There were thousands of them. Thousands crammed onto the docks of Irish ports, fleeing the misery of the Great Famine. In the middle of the 19th century, impoverished and worn-out Irish people decided to leave Ireland for lands deemed more welcoming… Their directions? America, England and Australia, countries full of hope, far from the misery currently raging in Ireland… until now struck down by a terrible famine.
This marked the beginning of Irish emigration. And one of the main host countries will always be America. That’s why there are so many Irish Americans in the USA!
The Great Irish Famine – Domaine Public
1845. The Great Famine rages in Ireland.
This is a particularly difficult time for the Irish…
Farmers saw their fields parasitized by mildew, a fungus that rendered potatoes unfit for consumption, plunging the population into an unprecedented food shortage.
With this fungus, the fields rot at lightning speed in a nauseating odor.
This made it impossible for the Irish to feed themselves properly.
Although Ireland was under British rule at the time, England didn’t seem to react to the catastrophe. It continued to use Ireland as its “shopping basket”, exporting the rest of the produce to London… Eggs, milk, meat… food produced in Ireland is sent directly to England, while the local Irish population is dying.
Things quickly got out of hand. the Irish suffer from malnutrition, illness and misery. Cholera epidemics spread, while famine claimed many victims of severe anemia…
Between 500,000 and one million Irish people die throughout Ireland as a result of this phenomenon. From then on, wealthy British landowners seemed to take advantage of the situation, evicting thousands of Irish families from their land, now unable to pay the rent… Facts of a rare atrocity, which precipitate the population all the more towards misery and death.
Irish emigration – Public domain
Faced with such a situation, the Irish turned to America, the continent of all hopes and dreams. They see in this New World the idea of a new beginning and the possibility of achieving social success, that famous dream where any project becomes possible…
Fleeing a moribund Ireland, several thousand Irish people crammed into cargo ships bound for America. But the journey is hellish: it takes over 6 weeks to cross… All aboard old Canadian freighters that had come specially to unload cargoes of timber from the Americas to England.
So as not to leave empty-handed, they then set off for Ireland, to pick up Irish emigrants, and then head back to the United States.
Irish emigrants crammed aboard unsanitary boats
The voyage was a real ordeal: the Irish embarked in dramatic conditions, where the unsanitary conditions of the boats led to disease (typhus, cholera and dysentery) and death in large numbers. In winter, the cold is unbearable and it’s difficult to keep properly warm, causing hypothermia and contractions that can lead to other fatal illnesses.
Add to this the swell, storms and potential damage, and you can see why these boats were nicknamed “coffin ships”.
coffin ships
“or coffin ships in the literal sense.
The figures are frightening: it is estimated that thousands of Irish people perish during their travels. This is due to the precarious nature of the boats and poor sanitary management. The boats were overloaded with passengers, making it impossible to isolate the sick.
Cholera sufferers lay alongside healthy passengers. The absence of doctors on board, or of medicines, generates widespread epidemics on board.
It is estimated that over 2,300,000 Irish attempted to reach America between 1845 and 1854. This staggering figure is a source of concern for the American public, who see Irish emigration as a risk of contaminating the healthy population already established there.
The decision was then taken to quarantine all new arrivals before allowing them to circulate freely in the city. So New York parked the new arrivals on Ellis Island, an island off the coast of the city. The same goes for Boston, which chooses Deer Island to control arrivals.
Canada is doing the same to better regulate arrivals.
Each passenger is then checked, examined by a doctor, and subjected to an observation period.
The difference in living standards between Ireland and the United States
As well as fearing an explosion of disease on the ground, the United States fears for its existing economy. The massive influx of Irish emigrants could well lead to higher unemployment and lower wages.
So, for some sections of the population, the Irish are clearly not welcome. Starting with the Anglo-Saxon Protestant bourgeoisie, who took a dim view of the arrival of these Irish Catholics.
This forced Irish emigrants to settle en masse in New York and Boston, in ghetto neighborhoods.
However, despite a few clashes, the Irish managed to find work. They opened businesses, enlisted in the local police force en masse (hence the famous image of the Irish-American policeman that endures to this day), and also worked massively in construction, building the New World’s buildings, roads and bridges.
The “Irish” soon adapted to their new life, appreciating the benefits and richness of the United States… It was estimated that they represented more than a third of New York’s population. This staggering figure has enabled them to create a veritable Irish diaspora.
As a result, Irish neighborhoods are growing. Irish emigrants live the Irish way, building their own churches, opening shops and Irish pubs, publishing their own local newspapers, and perpetuating Irish traditions locally.
We also observe the creation of gangs and an Irish mafia, oscillating between brawls, petty theft and larger-scale crimes.
For their part, the workers did not forget Ireland, still torn apart by hunger and misery, and by British exactions insidiously taking advantage of the situation… Some Irish-Americans still have relatives in Ireland, and regularly send them all the money they can to help them in their miserable daily lives…
Some even organized themselves around a revolutionary nationalist movement: the Fenian movement, intended to fight from afar to liberate Ireland from the British yoke.
These are just a few of the many ways in which we can support the Emerald Isle from afar.
It took only a few years for Irish immigrants to become an integral part of the American landscape. Their successful integration is due not only to their strong involvement in the local working world, but also to their commitment to local political causes.
As a reminder, emigrants took part in the American Civil War under the banner of the Northern Union or the Southern Confederacy. An involvement that later enabled them to be fully considered American citizens, having “paid the blood tax”.
Over the centuries, the Irish diaspora has grown, eventually establishing itself in all local circles, including politics. Irish mayors have been elected in New York, and some have even joined the Democratic Party!
This explains why so many American presidents have Irish roots (including JFK, Joe Biden…etc)!
Let’s face it: Irish emigration has been good not only for the Irish, but also for America itself. The Irish, with their capacity for integration, knew how to serve the interests of the New World.
In fact, it’s estimated that more than 10% of Americans today have Irish roots!
And some of them have even managed to stand out for their talents!
Nowadays, many Irish-Americans have made their mark on the international scene! Starting with John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Neil Armstrong, Joe Biden and many others!
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