Out of Ireland: Story of Irish Emigration to America

Traces the story of flight from the famine-swept villages of 19th century Ireland to the industrialized cities of 20th century America. The program personalizes this transatlantic journey by focusing on the lives of eight specific immigrants, utilizing letters they wrote home to Ireland, the story is of a people yearning for change even as they clung desperately to ancient traditions. In America, the story is of policemen and maids, priests and politicians, rogues, wanderers, and victims of discrimination, bemoaning their forced departure from the Old World even as they reaped the benefits of the New World.