Overview

It was the biggest funeral Chicago had seen since Lincoln’s. On May 26, 1889, four thousand mourners proceeded down Michigan Avenue, followed by a crowd forty thousand strong, in a howl of protest at what commentators called one of the ghastliest and most curious crimes in civilized history. The dead man, Dr. P. H. Cronin, was a respected Irish physician, but his brutal murder uncovered a web of intrigue, secrecy, and corruption that stretched across the United States and far beyond. Blood Runs Green tells the story of Cronin’s murder from the police investigation to the trial. It is a story of hotheaded journalists in pursuit of sensational crimes, of a bungling police force riddled with informers and spies, and of a secret revolutionary society determined to free Ireland but succeeding only in tearing itself apart. It is also the story of a booming immigrant population clamoring for power at a time of unprecedented change. From backrooms to courtrooms, historian Gillian O’Brien deftly navigates the complexities of Irish Chicago, bringing to life a rich cast of characters and tracing the spectacular rise and fall of the secret Irish American society Clan na Gael. She draws on real-life accounts and sources from the United States, Ireland, and Britain to cast new light on Clan na Gael and reveal how Irish republicanism swept across the United States. Destined to be a true crime classic, Blood Runs Green is an enthralling tale of a murder that captivated the world and reverberated through society long after the coffin closed.

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Reviews

For connoisseurs of Gilded Age America, Gillian O'Brien's book has everything: a ghastly murder of a respected medical doctor, police incompetence and probably corruption, deadly Irish American splits and rivalries, more than a hint of international terrorism in the background, a British government informer, and above all, an unforgettable portrait of the pulsating city of Chicago, with the dogs of its print media let slip in full hue and cry for a culprit, any culprit. Not to be missed. --Thomas Bartlett, University of Aberdeen

O'Brien does a wonderful job of placing the sensational 1889 murder of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin firmly within the history of nineteenth century Irish Chicago, as well as within the political machinations of the city, the Clan na Gael, Ireland, and the Catholic Church. Blood Runs Green is a lively tale of intrigue, murder, and the Gilded Age in the fastest growing city of nineteenth century America. --Dominic A. Pacyga, author of Chicago: A Biography

Who was Dr. Patrick Cronin and who murdered him? To find out you must dive into O'Brien's dark, fascinating tale of 1880s Chicago. This true-life whodunit captures the Second City at a key moment in its history as it weaves through sensation-seeking journalists, wild-eyed Irish nationalists and, of course, corrupt police officers. An enlightening and entertaining read. --Douglas Perry, author of The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago

In the process of dissecting and analyzing one of the most notorious murder cases of the late nineteenth century Gillian O'Brien has illuminated not only the subterranean world of the Irish nationalist revolutionaries of the Clan na Gael but also many aspects of the broader story of Irish American Chicago. The book is meticulously researched and elegantly written--a star in the social history of the immigrant group, the movement, the period, and the city. --James R. Barrett, author of The Irish Way: Becoming American in the Multi-Ethnic

In the process of dissecting and analyzing one of the most notorious murder cases of the late nineteenth century, O'Brien has illuminated not only the subterranean world of the Irish nationalist revolutionaries of the Clan na Gael but also many aspects of the broader story of Irish American Chicago. The book is meticulously researched and elegantly written-a star in the social history of the immigrant group, the movement, the period, and the city. (James R. Barrett, author of The Irish Way: Becoming American in the Multi-Ethnic City)

Author Information

Gillian O'Brien is a senior lecturer in history at Liverpool John Moores University. She is coeditor of Georgian Dublin and Portraits of the City: Dublin and the Wider World.

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