Episode 2: The Irish In Cleveland ~ A History copertina

Episode 2: The Irish In Cleveland ~ A History

Episode 2: The Irish In Cleveland ~ A History

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 Welcome to the 2nd Songs, Stories & Shenanigans Podcast. This is J publisher & Editor of the OhioIANews. I’d like to start out with sharing a story form this month’s issue, Called Donnybrook, written by John Myers. Our heritage, American and for me, Irish, is the blueprint of what makes us who we are; have you been to The Greater Cleveland An Gorta Mor Stone? It is a good place to start. The Stone, on the banks of the Cuyahoga River, as well as a stone’s throw away, Settler’s Landing, soothed by the flowing Cuyahoga – the river, both physically and symbolically, is the gateway to Cleveland, for anyone, but especially, for the Irish. The river was the reason many came to Cleveland, and the gateway to Irish Town Bend. Irishtown Bend runs along this River, along the Flats. It is roughly the area from West 25th Street east to the river / north of Detroit Road. It was swampy. It was developed during the 1830s by the Irish who came to the area as laborers for the construction of the city's railways and canal. Many soon found work on the bustling city docks, or in the growing industries. Steel wouldn’t come until later of course, but other industries did. The area was characterized by the extreme poverty of the outcast Irish. We all know of the “No Irish Need Apply” signs, right? On shops, in newspapers – there is plenty of proof, if you wish to find it. For a period, the majority of the poorer Irish who came here lived in nothing more than flimsy shacks, built from discarded wood, anything they could find on the sometimes shifting hillside above the polluted and disease propagating river. Due to their outcast status in Cleveland (or name your city) society, the Irish formed a very close knit, closed neighborhood, much like the Italians & other ethnic groups like mine did. I kid you not when I say 3 and 4 FAMILIES, lived in a room, in double and triple decker houses. The weight alone sometimes caused the collapse of the houses. They would stop, bury the dead, and salvage whatever material could be used to build a new shelter, on the same spot. The constant threat of disease and the backbreaking work most engaged in made life in Irishtown tough, at times violent, and often very short. A bachelor’s life is no life for a single man in Irishtown bend. Life was centered on 10-12 hour workdays, 6, or 7, days a week; their community; the pub; and their faith. We all know of the Irish reputation for drinking. I hate stereotypes; don’t spread them. The brave may not live forever....but the cautious never live at all. There are some who will disagree with this history and say the poverty, the crowding didn’t happen. I think they look too late, in time. It evaporated when business pushed it out, heading into the new century. Increased immigration during the 1840s as Ireland headed toward Black 47 brought more of their countrymen, causing Irish Town Bend to expand. The neighborhood became known as the Angle, including old Irishtown and Whiskey Island. In the 1860s, St. Malachi Church was built in Irishtown, with St. Patrick's on Bridge near Fulton built earlier a little further west. With continued growth, the Irish expanded as far west as West 65th Street, adding a third parish, St. Colman's on W 65th & Madison, in the 1880s. West 65th Street was the first location of the West Side Irish American Club, before moving to W 93rd, and then to Olmsted Twp, where they have been since 1990. It is the largest of the Irish clubs, with 1,900 households as members. My dad has been President since 1991. As the Irish immigrants entered the 1900s, they had started to gain some upward mobility in society. Cops led to lawyers led to judges and through it all, politics. Increased industry and job opportunities, as well as business of their own where they paid it forward by providing jobs to newly arriving Irish, allowed for economic growth in the community. Irish to Irish called those that did well Lace Irish – both a hidden source of pride at making it, and a derogatory term, at taking on airs of success. Who knew being able to afford curtains would carry so much meaning? However, the Angle, especially Irishtown, remained the poorest area. This remained the case until early into the 20th century. As the Irish of Cleveland began to join the ranks of the middle class, they left Irishtown and headed for the western suburbs of Lakewood, Fairview Park and West Park, where I was born and raised, and returned to. I was working at a coalmine in Alabama when I got a job offer to return to Cleveland. Whoosh, I was gone. On Irishtown Bend, the homes that were left behind would become inhabited by Hungarian immigrants for a brief time, and then abandoned. An Gorta Mor Stone was designed, funded and placed by the Greater Cleveland Hunger Memorial Committee, founded by John O’Brien, Sr., my dad, and made up with “get things done” people from throughout our community, like me. It is a 10-ton, 10-foot stone, hand carved...
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