Analysis: The author with Irish Catholic roots may have had a complex connection to Ireland yet echoes of Irish influence run through his works
This year marks the 100th anniversary of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's dazzling Jazz Age novel that has captivated readers for a century. While celebrated for its portrayal of glamour, illusion, and disillusionment in 1920s America, the centenary of the novel also invites reflection on a lesser-known dimension: Fitzgerald’s complex connection to Ireland.
From his Irish Catholic roots to his fascination with romantic tragedy and lyrical melancholy, echoes of Irish influence run through his works. Born in 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald inherited a rich Irish heritage, yet he was often ambivalent about it. So how much green blood really coursed through his veins?
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Arena, F. Scott Fitzgerald scholar Jim West reviews a new centenary edition of The Great Gatsby
In a 1922 letter to Edmund Wilson, Fitzgerald claimed "I’m not Irish on father’s side – that’s where Francis Scott Key comes in." A decade later, Fitzgerald again downplayed his Irishness in a 1933 letter to fellow Irish-American writer John O'Hara, calling himself "half black Irish and half old American stock with the usual exaggerated ancestral pretensions." He described the letter as "a confession of being a Gael" but admitted to being "afflicted" by "intense self-consciousness" about his heritage. Once more, he falsely insisted his Fitzgerald side "wasn’t Irish."
Fitzgerald’s insecurity stemmed from the social tensions of a WASP-dominated America where Irish Catholics faced deep prejudice. Though he moved in elite circles and courted heiresses, "hyphenated Americans" like him were often unwelcome. When he denied the Fitzgeralds were Irish, he meant they weren’t of "Famine Irish stock", namely the poor refugees of the 1840s who faced much discrimination. Unlike today’s embrace of shamrocks and St. Patrick’s Day, Fitzgerald’s America was a cold house for Irish Catholics: Al Smith's presidential bid collapsed in 1928 under a wave of anti-Irish, anti-Catholic hysteria.
When Fitzgerald suggested the Fitzgeralds weren’t Irish, he emphasised his paternal roots in early Maryland, claiming his great-grandmother visited Dolley Madison and that the national anthem was written by his "great-grandfather’s brother." In fact, the anthem's composer Francis Scott Key was a more obscure relative, a second cousin three times removed.
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From RTÉ News in 2017, report on The Gate Theatre's immersive production of The Great Gatsby starring Charlene McKenna and Paul Mescal
Despite the Fitzgeralds' long history in America, their Irish roots are undeniable. Excellent recent genealogical research by Prof Mary M. Burke suggests that Scott's grandfather, Michael T. Fitzgerald, was born in Maryland in 1805, but that his father, Scott’s great-grandfather was born in Ireland circa 1770.
The name Fitzgerald belongs to one of Ireland’s most prominent clans. Scott’s father, Edward, was likely named after Lord Edward Fitzgerald, a hero of the 1798 Irish uprising. Another notable ancestor, Thomas Fitzgerald, the 10th Earl of Kildare (Silken Thomas), led a dramatic but failed uprising in 1534.
Scott was well aware of his colourful Irish Fitzgerald ancestors. In a self-mocking family tree sent to Edmund Wilson in 1920, he traced his lineage to "Duke Fitzgerald (Earl of Leinster)," a title created in 1766 for the descendants of Silken Thomas. Lord Edward Fitzgerald’s family seat was Leinster House, now home to the Irish parliament. Although Scott’s chart was a humorous sketch with muddled titles, his knowledge of Irish history and its connection to his own heritage was impressive, even if he wasn’t willing to publicly acknowledge it.
From BBC Culture Show, Sincerely, F.Scott Fitzgerald sees novelist Jay McInerney exploring the life and writing of F Scott Fitzgerald
He vehemently sought to maintain his image of the Fitzgeralds as long-established Americans. When his wife, Zelda, mocked his father as an "Irish policeman" – a stereotype linked to Irish immigrant roles – Scott cruelly retaliated by slapping her.
On his maternal side, Fitzgerald’s Irish roots were undeniable. His grandfather, Philip Francis McQuillan, was born in Co. Fermanagh in 1834 and emigrated to America as a young boy. Fitzgerald later described his roots as "straight 1850 potato famine Irish," though McQuillan actually left in 1843, two years before the Famine. Regardless, Ireland at the time was struggling under absentee landlords, food shortages and a lack of economic support, making it far from a utopia.
Like many others, the McQuillans sought a better life in America. Philip McQuillan, settling first in Illinois before moving to St. Paul in 1857, achieved a semblance of the American Dream. He became a successful grocer and amassed a fortune worth millions today. However, he died young at 43, a fate common among Irish immigrants, ultimately succumbing to the harsh realities of hard work and hard living.
Trailer for Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role
Scott Fitzgerald never visited Ireland, despite living in Europe for over five years, mostly in France. As a young author, he briefly embraced his Irish heritage. At Princeton, he formed close ties with Shane Leslie and Monsignor Sigourney Fay, two Catholic intellectuals. Leslie, a first cousin of Winston Churchill, was an Anglo-Irish diplomat born in Glaslough, Co. Monaghan.
Under the influence of Leslie and Fay, Fitzgerald went through a period where "from mid-May 1917 until early 1918, [he] was everywhere proclaiming himself Irish." He also began signing off personal correspondence with phrases like "Celtically yours" or "Gaelically yours."
In his 1920 debut novel This Side of Paradise, the protagonist Amory Blaine reflects Fitzgerald’s dilemma: "being Irish was somewhat common." Another character, Monsignor Darcy, reassures him, calling Ireland "a romantic lost cause" and its people "quite charming," urging it to be "one of his principal biases."
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From Irish Stew Podcast, Patrick O'Sullivan Greene discusses his book Gatsby: Death of An Irishman
The novel critiques Ireland’s War of Independence, suggesting the quest for an Irish republic "lacks dignity." It mocks exuberant Irish-American support for Éamon de Valera with Monsignor Darcy shocked that Boston supporters would "put their arms around the [Irish] President." The text also criticises Irish Unionist Edward Carson and Irish-American leader Judge Daniel Cohalan.
Charles Stewart Parnell is the only Irish political figure portrayed as a statesman in Fitzgerald’s debut novel, though his early death in 1891 suggests Ireland’s glory days were past. Amory Blaine perhaps voiced Fitzgerald’s own fatigue when he said he was "completely tired of the Irish question; yet there had been a time when his own Celtic traits were pillars of his personal philosophy."
As we mark the centenary of The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald's Irish roots still quietly shape the author’s themes
Perhaps Fitzgerald, basking in the sun on the exotic French Riviera, saw that idyll as preferable to the rain-soaked, frugal Ireland that emerged post-independence in 1922? Remember the Celtic Tiger boom and the cosmopolitan Cool Hibernia were still decades away. Few visited Ireland in the 1920s or 1930s unless tracing their roots, and Fitzgerald – after a brief flirtation – seemed always to be fleeing his own.
Yet as we mark the centenary of The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s Irish roots still quietly shape the author’s themes. The green light, the enduring symbol of Gatsby’s dream, also reflects Fitzgerald’s own journey of aspiration and identity. A century later, the light flickers still, not just as a beacon of desire, but as a symbol of the immigrant experience and the enduring Irish spirit that underpins all of Fitzgerald’s works.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ.
