Product Review

When it comes to Irish America, certain names spring to mind€•Kennedy, O€Neill, and Curley testify to the proverbial €œfootsteps of the Gael€ in Boston. However, few people know of Sister Mary Anthony O€Connell, whose medical prowess carried her from the convent to the Civil War battlefields, earning her the nickname €œthe Boston Irish Florence Nightingale,€ or of Barney McGinniskin, Boston€s first Irish cop, who proudly roared at every roll call, €œMcGinniskin from the bogs of Ireland€•present!€ Along with acclaim or notoriety, many forgotten Irish Americans garnered numerous historical firsts. In Hidden History of the Boston Irish, Peter F. Stevens offers an entertaining and compelling portrait of the Irish immigrant saga and pays homage to the overlooked, yet significant, episodes of the Boston Irish experience.