDDEN HE SAID STOP, PUT THOSE PILLOWS BACK WHERE THEY BELONG AND GET ON YOUR KNEES.

SO WE DID.

♪ >> WE WENT TO CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AND YOU KNOW, ALWAYS HAVING THE NUNS, ALWAYS NOTICING IF YOU'RE IN CHURCH OR NOT AND IF WE DIDN'T GET UP AND GO TO 8:00 MASS WITH MOM AND DAD, WE HAD TO GO TO MASS.

IT WOULD BE LIKE, ARE YOU GOING TO 10, RAILROAD WILL YOU GOING TO 11:30?

>> YOU CAN SUM THAT UP IN ONE WORD.

GUILT.

[ LAUGHTER ] >> FEEL GUILTY FOR EVERYTHING.

>> NOW, THE IRISH CATHOLIC, IT'S NOT JUST CATHOLIC, IT'S IRISH CATHOLIC, THE GUILT.

>> I THINK THAT OUR FAITH IS WHAT BRINGS THE FAMILY SO CLOSE.

I MEAN, WE GREW UP AS A FAMILY, BOTH HE AND I OUR FAMILIES, WE WENT TO MASS, FAMILY WAS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AND THOSE TRADITIONS CARRY THROUGH WITH THE KIDS NOW.

BECAUSE IT'S VERY IMPORTANT.

ANY CELEBRATION, THE WHOLE FAMILY IS INVOLVED.

>> I BET YOU THE ITALIANS AND THE POLISH AND THE GERMANS CAN SAY THE SAME THINGS ABOUT THEIR FAMILIES.

>> YEAH.

>> HERE IN THE UNITED STATES, OF COURSE, FROM THE TIME THAT IMMIGRATION BEGAN, THE CATHOLIC FAITH WAS OF SUCH VITAL NATURE TO US, AN IRISH FAMILY, THAT THEY WERE VERY CLANISH AND THEY STUCK TOGETHER LIVING IN NEIGHBORHOODS, BUILDING THEIR LOCAL CHURCH AND CELEBRATING THEIR FESTIVALS.

IT WAS INTENSE, I THINK, AT TIMES.

BECAUSE THEY TRIED TO PRESERVE A SENSE OF WHAT THEY HAD, A SENSE OF WHAT THEIR OWN HISTORY WAS.

BUT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE IMMIGRATION PERIOD, THAT MADE THEM STRONGER.

THAT GAVE THEM A GREATER REASON TO COME TOGETHER AND TELL BRAIT THE -- CELEBRATE THE THINGS THAT HELD THEM TOGETHER.

THEIR CHURCH.

♪ >> IN THE MID 18th CENTURY, PHILADELPHIA WAS THE MAJOR ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE IN PENNSYLVANIA.

IN FACT, THE PHILADELPHIA DIOCESE STRETCHED ALL THE WAY INTO NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND WELL OUT INTO THE CENTRAL PART OF PENNSYLVANIA AS WELL.

BUT BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY IMMIGRANTS, IRISH IMMIGRANTS AND LATER ON ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS AND EASTERN EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS COMING INTO NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, THAT BY THE LATTER PART OF THE 19th CENTURY, PHILADELPHIA SPLITS OFF THE NORTHEASTERN PART OF THE STATE TO FORM THE DIOCESE OF SCRANTON.

SCHOOLS ARE ESTABLISHED, OF COURSE, CHURCHES ARE ESTABLISHED, SEMINARIES ARE ESTABLISHED.

AND 20TH CENTURY COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ARE ESTABLISHED.

BY THE ETHNIC IRISH COMMUNITY.

