By KEVIN P. CONNOR

Contributing writer

Every year, the infamous St. Patrick’s Day parades in New York and South Boston, known for drawing conservative white males and excluding gays and lesbians, meet the glare of the national media spotlight. It’s no surprise that this annual focus on a narrow sample of Irish-Americans produces many misconceptions about a much-maligned people.

Maureen Dezell’s Irish America: Coming into Clover is an unsentimental exploration of the cultural identity that the media often miss. The sweeping scope of her coverage ranges from a treatment of Irish-American enclaves outside of the Northeast, like Butte, Montana, to a penetrating look at the dynamic role women have played in shaping the Irish America of today.

At times, Dezell’s chapters degenerate into long catalogues of distinguished Irish-Americans. But Dezell is at her best when identifying the common cultural traits of the oldest ethnic group in America. A sparkling wit, a gregarious nature and a charitable spirit are some of the shared traits she finds, but the book does more than extol the virtues of Irish-Americans. Dezell delves into “the very crowded category of things the Irish don’t like to discuss” to uncover their problematic characteristics: a caustic sarcasm, a talent for holding grudges, a dark cynicism and, most significantly, a crippling weakness for the sauce.

Fortunately, the author is not handicapped by any of these traits. Irish America is an unflinching examination of an important American ethnic group that is too often misrepresented.

books

Irish America: Coming Into Clover

By Maureen Dezell

Anchor

261 pp., $13

By KEVIN P. CONNOR