A disappointing read for such a long time investment. Though it started somewhat well, Ireland’s Welcome to the Stranger could not deliver on any of the promise from the first two chapters and ultimately fizzled out well before the halfway mark.

In theory, this book was an exploration of the poor of Ireland through the lens of an American female traveler. In practice, this book was an explanation of how refined and superior the American traveler was compared to the subjects she met- who she did condescendingly speak well of, but usually in context to herself. Such a story cannot be separated by it’s time, and in context Nicholson’s narrative was exceptionally liberal considering the sensibilities of the day. In 2022, however, it reads like an upper-class Bostonian guffawing her way through Appalachia, taking in the spectacle of human suffering as one watches animals at a zoo.

Though deeply disappointing for long stretches, Ireland’s Welcome to the Stranger does provide insight into the destitute state of the Irish peasantry. Dialogue must be ignored as it is clearly fabricated, but the settings and action seem believable- meals consisting of small potatoes and salt for dipping, every day, until the potatoes ran out. Diets were not varied- there were potatoes, or there was nothing. The higher echelons, of course, had access to superior fare- for the poor, it was just the potato. Alcoholism ran rampant among man, driven by minimal employment opportunities and cultural emasculation. Stereotypes that persist to this day were horrifyingly real in ways that few realize- the potato and the beer were not desired socio-cultural choices, they were a means to subsist and a means to escape.

Nicholson succeeded in drawing interesting parallels between contemporary American society and the state of the Irish poor. To her, a northerner in favor of abolition, ignoring the plight of the Irish was morally inconsistent. She saw both practices- African enslavement and Irish subjugation and, ultimately, intentional starvation- as abhorrent. Many did not agree with her- other Americans in Ireland and the majority of the Irish upper class saw the poor as vermin, an unfortunate consequence of living an unrefined, intentionally ignorant life. To them the poor had created their own place in society, and therefore the rich could continue living free of any moral guilt. Sound familiar? 

My gut instinct was a 2-star review. As I write this, I remember the many interesting aspects of Ireland’s Welcome to the Stranger and the insights that are available basically nowhere else. Upon deeper reflection, 2 stars just doesn’t sit right. Was all of the dialogue fabricated and self-serving? Yes, of course. Did the author maintain a holier-than-thou attitude throughout that made her detestable to the modern reader? Absolutely. Was so much of the book taken up by the author or random passerby referring to her as “but a stranger”, “a stranger in a foreign place”, “a poor cratur” or some combination of those, that you begin to think you’re living out some bizarre Twilight Zone esque nightmare scenario or reading a book that never ends with dialogue that just repeats ad infinitum? Oh, definitely yes.

Despite all of these negatives (of which, let’s not sugarcoat it, there are plenty) Nicholson created a somewhat-readable account of Ireland just before the Great Potato Famine. Like how Erik Larson was able to provide context to the origins of Third Reich Germany, illuminating the dimly-lit warning signs through a contemporary set of eyes, Nicholson succeeded in shining a lone, dim light on a subject that still affects the Irish experience to this day.