LIKE MANY OTHER GROUPS IN AMERICA THAT HAVE ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS, THE IRISH SEE THAT EDUCATION IS A REAL WAY TO BE UPWARDLY MOBILE, SOCIALLY ECONOMIC AND POLITICALLY IN THE UNITED STATES AND IN PENNSYLVANIA AND THEY SEE EDUCATION AS A REAL WAY TO BECOME MORE ACTIVE AND MORE INFLUENTIAL IN THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE AND TO HAVE A LARGER PIECE OF THE AMERICAN PIE, WHICH IS WHAT, OF COURSE, IMMIGRANT GROUPS HAVE BEEN PROMISED THROUGHOUT HISTORY THAT AMERICA IS THE PLACE WHERE NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE AND NO MATTER WHERE YOU COME FROM, YOU CAN BE SUCCESSFUL.

>> MY FATHER ATTENDED COLLEGE BUT NEVER GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE.

YET, ALL SIX OF US HAVE COLLEGE DEGREES.

SO THAT WOULD KIND OF ALSO BE THE HISTORY OF THE SUCCESS OF THE IRISH.

MY BROTHERS AND MY SISTER AND I ALL ATTENDED NATIVITY SCHOOL, WHICH IS THE PARISH SCHOOL.

IT'S STILL THERE, STILL OPERATING AS MARION COMMUNITY AND THE CHURCH AND THE SCHOOL AND THE CONVENT AND THE RECTORY WERE ALL BUILT BY THE IRISH WHO ORIGINALLY MOVED TO NATIVITY.

WHAT WE HOLD DEAR WAS A WAY FOR THE IRISH TO GET STRONGER, TO GET MORE POWERFUL, TO NOT SEE THE COAL MINERS THAT THEIR GRAND FATHERS WERE OR THEIR FATHERS HAD TO BE.

>> GOING BACK IN TIME, I THINK EDUCATION WAS SO IMPORTANT TO THE IRISH IN GENERAL BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO BE EDUCATED IN IRELAND.

THE ENGLISH DID NOT ALLOW THEM TO.

THEY WERE KEPT OUT.

AND THEY WERE SHIPPED AWAY.

PROPERTY WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM THEM IF THEY TRIED TO GET AN EDUCATION.

SO THAT WAS SO IMPORTANT FOR THEM.

JUST SO VERY IMPORTANT.

AND THEY COULDN'T GET IT IN THE UNITED STATES IMMEDIATELY, AS I SAID.

MY GENERATION WAS THE FIRST FROM THE TIME THEY CAME OVER TO THE STATES, MY GENERATION WAS THE FIRST TO GET A HIGHER EDUCATION AND THEY WERE SO PROUD OF US.

THEY WERE PROUD OF US WHENEVER WE GOT A GOOD MARK.

BUT THEY NEVER SAID THEY WERE.

I DON'T EVER RECALL ANYBODY SAID TO ME, OH, YOU GOT AN A, ISN'T THAT WONDERFUL.

NO, IT WAS JUST EXPECTED.

IF I GOT A B, SOMEBODY SAID SOMETHING TO ME.

>> MY DAD AND MY MOM BOTH STRESSED EDUCATION.

ONE OF THE HABITS IN MY FAMILY, I THINK, IT WAS A GREAT HABIT, EVERY TWO WEEKS WE WENT TO THE LIBRARY AND WE GOT OUR BOOKS, WE MARCHED INTO THE LIBRARY AND GOT OUR BOOKS AND TOOK THEM BACK.

WE WERE EXPECTED TO READ THOSE BOOKS.

IT'S A HABIT I STILL HAVE TO THIS DAY AND I THANK MY PARENTS FOR THAT GIFT BECAUSE THAT WAS A GIFT THEY GAVE US.

MY BROTHERS AND MY SISTER, WE ALL GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE AND MY FATHER WAS TREMENDOUSLY PROUD OF THAT.

HE USED TO BRAG ABOUT HIS IRISH FATHERS WHO BRAG ABOUT THEIR KIDS.

MY DAUGHTER, MY OLDEST DAUGHTER WITH A LAWYER NOW, AND SHE BROUGHT INTO THAT EDUCATIONAL PIECE THAT THAT'S HOW SHE WAS GOING TO GAIN HER SUCCESS AND I AM VERY PROUD OF HER.

