Kevin Costner Swells Kansas City Irish
I read something incredible about the Irish in Kansas City today that I reckon is down one of 3 things;
1. It’s a typo
2. Kevin Costner is off his trolley
3. I don’t have a clue about Irish history
In the Sacromento Bee in an article about Costner playing music in a band with friends called Modern West, Costner says the band are working on some songs that document American life.
And in talking about supposedly little-known parts of American history, Costner then gave an example:
Back at the turn of the century, for instance, 200,000 Irish orphans were shipped out to Kansas City and people took them home and they made their way into the fabric of America. That’s good stuff.
200,000?
Orphans were very common at the turn of the 19th century into the 20th, and I believe none more so than Irish orphans. The famine Irish had arrived in North America 50 years earlier and brought with them cholera, poverty and a will to survive, rather than the more adventurous spirit that previous Irish arrivals had brought.
Also, such was the lack of parents in the Irish population in North America that I believe at one point orphans were assumed to be Irish. And there would have been more of them in St Louis I think.
Still though, how we get from there to 200,000 Irish orphans being shipped to Kansas City - which in the 1880s had a total population of 80,000 - I’ve no idea.
So I’m going to choose to not believe it until somebody can point me at a more authoritive source than Kevin Costner.
I should also note that it’s entirely possible that all 3 possible reasons, I listed above, apply i.e. it is a typo and should be 2,000 Irish orphans, Kevin Costner is off is trolley anyway, and I’m certainly no authority on Irish history.
Eolaí gan Fhéile:
He might be talking about the orphan train(s), neither solely about the Irish nor particularly good stuff for many of the children. Apparently there’s an orphan train museum in Concordia, KS:
http://www.orphantraindepot.com/OrphanTrainHistory.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_Train
Zeta - I imagine you’re right. As you say not all orphans, nor indeed all Irish - but I’d guess a significant number were Irish. I wonder if anyone has those figures?
Also with the “turn of the century” lasting 75 years, it allows much more scope for such huge numbers.