Dolan's The Irish Americans: A History

Sources are critical as evidence for Dolan’s book because without them he cannot accurately portray the Irish American history. The use of many sources aids in solidifying his argument on the history of the Irish; however, an argument can quickly lose its validity if the sources used as evidence are incorrectly used and misstated. Many times throughout Dolan’s hardcover edition of The Irish Americans: A History he uses statistics to bring to light the number of Irish immigrating throughout history. In 1798 many United Irish left Ireland because they faced jail. Dolan quotes that, “About half of them were Presbyterians, with Catholics numbering about 28 percent” (Dolan 31). For this statistic Dolan cites a table from Transatlantic Radicals and the Early American
Dolan uses a picture to claim that parades showed the commitment American Irish had to their heritage.
“Though their nationalism would wane after the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, loyalty to their Irish heritage remained strong among American-born Irish. The final, element, which blended these two loyalties together, was religion. Another parade, a public ritual filled with meaning illustrated how strong this commitment was”(Dolan 105).
For this statement Dolan interprets a picture from Ballots and bibles: Ethnic Politics and the Catholic Church in Providence. A picture as evidence is a weak source because a reader can interpret the picture differently than Dolan. The description below the picture is paralleled in Dolan’s writing. The footnote and citing are correct for this source and they allow for the reader to go back and see the illustration. Overall Dolan uses his sources to accurately portray the history of Irish Americans. In order to improve the integrity of his writing Dolan should have provided more footnotes to explain where he got definitive facts like the fact that Annie Moore’s migration was chain migration