SO I AM AN IRISH FATHER NOW.

>> IN SO MANY PAST YEARS, DECADES AND EVEN A CENTURY OR SO, VARIOUS ETHNIC GROUPS AS THEY CAME TO THIS COUNTRY, THEY FORMED THEIR OWN CHURCH COMMUNITY.

QUITE A NATURAL THING TO DO.

HERE YOU ARE IN A WHOLE NEW WORLD WHERE ALL OF THOSE VARIOUS ETHNIC GROUPS DIDN'T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE.

THEY DIDN'T HAVE A CONNECTIVITY TO WHAT WAS GOING ON AROUND THEM ALL THE TIME.

AND SO THEY HAD THEIR OWN ETHIC CHURCH.

THEY SPOKE GERMAN, THEY SPOKE POLISH, THEY SPOKE ITALIAN.

AND THEY WERE VERY COMFORTABLE THERE.

THAT WAS A VERY IMPORTANT BRIDGE FOR THEM TO THE NEW WORLD, IF YOU WILL.

AND TO THE EXPERIENCE OF WHAT IT MEANT TO BE AN AMERICAN.

AND IN THOSE INDIVIDUAL ETHNIC CHURCHES, THERE GREW GREAT WONDERFUL TRADITIONS, MANY OF WHICH HAVE BEEN MAINTAINED UNTIL THE PRESENT DAY.

BUT IN THE PRESENT DAY, WE'RE A MUCH MORE DIVERSE PEOPLE NOW.

PEOPLE INTERMARRIED OVER THE COURSE OF DECADES.

ONE CULTURAL BACKGROUND WITH ANOTHER.

AND SO WE HAVE A MORE BLENDED CULTURE TODAY THAT'S PROUD OF ITS MULTIHERITAGE BACKGROUND.

AND SO IN MANY PLACES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, WE SEE THAT A CHURCH THAT ONCE WAS BUILT FOR THE IMMIGRANT ITALIAN FAMILIES OR THE IMMIGRANT GERMAN FAMILIES OR THE IMMIGRANT SLOVAK FAMILIES, ARE LESS AND LESS ATTENDED.

>>> PATRICK HOOL HAN, OLIVER WALSH, RYAN, THAT NAME IS STILL -- THAT NAME STILL HERE IN THE VALLEY.

>> STILL IN THE VALLEY.

CIVIL WAR VETERAN.

REMEMBER THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.

THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN POST -- >> AND THEY'RE FROM KILL KENNY, YEAH.

>> WE SAID BEFORE OVER THERE WAS WHERE THE FIRST, THE CHURCH WAS.

THIS WAS THE ORIGINAL SECTION OF THE ORIGINAL GRAVEYARD.

>> THESE WOULD BE THE OLDEST GRAVES.

THE CEMETERY WAS LAID OUT IN 1854.

>> AND YOU CAN TELL BY THE CONDITION OF A LOT OF THEM -- >> FALLING OVER.

>> BROKEN.

>> TIME WORN.

IF YOU THINK OF HECK TERSEVILLE OR THE -- HECKSCHERVILLE, IT OVERLOOKS THE VALLEY AND ONE OF THE PLACES THAT EVERYBODY HEADS FOR WHEN THEY COME HOME.

PEOPLE THAT MOVED AWAY.

THE CEMETERY IF YOU COMPARE THE NAMES IN THIS CEMETERY TO THE CEMETERIES IN IRELAND, YOU WOULD THINK YOU WERE IN THE SAME TOWNS.

I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN THE VALLEY AND ALL THE WAY UP TO GETTING MARRIED HERE.

RECEIVED ALL MY SACRAMENTS HERE, WENT TO SCHOOL HERE FOR EIGHT YEARS AND LIKE WE SAID, OUR SOCIAL LIFE WAS AT THESE BUILDINGS.

