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History of Irish Emigration

By: Leisha Murthy, Leonardo Cis, Adrian Rowe, Ethan Ienni

1. In 1846 the emigration to US was predominantly catholic and protestant .

2. Famine immigrants were the first big wave of poor refugees ever to arrive in the U.S. and Americans were simply overwhelmed. (Link 1)

3. New York, three times the size of Boston, was better able to absorb its incoming Irish. Throughout the Famine years, 75 percent of the Irish coming to America landed in New York. In 1847, about 52,000 Irish arrived in the city which had a total population of 372,000. The Irish were not the only big group of immigrants arriving. A substantial German population totaling over 53,000 also arrived in 1847.(Link 1)

4. Proper Bostonians pointed and laughed at the first Irish immigrants stepping off ships wearing clothes twenty years out of fashion. They watched as the newly arrived Irishmen settled with their families into enclaves that became exclusively Irish near the Boston waterfront along Batterymarch and Broad Streets, then in the North End section and in East Boston. Irishmen took any unskilled jobs they could find such as cleaning yards and stables, unloading ships, and pushing carts. (Link 1)

5. Irish immigrants had a rough start in the United States, stuck in urban poverty and taunted by some of their neighbors. They and their descendants overcame the obstacles and prevailed.  (Link 4)

Link 1: http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/america.htm

Link 2: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-immigration-to-America.html

Link 3: https://www.ucc.ie/en/emigre/history/

Link 4: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/publication/2008/03/20080307131416ebyessedo0.6800043.html