Francis M. Carroll. America and the Making of an Independent Ireland: A History.

Abstract

In America and the Making of an Independent Ireland, Francis M. Carroll maintains that between 1916 and 1928 the United States “performed a crucial role” (xii) in the transformation of Ireland. While it is generally accepted that Irish Americans massively supported the Irish demands for self-government—something the author had already extensively written about, most notably in American Opinion and the Irish Question, 1910–1923 (1978)—here Carroll enlarges the scope of his analysis to the American Senate and House of Representatives and to US presidents from Woodrow Wilson to Calvin Coolidge. Relying on extensive diplomatic archives, private papers, and the correspondence of statesmen in Britain, Ireland, and the United States, along with the local archives of Irish American organizations, Carroll convincingly demonstrates that the United States played a determining part in the achievement of the century-long aspirations of the Irish. Praise must be given to the author for marshaling such a wide, impressive range of archives. His magnum opus will undeniably capture the attention not only of specialists of Ireland and Irish American relations but also of scholars of the First War World, humanitarianism, and the Irish diaspora, together with academics interested in US constitutional law and diplomatic relations.