Eileen R. McCormack holds a Masters Degree from the University of Minnesota in History and American Studies. She is a researcher, historian, and writer with a focus on early St. Paul and the James J. Hill family. She has authored numerous articles and collaborated on several books, including “Sea Winter Salmon: Chronicles of the St. John River” with Mari Hill Harpur, and “The Dutiful Son: Louis W. Hill” with Biloine W. Young.
Railroads needed settlers along their lines to make the roads commercially viable. Bishop John Ireleand wanted to bring Irish Catholics from eastern cities to rural Minnesota.
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Holy alliance: how a bishop and a railroad teamed up to found Clontarf, MN