FRIDAY NIGHT WE HAD MOVIES IN THE SCHOOL.

WE HAD PLAYS AND MINSTRELS AND THIS WAS THE SOCIAL HUB OF THE AREA WHEN I WAS GROWING UP.

>> WHY DO YOU THINK IT'S IMPORTANT ST. KAREN'S?

>> THERE'S A LOT OF IRISH HISTORY.

THERE'S A LOT OF CIVIC HISTORY ATTACHED TO ST. KAREN'S.

IT'S A SYMBOL OF THE IRISH FAITH IN AMERICA THAT THEY BROUGHT FROM IRELAND.

THEY WORKED, THEY STRUGGLED TO KEEP THEIR FAMILIES GOING AND THEY STRUGGLED TO KEEP THEIR CHURCH GOING.

I THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE ALL TRY TO PRESERVE AS MUCH OF OUR IRISH HERITAGE AND CULTURE AS POSSIBLE TO PASS DOWN TO THE FUTURE GENERATIONS.

IF IT WAS NOT PRESERVED, IT WOULD BE A GREAT LOSS.

NOT ONLY TO THIS AREA, BUT TO THE WHOLE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, TO ALL PEOPLE OF IRISH HERITAGE.

♪ ♪ ♪ IRISH ARE ALWAYS GREAT FOR GETTING TOGETHER.

IF YOU HAD ONE BIG KITCHEN, 500 PEOPLE IN IT.

THE FIRST YEAR WE HAD THE PARADE, WE FIGURED 10,000 PEOPLE SHOWED UP.

IT'S BEEN GROWING EVER SINCE AND OF COURSE, LAST YEAR, WE HAD PRESIDENT CLINTON HERE.

AND BECAUSE HE WAS HERE, WE HAD OVER 30,000 PEOPLE.

THIS IS ALMOST LIKE AN AWAKENING.

PUT US ON THE MAP.

WE GET EVERY MOTEL, I MIGHT ADD, FILLED AROUND HERE.

THE TOURISTS RECOGNIZE THIS AND EVEN THE BARS FOR THE ATTRACTION THAT WE'RE BRINGING TO THE AREA.

WE FILL ALL THE MOTELS UP IN HERE BECAUSE OF THIS PARADE.

SO I'M VERY -- TO SAY PROUD IS TO PUT IT MILDLY.

I'M HUMBLED BY THE RESPONSE THAT PEOPLE I NEVER MET BEFORE, MAKE IT A POINT EVERY YEAR TO COME BACK FOR THIS PARADE.

THEY JUST SAY WE WANT TO BE A PART OF IT, THIS IS HISTORY.

IT IS NOW GROWN INTO LITERALLY A HOMECOMING.

[ CHEERING ] >> ♪ ♪ ♪ >> MY WIFE ROSE AND I HAVE HAD THIS PARTY WHICH IS A MARVELOUS GET TOGETHER OF FRIENDS AND RELATIVES WHICH WE FEEL HAS BROUGHT TOGETHER PEOPLE WHO OVER THE YEARS HAVEN'T SEEN EACH OTHER AND BECAUSE OF THE PARADE, WE ARE SO PROUD OF THE FACT THAT WE CAN BRING THOSE FOLKS HERE, HAVE A GREAT FOOD FEST, HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF ALCOHOL, JUST TO MAKE OURSELVES A LITTLE HAPPY, AND HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME.

AND I CAN TELL YOU THAT THIS HAS BROUGHT A FOCUS ON GIRARDVILLE THAT'S NOT EVER BEEN HERE BEFORE.

IT'S BEEN A MARVELOUS EVENT FOR THE COMMUNITY.

WE HAVE A STRONG IRISH HERITAGE IN THE COMMUNITY.

THERE'S IRISH, THERE'S ITALIAN AND THERE'S LITHUANIAN, BUT THE IRISH HERITAGE IS THE ONE WHERE ON A DAY LIKE TODAY, IF YOU'RE NOT IRISH, YOU PRETEND YOU'RE IRISH.

