An Immigrant in Civil War New York City: A Review of Last of the Name

Twelve-year-old Danny O’Carolan is the “last of the name,” the only male child left of his Irish family after his father was exiled to Australia and his older brothers died one by one at the hands of the British occupiers or because of the potato famine. On the ship to America, his grandmother dies as well, leaving him and his 17-year-old sister Kathleen alone in the world. Kathleen quickly finds a position as a servant, but Danny will end up as a drummer boy in the Civil War or else shipped west to work on a farm unless he dresses as a girl and joins his sister in domestic service.

The employers are demanding and cruel, but Danny finds a way to dress in his boy’s clothes and explore the working-class neighborhood not far from the mansion where he works, encountering Irish laborers and freed Blacks. Performing on the street – Danny is a gifted singer and dancer – brings in a few coins, but when a Bowery theater owner offers him a position, he thinks it’s a dream come true. Except for Kathleen, who will never let her younger brother become a performer in one of the downtown clubs, which she sees as the devil’s lair.

Based on the author’s family stories, her children’s pursuit of Irish dancing, and her own study of the Celtic harp, Last of the Name is an entertaining, appealing story of an immigrant boy’s quest to be himself and follow his dreams in the most challenging of circumstances. Rosanne Parry portrays accurately and with sensitivity the economic, social, political, and racial conflicts that erupted in the 1863 Draft Riots in New York City. Danny sees the brutality of his own people, but also acts of heroism as the predominantly Irish fire brigades moved to put out the fires with little water following a summer drought. The book shows how the wealthy pit poor people of different races and ethnic backgrounds against each other to maintain the supremacy of those on top, a fact not lost on the O’Carolans as their employers escape North after stealing their hard-earned wages and putting them in danger. They learn that unless they stand up for themselves and work with others, the United States will be no different from the country they fled. Parry weaves the cadence and melody of Irish music through Danny’s first-person narrative, creating a memorable and satisfying tale of an immigrant’s first months in his new country.

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