Born community leaders, however, can turn up in unlikely places.

And could this mark a turning point of sorts for the largest Irish- born community outside of Ireland?

The church, as the tradition- bearing community, contains both poles and should not subordinate one to the other.

The outpost of the newly born communities, established in the Straits of Magallanes in the South, must be held with undiminished vigor and determination.

By 1855 there were 200,000 Irish living in New York, and they remained the largest foreign- born community in the city for 30 years.