Irish in Denver
Irish immigrants came to the United States in droves during the Irish Potato Famine (1845-1852) seeking a better life. Once they reached America however, they were met with discrimination and back breaking labor. Faced with the challenges of discrimination, the Irish fought hard to work their way up the socioeconomic ladder in America. The first-generation of immigrants did their utmost to pave a path to a better future for their children. Their efforts made it possible for second and third generation Irish to obtain positions that once had often been out of reach. Many Irishman helped lay down tracks for the growing railroad industry and built roads and ditches for the growing infrastructure of the United States. Margaret Tobin Brown’s own father, an Irish immigrant, was a ditch digger. The booming mining business brought many Irish to Colorado in the…