Books

This list has been compiled as an aid to those of you interested in exploring Irish involvement in the American Civil War and is the most comprehensive such bibliography available. The majority of books below pertain directly to Irish involvement in the war, while some have been included as broader works which are of relevance to the Irish experience. The main categories are Regimental & Brigade Histories, Biography, Edited/Personal Accounts and General Works. Within these groups the books are listed alphabetically by author. The growing number of electronically scanned books on the internet have allowed a number of the titles to be linked directly to online versions, so for these you are just one click away from finding out more! The list will be updated regularly, and if you have any additions or suggestions regarding it please drop me a line.

Regimental & Brigade Histories

Beller, Susan Provost 1998. Never Were Men So Brave: The Irish Brigade during the Civil War

Bilby, Joseph G. and O’Neill, Stephen (eds.) 1997. My Sons Were Faithful and they Fought: The Irish Brigade At Antietam: An Anthology

Bilby, Joseph G. 1995. Remember Fontenoy: The 69th New York and the Irish Brigade in the Civil War

Bilby, Joseph G. 2001. The Irish Brigade in the Civil War: The 69th New York and Other Irish Regiments of the Army of the Potomac

Boyle, Frank 1996. A Party of Mad Fellows: The Story of the Irish Regiments in the Army of the Potomac

Brooks, Thomas W. 1995. Lee’s Foreign Legion: A History of the 10th Louisiana Infantry 1861- 1865

Conyngham, David Power (edited by Lawrence Kohl) 1994. The Irish Brigade and its Campaigns (1st Edition 1867)

Craughwell, Thomas J. 2011. The Greatest Brigade: The History of the Civil War’s most Important and Complicated Unit. The Irish Brigade, 69th Infantry.

Demeter, Richard 2002. The Fighting 69th: A History

Driver, Robert J. and Ruffner, Kevin C. 1996. 1st Battalion, Virginia Infantry, 39th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, 24th Battalion, Virginia Partisan Rangers (1st Virginia Infantry Battalion was known as the ‘Irish Battalion’)

Ernsberger, Don 2004 (2 Vols.). Paddy Owen’s Regulars: A History of the 69th Pennsylvania “Irish Volunteers”

Ernsberger, Don 2006. At the Wall: The 69th Pennsylvania at Gettysburg

Flynn, Frank J. 1911. The Fighting Ninth for Fifty Years and the Semi-Centennial Celebration

Gannon, James 1998. Irish Rebels, Confederate Tigers: A History of the 6th Louisiana Volunteers

Gates, Theodore B. 1879. The ‘Ulster Guard’ (20th New York State Militia) and the War of Rebellion, Embracing a History of the Early Organization of the Regiment, Its Three Months’ Service, Its Reorganization and Subsequent Service

Gleeson, Ed 1993. Rebel Sons of Erin: A Civil War Unit History of the Tenth Tennessee Infantry Regiment (Irish) Confederate States Volunteers

Green, Linda L. 2009. First, For the Duration: The Story of the Eighth Alabama Infantry, C.S.A.

Hand, Harold 2000. One Good Regiment: The Thirteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry (117th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment) 1861-1865

Jones, Paul 1969. The Irish Brigade

Lysy, Peter J. 2001. Blue for the Union and Green for Ireland: Civil War Flags of the 63rd Regiment New York Volunteers, Irish Brigade

MacNamara, Daniel George (edited by Christian G. Samito) 2000. The History of the Ninth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Second Brigade, First Division, Fifth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, June 1861- June 1864 (1st Edition 1899)

MacNamara, M.H. 1867.The Irish Ninth in Bivouac and Battle; or Virginia and Maryland Campaigns

Mahon, John 2004. New York’s Fighting Sixty-Ninth: A Regimental History of Service in the Civil War’s Irish Brigade & The Great War’s Rainbow Division

McDermott, Anthony W. 1889. A Brief History of the 69th Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers

