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Book Review
| The American Presence in Ulster: A Diplomatic History, 1796–1996. By Francis M. Carroll. (Washington: Catholic University of America, 2005. xii, 281 pp. Paper, $29.95, ISBN 0-8132-1420-3.)
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| In this well-constructed and engagingly written book, Francis M. Carroll interweaves the history of the United States consulate in Belfast with a more general narrative of two hundred years of U.S.-Ulster interconnection. The Belfast consulate was created in 1796 and has remained in continuous service ever since. In its early days, it constituted a tangible expression of Ulster's economic ties—primarily relating to the linen industry—with America, as well as of transatlantic migration. It is one of Carroll's main objectives to demonstrate the longevity, intensity, and scale of those various connections. Between 1680 and 1780, it is estimated that over a quarter of a million people emigrated from Ulster to the American colonies. At the close of the War of Independence, ten of George Washington's generals had direct Ulster links. In an appendix to his book, Carroll lists fifteen U.S. presidents with Ulster origins; the list stretches from Andrew Jackson to Bill Clinton (ancestors emigrating from County Fermanagh around 1750) and George W. Bush (a forebear, William Holliday, hailing from County Down). |
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