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Irish
Contents
Irish Immigration to New York City >The Irish at 97 Orchard
Street > 19th Century Dublin > Irish Immigrants in the Workplace
> Irish Immigrants and the Catholic Church in America > Tammany
Hall and Irish Political Participation > Irish Nationalism >
Irish Fraternal and County Organizations > 19th Century Health
Care and the Immigrant Irish > The Irish Wake
The Irish at 97 Orchard Street
When the tenement at 97 Orchard Street was constructed in 1863,
the surrounding neighborhood was populated mostly by German immigrants.
Although it stood in a section of the Lower East Side known as Kleindeutschland
or Little Germany, a significant number of Irish families resided
in the building as well. During the time it served as a residence
between 1863 and 1935, 97 Orchard Street was home to approximately
twelve Irish families, including that of Joseph
and Bridget Moore. In addition to the Moores, Lucas
Glockner rented to the Dineens, Sullivans, Murphys, and Byrnes,
among others.
The area was far from homogenous, German immigrants
mingled with Irish, Italians, Jews,
and African Americans. Germans
themselves came from thirty different states with various linguistic,
cultural, and religious differences as Germany was not yet a unified
nation. As such, the Moores would have encountered Germans and other
immigrants in their own building, the street, and nearby stores.
Irish and German neighbors would have interacted with their German
neighbors in the hallways, around the backyard pump, or when shopping
from street peddlers. Socially and religiously, however, Irish,
German, and other immigrants interacted most often in their own
ethnic groups. Germans often belonged to regionally based mutual
assistance societies and fraternal lodges or, Vereine; attended
German-speaking churches, including the leading German parish, Most
Holy Redeemer; and frequented German saloons, beer halls, and wine
gardens. The Irish tended to belong to county and other ethnic associations
and benefit societies; attended Irish churches; frequented Irish
saloons; and supported Irish causes.
Compared to the predominantly Irish population of the Sixth Ward's
Five Points neighborhood, those that lived at 97
Orchard Street appear to have enjoyed more comfortable quarters
and practiced more skilled occupations. For example, the move from
their first home on 65 Mott Street in the Five Points to 97 Orchard
Street in Kleindeutschland would have represented a significant
step up for the Moores. While nearly half the Irish workers in New
York City during the 1860s and 1870s were unskilled laborers, many
of the Irish at 97 Orchard Street were employed as clerks and artisans.
For example, Charles Dineen, who came to New York from Ireland in
1861, lived at 97 Orchard Street between 1864-1865. Working as a
clerk in a store, Charles would have enjoyed a slightly higher class
status than his fellow countrymen who spent their days at back-breaking
labor. With his wife Bridget, Charles had three children, Dennis,
Catherine, and James. Charles died in 1873 and was survived by his
wife and three children.
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