"Finnigans, Slaters and Stonepeggers: A History of the Irish in Vermont," by Vincent E. Feeney. (Images From the Past, 2009, 250 pages, $19.95 paperback)


When (or if) most of us think of the Irish in early America, we probably think first of their immense influence in cities such as New York and Boston, but little has been understood about their presence in early Vermont. Vincent Feeney, a former history professor who lives in Marshfield, has done extensive research into the roles they played and the lives they led.

To read this slim volume, the product of Feeney's prodigious research, is to learn that Irish immigrants and their descendants were surprisingly numerous and, in some ways, important participants in the history of the Green Mountain State, although in many instances it took their participation in the Civil War to finally gain them acceptance as genuine (or at least deserving) Americans.

If the popular image of 18th- and 19th-century Vermont is one of sturdy, stoic Yankees – so often viewed as descendants (invariably Protestant) of the early British settlers of New England – who eked out a living from small farms, woodlots and similar enterprises, then that image disregards the fact that the state's slate and marble quarries and its early railroads that served their needs depended heavily on cheap and often mistreated Irish labor.

Feeney reminds us of the dreadful ordeal facing the Irish who decided to flee their homeland — usually to get away from oppressive British rule — and to risk their lives by sailing for the United States, often on what were referred to as "coffin" boats (because so many passengers died at sea), where food was scarce and ordinary comfort unknown. The owners of the boats were more interested in profit than anything else.

Often these Irish arrived in Vermont from Canada and settled in or near the busy port of Burlington, although they also settled in various other communities, where they tended to cluster together and remain somewhat separate from other Vermonters. They brought their religion – Catholicism – with them, and that too tended to set them apart. Later, their politics (not surprisingly, they identified with the interests of the working class) would also distance them from many other Vermonters.

"For more than a hundred years, the Vermont Irish had lived close together" Feeney writes. "They attended the same churches and schools, belonged to the same social and business organizations, and intermarried almost exclusively with their Catholic co-religionists. By the latter half of the twentieth century, however, that old ethnic world had largely passed away."

What made such a dramatic difference? One agent of change, the author suggests, was the extremely popular GI Bill, which enabled World War II veterans to afford a college education that might not otherwise have been available to them and, thereby, to enjoy far better job opportunities and the much greater mobility that was becoming a familiar aspect of American life.

"Some of the Irish who once lived in Bennington, Rutland, Burlington and St. Albans moved to the emerging suburbs or out of state entirely, although many remained, still interconnected by marriage and schooling," he adds. The point is they no longer chose to remain in what amounted to an Irish ghetto and became a part of, and blended into, the larger community.

One of the more interesting – and probably surprising to most readers – chapters of the book is devoted to the failed attempts by a few diehard Irish radicals – they called themselves Fenians – to invade Canada from Vermont shortly after the Civil War. They had hoped, unbelievably, to take it hostage and return it to Britain only if the British would give up their control of Ireland. Two Fenians lost their lives in the doomed – and now historically obscure – invasions.

Feeney also explores the uneven progress of the Catholic Church in Vermont and the ecclesiastical infighting – some of it involving priests who spoke French as well as English and rivals who were monolingual – that accompanied its growth. He also describes the controversy that arose in Brattleboro when Catholic children were required by their church to skip school on certain holy days. The Protestants who ran the school system were wholly unsympathetic, and the dispute wound up in court.

Feeney cites census numbers to demonstrate that, over the years, Vermont became the home for a large number of Irish immigrants. The first wave included many who found it relatively easy to purchase small farms from Vermonters who had decided to head farther west in search of more promising conditions. A second wave was dominated by those forced from their homes by the famine of the mid-19th century. It may have taken them some time to assimilate, but gradually they did.

Interestingly, one way they mingled with the non-Irish was on the baseball diamond. In Vermont, virtually every town had at least one baseball team. Players of Irish birth or descent made their mark, and some even made it to the big leagues. You can't get any more American than that.



A.C. Hutchison retired as editor of The Times Argus in 1999.