Irish Bridget: History of Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930
"Bridget" was the Irish immigrant service girl who worked in American homes from the second half of the nineteenth century into the early years of the twentieth. Many of these socially-marginalized Irish immigrant women made their living in domestic service. In contrast to immigrant men, who might have lived in a community with their fellow Irish, these women lived and worked in close contact with American families. Margaret Lynch-Brennan reveals the essential role this unique relationship played in shaping the place of the Irish in America today.