Irish Arizona

The Irish greatly contributed to the creation of the territory and state of Arizona due to their enterprising personalities and persistence in a difficult environment. The first documented Irishman in Arizona was Hugo O'Conor, who established the Presidio of Tucson for the Spanish government in 1775. Sheriff Bucky O'Neal of Yavapai County and the Brophy and Riordan families left their mark on Arizona's landscape as well as the Irish-born Sisters of Mercy, who established St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix. This photographic history identifies famous and lesser-known Arizona settlers who were ranchers, merchants, miners, lawmen, explorers, soldiers, and healers. Irish Arizona offers a unique perspective on an ethnic group not typically associated with the American Southwest.

In 2006, Janice Ryan Bryson, a fifth-generation Arizonan, and Kathleen Shappee Wood, a student of Irish language and history, started the nonprofit Irish Arizona Project, dedicated to collecting the stories of those of Irish birth and ancestry who have come to Arizona from territorial times through the present day. Both contribute historical articles to the Desert Shamrock newspaper and serve on the board of the Central Arizona Chapter of the Arizona Historical Society.