There is a link between the Irish in the southwest corner of Ireland in the Beara Peninsula and the Americans in Butte, Montana and that is their ancestry. Because of its history as a mining center, Butte, Montana, attracted the miners from the copper mines of Allihies near Castletownbere in County Cork, Ireland.

The Allihies Copper Mines began operations in 1812. The mine, now discontinued, was owned by Berehaven Copper Mines Ltd., Allihies and 19 St. Swithins St, London EC. The Allihes Copper Mine Museum opened in 2007 in Ireland.

"In October 1864 a claim was filed on the Parrot lode, an area that would ultimately include some of Butte's earliest copper mines." [Source: Montana Mining Properties: Butte Mining District History] Meanwhile,as the mine workers in Allihes could no longer support their families nor themselves at the time of "The Great Hunger," many "emigrated to the mines of north Michigan and Butte (Montana) in the United States. [Source: Riobard O'Dwyer, Beara genealogist].

"Butte, Montana, was built on the backs of the famine Irish and their children." [Source: The New York Times, March 12, 2008, True Irish, Timothy Egan]. Due to the great numbers of immigrants to Butte from Ireland, the Irish had an enormous influence in the building of Butte and it its customs and culture. Butte, Montana is now one of the country's most thoroughly Irish-American cities.

In a brief article written and shared with Irish Thymes, Dr. Traolach Ó Ríordáin (Terry) of the University of Montana Irish Studies Program tells of the inter-marriage of the Indians and the Irish-speaking settlers, whose "unique culture of music and dance is unquestionably of Irish Gaelic provenance." Professor Ó Ríordáin goes to explain how "Against this classic western background of cowboys, Indians, and cavalry, there emerged a city unlike any other in the Irish experience; for where the Irish would come to accommodate to the great metropolises of the east coast like Boston and New York, the Irish in Montana would build the city of Butte from the ground up and shape its character to reflect their Irish, Catholic and Gaelic ethos and heritage."

About the decedents of the copper miners of Butte, Dr. Ó Ríordáin says, "anxious to preserve their Gaelic heritage, they established a local group to teach Irish language, music and dance." This led to the forming of the Irish Studies Program at the University of Montana, where Dr. Ó Ríordáin teaches the Irish language, nationalism, Gaelic culture, Irish literature in Irish, Irish history, Irish religious history and philosophy.

Read Dr. Ó Ríordáin's scholarly article in full >> [Requires PDF] or view the same article at Celtic Connection, a Denver, Colorado, online newsletter.