Wisconsin isn't the first state that springs to mind when it comes to the Irish American Diaspora. But though often more associated with Germans (and German beer!), Wisconsin had a notable Irish presence. Today, Milwaukee is even home to Irish Fest, the largest Irish festival in the United States.

In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Tim McMahon of Marquette University to uncover the fascinating history of the Irish communities who made Wisconsin their home.

We chart their stroy from the early arrivals of the nineteenth century to their lasting influence in the twentieth, tracing how Irish immigrants shaped places like Milwaukee — building neighborhoods, parishes, and a distinct Irish-American identity in the heart of the Midwest.

We explore dramatic moments like the tragic Lady Elgin disaster- a maritime catastrophe for both Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Irish- and the later political and cultural connections maintained with Ireland. Tim also discusses Éamon de Valera’s visit, and the story behind that iconic photograph of De Valera in a Native American headdress.

Dr Tim McMahon: https://www.marquette.edu/history/directory/timothy-mcmahon.php

Milwaukee Irish Fest: https://irishfest.com/

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In this episode, Fin and Damian trace the Irish legacy scattered across the American map through the placenames they left behind. The journey takes them from Brooklyn’s Vinegar Hill, named for a Wexford battlefield in hopes of attracting Irish immigrants, to Menlo Park, California, the major tech hub with roots in a Galway inspired ranch. They uncover how Irish immigrants, Irish Americans and Irish politicians and miners left their mark — through places like Glendalough State Park (in Minnesota, not Wicklow!), Roscommon and the "Irish" counties of Michigan, and the Texas ghost town in Texas that came to be called “Ireland.” From Avoca, Nebraska to "Dublin Gulch" in the California desert, we pick some of our favourite American Irish placenames to explore.

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In the early 1880s, crates of California dynamite found their way to London — not for trade, but for terror. Irish revolutionaries in the United States were plotting bombings in the heart of the British Empire, and San Francisco, with its deep Irish roots, became a key outpost in the transatlantic campaign.

In this episode, we speak with renowned author and historian Dr Myles Dungan about his new historical novel The Red Branch, set in 1883 San Francisco and inspired by these real-life dynamiters, secret societies, and British spies. We explore the real history and real characters behind the fiction--along the way charting the story and experience of Irish immigrants in the City by the Bay.

Sound by Kate Dunlea.

Shownotes

Myles Dungan. The Red Branch (Etruscan Press, 2025)

The History Show RTÉ Radio One

Myles Dungan Website

Myles Dungan Publications

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