Real Lace

America’s Irish Catholic rich have long enjoyed the designation of F.I.F. or First Irish Family or “Real Lace” as it delineates their place in the “Irishtocracy” where names such as Cuddihy Murray Doheny and McDonnell inspire respect and awe. Yet in almost every case their origins in this country were humble. Fleeing the Irish potato famine in the 1840s they found themselves penniless in the slums of New York and Boston where they were regarded as “invaders” and a curse humiliated by signs that said ‘No Irish Need Apply’ and forced to accept jobs too degrading to be accepted by native and other immigrant populations. Nonetheless they possessed one important advantage over other immigrants: they spoke the language. They were also by nature and tradition political. And they had ambition courage a fighting spirit and—perhaps most important—Irish charm.<BR /><BR />Here in this engrossing and often hilarious book we read of how the Irish elite emerged—frequently in less than a generation’s time—out of poverty into positions of both social and business prominence. One of the F.I.F. Robert J. Cuddihy was behind one of the great publishing stories of the twentieth century the rise and fall of the Literary Digest. Another Thomas E. Murray though little schooled possessed an engineering genius that led to his control of a number of electrical and other patents second only to Thomas Edison. Still another Edward Doheny was a key figure in the great Teapot Dome scandal of the Harding years. We read of the F.I.F.’s struggles to cling to their faith and their determination to cope with the “Irish curse”: alcohol. In Real Lace Stephen Birmingham recounts the ultimate rags-to-riches story of the American Irish in a social history as entertaining as it is important.