Beginning with the Great Hunger Famine in the 1840s, over two million impoverished Irish immigrants soon arrived in America, seeking food and hope. Enduring bigotry and religious prejudice in the new land, many thousands of Irish people settled in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, to labor in the anthracite coal mines.

In many Schuylkill communities, Irish volunteer fire companies were soon formed to protect their homes, families, and possessions and also to prove their “prowess and mettle” to all residents in these towns.

Mike Glore and Mike Kitsock share their research on these fire companies.

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