The story of the Irish-American men and women who shaped American cinema and helped change the fortunes of an entire people. Mixing travelogue with biography and interview, John Kelly journeys around the US discovering how the Irish created archetypes that continue to shape America’s image of itself and captivate global audiences. A tale of imagination and creativity with a cast list that includes James Cagney, John Ford, Spencer Tracy Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby and archetypes such as the cop and the hoodlum, the priest and the cowboy. In telling this epic tale John reveals how the Irish in America were transformed from outcasts to icons.