Sophie Cooper wins the Lawrence J McCafferty Prize

We are delighted to share the news that Forging Identities in the Irish World: Melbourne and Chicago, 1830-1922 by Sophie Cooper has won the Lawrence J McCafferty Prize. 

The prize was awarded by the American Conference for Irish Studies.

Here's what the judges had to say:

"In this impressively researched study, Cooper examines the parallel formation of Irish diasporic communities in Chicago and Melbourne. Cooper’s transnational approach allows her to show how some elements of Irish identity were consistent across the diaspora, while others were influenced by their local and national contexts. By illuminating the differences between how foundational identity was forged in Chicago and Melbourne, Cooper enhances our understanding of Irish America. Her extensive archival research taps into church and cultural organization records to trace the evolution of the two communities. She places particular emphasis on the central role women religious played in passing on a sense of Irishness to younger generations through their teaching in parish schools. Her research methods and her findings offer a new direction in the study of Irish America."

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