It was a spot on County Kerry`s hurling team that led Thomas O`Connor from Ireland to Chicago Ridge.
The ancient Gaelic sport landed him an American construction job, an opportunity that came with an invitation to join one of Chicago`s hurling teams. A relative, one of the community of Irish immigrants among the apartment buildings on Ridgeland Avenue, gave him a place to sleep.
In the world of the young immigrants who move directly from rural Ireland to the southwest suburbs, acquaintances count. A newcomer`s first job is likely to develop out of a conversation at the Roberts Roadhouse, 9090 Roberts Road, Hickory Hill, or in the lounge of Molly Malone`s, 9908 Southwest Highway, Oak Lawn, where Guinness and cider are on tap and ”the crack” is a good time, not cocaine.
”You come to America just trying to make ends meet. You tend to work with Irish buddies,” says the 24-year-old O`Connor. The Irish ”are carpenters, electricians, work with bricks. They`re mostly some kind of construction trade.”
Just as their distant cousins built the transcontinental railroad while America grew, the newest Irish arrivals have been drawn to blue-collar communities such as Chicago Ridge to provide the labor for the developing suburbs nearby.
Struggling to make ends meet in Ireland just over two years ago, O`Connor recently purchased a house in Chicago Ridge, not far from the apartment that was his first resting place in America.
In Chicago Ridge, a village of only 2.3 square miles that includes 1.5 miles of Metra tracks and 1.2 miles of the Tri-State Tollway, not much changed during the 1980s. Seventy-seven years old, it had little undeveloped land and was hemmed in by other suburbs. The 1990 census figures showed the local population grew by 170 residents since the 1980 census of 13,473.
A drive-in theater was razed for the Chicago Ridge Mall, a 142-store shopping center that some residents say finally brought the mention of the village`s name a glimmer of recognition from acquaintances. Last month, the already-busy park district opened another facility, the Freedom Activity Center, a popular move among the many residents who describe their community as ”family-oriented.”
And the Irish came.
At Jack & Pat`s Old Fashioned Butcher Shop, 10717 S. Ridgeland Ave., where the staff is likely to send flowers when a regular customer dies, a fifth of the customers now speak with a brogue, says manager John Powers, son of Jack and nephew of Pat.
To accommodate the stream of new arrivals, the shop hired an Irishman who now works full time making Irish sausages, black pudding and other specialties. The shop`s bakery has fresh soda bread every day.
”We call the apartments Little Ireland,” Powers says. ”The young guys come in Saturday and Sunday morning for their sausages.”
Like many of the tens of thousands of Irish who have come to Chicago in recent years, Barry Monahan had no work visa when he arrived in 1984 at the age of 29. A pharmaceutical salesman in Ireland, he was laid off as the country`s economy fell into a deep valley during the 1980s.
”There are a lot of highly qualified people here – college graduates, engineers – working construction, working at bars,” says Monahan, sitting at the bar in Molly Malone`s, just a strip mall away from the village limits.
A year ago, he and his brother Kieran, who had emigrated in 1985, found out they had been entitled to a work visa all along. An immigration officer had misinformed them when they asked the first time.
”You feel resentful that you`ve wasted years. I could have hooked up with a company and been well-established now,” says Monahan, who is now looking for a way to return to his sales career.
Patrick McGreal, an Irish-born attorney active in immigration cases, estimates 80 percent of the Irish who came to America during the 1980s are working illegally, although he says recent reforms in immigration laws will soon allow many of them legal status. While their immigration status effectively denies them skilled employment, at least the Irish do not face the same risk of deportation as other immigrants, he says.
”There are people here who have been here 10 years and are still illegal, but they blend into the population so well. They`re white, they speak English, and they may sound like Americans,” McGreal says.
Although the slowdown in the construction industry has some worried- more immigrants than ever went back to Ireland for Christmas this year and have been slower to return to Chicago – the community has generally done well. ”You hear very few hard-luck stories,” says Niall Burgess, deputy Irish consul general. ”They`ve integrated into America quite well.”
In Chicago Ridge, the Irish arrive in a village where Our Lady of the Ridge Parish is one of the institutions that defines the community, where the mailboxes have long had names such as O`Shaughnessy and McFarland printed on them and where carpenters can feel comfortable.
”The jobs are basically of a blue-collar tradition. We have people who work in factories, who do construction work,” says Matthew Accomando, principal of Ridge Central Elementary School.
The village`s modest homes attract mainly first-time buyers, says Bob Miller, owner of Miller Century 21 Realty. The Cape Cods, split-levels and ranch-style homes along the streets sell for a median price of $90,000.
For most of the residents, once they move into the village, they stay.
”Very seldom will we have people who move out. Sometimes they`ll come in and talk to me about schools in a new community, but usually they`ll stay,”
Accomando says.
