Becoming men: The journey of Irish American men into manhood

The purpose of this study is to explore how male descendants of working class Irish immigrants come to understand their masculinity. The research will illuminate the experience of ten men who grew up both within the Irish-American culture and the working class environment. They came from families who directly and indirectly passed on the rules and norms of this seldom studied social class and culture. This study identified the influences which matured these individuals into men. The data collected for this study used qualitative interviews and analysis employing a phenomenological methodology. Numerous themes emerged from the study, but only those acknowledged by at least six of the men interviewed were included in the discussion. Themes include: their Irish heritage; their relationship with their parents, particularly their fathers; the impact of the Roman Catholic Church; the effect of organized sports, fighting, and drinking alcohol; the importance of working hard and providing for their families; their choice of heroes and being generative. These themes were congruent with the findings of other scholarly writings, suggesting that these influences and ways of living are passed from generation to generation, and healing the wounds that result from this intergenerational conflict, between fathers and sons, improves the sense of self-worth for all involved. It also provides a glimpse into the world of the Irish American family. The results of this novel study provided data for fields such as counseling psychology, sociology; working class studios, gender study, and education, concluding with implications for further research.