McLernon, Robert 2000. Confirmed and Unconfirmed Burials of the Irish Brigade from the American Civil War

Meagher, Thomas Francis 1861. The Last Days of the 69th in Virginia: A Narrative in Three Parts

Moore, Alison 1961. The Louisiana Tigers; or The Two Louisiana Brigades of the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861- 1865

Mulholland, St. Clair A. (edited by Lawrence Kohl) 1996. The Story of the 116th Regiment: Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of Rebellion (1st Edition 1903)

Murphy, T.L. 1997. Kelly’s Heroes: The Irish Brigade at Gettysburg

Murray, R.L. 2005. “They Fought Like Tigers”: The 11th New York Fire Zouaves, 14th Brooklyn and the Irish 69th New York at First Bull Run

Murray, Thomas Hamilton 1903. History of the Ninth Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, “The Irish Regiment”, in the War of Rebellion, 1861-65. The Record of a Gallant Command on the March, in Battle and in Bivouac

O’Flaherty, Patrick Daniel 1986. The History of the Sixty-Ninth Regiment in the Irish Brigade, 1861- 1865

O’Neill, Stephan 1995. Clear the Way!: The Irish Brigade from Fair Oaks to the Bloody Lane

Pritchard, Russ A. 2004. The Irish Brigade: A Pictoral History of the Famed Civil War Fighters

Seagrave, Pia Seija (ed.) 1997. The Irish Brigade: A Collection of Historical Essays

Shorey, Henry Augustus 1890. The Story of the Maine Fifteenth: Being a Brief Narrative of the More Important Events in the History of the Fifteenth Maine Regiment

Swan, James B. 2009. Chicago’s Irish Legion: The 90th Illinois Volunteers in the Civil War

Tucker, Phillip Thomas (ed.) 1995. The History of the Irish Brigade: A Collection of Historical Essays

Tucker, Phillip Thomas 2007. God Help the Irish! The History of the Irish Brigade

Wright, Steven J. 1992. The Irish Brigade

Biography

Abodaher, David J. 1970. Rebel on Two Continents: Thomas Meagher

Athearn, Robert G. 1949. Thomas Francis Meagher: An Irish Revolutionary in America

Ayres, Stephen Cooper 1910. Sketch of the Life and Services of Vice Admiral Stephen C. Rowan, U.S. Navy

Bennett, Brian A. 1996. The Beau Ideal of a Soldier and a Gentleman: The Life of Col. Patrick Henry O’Rorke from Ireland to Gettysburg

Buck, Irving Ashby 1908. Cleburne and His Command

Barry, Craig L. & Burt, David C. 2011. Supplier to the Confederacy: Peter Tait & Co, Limerick

Callaghan, Daniel M. 2006. Thomas Francis Meagher and the Irish Brigade in the Civil War

Callan, John 2004. Courage and Country: James Shields: More Than Irish Luck

Cavanagh, Michael 1892. Memoirs of General Thomas Francis Meagher: Comprising the Leading Events of His Career

Collins, Timothy & Caraway Ivins, Ann 2013. Dick Dowling: Galway’s Hero of Confederate Texas

Condon, William H. 1900. Life of General James Shields, Hero of the Mexican and Civil Wars and United States Senator from Three States

Convis, Charles 1990. The Honor of Arms: A Biography of Myles W. Keogh

Dawson, Lon 2005. Also Known as Albert D.J. Cashier: The Jennie Hodgers Story

Faherty, William Baranaby S.J. 2002. Exile in Erin: A Confederate Chaplain’s Story: The Life of Father John B. Bannon

Forney, Gary R. 2004. Thomas Francis Meagher: Irish Rebel, American Yankee, Montana Pioneer

Gwynn, Denis 1962. Thomas Francis Meagher

Hanchett, William 1970. Charles G. Halpine in Civil War America

Hayes-McCoy, Gerard Anthony 1965. Captain Myles Walter Keogh, United States Army 1840- 1876