♪ ♪ [INDISCERNIBLE] ♪ ♪ I'M GOING TO LOSE MY VOICE BEFORE THE DAY IS OUT.

I ALREADY FEEL IT GOING.

I GOT COUGH DROPS.

I'VE GOT CHAPSTICK.

AND I HAVE MY ROSARY.

♪ ♪ MILE EARLIEST MEMORY OF ST. PATRICK'S DAY IS WITH MY AUNT.

SHE HAD STUFF ON THE STOVE EVERY ST. PATRICK'S DAY.

IT SMELLED GOD AWFUL.

I STILL TO THIS DAY CANNOT SMELL IT.

>> CORN BEEF AND CABBAGE.

I'M ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE THAT LOVE CORN BEEF AND CABBAGE.

>> MY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF ST. PATRICK'S DAY ARE MY MOTHER DOING A JIG.

>> IN THE LIVING ROOM.

>> IN THE LIVING ROOM.

WHENEVER SHE COULD.

[ LAUGHTER ] ♪ ♪ >> A FEELING OF KINSHIP, I GUESS WITH EVERYBODY.

WHETHER THEY'RE IRISH OR NOT AND EVERYBODY PRE TENDS TO BE THAT DAY.

BUT I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYBODY REALLY BE MEAN TO ANYBODY ON THAT DAY.

IT'S JUST VERY -- IT'S A VERY HAPPY DAY.

♪ ♪ THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF PARADE DAY, WHEN YOU HAVE 10,000 PEOPLE IN A PARADE AND 100,000 PEOPLE WATCHING A PARADE, AND THEN ANOTHER COUPLE HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE WATCHING ON T.V., THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THAT DAY IS TRULY AMAZING WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT.

♪ ♪ >> I KNOW IN HERE THIS PLACE GETS CROWDED.

AS THE STORY GOES, IT'S A DIVE YOU COULDN'T FALL OVER.

SOME FIRE MARSHAL AFTER ME NOW SAYING THAT.

>> IT'S SUCH A FAMILY EVENT WHERE I HEAR THAT STORY SO MANY TIMES AROUND THE DAYS OF ST. PATRICK'S DAY AND PARADE DAY WHERE KIDS THAT ARE OUT OF TOWN AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS OUT OF TOWN COME HOME FOR THAT.

EVEN SOMETIMES MORE THAN CHRISTMAS AND THANKSGIVING.

THE HIGH HOLY DAYS IS THE TIME.

>> KNOWING YOUR HEART, I THINK EVEN DISTANCE DOESN'T STOP THE CONNECTION I THINK THAT WE ALWAYS FEEL WE'LL HAVE SOMETHING TOGETHER THAT ONLY WE KNOW ABOUT.

IT'S A VERY INTIMATE KIND OF THING AND IT'S BEING IRISH.

>>> IT BRINGS EVERYONE TOGETHER WHO NEEDS TO BE WITH THEIR OWN, ALL THE IRISH TO CELEBRATE BEING IRISH AND BEING FROM THE COAL REGION THAT EVERYBODY KNOWS ONE ANOTHER AND DOES GOOD FOR ONE ANOTHER.

♪ ♪ >> EVERY YEAR WE DO IT.

>> I'VE BEEN COMING TO THIS PARADE SINCE MY KIDS WERE TODDLERS.

GET HERE TOGETHER.

BEST PART OF ANY DAY IS GETTING TOGETHER WITH OUR FAMILY.

[ LAUGHTER ] ♪ ♪ >> WELL, EVERYBODY COMES BACK NOW FOR THIS PARADE WE'RE IN THE 6th YEAR AND MY SON WAS AWAY IN THE SERVICE FOR 14 YEARS.

SO HE CAN'T BELIEVE THE CROWD THAT COMES TO THIS LITTLE TOWN IN GIRARDVILLE.

