This chapter provides a brief introduction to the two strands of history that intersect throughout Two Irelands beyond the Sea: the histories of Irish unionism and Irish-America. The chapter lays forth the book’s central argument, that the reciprocal relationship between Irish unionism and the United States must be understood as part of a wider appreciation of the unionist movement in the Home Rule era. Moreover, the United States greatly influenced the ways in which Irish unionists conceived of themselves and of their own movement, through both their conflicted attempts to gain American support and their use of the United States and Scotch-Irish identity symbolically in their fight against Home Rule. The chapter also argues that the links between Protestant Irish-America and Ireland are a key part of understanding the development of Scotch-Irish ethnic organizations in this time period.
3. Mobilizing Irish America in the Antebellum Lecture Hall
