Irish titan, Irish toilers

"In 1897 Joseph Banigan, an Irish Potato Famine refugee, established himself in Rhode Island as an entrepreneur. This was a time when 'No Irish Need Apply' signs abounded and discrimination against the Irish--institutionalized in the constitution of his adopted state--hindered voting and other human rights. Bucking this trend and belying his humble origins, Banigan succeeded spectacularly in the emerging local rubber footwear industry, becoming the president of the United States Rubber Company--one of the nation's major cartels--and Rhode Island's first Irish-Catholic millionaire. Backed by primary and secondary research spanning two continents, Molloy's inquiry into Banigan's notoriety and success singularly codifies and elucidates the Irish-American experience during this critical period in American labor history."--