EVERYBODY LOVES EVERYBODY TODAY.

♪ HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

YEA GIRARDVILLE!

>> IN 1995 I WAS PRIVILEGED TO BE THE PRESIDENT OF THIS OWE OWED AND THE PRESIDENT GETS TO NAME ONE OF THE MARSHALS AND MY DAD WHO WAS STILL ALIVE, HE WAS ONE OF THE MARSHALS AND IT WAS WONDERFUL TO HAVE HIM WITH ME.

HE'S GONE NOW, BUT I ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM THAT DAY.

IT'S SPECIAL.

FAMILY.

♪ ♪ ♪ THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY, PENNSYLVANIA HAS ALWAYS BEEN A VERY RICH AND OPEN MOSAIC OF ETHNICITY.

MANY, MANY ETHNIC GROUPS CAME TO PENNSYLVANIA THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY SEEKING REFUGE FROM POLITICAL PERSECUTION, FROM ECONOMIC PERSECUTION, FROM SOCIAL PERSECUTION, FROM RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION.

THEY CAME TO PENNSYLVANIA SEEKING A BETTER WAY OF LIFE.

THE IRISH ARE NO DIFFERENT IN THAT SENSE THAT THEY CAME HERE FOR ALL OF THOSE REASONS.

WHERE I THINK THEY ARE DIFFERENT IS THAT THEY ARE ONE OF THE KEY ETHNIC GROUPS THAT COMPRISE THE BACKBONE OF PENNSYLVANIA'S INDUSTRIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGHOUT THE 19th AND 20TH CENTURIES.

WHERE WOULD PENNSYLVANIA BE IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE IRISH?

WOULD WE HAVE HAD THE CANALS DUG IN THE QUICK MANNER THAT THEY WERE DUG THROUGHOUT PENNSYLVANIA WITHOUT THE IRISH?

WOULD WE HAVE HAD THE RAILROADS BUILT IN PENNSYLVANIA AS QUICKLY AS THEY WERE WITHOUT THE IRISH?

WOULD WE HAVE HAD SO MUCH COAL COME FROM THE GROUND OF NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND GO TO MARKETS ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE LABOR OF THE IRISH IMMIGRANTS?

I THINK PROBABLY NOT.

AMERICA WOULD NOT HAVE INDUSTRIALIZED NOR NOT HAVE BEEN NEARLY AS SUCCESSFUL IN THE 19th AND 20TH CENTURIES HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR IMMIGRANT LABOR OF WHICH THE IRISH COMPRISE A VERY, VERY LARGE PERCENTAGE.

SO WE HAVE TO LOOK HISTORICALLY AT WHAT THEY'VE CONTRIBUTED ECONOMICALLY AND WE ALSO HAVE TO LOOK HISTORICALLY AT WHAT THEY'VE CONTRIBUTED TO THE MOSAIC OF PENNSYLVANIA IN TERMS OF THE INSTITUTIONS WE HAVE HERE TODAY.

FOR EXAMPLE, THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE CHURCH, THE INSTITUTION OF ORGANIZED LABOR, THE INSTITUTION OF POLITICS AND SIMPLY HAVING A PRESENCE IN SO MANY OF THE AREAS OF PENNSYLVANIA THAT MAKE THIS STATE AS RICH AS IT IS TODAY.

THE IRISH HAVE REALLY BEEN KEY TO ALL OF THAT AND WHERE WE ARE IS THAT WE ARE A MUCH RICHER SOCIETY, I MUCH MORE DIVERSE SOCIETY AND A SOCIETY THAT IS FAR, FAR BETTER OFF FOR THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE IRISH IMMIGRANT THAN WE WOULD BE OTHERWISE.

>> IT ALL GOES BACK TO THOSE EARLY DAYS WHERE THE IRISH CAME AND THEY PUT THEIR HEARTS AND SOULS INTO MINING COAL AND DID A LOT OF THIS WORK THAT NOBODY ELSE WANTED.

