In the classroom this week we watched a short Britannica video about the Irish Potato Famine and learned that Irish immigration to the United States, including to San Francisco, soared around the time of the California Gold Rush. By 1880, a third of San Francisco’s population was of Irish descent. By 1906, Mission Dolores was predominantly an Irish Catholic church. We discussed how many local landmarks are named after prominent Irish Americans, such as McCoppin Elementary School in SFUSD (named after Frank McCoppin, the city’s first Irish-born mayor), O’Farrell Street (named after Jasper O’Farrell, who designed the Market Street promenade), and Geary Boulevard (named after John Geary, who is still the youngest person ever to serve as mayor of San Francisco).
In the kitchen we made a traditional Irish potato dish, colcannon, and enjoyed it with a side of Irish soda bread, which the second and third grade chefs were disappointed to learn is not made with Coca-Cola! We are grateful for a healthy potato harvest and for enough food to go around when we share a meal together at school.
