Irish Women and Chinese Men: Meant for Each Other

They came from opposite sides of the world but had shared experiences fleeing oppression, facing discrimination, longing for a better life….and falling in love.

Writing Irish Luck, Chinese Medicine, I followed my muse, not history. I had no idea if a match between an Irish woman and Chinese man would be realistic in the 19th Century.

My heart was in my throat the day I attended a lecture by Yale professor, Mary Ting Yi Lie, about her book, The Chinatown Trunk Mystery: Murder, Miscegenation, and Other Dangerous Encounters in Turn-of-the-Century New York City. (Which takes place about the same time as Irish Luck, Chinese Medicine.)

I was greatly relieved to learn that my characters channeled the truth. Dr. Liu and subsequent research confirmed that Irish “Bridget’s” came to America as domestics in the east and Chinese men came to build the railroad out west. The gender imbalance in both communities led to relationships and some marriages too.  

Did opposites attract or shared experiences bind?

The Molly Maguires: White or Black Hats?

Writing Irish Luck, Chinese Medicine, I struggled to fairly depict a secret society of labor activists, the Molly Maguires, who were transplanted to American along with Irish immigrants. 

Child laborers known as “breaker boys” — one of many injustices of 19th Century coal mining.

The Molly Maguires spawned fierce conflicts in anthracite coal mining communities, pitting coal miners against mine bosses. In 1876, several Mollies were convicted of fabricated murders and executed in public hanging

Some would say the Mollies were vigilantes, perpetrating violence, murder, and committed terrorist acts. Others would argue they were exploited workers, desperate to survive and feed their families. What do you think?

Building the Transcontinental Railroad

On May 10, 1869 at Promontory Point Utah, Leland Stanford joined the rails of the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific railroad with a 17.6 karat gold spike. For the first time, the new rails connected the United States, changing how Americans lived.

A new cover for Irish Luck, Chinese Medicine..

As I gathered information about Irish and Chinese characters who bridged the racial and cultural tensions to build the railroad, I wished I we knew more about their daily lives. More primary research is coming from Stanford University’s The Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project that “seeks to give a voice to the Chinese migrants whose labor shaped the physical and social landscape of the American West.”  Learn more here.