Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Preface: Connections and Separations -- Introduction: Irish Types, American Patterns -- 1 What Americans Know and How They Know It: Song -- 2 What Americans Know and How They Know It: Story -- 3 "Picture Postcard Ireland": Thomas Moran's The World I Made for Her -- 4 Naming the Past: Lisa Carey's The Mermaids Singing -- 5 The Pain of Not Knowing: Katharine Weber's The Music Lesson -- 6 Bringing Paddies Over: Alice McDermott's Charming Billy -- 7 The Rage of the Dying Animal: Mary Gordon's The Other Side -- Conclusion: The Journey -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- W -- Y.