NARRATOR: Timothy Lynch and Michael Ryan,

two young Irish Americans, targeted by police.

Beatings, poverty, discrimination,

anti-Catholic prejudice ensures the city's Irish minority

remain stuck at the bottom of the ladder.

Anti-Irish sentiment was anti-Catholic sentiment,

and there were some horrific examples of it in 19th

and early 20th century America.

[groaning]

Boston's North End, where we are now,

becomes the heart of Boston's Irish community.

It's just a few steps from the docks, where the ships are

unloading.

All of these apartments would house 30, 40 people.

You're just paying for a spot on the bed or a place to sleep.

No indoor plumbing, no washing facilities,

very little ventilation.

NARRATOR: For one man, enough is enough.

They did what?

NARRATOR: This is Patrick J. Maguire, tenacious, Catholic,

fiercely Irish American.

Born in Ireland, educated and ambitious,

he realizes America offers a unique way

to help his people escape poverty and oppression.

Using the tools of American democracy

to win political power with Boston's first Irish mayor.

[bangs on table]

Gentlemen, the time has come.

We must make our voices heard.

[crowd muttering in agreement]

To Boston!

To Boston!

To the Irish!

To the Irish!

NARRATOR: In 1883, Maguire persuades fellow Irishman,

Hugh O'Brien to run.

Gentleman, a few words from your first Irish candidate.

[cheering]

Thank you, thank you.

NARRATOR: But with the Catholic Irish immigrant community

in a minority, Maguire knows he'll need Protestant Yankee

votes to win.

O'Brien has a timeless message for what he will do.

He's going to cut taxes, but also not cut any services.

In 1884, for the first time ever, O'Brien

wins a clear victory, showing a path out

of poverty and injustice for all future immigrants.

Maguire's lasting political legacy

is showing that the Irish people, or really,

any immigrant people, can have a home here

and that they will have a political voice

in the American republic.

NARRATOR: Today, there are over 32 million Americans who

claim Irish heritage, five times the population of Ireland

itself.