The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930
"Bridget" was the Irish immigrant servant girl who worked in American homes from the second half of the nineteenth century into the early years of the twentieth. She is widely known as a pop culture cliché: the young girl who wreaked havoc in middle-class American homes. Now, in the first book-length treatment of the topic, Margaret Lynch-Brennan tells the real story of such Irish domestic servants, providing a richly detailed portrait of their lives and experiences. Drawing on personal correspondence and other primary sources, Lynch-Brennan gives voice to these young Irish women and celebrates their untold contribution to the ethnic history of the United States. In addition, recognizing the interest of scholars in contemporary domestic service, she devotes one chapter to comparing "Bridget's" experience to that of other ethnic women over time in domestic service in America.
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The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930
"Bridget" was the Irish immigrant servant girl who worked in American homes from the second half of the nineteenth century into the early years of the twentieth. She is widely known as a pop culture cliché: the young girl who wreaked havoc in middle-class American homes. Now, in the first book-length treatment of the topic, Margaret Lynch-Brennan tells the real story of such Irish domestic servants, providing a richly detailed portrait of their lives and experiences. Drawing on personal correspondence and other primary sources, Lynch-Brennan gives voice to these young Irish women and celebrates their untold contribution to the ethnic history of the United States. In addition, recognizing the interest of scholars in contemporary domestic service, she devotes one chapter to comparing "Bridget's" experience to that of other ethnic women over time in domestic service in America.
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The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930

The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930

by Margaret Lynch-Brennan
The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930

The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930

by Margaret Lynch-Brennan

Paperback(Reprint)

$19.95 
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Overview

"Bridget" was the Irish immigrant servant girl who worked in American homes from the second half of the nineteenth century into the early years of the twentieth. She is widely known as a pop culture cliché: the young girl who wreaked havoc in middle-class American homes. Now, in the first book-length treatment of the topic, Margaret Lynch-Brennan tells the real story of such Irish domestic servants, providing a richly detailed portrait of their lives and experiences. Drawing on personal correspondence and other primary sources, Lynch-Brennan gives voice to these young Irish women and celebrates their untold contribution to the ethnic history of the United States. In addition, recognizing the interest of scholars in contemporary domestic service, she devotes one chapter to comparing "Bridget's" experience to that of other ethnic women over time in domestic service in America.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780815633549
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Publication date: 06/05/2014
Series: Irish Studies
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 260
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Margaret Lynch-Brennan taught at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York, as well as at SUNY Oneonta's Cooperstown Graduate Program. She is retired from the New York State Education Department and currently works as an independent scholar.

Table of Contents

Illustrations ix

Foreword, Maureen O'Rourke Murphy xi

Preface xv

Introduction xvii

1 Home Life in Ireland 1

2 From Ireland 22

3 To America 40

4 The World of the American Mistress 60

5 The Work World of the Irish Bridget 84

6 The Social World of the Irish Bridget 121

7 Was Bridget's Experience Unique? 151

Epilogue 177

Works Cited 185

Index 209

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