Contemporary Catholic and Protestant Irish America: social identities, forgiveness, and attitudes toward The Troubles

Eire-Ireland:Journal of Irish Studies, Spring-Summer, 2002 by Micheal D. Roe

Arguing that acculturation is not synonymous with assimilation, Berry presents acculturation as an adaptation process designed to decrease conflict between cultural groups. He argues that four modes of acculturation exist, and that they are defined according to two dimensions. The first dimension relates to ethnic distinctiveness, and the second to interethnic contact. The valuing of both a distinct ethnic identity and intergroup contact defines the integration mode of acculturation. Not valuing a distinct ethnic identity while valuing intergroup contact defines the assimilation mode of acculturation. Valuing a distinct ethnic identity and not entering into intergroup interaction defines the separation mode of acculturation. Finally, the loss of ethnic identity coupled with alienation from larger society defines the deculturation mode of acculturation. (46)

Assuming that the "assimilation mode" describes the acculturation for these Irish-American Protestants, it cannot be characterized as a simple process of sloughing off layers of "Irishness" over time, for among these Protestants were also those who identified more strongly as Irish American, and evaluated their Irish heritage as of greater importance. They also identified more strongly with the historic Catholic experience, the nationalist political agenda, and even the more militant republican agenda. These strongly Irish-American Protestants may have had their roots in families that were Catholic back in Ireland but converted to Protestantism after emigration. D.H. Akenson addresses this possibility in discussing the Protestant majority among those claiming Irish roots in the United States; however, he also notes that such changes in religious loyalty were not sufficient to explain fully the Protestant numerical dominance. (47) More recently, Wilson has noted that although "a majority of those acknowledging Irish heritage in the 1990 census were Protestant, their claim does not translate into a network of support for unionism," (48) and in fact in the present study a strong negative correlation existed among the Protestants between identifying with "American" and identifying with "Unionists in Northern Ireland." It may well be that the acculturation process of Irish-American Protestants does translate into support for the nationalism most often associated with Northern-Irish Catholics. The socialization of Americans with or without Irish ancestry contains a set of historical events and associated values, which include revolution leading to independence from colonial powers to individual voice in self-governing. In addition, many of today's Irish American Protestants are the descendants of former Irish Protestants (Scotch-Irish and Anglo-Irish) who quite literally and violently "threw the Brits out" of the colonies in the eighteenth century. In 1784, this lead to the lament in Irish Parliament, "America was lost by Irish emigrants." (49)

Irish-American Catholics strongly affirmed both the Irish and the Irish-American sides of their identity. In addition, the Irish-American Catholics were more active in participating in Irish culture, their families experienced more recent emigrations, they retain more ongoing contact with Ireland or Northern Ireland, they were more knowledgeable about their Irish family history and about historical events in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and they appeared more homogeneous, opinionated, and at times more ideological in their attitudes about Irish historical and political events. The Catholics in this study appeared to be experiencing an integration mode of acculturation--as described by Berry in Figure 1. That is, they valued both a distinct ethnic identity, and involvement in dominant American culture. Their relatively recent past as a socially marginalized ethnic group within the United States, the perception of Britain as a continuing external enemy, and the historically strong identification and influence of the Catholic church among these Irish Americans have undoubtedly helped maintain their ethnic identity.