St. Patrick Day has become a national celebration honoring an Irish Saint. The story goes that he chased the snakes out of Ireland. He was supposedly captured by the Romans and taken to Rome. But, somehow he survived, and made it back to the old sod and the history books.
The Irish played a huge role in Colorado because they were the primary working-class when railroads, mining, and agriculture emerged in the new Colorado territory. The gold rush began in Central City in 1859 at Gregory Gulch. 20,000 miners rushed to Colorado and then to Cripple Creek and Leadville.
Millions of Irish, who could afford a few pounds, fled the widespread Irish starvation that was occurring in the 1840s, 50s and 60s. The proud British empire owned most of the land in Ireland and poverty was widespread with famine. There was no love lost with the English landlords and there were religious issues as well, Ireland being a widespread Catholic country. The story goes that when the Spanish Armada attempted to attack England their ships were sunk, and potatoes washed up on the empire shores. These potatoes eventually helped ease the starvation in Ireland.
A large work force of Irish, largely men, arrived in America. Many were enlisted off the boats to fight for the Northern army in the 1860s. Thousands of Irish died in the civil war. The rest spread out across the new land and there were so many Irish seeking work in Boston they put signs in the windows NINA, meaning “No Irish Need Apply.” The Irish were the vast minority and the work force for the new land, welcome or not.
My own grandfather, Patrick Sweeney, was one of those young men who arrived at New York Harbor in 1865 at the age of 19. He won five pounds in a plowboy contest in County Cork, Ireland and left his four brothers and parents to sail to America, never to return to Ireland.
A plowboy was judged on how deep and close the furrows were with a plow pulled by a horse. Because of his ability with horses, he worked his way west driving teams of horses to construct the railroads. My daughter Susan and husband Mike, purchased a sculpture called “The Plough Boy” in Vail by the popular late artist, Walt Horton, not knowing our early history at the time.
Because so many Irish arrived in America with the opening of the West, they became homesteaders, miners, and common laborers.
There is a story about John Mullen who arrived in Denver penniless and applied at a flour mill for employment and was told, “No job.” He said he would work for free, so they put him to work and years later he owned the Hungarian Flour Mill and made a fortune. He left his mark in Denver as a great philanthropist with the Mullen name revered in Colorado history.
There are many famous and well-known Irish men and women in Colorado history and an estimated 300,000 people of Irish ancestry in the state.
Ireland is a beautiful country with deep green rolling hills. Home to many high-tech firms and famous for lamb stews and puddings.
They say the Irish would rule the world if it wasn’t for whiskey.