Instead, says Accomando, residents will add to their homes to accommodate growing families, often spending ”$30,000, $50,000 or even $80,000” on remodeling rather than leaving the community.
”You can drive down any one or two blocks and see rehabbing, remodeling or a room addition,” Accomando says.
Ask a few residents why they`re so reluctant to leave and they`re likely to talk about low taxes, a small-town atmosphere and especially their children.
”My husband wants to move. I say not until she`s older,” says Pat O`Shaughnessy, refering to her 3 1/2-year-old daughter. ”I like all the parks and the activities for her.”
Family is the center of life in most of Chicago Ridge. The career woman is an exception. More than half of the mothers stay home, according to a 1989 Donnelly Information Services study. Of those who do work, most of them take on only part-time jobs and tailor their hours to their children`s schedules.
”Here, the husbands take care of everybody, and the wives stay at home,” says 20-year-old Dinette Kaplar, a lifelong resident who works at the pastry counter at Jack and Pat`s.
Locals proudly claim the PTAs at the schools are ”strong.” Story hour is a big draw at the local library, and children`s videotapes are among its most popular materials.
To librarian Ardith Livingstone, ”that reflects the commitment to families: They stay at home and turn on the video.”
If there is anything else that life in Chicago Ridge revolves around it is the mall that took its name from the village. The mall produces $2 million a year in tax revenue.
A business lunch in Chicago Ridge is likely to be at Glenn`s Steakhouse in the mall. High school students go to The Eatery, a collection of fast food stands around the shopping center`s atrium.
”If I go to the mall, I`m guaranteed to see 30 people I know,” says Joyce McFarland, a 22-year-old who works at Video Village.
To one local, the tan mall buildings, opened in 1981, ”added a lot aesthetically” to the village. ”It`s a lot more pleasing to the eye as you drive by. The community seems to be a lot neater.”
McFarland, running a scanning pen over videocassettes, can assess her hometown in a single word.
”Boring,” she says, shrugging her shoulders.
Minutes later, a florist comes by with a delivery for her. No smile crosses her face as she unwraps the roses, but she relents a bit.
”It`s a nice town. When I grow up and get a real life, I might live here.”
CHICAGO RIDGE MARKETPLACE
What-Three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, split-level
Where-10326 Barnard Dr.
Features-Seven rooms, living room with vaulted ceiling, eat-in kitchen, fenced yard, storage shed. Built 1964.
List price-$119,900
What-Four-bedroom, 1 3/4-bath, brick ranch
Where-10742 S. Lombard
Features-Eight rooms, full basement with rec room and workshop, fireplace in living room, updated kitchen. Built 1956.
List price-$124,900
What-Three-bedroom, 1 3/4-bath, brick ranch
Where-10512 Sycamore
Features-Six rooms, skylight in main bathroom, concrete patio in backyard, central air conditioning. Built 1965.
List price-$99,900
Buying it: An approximation of what it would take to buy the Sycamore street home at list price.
Loan Down Loan Closing Interest Monthly Qualifying
type payment amount costs rate payment income
Fixed $19,980 $79,920 $2,823 9% $788.05 $33,774
Fixed $2,500 $101,100 $2,896 9% $958.47 $39,660
Note: ”Monthly payment” includes principal, interest, taxes and property insurance. ”Closing costs” include points, application fee, and related charges. Both loans are amortized over 30 years. The second loan is FHA which includes a mortgage insurance premium of $3,700.
Sources: Century 21 Miller Realty, Chicago Ridge (708-422-1300); Robert Cox, Allied Funding Corp., Palos Heights (708-361-1250).
CHICAGO RIDGE AT A GLANCE
Population: 13,643 (1990 census). Change, 1980-90: +1.3 percent. Median age: 32.2 years. Racial/ethnic mix: white (non-Hispanic), 95.5 percent;
Hispanic, 2.7 percent; black, 0.3 percent; other, 1.6 percent.
Area: 2.3 square miles, in Cook County. Average household income: $34,278 (1990 estimate). Per capita income: $11,363 (1987 estimate), 212th of 262 in six-county Chicago area.
Median price of single-family home: $90,000. Average annual property tax on median-priced home: $1,300. Average resale price (11 months ended 11/30/
90): $83,546.
Public schools:
District Enrollment Pupils Expenditure
(no. of schools) per teacher per pupil
Worth 127 (6) 1,015 21.4 $3,646
Oak Lawn HS 218 (4) 4,316 17.0 $7,300
Average American College Test score: Richards H.S. 20.4 (46th percentile).
Driving distances: To Loop, 17 miles; to O`Hare International Airport, 28 miles; to Midway Airport, 9 miles. Rush-hour commute: 45 minutes; train service from Chicago Ridge station to Union Station, 45 minutes, $79.65 monthly pass.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of the Census; Metra; Illinois State Board of Education; TRW Real Estate Information Services; Village of Chicago Ridge;
Donnelley Demographics.
