The wrong way and the Ryan way

AT the turn of the last century, as the hem of American society was dampened by wave after wave of European immigrants, the Irish stretched out their legs beneath the table, threw a cap onto the coat hook behind the closing door and made themselves at home.

Conductors swinging off the San Francisco tram as it climbed crooked Lombard Street whistled Irish airs.

Miners in Montana sent coal-smudged envelopes home across the Atlantic.