Join us at 6:30 PM, September 29, at Jack’s Restaurant & Bar, located at the Northwest corner of the Westgate Shopping Mall in San Jose, near Campbell (1502 Saratoga Ave, San Jose, CA 95129) and via ZOOM. This month’s topic is

Dennis Doyle on “Irish Americans during the Civil War”

Starting during the Irish Famine of the 1840s, millions of Irish citizens immigrated to the United States to escape British Unionist political rule and economic poverty.

Despite their lack of wealth and education, low social status, and discrimination, Irish-Americans distinguished themselves in their new home and during the American Civil War.

As many as 200,000 volunteered to serve in the Federal Army, and over 40,000 served the Confederacy during the Civil War. These soldiers served on many battlefields and suffered heavy casualties. Seventy Irish-American Union soldiers received the Medal of Honor. Notable Irish-American generals included Thomas Meagher and Michael Corcoran for the North and Patrick Cleburne for the South.

Dennis’s program will also focus on why Irish-Americans were motivated to form social service agencies, and on the various reasons they chose to fight in the Civil War.

He will also explore how Irish immigrants viewed President Lincoln and the politics of the 1860s.

A native of Chicago, Dennis Doyle grew up in Joliet, where he resides. He has a master’s degree in history from American University in Washington, D.C.; a master’s degree in sociology from DePaul University in Chicago; and a bachelor’s degree in history from Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

Dennis recently semi-retired from teaching history and sociology at Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Illinois.

He is the current VP and former president of the Civil War Round Table of Chicago.

Dennis is a long-time college and high school football referee and was the head referee for the High School Kickoff Classic in Dublin, Ireland, in 2023.