Hearne John M. & Cornish Rory T. (eds.) 2005. Thomas Francis Meagher: The Making of an Irish American

Hegarty, Aidan 2005. John Mitchel: A Cause Too Many

Horan, James David 1966. Timothy O’Sullivan: America’s Forgotten Photographer

Jones, Michael Dan 2013. Dick Dowling and the Jefferson Davis Guard

Joslyn, Mauriel Phillips 2000. A Meteor Shining Brightly: Essays on Major General Patrick R. Cleburne

Joslyn, Mauriel Phillips 2000. Patrick R. Cleburne and Thomas F. Meagher: Irishmen in 19th Century America

Lamers, William M. 1959. The Thunder Maker: General Thomas Meagher

Langellier John P, Cox Kurt Hamilton & Pohanka, Brian C. (eds.) 1991. Myles Keogh: The Life and Legend of an “Irish Dragoon” in the Seventh Cavalry

‘Lindenwald’ 1897. Memoir of Gen. A.C. Ducat

Luce, Edward 1939. Keogh, Comanche and Custer

Lyons, W.F. 1870. Brigadier Thomas Francis Meagher: His Political and Military Career; With Selections from His Speeches and Writings

Madsen, Brigham D. 1990. Glory Hunter: A Biography of Patrick Edward Connor

Maull, David W. 1870. The Life and Military Services of the Late Brigadier General Thomas A. Smyth

McGovern, Bryan P. 2009. John Mitchel: Irish Nationalist, Southern Secessionist

McKone, William L. 2010. Vermont’s Irish Rebel: Captain John Lonergan- Civil War Hero

Morgan, Jack 2005. Through American and Irish Wars: The Life and Times of General Thomas W. Sweeny 1820- 1892

Moynihan, James H. 1953. The Life of Archbishop John Ireland

Nash, Charles Edward 1893. Biographical Sketches of Gen. Pat Cleburne and Gen. T.C. Hindman, Together with Humorous Anecdotes and Reminiscences of the Late Civil War

Purdue, Howell & Elizabeth 1973. Pat Cleburne- Confederate General

Rogers, Fred B. 1938. Soldiers of the Overland: Being Some Account of the Services of General Patrick Edward Connor & His Volunteers in the Old West

Smyth, P.J. 1867. Thomas Francis Meagher

Spink, Barry 1994. From Cavan to Cold Harbor: The Life of Colonel Richard Byrnes

Stevens, Christian D. 1967. Meagher of the Sword: A Dramatization of the Life of Thomas Francis Meagher

Stewart, Bruce H. 2009. Invisible Hero: Patrick R. Cleburne

Symonds, Craig L. 1998. Stonewall of the West: Patrick Cleburne and the Civil War

Thompson, Jerry D. 1992. Desert Tiger: Captain Paddy Graydon and the Civil War in the Far Southwest

Tucker, Phillip Thomas 1992. The Confederacy’s Fighting Chaplain: Father John B. Bannon

Waite, John E. 2005. Peter Tait: A Remarkable Story

Watson, Reginald A. 1988. The Life and Times of Thomas Francis Meagher: A Biography

Wylie, Paul R. 2007. The Irish General: Thomas Francis Meagher

Edited/Personal Accounts

Byrne, Andrew J. (edited by Nicola Morris) 2008. Memoir of Andrew J. Byrne- Veteran of the American Civil War

Chisholm, Daniel (edited by W. Springer Menge & J. August Shimrak) 1989. The Civil War Notebook of Daniel Chisholm: A Chronicle of Daily Life in the Union Army 1864- 1865

Connolly, Thomas (edited by Nelson D. Lankford) 1988. An Irishman in Dixie: Thomas Connolly’s Diary of the Fall of the Confederacy

