“I'm as Good an Irishman as You”: The Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Construction of Irish Ethnicity in Canada and the United States, 1908–1918

Abstract

In the early twentieth century, the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) was the foremost Irish ethnic association in North America. At its peak in 1908, there were over 200,000 members spread across thousands of divisions from Cape Breton Island to Hawaii. Across this vast spatial network, the Order cultivated an uncompromisingly Catholic and nationalist conception of Irish historical memory and often led popular engagement with Irish nationalism. Although it was a predominantly Irish American organization, expansion into Canada was an important project for the AOH during this period. This article assesses the transnational networks of Hibernianism from 1908 to 1918, arguing that the Order served as an essential mechanism for the cross-border transfer of Irish culture and identity from the United States into Canada. Initially, there was a strong transnational consensus in the creation of Irish historical memory through the establishment of public sites of famine memorialization. In directing responses to Irish nationalism, however, Hibernian expansion into Canada reveals key differences in how Irish Americans and Irish Canadians understood “being Irish,” particularly as Canadian divisions threatened to secede from the parent organization over its support for Germany in the Great War.