Catherine O'Leary
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Catherine O'Leary was an Irish-born American immigrant living in Chicago who became associated with the origin of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. She was widely accused of starting the fire when a cow
1871 Harper's Magazine illustration of Mrs O'Leary and her cow, showing the alleged cause of the fire.
O'Leary's grave at Mount Olivet Cemetery
Anti-Irish sentiment
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Anti-Irish sentiment, also Hibernophobia, is bigotry against the Irish people or individuals. It can include hatred, oppression, persecution, as well as simple discrimination. Generally, it could be b
Catherine O'Leary
…1893, Ahern admitted that he had fabricated the story. The official investigation into the fire concluded that its exact cause could not be determined. Anti-Irish sentiment at the time contributed to the O'Leary family being treated as scapegoats, and various unverified claims circulated about the circumstances of the fire…
American political cartoon by Thomas Nast titled "The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things", depicting a drunken and stereotyped Irishman sitting on a barrel of gunpowder while lighting a powder keg and swinging a bottle in the air. Nast was an anti-Catholic immigrant from Germany. Published 2 September 1871 in Harper's Weekly.
An Irishman depicted as a gorilla ("Mr. G. O'Rilla")
English atrocity propaganda depicting the behaviour of Irish Catholics during the Irish Rebellion of 1798, by George Cruikshank (1845).
Philadelphia nativist riots in July 1844