Via Ireland, a Chapter in the Story of Black America

Recent studies of African American names reveal interesting interactions between African Americans and Irish immigrants in the 1800s in America. According to the author of "Black Genealogy", hair and skin color of both Blacks and Irish made them subject to discrimination from mainstream Protestant society in the North before the Civil War. Although such shared discrimination created conditions for building alliances and networks, it also resulted in intense competition over economic opportunities. More illuminating in these studies is the phenomenon of Black-Irish inter-marriage, which was not uncommon. In this St. Patrick's day article in the New York Times, such evidence of the complex interaction between the Irish and the African Americans comes as a surprise to several African Americans, who were not aware that they might have Irish ancestors! – YaleGlobal