| | CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: The Irish (In Countries Other Than Ireland) |
 | | Who were the first Irish to land on the American continent and the time of their arrival are perhaps matters of conjecture rather than of historical proof; but that the Irish were there almost at the beginning of the colonial era is a fact support by historical records. |
 | | Later, in May, 1879, the Irish Catholic Colonization Association of the United States was established at Chicago, under the auspices of various archbishops, with the co-operation of eminent Irish Catholic laymen, and during the ensuing decade it assisted many immigrants to find homes in the Western states. |
 | | While men of the Irish race were engaged on the battlefield in defence of their adopted country, accompanied and encouraged by the clergy, the religious orders of women within the Church were no less diligent in nursing the sick and wounded in camps and hospitals. |
| www.newadvent.org /cathen/08132b.htm (16051 words) |