Conyngham, David Power 1865. Sherman’s March Through the South

Corby, William (edited by Lawrence Kohl) 1992. Memoirs of Chaplain Life: Three Years in the Irish Brigade with the Army of the Potomac (1st Edition 1893)

Corcoran, Michael 1862. The Captivity of General Corcoran

Dooley, John (edited by Joseph T. Durkin) 1945. John Dooley, Confederate Soldier: His War Journal

Dooley, John (edited by Robert Emmett Curran) 2011. John Dooley’s Civil War: An Irish American’s Journey in the First Virginia Infantry Regiment

Dougherty, Michael (edited by James T. Navary) 2009. The Prison Diary of Michael Dougherty: Union Survivor of Two Years Confinement in Confederate Prisons (1st Edition 1908)

Galwey, Thomas Francis (edited by W.S. Nye) 1961. The Valiant Hours: An Irishman in the Civil War: Eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Gildea, James Frederick (edited by Gary Piatt with Julian Mohr) 2003. A Magnificent Irishman from Appalachia: The Letters of Lt. James Gildea, First Ohio Light Artillery, Battery L

Guiney, Patrick R. (edited by Christian G. Samito) 1998. Commanding Boston’s Irish Ninth: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Patrick R. Guiney Ninth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry

Jones, William, Thomas & Maggie (edited by Richard Trimble) 2000. Brothers ‘Til Death, The Civil War Letters of William, Thomas and Maggie Jones 1861- 1865, Irish Brothers in the 48th New York Volunteer Regiment

Lane, Walter Paye 1887. The Adventures and Recollections of Walter P. Lane

McCarter, William (edited by Kevin E. O’Brien) 2003. My Life in the Irish Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of Private William McCarter, 116th Pennsylvania Infantry

McMahon, John T. (edited by John Michael Priest) 1993. John T. McMahon’s Diary of the 136th New York 1861-64 (McMahon was an Irish-American)

O’Brien, John (edited by Brian K. Robertson) 2001. Things Grew Beautifully Worse: The Wartime Experiences of Captain John O’Brien, 30th Arkansas Infantry, C.S.A.

Regan, Timothy J. (edited by David C. Newton & Kenneth J. Pluskat) 2003. The Lost Civil War Diaries: The Diaries of Corporal Timothy J. Regan

Russell, William Howard 1863. My Diary North and South Vol. 1

Russell, William Howard 1863. My Diary North and South Vol. 2

Ryan, John (edited by Sandy Barnard) 2001. Campaigning with the Irish Brigade: Pvt. John Ryan, 28th Massachusetts

Sheeran, James B. (edited by Rev. Joseph T. Durkin) 1960. Confederate Chaplain: A War Journal of Rev. James B. Sheeran, C.SS.R., 14th Louisiana, C.S.A.

Sullivan, James P. (edited by William J.K. Beaudot & Lance J. Herdegen) 1993. An Irishman in the Iron Brigade

Welsh, Peter (edited by Lawrence Kohl with Margaret Cossé Richard) 1986. Irish Green and Union Blue: The Civil War Letters of Peter Welsh, Color Sergeant, 28th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers

General Works

Adolphus, Frederick R. 2010. Imported Confederate Uniforms of Peter Tait & Co., Limerick, Ireland

Barton, George 1898. Angels of the Battlefield: A History of the Labors of the Catholic Sisterhoods in the Late Civil War

Blackett, R.J.M 2000. Divided Hearts: Britain and the American Civil War

Bruce, Susannah Ural 2006. The Harp and the Eagle: Irish-American Volunteers and the Union Army, 1861- 1865

Burton, William L. 1998. Melting Pot Soldiers: The Union’s Ethnic Regiments

Collins, J.J. 2011. Famine to Freedom: The Irish in the American Civil War

Cotham, Edward T. Jr. 2004. Sabine Pass: The Confederacy’s Thermopylae

Demeter, Richard 1999. Irish Americans A Versified Company: Irish Poetry in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the American Civil War

