Matthew Jude Barker to speak about The Irish of Portland, Maine: A History of Forest City Hibernians

Brown Bag Lecture Series

Wednesday, March 26th at noon in the Rines Auditorium

Portland, Maine - Matthew Jude Barker will speak about his new book, The Irish of Portland, Maine: A History of Forest City Hibernians at the Portland Public Library’s Brown Bag Lecture Series at noon on March 26th in the Rines Auditorium.  The Irish have influenced the city of Portland since it was first established in the seventeenth century. Today’s vibrant Catholic community owes its origins to Irish immigrants in Portland’s earliest days, when beloved leaders like Father French provided solace to souls far from home. The church helped them adapt and adapted along with them, affecting the city in many ways. Portland’s Irish faced discrimination, especially in the years before the Civil War, when anti-Irish sentiment surged and burnings and violence erupted, like the June 1855 Rum Riot. Despite this, many Portland Irish took up arms for the United States in the Civil War, and their participation in this conflict helped them become assimilated. Join local expert Matthew Jude Barker as he explores the triumphs and challenges of the Irish of Portland before the twentieth century.

About the author
Matthew Jude Barker is a lifelong resident of Greater Portland and graduated from South Portland High School in 1992. He has been a genealogical and historical researcher since 1981 and is a resident genealogist and historian at the Maine Irish Heritage Center. Since 1996, Matt has been the author of Maine history articles for many magazines, including Portland, Galway Roots and Discover Maine. He was a contributing writer to several books, including They Change Their Sky: The Irish in Maine (2004) and John Ford in Focus (2008), and is working on a history of the Portland Irish during the Civil War. Matt is the writer and compiler of The Downeast Shamrock, an Irish genealogy newsletter, and the Maine Irish Heritage Trail (see www.maineirishheritagetrail.org). In 2012, he received a “40 Under 40” award from the Irish Echo, a New York newspaper.