Mayor Mamdani was surprised to face a question from reporters yesterday asking whether he favored the unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. He said he hadn’t studied the question. For New York politicians, conscious of a ferociously nationalistic Irish-American vote, the question would have been a no-brainer. Rudy Giuliani wasn’t afraid to appear alongside Gerry Adams. 

One of the biggest changes to NYC life in my lifetime is the slow fade of the Irish diaspora and it’s barely talked about at all — though its one of the subjects of the great 9/11 novel Let the Great World Spin. https://t.co/tIdXt6jgmx — Helaine Olen (@helaineolen) March 17, 2026

One of the biggest changes to NYC life in my lifetime is the slow fade of the Irish diaspora and it’s barely talked about at all — though its one of the subjects of the great 9/11 novel Let the Great World Spin. https://t.co/tIdXt6jgmx

— Helaine Olen (@helaineolen) March 17, 2026

What happened? There are still a handful of Irish-inflected neighborhoods in New York City, notably Woodlawn in the Bronx. There was a time in 1855 when Irish-born people made up nearly a third of the residents of New York City. But the Irish diaspora has long since gone to the suburbs. Pearl River, New York, in Rockland County, may now have the highest concentration of Irish and Irish-Americans in America.

But the real transformation is Ireland itself. The Irish diaspora in America, particularly in the urban cores, was, throughout the 20th century, refreshed and renewed in its Irish identity by subsequent waves of immigration. The 1950s saw an influx. And then, as the Troubles worsened, there was a decisive influx of Irish immigrants (legal and illegal) bearing hard tales of growing up in the Ardoyne, or Divis Flats.

That renewal basically stopped after the peace process and the Celtic Tiger made Ireland more economically viable. The breakup of Irish communities under other forms of immigration in America made Western Canada and Australia more attractive destinations when Ireland went bust again in the global financial crisis.

Anyway, Happy Paddy’s Day.

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