Foreman, Amanda 2010. A World On Fire: An Epic History of Two Nations Divided

Glazier, Michael (ed.) 1999. The Encyclopedia of the Irish in America

Gleeson, David T. 2000. The Irish in the South, 1815- 1877

Gleeson, Ed 1998. Erin Go Gray! An Irish Rebel Trilogy

Hartman, Michelle L. 2009. For Honor and Loyalty: The Irish During the American Civil War: Warriors of the Union

Heavey, Michael 2005. The May Morning Dew: Ireland and the American Civil War

Hernon, Joseph Jnr. 1968. Celts, Catholics and Copperheads: Ireland Views the American Civil War

Hogan, Neil 2003. Strong in their Patriotic Devotion: Connecticut’s Irish in the Civil War

Jolly, Ellen Ryan. 1927. Nuns of the Battlefield

Kilpatrick, Judson 1880[?]. The Irish Soldier in the War of Rebellion

Lonn, Ella 1940. Foreigners in the Confederacy

Lonn, Ella 1952. Foreigners in the Union Army and Navy

Lowry, Thomas P. 2011. Irish and German Whiskey and Beer: Drinking Patterns in the Civil War

Maguire, John Francis 1868. The Irish in America

Maher, Sister Mary Denis 1999. To Bind Up The Wounds: Catholic Sister Nurses in the U.S. Civil War

McCarthy, Cal 2009. Green, Blue and Grey: The Irish in the American Civil War

McDonald, Joanna M. 1999. The Faces of Irish Civil War Soldiers

Mitchell, Arthur (ed.) 2011. Irish Soldiers, American Wars: Irishmen in the Mexican and American Civil Wars

O’Brien, Bernard R. 1996. These Men of Brian: O’Brien’s in the U.S. Civil War- for the North and South and Considine, McLaughlin and variants O’Brian, O’Bryan

O’Brien, Sean Michael 2007. Irish Americans in the Confederate Army

O’Grady, Kelly J. 2000. Clear the Confederate Way! The Irish in the Army of Northern Virginia

Rodgers, Thomas G. 2008. Irish-American Units in the Civil War

Samito, Christian G. 2009. Becoming American Under Fire: Irish Americans, African Americans, and the Politics of Citizenship During the Civil War

Schmidt, James M. 2010. Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory

Shiels, Damian 2013. The Irish in the American Civil War

Snay, Mitchell 2007. Fenians, Freedmen and Southern Whites: Race and Nationality in the Era of Reconstruction

Tobin, Daniel (ed.) 2007. The Book of Irish American Poetry: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present

Tucker, Phillip Thomas 2007. Irish Confederates: The Civil War’s Forgotten Soldiers

Ural, Susannah (ed.) 2010. Civil War Citizens: Race, Ethnicity and Identity in America’s Bloodiest Conflict

Warfield, Derek 1998. Irish Songster of the American Civil War- Irish Songs, Ballads, Musical History & Lyrical & Poetic Legacy of the American Civil War

Whelan, Bernadette 2010. American Government in Ireland, 1790- 1913: A History of the US Consular Service

Other

Conway, Cyril Francis 1999. While the Banshee Cried: The Demise of the Irish Brigade in the American Civil War

Daly, Maria Lydig 1962 (edited by Harold Earl Hammond). Diary of a Union Lady, 1861- 1865

Halpin, Charles G. 1864. The Life and Adventures, Songs, Services, and Speeches of Private Miles O’Reilly

Halpin, Charles G. 1866. Baked Meats of the Funeral

Murphy Justin, Milgrom Al and Brown J. 2008. Cleburne: A Graphic Novel

Noonan, J. Vincent 1999. Forty Rounds: An Irish Regiment in the Civil War

*With thanks to Joe Maghe, Dennis J. Francis, Robert Doyle, Mike Fitzpatrick and Jim Swan for contributions to this list