Irish America's changing face: 'There isn't a definitive version'
By the turn of the century that had fallen to 169,600.
There was a time when Irish immigration was not universally seen as a positive thing, with job adverts routinely stating “Irish need not apply”.
Roisin says she feels privileged to be an Irish immigrant in a country that today feels very welcoming to people of her background.
It is a sentiment shared by Kevin Tobin, who moved to the US from County Tipperary 14 years ago.
He ended up in Baltimore in Maryland - a city with a long-standing Irish community - where he is chairman of Baltimore GAA club.
On a chilly Saturday morning where the misty weather is a visible reminder of home, he organises two dozen players as they play hurling and football in an urban park.
“The Irish accent would travel very well in America, it's a very welcome thing. People are very fond of it and it certainly doesn't do you any harm when, for example, you turn up for a job interview,” the father-of-two says.
“We're not necessarily protective of Irishness, we don't need to defend it, it defends itself.
“Therefore your version of Irishness and my version of Irishness, whether they're different or not doesn't really matter.
“People are very proud to be Irish but we don't have to act a particular way or spend time with a particular person or eat a particular type of food to be Irish.
"It's not necessarily an identity on an ID card, it's a way of life, a way of carrying yourself, a way of being warm and being welcoming.
“There is no one definitive Irish America.”
Of the 80 or so members at the club, a handful were born in Ireland, about a third consider themselves Irish-American and the rest simply fancied giving Gaelic games a try.
One of the handful is Ciarán Quinn from Belfast, who is taking part in the session wearing his Antrim county jersey.
“We moved here and we didn't know a single person, but GAA is a community,” he says.
“Having that community and people who can help you with jobs, help you with whatever, it has been very helpful and great to meet the locals because lots of them play too.”
Joyce Eierman on the other hand has Irish roots which go back much further than just a few years.
Three sets of her great-grandparents moved to the US in the mid-19th Century and she is part of Baltimore’s historic Irish community.
Four generations of her family worked on the railroads, including her son who is an engineer.
She is secretary of the Friendly Daughters of St Patrick Maryland - the only surviving Friendly Daughters group in the US.
It is a social and charitable organisation for women of Irish heritage, and Joyce stresses that it is open to those of all religions and none.
“The men were breadwinners for a long time in the Irish community but the women held everything together and we carry that forward because we want to help others, that is the most important thing about what we do," she says.
“Having fun is good and we want to use that to raise money for those in need, especially women and children.
“For the most part the people I know from the Irish community they learned from their grandparents and their own parents, and it is our job to pass that pride in our heritage on to that generation."
