Few scholars could now claim, as the historian Donald Akenson once said nearly two decades ago, that there has been willful ignorance of the wider Irish world of North America outside of the cities of New York, Boston, and Chicago ("denial" is how he termed it). Essays, books, and conference papers on the history of the Irish experience in the rural U.S., in Canadian North America, in South America, and in the American South are increasingly visible.
 
 


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A few weeks back I had the good fortune to pitch in over at Congressional Cemetery here in southeast Washington, DC by helping with the latest burial vault restoration being undertaken at this historic site.  Between this project and another volunteer opportunity I had with the cemetery earlier in September, I am beginning to appreciate just how much work goes into keeping these types of landmarks in top shape.