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
Kirwan, Thomas & Splaine, Henry 1911. Memorial History of the Seventeenth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War from 1861-1865
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)
Murray, Levin Charles 2013. The 1st Fighting Irish: The 35th Indiana Volunteer Infantry: Hoosier Hibernians in the War for the Union
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
Bayliss, Mary Lynn 2017. The Dooleys of Richmond: An Irish Immigrant Family in the Old and New South
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
Bitter, Rand K. 2006. Minty and His Cavalry: A History of the Saber Brigade and its Commander
Buck, Irving Ashby 1908. Cleburne and His Command
Barry, Craig L. & Burt, David C. 2011. Supplier to the Confederacy: Peter Tait & Co, Limerick
Burns, Frank 2015. The Two Catherines
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
Dunkelman, Mark H. 2015. Patrick Henry Jones: Irish-American, Civil War General and Gilded Age Politician
Egan, Timothy 2016. The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became An American Hero
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. Irish: 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
Kenny, Michael 2018. Brothers in Arms: The Remarkable Story of William and James Roantree from Leixlip, Co. Kildare
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
Merton Coulter, E. 2010. William Montague Browne: Versatile Anglo-Irish American, 1823- 1883
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
Barr, Gene 2016. A Civil War Captain and His Lady: Love, Courtship, and Combat from Fort Donelson through the Vicksburg Campaign
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
Crotty, Daniel 1874. Four Years Campaigning in the Army of the Potomac
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)
Egan, Michael 1888. The Flying, Gray-Haired Yank; Or, The Adventures of a Volunteer.
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
Keating, Ryan (ed) 2017. The Greatest Trials I Ever Had: The Civil War Letters of Margaret and Thomas Cahill
Kirwan, Thomas 1864. Soldiering in North Carolina.
Kodner, Molley (ed) 2015. My Dear Molly: The Civil War Letters of Captain James Love
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.
Pepper, George W. 1866. Personal Recollections of Sherman’s Campaigns in Georgia and the Carolinas.
Pepper, George W. 1899. Under Three Flags: Or, The Story of My Life as Preacher, Captain in the Army, Chaplain, Consul with Speeches and Interviews.
Pomeroy, Nicholas 1908-11. Reminiscences of the American War 1861-1865.
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.
Sheeran, James B. (edited by Patrick J. Hayes) 2016. The Civil War Diary of Rev. James Sheeran, C.Ss.R.: Chaplain, Confederate, Redemptorist
Sullivan, James P. (edited by William J.K. Beaudot & Lance J. Herdegen) 1993. An Irishman in the Iron Brigade
Vandall, Andrew W. 2013. Our Experience in the Irish Brigade: Fredericksburg to Petersburg. Letters from One of the Most Revered Federal Brigades in the American Civil War
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
Brown, Thomas 1966. Irish-American Nationalism, 1870-1890
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
D’Arcy, William 1947. The Fenian Movement in the United States 1858-1886
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, David T. 2013. The Green and the Gray: The Irish in the Confederate States of America
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
Jenkins, Brian 1969. Fenians and Anglo-American Relations During Reconstruction
Jolly, Ellen Ryan 1927. Nuns of the Battlefield
Keating, Ryan 2017. Shades of Green: Irish Regiments, American Soldiers, Local Communities in the Civil War Era
Kilpatrick, Judson 1880[?]. The Irish Soldier in the War of Rebellion
Kurtz, William B. 2015. Excommunicated from the Union: How the Civil War Created a Separate Catholic America
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’Dowd, Niall 2018. Lincoln and the Irish: The Untold Story of How the Irish Helped Abraham Lincoln Save the Union
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
Shiels, Damian 2016. The Forgotten Irish: Irish Emigrant Experiences in America
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
Tucker, Phillip Thomas 2018. The Irish at Gettysburg
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
Alden, Ellen 2016. Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke: An Irish Immigrant Story
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
Halpine, Charles G. 1864. The Life and Adventures, Songs, Services, and Speeches of Private Miles O’Reilly
Halpine, 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