As St. Patrick’s Day celebrations unfold across Wisconsin, historians say the story of the Irish in the state is one of persistence, adaptation and long‑lasting influence — even though Wisconsin wasn’t the first destination for many immigrants.
Marquette University Associate Professor of Irish and British History Timothy McMahon says most Irish immigrants who ultimately settled in Wisconsin spent years elsewhere before arriving. “A lot of the people who came here actually had settled briefly on the East Coast of the U.S. before moving here,” McMahon said. “People who’ve studied the Irish in Wisconsin have pointed out that people usually spent somewhere between five and seven years other places before coming here.”
McMahon says an emigration office based in Milwaukee actively encouraged Irish immigrants living on the East Coast to relocate, promoting Wisconsin as a place of opportunity during the 1800s.
Once here, Irish immigrants left a lasting mark on the state’s social, political and economic landscape. “You had areas like Mineral Point where you had Irish miners,” McMahon said. “Politically and socially, the Irish have really been a factor in this state.”
One of the most visible reminders of that influence looms over Milwaukee’s lakefront — the Hoan Bridge, named for Daniel Hoan, an Irish American who served as Milwaukee’s mayor for about 24 years.
Beyond politics and mining, Irish immigrants also became deeply rooted in agriculture, often facing dramatic changes from the farming practices they knew in Ireland. “They might be responsible for a budget on a plot of land that grew food for their family, and here they’d be managing 100 acres or 200 acres,” McMahon said. “They had to use different equipment as opposed to hand spades, and they might have to be engaged in planting different crops than they were used to.”
McMahon says the transition required significant adaptation, especially during the first few generations. Many Irish immigrants who had been tenant farmers in Ireland became landowners for the first time after settling in Wisconsin. That struggle to adapt — and to belong — also shaped how Irish Americans celebrated their heritage. McMahon says St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the United States grew in part out of a desire to assert Irish identity at a time when Irish Catholics faced discrimination.
“This was a big part of what immigrant groups did in the past and continue to do down to our own time — to stake out a place in American society,” McMahon said. “St. Patrick’s Day parades became very important in the 19th and early 20th centuries, essentially saying, ‘Look, we’re good Americans, but we also have this heritage.’”
Wisconsin’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parade took place over the weekend in downtown Milwaukee, continuing a tradition rooted in both celebration and history.