Far from the Shamrock Shore: The Story of Irish-American Immigration Through Song

For centuries Irish people expressed their deepest feeling through song. Emigrants carried songs to America and wrote new songs to express the frustrations and sorrows of life in a new country. These became part of life, performed on every occasion from family gatherings to community events and the vaudeville stage. Brendan Kennelly described such songs as 'living ghosts that long for a living voice'. For the first time these songs and the stories they tell are captured in a passionately written illustrated history of the Irish in America with a free companion CD. Written by the leading authority on traditional Irish music in America each spread chronicles a specific theme in the lives of the Irish in America from the 1700s to the early 20th century with a corresponding song on the CD. The spreads and songs describe the backbreaking task of survival in the New World; battles waged for fair treatment and fair pay for work on railroads, on canals, in mines, in construction and factories; the success ultimately attained in politics, business and society; the cramped ghettoes of city life and anti-Irish sentiment.
The accompanying free 18-track CD, in a CD sleeve and bound into the back of the book, goes beyond the standard compilation. Most of the songs have not been recorded for more than 50 years and make rare and fascinating listening. These new recordings, sung by the author, are historically accurate and emotionally compelling.