Rolling Up the Rug: An American Irish Story

by Michael Scanlon

The first volume of a three part memoir traces a family’s journey from the west of Ireland to the Bronx, New York against a back drop of World War II, Irish music, the Catholic Church and Yankee Stadium. In the late 1920’s the author’s parents abandoned the land of their birth because in many ways, the land had abandoned them. Along with many thousands of others struggling on farms in rural Ireland, they sailed for America seeking a better life. Like the long wave of immigrants before and after them, they never completely abandoned their roots and never stopped singing their Irish songs filled with nostalgic longing for the valleys, streams and meadows of their youth. But, over a period of time, their natural Irish gregariousness found an easy fit in the hustle and bustle of city life. This is a story about a family with one foot in the old country and one foot in the 1940’s and 50’s of New York City. Michael Scanlon describes his early childhood as a first generation son and his family's transition from Irish American to American Irish and how life is created in America filled with possibilities, hope and ambitions.

Genres: Memoir

100 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Maureen Foley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing to me because it was so personal. As a first generation Irish American, I could so relate to the stories of his parents. His parents came to the USA in the late 1920's, my parents came in 1949 and 1950 and I became aware of the differences. I'm not sure this book is for everybody, but it certainly was for me.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely little book about what it was like to grow up in New York City in the 1940s and 1950s. Scanlon proves his credibility by playing stick ball with a spaldeen.