shows concentrations of Irish ancestry in the US. So clearly the places to go for sessions are Kentucky, Tennessee, New York City and some county out in Oregon.
And don't forget that red dot in southwestern Montana. That'd be Silver Bow County, home to Butte, America, and one of the highest per capita Irish ancestry rates in the country. Credit that to the area's early mining days.
But Butte doesn't have its own session. There are only about 5 experienced trad players in the whole county, and one of those is over 100 years old (still a mighty box player). The other 4 occasionally zip up to our session in Helena, but not often enough to suit us.
i wouldn't go rushing to wheeler country, oregon, though. the whole county has just over 1500 people. if my map is right, that means that there are two people of irish ancestry there.
of course, they both could be mighty players, i suppose. but i wouldn't hold my breath.
Ennis, yes, and Montana also has an Inverness, a McLeod, and a Glasgow.
But they're outnumbered by names from other countries. We also have the towns of Belgrade, Amsterdam, Lima, Florence, Plevna, Kremlin, Waterloo, Malta, Zurich, and Sumatra. Ah, tropical Montana.....
Minneapolis/St. Paul has a large session scene according to a friend of mine & I'm pretty sure there is a large Irish population in St. Paul. St. Louis and Kansas City also have pretty decent Irish populations. Also, doesn't Chicago have a session scene to rival NYC?
I live in Ardmore, a suburb of Philadelphia. Never realized it was an Irish place name until our honeymood when we passed through Ardmore (I forget which county it was in, though) in Ireland. We got out and took a picture of the road sign. I guess it means big or high hill?
I was looking at that map to see where California ranked, and the heaviest concentrations are in the least populated areas. In fact, the LA area--the second largest city in the country according to the 2000 census--is all grey. Was it like someone mentioned earlier--work in the mines is what determined where they settled?
Try this site to see where many ethnic groups have settled over the last few hundred years. Unfortunately, having a high concentration of Irish ancestry in a particular location does not translate to lots of sessions. St Louis only has one weekly public session, Chicago has 10 to 12 weekly sessions!
Ouch! I misread "the heaviest concentrations are in the least populated areas," as "the heaviest concertinas are in the least populated areas." And that's accordion to the latest census.
Just for the historical perspective, here's the density of Irish population in the US from 1872. No surprises really, but it's interesting that the government was tracking ethnicity this way even back then.
We have a couple in West Michigan and they run a bar out in the middle of nowhere. The dutch decendents have got the "irish" however and decend on this bar every Wednesday night for a wonderful session. There's another small bunch who started a very small town (that got smaller as time went on). Except for the video rental store (which never seem to die out) the only thing that survives is a massive Catholic church and school.
How to Find Sessions (US)
How to Find Sessions (US)
This map:
http://www.mnplan.state.mn.us/maps/ancestry/us/irish.gif
shows concentrations of Irish ancestry in the US. So clearly the places to go for sessions are Kentucky, Tennessee, New York City and some county out in Oregon.
And stay out of Minnesota and North Dakota, eh?
-- Scott
# Posted on October 29th 2003 by srt19170
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
And don't forget that red dot in southwestern Montana. That'd be Silver Bow County, home to Butte, America, and one of the highest per capita Irish ancestry rates in the country. Credit that to the area's early mining days.
But Butte doesn't have its own session. There are only about 5 experienced trad players in the whole county, and one of those is over 100 years old (still a mighty box player). The other 4 occasionally zip up to our session in Helena, but not often enough to suit us.
# Posted on October 29th 2003 by Will Harmon
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
That was one of my favorite moments of the trip up to Helena...calling Will from the road, just to be able to say that we were on the Ennis road!
# Posted on October 29th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
i wouldn't go rushing to wheeler country, oregon, though. the whole county has just over 1500 people. if my map is right, that means that there are two people of irish ancestry there.
of course, they both could be mighty players, i suppose. but i wouldn't hold my breath.
sarah
# Posted on October 29th 2003 by sarahc
Oops.
that should have been: 'if my *math* is right ...'
sarah
# Posted on October 29th 2003 by sarahc
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
Ennis, yes, and Montana also has an Inverness, a McLeod, and a Glasgow.
But they're outnumbered by names from other countries. We also have the towns of Belgrade, Amsterdam, Lima, Florence, Plevna, Kremlin, Waterloo, Malta, Zurich, and Sumatra. Ah, tropical Montana.....
# Posted on October 29th 2003 by Will Harmon
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
We have a Waterloo in sydney - no Sumatra tho we are just not tropical enough
# Posted on October 29th 2003 by bb
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
Minneapolis/St. Paul has a large session scene according to a friend of mine & I'm pretty sure there is a large Irish population in St. Paul. St. Louis and Kansas City also have pretty decent Irish populations. Also, doesn't Chicago have a session scene to rival NYC?
Eric
# Posted on October 29th 2003 by Jayhawk
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
I live in Ardmore, a suburb of Philadelphia. Never realized it was an Irish place name until our honeymood when we passed through Ardmore (I forget which county it was in, though) in Ireland. We got out and took a picture of the road sign. I guess it means big or high hill?
# Posted on October 29th 2003 by Andee
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
"honeymood"-- interesting word but it should have been honeymoon!
# Posted on October 29th 2003 by Andee
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
I was looking at that map to see where California ranked, and the heaviest concentrations are in the least populated areas. In fact, the LA area--the second largest city in the country according to the 2000 census--is all grey. Was it like someone mentioned earlier--work in the mines is what determined where they settled?
# Posted on October 30th 2003 by Aragorn
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
http://www.mnplan.state.mn.us/maps/ancestry/
Try this site to see where many ethnic groups have settled over the last few hundred years. Unfortunately, having a high concentration of Irish ancestry in a particular location does not translate to lots of sessions. St Louis only has one weekly public session, Chicago has 10 to 12 weekly sessions!
# Posted on October 30th 2003 by Aine Ni Scully
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
Ouch! I misread "the heaviest concentrations are in the least populated areas," as "the heaviest concertinas are in the least populated areas." And that's accordion to the latest census.
# Posted on October 31st 2003 by GaryAMartin
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
LOL! That would explain all those accordion bands banished to the Dakotas....
# Posted on October 31st 2003 by Will Harmon
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
Just for the historical perspective, here's the density of Irish population in the US from 1872. No surprises really, but it's interesting that the government was tracking ethnicity this way even back then.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/irish_pop_1872.jpg
# Posted on October 31st 2003 by Will Harmon
Re: How to Find Sessions (US)
We have a couple in West Michigan and they run a bar out in the middle of nowhere. The dutch decendents have got the "irish" however and decend on this bar every Wednesday night for a wonderful session. There's another small bunch who started a very small town (that got smaller as time went on). Except for the video rental store (which never seem to die out) the only thing that survives is a massive Catholic church and school.
# Posted on November 1st 2003 by jrathbun