Summary

 

As a group we all agreed that one of the main reasons the Irish were seen as a bad influence to American culture was for their preference of religion. Unlike the majority of those who were Protestant the Irish were Catholics and for this they were discriminated against in all parts of life.  However, with hard work the living conditions and social status of the Irish eventually improved.  Despite the predicament of their Irish parents, children were often able to find opportunities for advancement.  The second generation moved into the skilled trades, becoming bricklayers and carpenters, plumbers and masons, which were all jobs requiring learned skills, apprenticeship, and not through study or knowledge from books.  These jobs in turn afforded the Irish a higher standard of living.  The gradual success of the Irish eventually led to better school attendance for their children and further occupational mobility.  As a consequence of greater educational accomplishment, second- and third- generation of Irish Americans began to achieve a degree of occupational equivalence with the general population.