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===Police===
===Police===
By the 1850s, the Irish Catholics were a major presence in the police departments of large cities. In New York City in 1855, of the city's 1,149 policemen, 305 were natives of Ireland. The creation of a unified police force in Philadelphia opened the door for the Irish in that city. By 1860 in Chicago, 49 of the 107 on the police force were Irish. Chief O'Leary headed the police force in New Orleans and Malachi Fallon was chief of police of San Francisco.<ref>Potter p.530</ref>
By the 1850s, the Irish Catholics were a major presence in the police departments of large cities. In New York City in 1855, of the city's 1,149 policemen, 305 were natives of Ireland. The creation of a unified police force in Philadelphia opened the door for the Irish in that city. By 1860 in Chicago, 49 of the 107 on the police force were Irish. Chief O'Leary headed the police force in New Orleans and Malachi Fallon was chief of police of San Francisco.<ref>Potter p.530</ref>
The Irish Catholics formed gangs that used violence to control neighborhoods and work places (so that only gang members could get jobs). Combined with high rates of drunkenness and disorder, he gangs meant the Irish crime rate was very high.
The most famous violent gang was the [[Molly Maguires]] who terrorized the coal mining camps of Pennsylvania until broken up by hanging 18 leaders in 1877.
===Presidential politics===
===Presidential politics===
[[John F. Kennedy]] was their greatest political hero. [[Al Smith]], who lost to [[Herbert Hoover]] in the 1928 was the first Irish Catholic to run for president<ref>He had only one Irish Catholic grandparent but most people considered him Irish.</ref> From the 1830s to the 1960s, Irish Catholics voted 80-95% Democratic, with occasional exceptions like the election of 1920, when they angrily turned away from the Democrats who had failed to secure Irish independence.
[[John F. Kennedy]] was their greatest political hero. [[Al Smith]], who lost to [[Herbert Hoover]] in the 1928 was the first Irish Catholic to run for president<ref>He had only one Irish Catholic grandparent but most people considered him Irish.</ref> From the 1830s to the 1960s, Irish Catholics voted 80-95% Democratic, with occasional exceptions like the election of 1920, when they angrily turned away from the Democrats who had failed to secure Irish independence.