Irish heritage is woven into Utah's history

Today, Irish heritage is alive and strong in Utah. Irish dancing has also become a popular hobby, supporting almost a dozen companies, including four that have been licensed by the official board in Dublin. Clare Duignan, 22, is an Open Championship dancer, the equivalent of a black belt in Irish dance. She said Irish dance performances can be found two or three times a month in the area — more during March. Her company, The Crawford School of Irish Dance, has been open since the 1980s, and its dancers are in high demand for meetings and festivals.

John Welch, society president-elect, said that he's lived all across the country and has found Utah to be as supportive and interested in Irish culture as anywhere else. But even though it was a long time ago, he believes the discrimination experienced by the Irish explains why so many descendants are interested in promoting the culture today.

"The Irish have a particular need because of all the antagonism and hard times they went through with leaving their homes because of the potato famine, and the poor treatment and abuse they experienced from the British, like having their language forbidden," he said.

Vincent Cheng, professor of English at the University of Utah, is an expert on Irish literature and said that the presidency of John F. Kennedy was the first time many Irish-Americans felt like equal citizens. Similar to discrimination because of skin color, many employers refused to hire Irish in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A few specious "scientific" arguments were even proposed as to why they weren't white racially and were closer to African-Americans than Europeans.

The first St. Patrick's Day Parade was held in Sandy in 1864, said McDonough, who has made a documentary about Utah's Irish for public television. They were held every year until the 1920s when they fell out of favor. The 1916 Easter Rebellion, Ireland's neutrality during World War I and the "Americanization" of Utah all made expressions of Irish pride less popular.

Whatever the reasons, when Utah's Irish are acknowledged in histories, it's often done stereotypically and in association with mining. But since mountain man days, Irish-Americans have been important in every aspect of the territory. Trapper Thomas Fitzpatrick was with Jim Bridger when he discovered the pass into the valley. Elizabeth Steel, the first white baby born in Utah, was Irish, as was the first white person to die (a member of the Donner-Reed Party). In fact, many in the Donner Party were Irish, including leader James Reed. Around 40 percent of the soldiers that won Utah from Mexico were Irish, and some of the most notable Mormon pioneers were as well.