Ships, Shanties, and the Shamrock: Brooklyn’s 19th Century Irish Waterfront | Episode 199

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On March 17, 1863, the gunboat Shamrock was launched from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, an event attended by more than 5,000 onlookers and tremendous fanfare. The christening of this ship was meant to recognize the contributions of Irish troops to the Union cause, but it also represented a watershed moment during the ascendancy of the Irish in the city’s waterfront trades. This program will examine the growth of Irish communities along the waterfront before and after the Civil War, look at the centers of civic life, including churches, pubs, and political clubs, some of which persist to this day, and learn about groundbreaking Irish admirals, engineers, and entrepreneurs that helped shape the city’s waterfront.

• Immigrants Who Made the Brooklyn Navy Yard Great: John Barry
• WATCH: Waterfront Workers: Finding the Harkins Family with Julie Golia
• Kings County Distillery
• “The Whiskey Wars That Left Brooklyn in Ruins” (Smithsonian)
• Betancourt, Marian, Heroes of New York Harbor: Tales from the City’s Port

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