AND IT'S REAL IMPORTANT BECAUSE THAT MINING CARRIED THROUGH TO THE MODERN TIMES.

>> IT STARTED IN PATCH LIKES LIKE LANCE FORD, SUMMIT HILL OR HECKSCHERVILLE.

THIS IS WHERE IT ALL STARTED.

THIS IS WHERE THE ORIGINAL IRISH CAME FROM IRELAND.

THIS IS WHERE THEY CAME TO BUILD AND BUILD THEY DID.

>> WE'RE SECOND GENERATIONS.

WE ARE NOT LIKE NEW YORK WHERE YOU JUST CAME OFF THE BOAT WHERE THERE'S ONLY FIRST GENERATION REMOVED.

WE DON'T HAVE THE KINSHIP TOWARD IRELAND THAT THEY HAVE.

BUT WE HAVE THE SPIRIT AND WE HAVE THE RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND AND WE HAVE THE SENSE OF HISTORY OF WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE ARE.

WHAT WE HAVE DONE IN THE PAST.

AND I THINK THAT IN ITSELF, IS EMBODYING IN MOST PEOPLE OF IRISH DESCENT THAT THEY HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO TAKE THAT STEP FORWARD AND TRY TO DO AND CONTINUE THE TRAITS AND THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE IRISH IN THE PAST AND THAT IS GIVE BACK TO YOUR COMMUNITY, HELP YOUR FELLOW MAN AND BE PROUD OF IT.

>> WHEN MY GREAT GRANDPARENTS CAME TO PENNSYLVANIA AND SETTLED, THEY BROUGHT THEIR HERITAGE, A RICH HERITAGE, HERITAGE TO BE PROUD OF, THEY BROUGHT IT HERE TO PENNSYLVANIA AND IT PASSED DOWN TO THE GENERATIONS TO THE ROWANS IN PENNSYLVANIA.

AND MY SUCCESSORS HERE IN PENNSYLVANIA ARE THEIR SUCCESSORS.

IF I'M SUCCESSFUL, IT'S BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY'VE GIVEN ME TO BE SUCCESSFUL WITH.

THEY BROUGHT THEIR GIFT NOT JUST TO ME, BUT TO ALL THAT WERE BRED OF THEM.

I WOULD SAY THAT WAS PROBABLY THE GREATEST THING THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM.

♪ ♪ >> ONE OF MY TREASURED POSSESSIONS IS A PICTURE OF MY GREAT GRANDFATHER WHO WAS BORN IN IRELAND AND HIS SON JOHN T. CLARK, WHO WAS MY GRANDFATHER AND MY DAD, TAKEN AROUND 1927 WHEN MY DAD IN 2002, MY DAD WAS JUST A LITTLE OVER 80, I RECREATED THAT PICTURE ON MY BACK PATIO WITH MYSELF, MY DAD AND MY SON.

AND I WAS HOLDING THAT PICTURE AND IT KIND OF SHOWED THE GENERATIONS FROM IRELAND TO NOW.

THE CLARKS, IN NATIVITY AND THE CLARKS IN SOUTH SIDE WERE TYPICAL, TYPICAL IRISH FAMILY.

WE WEREN'T REMARKABLE, WE'RE THE SAME AS ANYBODY ELSE, YET WE HAVE OUR REMARKABLE PARTS.

IN FOUR GENERATIONS, WE WENT FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP.

AND MY MOM AND DAD, THOSE TWO PEOPLE, ALICE MCDONALD CLARK AND JOHN T. CLARK, HAVE 30 PEOPLE, DIRECT DESCENDANTS, 30 PEOPLE.

AND WHAT DAVID LIAM CLARK BROUGHT TO THIS COUNTRY IN 1890, HERE IT IS 150 YEARS LATER AND THEY'RE STILL TOGETHER AND THEY'RE STILL FAMILY.