Champlain College Dublin graphic design lecturer Francis Curran reported in the Irish Times this week that Butte, Montana could be considered the most Irish town in America.
Francis traveled to Butte last year to investigate the Irish diaspora in Butte, and his timely article and photographs appeared in the paper the day before St. Patrick’s Day.
‘THEY SAY that Butte, Montana, has the largest St Patrick’s Day parade in the Rockies, but I didn’t know whether it was going to be far removed from the reality of Ireland, a sort of disconnected theme parade. Was the Irishness of the participants merely an imaginary notion? Did they have any real contemporary connection, any awareness of what was going on in Ireland?‘
In closing the article, Francis writes that ‘I was amazed to find a close-knit Irish community, independent and proud of its heritage, with a powerful history of survival and of overcoming adversity. There is a healthy mix of irreverence, a warm welcome and the love of life that we in Ireland take pride in and consider an integral part of our identity.’
See and read more about the project: https://caughtoutside.posterous.com/
UPDATE: There was phenomenal worldwide interest in the article, and a follow-up was published on the website of the Irish Emigrant. That article is here.
