Deftly interweaving history and reporting, observation and opinion -- including voices from cities across America and from Ireland itself -- Dezell traces the changing makeup of the Irish population in this country, from the early immigrants to today's affluent, educated Irish Americans. With sensitivity and humor, she pinpoints what unites them: the traditions (if not the practice) of Catholicism; a sense of social duty; humor, often self-directed; and the deep-seated, apparently unshakable belief that any achievement is accidental and could easily disappear tomorrow.

In an incisive exploration of the role of the Catholic Church in Irish-American life, Dezell discusses the opposition to the hierarchy that has eroded church attendance and the rise of a "cultural Catholicism" based more on ethics than on religious identity. She probes into family and community life, including a refreshing look at the influence of resourceful, resilient women on immigrant neighborhoods, the labor movement, education, and the economic success of generations of Irish-American entrepreneurs. Her analysis of the complex psychology of the Irish sheds light on Freud's remark that they are the only ethnic group that doesn't benefit from psychoanalysis; her investigation into alcohol abuse, endemic in Irish America, reveals the historical,sociocultural, and genetic reasons behind it.

From insights into the sometimes contentious relationship between the Irish in Ireland and in America to the impact of the "new Irish" immigrants on American culture, "Irish America" is an enlightening tribute to a group of Americans long masked in myths and misconceptions.