THE IRISH IN RHODE ISLAND, TO AND INCLUDING THE REVOLUTION.
BY JOHN J. COSGROVE, PROVIDENCE, R. I.
When it was first suggested to me that I prepare a paper dealing with some phase of the history of the Irish in America I decided that I would take as my subject the history of the Irish in Rhode Island up to the present time. My belief was that the part played by the men and women of Irish birth or descent in the early history of our state was so slight, and the facts relating thereto so meagre, that I could in a few words deal with the early history of the Irish in Rhode Island, and could pass on to their history for the last three-quarters of a century.
Upon beginning my researches I was at once convinced of my mistake and soon learned that if I adhered to my original intention, instead of preparing a short paper I would be obliged to write a large volume. Therefore, I have taken as my subject: “The history of the Irish in Rhode Island to and including the Revolution,” with the hope that some abler Irish man or woman will, at some future time, tell the story of the part played by the men and women of Irish birth or extraction in the modern history of the “lively experiment” of Roger Williams.
In discussing the history of the Irish in America it is not our intention to belittle the work of others, or to steal from other nations the glories of their achievements; neither are we seeking to dim the lustre of the Puritan crown, nor to call our own the mighty deeds of the pioneer Pilgrims who landed in New England and conquered the wilderness. We have no desire to turn Plymouth Rock into a Blarney Stone. We are not going to assert that Roger Williams was the grandson of Fin Mac Cumbal, or that the clam was first planted in Narragansett Bay by the founder of Clan McFadden.
Our object is simply to record the deeds of the men and women of our race in the making of America; to enable Americans to judge us in true perspective; to tell the world what we Irish have done and are doing in the upbuilding of this state and nation. We are trying to bring to the minds of the country a knowledge of the fact that we have been here from the beginning, that we have given our service and our lives for the promotion of America’s happiness, that, by our brain, by our brawn, by our courage, tenacity of purpose, morality, we have fairly earned the right to the highest and best that America can offer to its devoted sons and daughters. We seek to tear away the veil of ignorance that has blinded many to our worth and to bring into relief a better picture of our race that has too often been falsely depicted. We are proving our claim, not by appeals to race prejudice or bigotry, but by incontrovertible evidence. In the words of the American-Irish Historical Society, we are laboring “that the world may know.”
There is a very erroneous impression in the minds of many, even in this enlightened age, that the struggle for liberty in Ireland has been a religious struggle, a struggle for the principles of Catholicity and for these principles alone. Our fight is not a religious fight. It is the fight for the liberties of a race, not a religion; for the right of a distinct, ethnic entity to work out its salvation in the way best suited to its temporal needs. “Nations have no hereafter, their reward must be of this world”; neither have they religions as nations.
Many are also of the opinion that unless a man or woman is a Catholic he or she is not Irish, though bearing an Irish name. Thus we see people of other faith with the name of Sullivan or Murphy classed as “Scotch-Irish,” that race with no existence, repudiated alike by Irish and Scotch, and which someone has called the “Equinoctial Gael.”
Another fact to be borne in mind in connection with Irish names is that many Irish men and women have come to America, and particularly to New England, who, for one reason or another, bore names distinctly un-Irish. Why this is so will be explained later.