When it comes to Irish America, certain names spring to mindKennedy, ONeill, and Curley testify to the proverbial footsteps of the Gael in Boston. However, few people know of Sister Mary Anthony OConnell, whose medical prowess carried her from the convent to the Civil War battlefields, earning her the nickname the Boston Irish Florence Nightingale, or of Barney McGinniskin, Bostons first Irish cop, who proudly roared at every roll call, McGinniskin from the bogs of Irelandpresent! Along with acclaim or notoriety, many forgotten Irish Americans garnered numerous historical firsts. In Hidden History of the Boston Irish, Peter F. Stevens offers an entertaining and compelling portrait of the Irish immigrant saga and pays homage to the overlooked, yet significant, episodes of the Boston Irish experience.